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Zeus Tech Note

Where Did It Go?
Director 6 for Director 5 Users

Copyright © 1997. Zeus Productions. All Rights Reserved.
Written by Bruce A. Epstein
(This page last revised November 13, 1997)

What's new in Director 6 since Director 5?

See the FAQ below for some UI changes, but also refer to the following TechNotes

How can I get the old Director 5 Score back?

Choose the Director 5 Score Display option under File>Preferences>Score...

Refer to the help system for more information.

Note that the buttons to "shuffle" channels up or down in the score are gone. You can use Modify>Arrange>Move Forward (Command-UpArrow) and Modify>Arrange>Move Backware (Command-DownArrow) instead (ugh).

What happened to the FileIO Xobject and FileIO.DLL?

The FileIO XObject and FileIO,DLL have been superceded by the FileIO Xtras. You will need to update your syntax for the Xtras as it differs from the Zobject/DLL versions substantially. You should install the FileIO Xtras in your Xtras folder.

How can I still use the FileIO XObject and DLL rather than the Xtras?

While this is not recommended, the old XObject and DLL are provided on the Director 6 CD under"obsolete". Upgrading to the Xtra versions is recommended instead. You will need to open the Xobject and DLL explicitly using "openxlib" if you choose to use them.

What happened to the Windows 3.1 (16-bit) support?

Director no longer supports development under Windows 3.1, but it does support playback under Windows 3.1. Refer to the, "Director 6 FAQ" for more information.

How can I develop under Windows 3.1?

You can't develop under Windows 3.1 any more. You need to author under Windows 95 or NT, but you can test a 16-bit projector under Windows 95 which should give you an idea of how it will run under Windows 3.1. You should also specifically test your 16-bit projector under Windows 3.1.

How can I wait for a digital video (QuickTime or AVI) sprite in the Tempo channel?

Select "Wait for Cue Point", and select the sprite channel number containing the DV of interest. This locks out all other interactivity in D5, (but not in D6?), and may be better accomplished via Lingo.

Choose from the list of available cue points within the DV. If noen exist, you can still choose {Next} or {End}

See cuePointNames, cuePointTimes, cuePassed, isPastCuePoint

How do I create a Marker? What happened to the Marker well?

The Marker well is gone. Simply click in the Marker channel to create a new marker, or use the Insert>Marker menu. New Markers have the default name "New Marker" instead of EMPTY as in previous versions of Director.

Where did the Editable, Moveable and Trails checkboxes for each channel in the Score go?

The Editable, Moveable and Trails checkboxes are now on the Sprite Toolbar. Choose View>Sprite Toolbar to see them.

How do I shuffle sprites up and down in the Score. The shuffle buttons are gone from the Score window?

Use the Modify>Arrange>Move Forward and Modify>Arrange>Move Backward menu options. Command-Up Arrow and Command-Down Arrow on the Mac. The down arrow moves sprites to higher score channels, not lower, because it is moving them "down" in terms of the Stage's sprite layers (Yeah, it sucks). You can also drag cells around the Score, by highlighting and moving them. You may need to hold down the Space Bar if you have drag-n-drop shut off under File>Preferences>Score.

How do I select a frame or frames in the Score? Clicking and dragging in the frame channel doesn't work anymore.

Director no longer selects the frame when you click or click-and-drag in the frame channel. You need to double-click in the frame channel to select a frame. You can double-click and then drag to select a range of frames. To paste a range of frames, select an insertion point in the Score by double-clicking in the frame channel of the destination frame.

...much more to come.....