Adobe Director Basics

ADOBE DIRECTOR BASICS
3D basics
Rect
By default, a 3D sprite is 320 x 240 pixels. Like other sprites, you can change the rect of the sprite by dragging the
corners and edges. The bigger you make the sprite, the more computer processing power it will need to update the
image. Director needs to calculate the color of every pixel in the sprite image every time the image is refreshed. More
pixels mean more calculations. If you are designing a project for relatively slow computers, test whether the size of your
3D sprite is appropriate for the target computers.
DirectToStage
By default, the cast member of a 3D sprite is drawn "Direct To Stage" (DTS). This means that Director sends the image
for the 3D sprite directly to the screen display driver controlled by your computer's operating system. This is very
much faster than sending the image to Director's display system, where each sprite needs to be layered on top of other
sprites. The disadvantage is that a 3D sprite will appear on top of all other sprites. Sprite inks will not work on a 3D
sprite set to display direct to stage.
Suppose you want to show sprites on top of a 3D sprite. Suppose you want your 3D sprite to have a transparent
background, so that you can see the sprites that are behind it. You can switch off the DTS display. The disadvantage is
that your movie will run more slowly, since Director now has to do more work with inks and layers.
To learn more about setting the Direct To Stage property of a Shockwave3D cast member at “Using the Property
Inspector for 3D” on page 14. For more information on this property, see member3D.directToStage.
Effect of DirectToStage on frame tempo
The effect of switching off Direct To Stage display depends on the operating system. In Windows, the movie may run
at around 85 % of its maximum possible DTS speed.
In Mac OS 10.6 and later, Director 11.5 movies may be capped at 60 frames per second. Changes made in Mac OS 10.6
and Director 11.5 now limit the number of screen update requests. The screen will no longer be updated faster than
the monitor can be refreshed.
When a Shockwave3D cast member is set to display Direct To Stage, and where there is no other animation, Director
can ignore the monitor refresh rate. The movie can report a much faster frame tempo. Nonetheless, the end user will
only see screen updates at the rate at which the monitor is refreshed.
If you set the movie's frame tempo to 60 frames per second or less, you can avoid unexpected playback results on all
supported platforms.
Frames and Backgrounds
A DTS sprite will be rectangular and opaque. You will not be able to see any sprites behind it.
You may want to give the impression that a DTS 3D sprite is an irregular shape (not a rectangle). You can use overlays
to create a border that continues the design for the background for the rest of your movie.
You may want to give the impression that the 3D models are floating above the background on the Stage. You can use
a backdrop which fits seamlessly into the Stage background.
See “Overlays and backdrops” on page 47 for more details of both these features.
Last updated 8/26/2011
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