Zeus Tech Note
Creating Director Projectors
for Mac and Windows

(This document last revised June 25, 1997)

Copyright © 1996-1997. Zeus Productions. All Rights Reserved.
Written by Bruce A. Epstein

Q. What is a Projector?

A Projector is a standalone run-time executable that is created by Director to enable you to distribute your multimedia presentation to users who do not own Director.

Q. Do I have to create separate projectors for Mac and Windows.

Yes, you must create at least one projector for Macintosh and a separate projector for Windows. You may want to create more than one for each platform. (see below)

Q. Do I have to buy Director for both Macintosh and Windows just to create Projectors on both platforms?

Yes, you must have a copy of Director for the platform on which you want to create a projector. You can hire someone with such a copy to create a projector for you and/or perform the port to the other platform. The updateStage site may have a test projector that you can use on a trial basis. You can also obtain a copy of the Macromedia Showcase CD which has save-disabled versions of Director on it.

Q. Why do I have to pay for both platforms if Director is supposedly "Author Once, Play Anywhere"?

This is one of the great quandries of our time. You may hear that Macromedia has to develop separate versions for each platform (which is true), or that there are differences between the platforms which are beyond Macromedia's control (also true), or that some things, such as Xtras, are very platform-specific (also true) or that it is only fair to pay Macromedia for their hard work (also true).

All those arguments aside, if you value your time, you will obtain a copy of Director for every platform on which you need to test, debug and ship your product. Any money you save by not buying Director will quickly be lost due to the horrific inefficiency of not being able to debug as you test on the target platform.

Prior to Director 4.0, there was no Windows development environment, although you could create a projector to run on a Windows machine. It was a painful experience. If you truly just need to build a new projector and your title runs perfectly on another platform, you should thank your lucky stars that it only cost you the price of a copy of Director.

Q. What is a "Fat Binary" or "Fat" projector?

On the Macintosh, a "at" executable is one that contains both native PowerPC instructions and also 68K Mac instructions in a single file. This makes the file somewhat larger, but allows it to run optimally on either type of Macintosh. The Mac OS automatically runs the correct "half" of a Fat Binary executable.

Q.Can I create a Fat Projector which works on both Mac and Windows?

No, there is no such beast at present, nor is there likely to ever be one.

Q.Can I create a Fat Projector for Windows 3.1 and Windows 95/NT

No, there is no such beast at present, nor is there likely to ever be one. You can create a 16-bit projector and use it under Windows 95 as well as Windows 3.1. You can create both 16-bit and 32-bit version of the projector , and make sure that the user runs the right one. Macormedia includes a simple "launcher" utility on the Director 5.0 CD which allegedly handles this. The Zeus utility zWinVer may be of assistance as well.

Q. How do I cover the full screen with my Projector?

Check the Full Screen option when building your projector. This feature is available in DfW 4.0 and later, and DfM 5.0 and later. To cover the screen using DfM 4.0.4 or earlier, or to cover multiple Macintosh monitors, use the "Rear Window" or "Finder Hider" XObject.

Q. How do I set the color of the Full Screen cover?

The color of the Full Screen cover is always the same as the stage color. Set the stage color using the background color chip under "Modify...Movie..Properties" (In Director 4.0 this color chip was on teh Control Panel instead). If you want a stage color different from your background color, use a 1-bit colorized bitmap sprite or QD shape in channel one throughout your score.

How to Build a Projector

Explicit instructions for building a projector are given below for Director 5.0. The options are similar, though not identical, to earlier versions of Director.

Under the File menu, choose the "Create Projector..." option. The modal "Create Projector" dialog box appears.

Adding File(s) to Your Projector

Hilight one or more files in the left-hand side file browser window and hit the Add button to add them to the list of included files on the right-hand side. We strongly recommend that you include one and only one Director movie in your projector as outlined in the TechNote, "Creating and Using Stub Projectors". The remaining Director files can be protected and left external to the Projector. (see below)

Projector Options

Various Projector options can be set by hitting the "Options..." button in the "Create Projector" dialog box, which bring up the "Projector Options" modal dialog box. The following describe the Director for Macintosh Window Settings.

The "Create For:" Option

There are three possible Projector Types on the Macintosh:

Standard Macintosh - To create a 680x0-based projector, choose the "Standard Macintosh" option. This option will produce the smallest Projector, and will run on all types of Macs, but will not be native on PowerMacs. Instead, it will run in emulation mode on PowerMacs, providing less than optimal performance.
Power Macintosh Only - To create a PowerMac native projector, choose the "Power Macintosh Only" option. This option creates a projector that will only run on PowerMacs, and will fail on Standard Macs. It is only appropriate if you are also building a separate Standard projector, or if your application is designed to run only on PowerMacs. This may be the case with a dedicated kiosk, or if using a technology such as QuickDraw 3D which requires a PowerMac.
All Macintosh Models - To create a Fat Binary projector which will run on older 680x0-based Macs, and be native to PowerMacs as well, choose the "All Macintosh Models" option. This option creates the largest and most-compatible projector. When the user double-clicks on this single application, the Mac OS will automatically run the correct "half" of the Fat Binary executable.

There are two possible Projector Types under Windows:

Windows 3.1 - To create a 16-bit projector, choose the "Windows 3.1" option. This option will produce the smallest Projector, and will run on Windows 3.1 and Windows 95, but will not be native under Windows 95, providing less than optimal performance. 16- bit projectors will not operate under Windows NT.
Windows 95/NT - To create a 32-bit native projector, choose the "Windows 95/NT" option. This option creates a projector that will only on 32-bit operating sytems, and not under Windows 3.1. It is only appropriate if you are also building a separate Windows 3.1 projector, or if your application is designed to run only on Windows 95/NT. This may be the case with a dedicated kiosk, or if your presentation is advertising a product that does not run under Windows 3.1.

