| Activity/Content |
Macromedia Flash |
Macromedia Director |
Why |
| Deploying to fixed media (CD/DVD, kiosk) |
|
 |
Advanced memory management, extensibility,
and integration with high-quality media formats, such
as DVD-Video, Apple QuickTime and Real Media. |
| Website user interfaces |
 |
|
98% ubiquity of Macromedia Flash Player
streaming content optimized for the web. |
| Interactive real-time 3D |
|
|
Intel Internet 3D graphics software included with Director. |
| Video: Long form |
|
|
Flash video is based on the H.263 video compression standard. Director MX 2004 supports DVD-Video, Windows Media, RealMedia, Apple QuickTime, Flash video, as well as various other video formats. Through the Director MX 2004 runtime extension mechanism (Xtra plug-ins), various other formats (such as MPEG2) are also supported. |
| Internet-based rich-media applications |
|
|
Build rich Internet applications with a familiar forms-based development environment and powerful data binding with Macromedia Flash MX 2004 Professional. |
| Accessible rich media |
|
|
Macromedia Flash Player 7 adds native support for assistive technologies, such as screen readers (Window-Eyes, JAWS) used by people with disabilities.
Director MX 2004 enables the creation of accessible content that is available on Apple Macintosh and Microsoft Windows platforms, in browsers, or as a stand-alone executable, without the need for a screen reader.
|
| CD- or DVD-based applications |
|
|
Advanced memory management enables optimal playback of fixed-media based multimedia files. |
| Authoring & Runtime Extensibility |
|
|
The extensible Director architecture (Xtra extensions) provides the ability to add unique functionality for unlimited extensibility.
|
| Multiple media formats |
|
|
Director MX 2004 supports over 40 different media formats, including Quicktime, Windows Media, DVD, Flash content, RealMedia and many others.
|
| Launching external applications |
|
|
Launch external applications from within Director for a seamless user experience.
|
| Access to file systems |
|
|
Available through Adobe Shockwave Player by integrated security mechanisms.
|
| Support for devices in addition to webcam and microphone |
|
|
Director supports multiple input mechanisms, such as joysticks and the multi-button mouse, through the Xtra extension mechanism
|
| Precision sound control |
|
|
Director offers a powerful, fully scriptable sound mixer, allowing low-level transformations of audio.
|
| High-performance sprite rendering engine |
|
|
Director offers a highly optimized rendering engine optimized for high-speed graphics and sound—both 2D and 3D. |
| Online advertising |
|
|
Macromedia Flash Player is the most widely distributed rich-media runtime, available on 98% of desktops. It offers a powerful scripting language for tracking user interactions, and seamless integration with existing tracking systems. |
| Content for devices |
|
|
Macromedia Flash Player has been ported to many popular devices—including Pocket PC handhelds and leading set-tops—from vendors such as Liberate and OpenTV. |
