Zeus Tech Note
Creating and Using Stub Projectors

(This document last revised March 28, 2002)

Copyright © 1996-2002. Zeus Productions. All Rights Reserved.
Written by Bruce A. Epstein

Q. What is a "Stub Projector"?

A Stub Projector is a Director Projector that contains a simple movie that merely calls an external DIR or DXR file to do all the real work. Stub projectors are highly recommended for simplified development and distribution of all Director projects. An even more "advanced" type of Strub Projector, possible since Director 7 is a so-called "Shockwave Projector."

Q. Why would I want to use a Stub Projector?

There are several advantages to a stub projector, all of which are significant.

Because it refers to an external movie which does all the real work, you do not need to rebuild your projector every time the external Director file changes. This saves a LOT of time during development. It also ensures that your Projector is always up to date, and incorporates the latest changes as long as the external DIR file is current.
Because DIR files and DXR files are binary-compatible on Macintosh and Windows, you can use the identical external files on all platforms. This saves a LOT of space. If you have a 100MB presentation, you can build projectors for Windows and Macintosh that cumulatively use less than 5 MB.
Stub Projectors are small. Although I rarely bother copying a projector to the hard drive, projectors can be copied to the hard drive with the data remaining on the CD. There was a bug with Director 5.0 under Windows 95, where it wanted free disk space on the hard drive equal to the size of the projector. A stub projector's small size minimized this issue, but this has long since been fixed.

Q. What are the drawbacks to a Stub Projector?

In some cases you may want one self-contained package that includes all the assets. In this case, you should use a Stub Projector during development, and then build and retest your final projector that includes the DIR file and CST files internally.

When you build the DIR files into the Projector, you can control the order of the movies to optimize performance. You will need to do this manually through your CD-burning software if you leave the files external to the projector. Most CD-burning software, such as Toast, allow you to do this easily.

Q. Will a Stub Projector perform as well as when all movies are contained in the projector?

Stub Projector should perform very similarly to a projector containing all the assets, if not faster.

You will need to ensure that the files are placed on the CD in an optimal fashion. If you have a large number of external files, such as several hundred, it may slow down the Macintosh file system.. Try to reduce the number of external files or put them into multiple subdirectories.. Be sure to specify exact paths, rather than using "the searchpath", and place the files in an optimal order when burning your CD-ROM.

You can also use the preLoadMovie command to load assets ahead of time.

Q. How do I create a Director Projector?

Refer to the TechNote, "Creating Director Projectors for Mac and Windows" for tips on creating your actual projector. First, you will need to create your Director file to be used in the Projector. Refer to the discussion below.

Q. How do I create a Projector that restarts my movie where it last left off?

Refer to the TechNote, "Restoring the Projector's State" for tips on restoring a user's place in a projector.

Q. How do I protect my external Director files when using a Stub Projector?

You can protect your DIR files by creating protected "DXR" files that remain external to the projector. Select "Update Movies" from Director's "Xtras" menu. Choose the "Protect (Prevents Editing)" option to create protected DXR files.

Creating a Stub Projector

To create a Stub projector, you will first create a small Director movie, that will be used to build the projector. It is very easy to create a Stub movie yourself, or you can download the example STUB.DIR file.

1. Create a new Director movie (the Stub movie) using Director's "New...Movie" option under the File menu.

2. In the first frame of your Director movie, create a frame script that goes to your first "real" movie. Assuming that the first movie in your project is named "INTRO.DIR", use:

on exitFrame

go movie "INTRO"

end

By omitting the file extension, Director will look for the right file whether it is named "INTRO.DIR", or "INTRO.DXR". This allows you to use the same Projector without modification when you create protected external DXR files. If you specifically use "INTRO.DIR" or "INTRO.DXR" in your Lingo script, it won't work with both DIR and DXR files.

3. Set the stub movie's properties with Director's "Modify..Movie...Properties" option. Set the Stage Size and the Stage Background color as desired, plus any other options as you see fit. Consult Director's documentation for details on these options, and refer to the TechNote, "Creating Director Projectors for Mac and Windows" for additional tips.

4. Test the Director movie and Save it as "STUB.DIR"

5. Create your projector for each platform:

Choose "Create Projector..." from Director's File menu.
Set the projector type, using the "Options" button in the Create Projector dialog box.
Select "STUB.DIR" in the left hand side file browser window and Add it to the list of files to be included on the right hand side. Do NOT add any other files to the Projector.
Name your Projector

If you are building a Windows Projector, name it something like "MyProj.exe"

If you are building a Macintosh Projector, name it something like "MyProj"

Refer to the TechNote, "Creating Director Projectors for Mac and Windows" for tips on creating your actual projector.

Congratulations! You have built a Stub Projector which should serve you well!

Zeus Tech Note Creating and Using Stub Projectors

See also Projector Build Options - The OTTO files for ways to configure a Stub Projector in D7 and D8.