Other projector options:

Playback:

Play Every Movie - This option only applies to linear presentations with no Lingo. Ordinarily, you would control the program flow with Lingo, and leave this unchecked.
Animate in Background - This option controls whether Director continues to advance the playback head when it is not in the foreground. If you check this option, Director will continue to play when another application is in the foreground, which is required when using zLaunch. Failure to use the "Animate in Background" option so will prevent your projector from terminating properly when using zLaunch.

Options:

Full Screen (Mac)- Check this option to fill the screen area if the monitor is larger than the stage. The screen is always filled with the same color as the stage background color.
Full Screen vs. In a Window (Windows) - Check this option to fill the screen area if the monitor is larger than the stage. The screen is always filled with the same color as the stage background color. The In-a-Window option is rarely recommended.

Stage Size:

Use Movie Settings vs. Match First Movie - ordinarily, your movies will all have the same stage size. If not, this setting determines whether the stage adjusts its size to match the current movie's settings, or if it maintains the size as defined by the first movie.
Center - This option ensures that the movie in centered regardless of the monitor size, which is generally most asthetically pleasing.
Reset Monitor to Match Movie's Color Depth (Mac only)- This option will change the monitor's color depth setting to match the highest depth of any bitmap castmember in the current movie's castLib. The colorDepth can also be controlled via Lingo. Zeus Productions sells a utility to check for castmembers of the wrong color depth. If your presentation is running slowly, it might be in the wrong depth.

Windows will not reset the monitor depth on the fly, so this option is not available under Windows.

Media:

Duplicate Cast Members for Faster Loading - If this option is checked, Director may store duplicate versions of the same castmember in different parts of the file. That way, if a castmember is needed at the beginning of a presentation, and alos at the end, Director won't have to seek back to the beginning of the file to access the castmember. The degree to which this make your files larger, or improves performance depends on the manner in which you use castmembers in your score. You can see the effect of this by setting the traceload = 2 and watching the offset from which Director is loading an asset.

Memory

Use System Temporary Memory (Mac Only) - This is a new option on the Macintosh which allows Projectors to access more memory than defined in their fixed allocation setting. The stability and efficacy of this feature has not yet been proved to me, and I recommend leaving it off for now.

The memory partition under Windows is not fixed. The Projector will request RAM from the system as it needs it, so this option is not available under Windows.

Version Notes:

Director 3.1.3

Director 3.1.3 was a Macintosh only (680x0) product. The Gaffer would convert the project to Windows for playback, but debuggin gwas difficult.
Director 4.0 for Macintosh

Director 4.0, 4.0.1, 4.0.2 and 4.0.3 were not PowerMac native, and could only create Standard Mac (680x0) projectors.

Director 4.0.4 was the first PowerMac native version and allowed you to create Standard (680x0), PowerMac or Fat Binary projectors, whether developing on a Standard Mac or PowerMac.

Note that an improper or incomplete update from earlier versions to 4.0.4 would result in corrupted projectors. Be sure that you update all the auxilliary resource files that are used to build projectors.

There is no option for creating a "full-screen" projector in Director 4.0.4 and earlier versions. You must use an XObject, such as "Finder Hider" or "Rear Window" to cover the desktop while the projector runs, or upgrade to Director 5.0 which incorporates this feature into the projector creation options. (Director 4.0.4 for Windows does have the ability to create a full-screen projector which covers the excess desktop area automatically.)
Director 4.0 for Windows

Director 4.0 through 4.0.4 were 16-bit applications that could only create 16-bit projectors.

Director 4.0.4 was the first version to run properly under Windows 95, as well as NT for some users.

Note that an improper or incomplete update from earlier versions to 4.0.4 would result in corrupted projectors. Be sure that you update all the auxilliary resource files that are used to build projectors.

Unlike Director 4.0 for Macintosh, Director 4.0.4 for Windows had the ability to create a full-screen projectors which covers the excess desktop area automatically.
Director 5.0 for Macintosh

Director 5.0 and higher can create Standard, PowerMac and Fat Binary Macintosh projectors (as could D 4.0.4).

New to Director 5.0 on the Macintosh was support for the "Full-Screen" option which allows Director to covers the desktop if your projector is played on a monitor that is larger than the stage. (This feature was availiable in version 4.0.4 for Windows).
Director 5.0 for Windows

Director 5.0 and 5.0.1 come in both 16-bit and 32-bit versions, and either can create 16-bit or 32-bit projectors.

Windows 3.1 users must run the 16-bit version of Director and/or Projectors.

Windows 95 users may run either the 16-bit or 32-bit version of both Director and Projects, but the 32-bit version is recommended.

Windows NT uses must run the 32-bit version of Director 5.0 , which was the first version to officially support Windows NT.

Users of Director 5.0 should upgrade to 5.0.1 Note that an improper or incomplete update from 5.0 to 5.01 would result in corrupted projectors. Be sure that you update all the auxilliary resource files that are used to build projectors.

All Windows users should upgrade to the latest version of the FileIO Xtra as earlier versions were beta and bug-laden. Refer to the TechNote, "Using FileIO".
Director 6.0 for Macintosh

It is our understanding that Director 6.0 will support both Standard Mac and PowerMac development and playback, as did Director 5.0.
Director 6.0 for Windows

Director 6.0 supports only 32-bit development under Windows 95 and NT, and will support only 16-bit playback under Windows 3.1. That is, there is NOT a 16-bit development environment.

Zeus Tech Note Creating Director Projectors for Mac and Windows