Adobe Director Basics

ADOBE DIRECTOR BASICS
3D basics
Set a model's shaderList property to a single shader to copy that shader into each slot in the shaderList
Advantage of multiple shaders
Imagine that you want a model of a computer monitor. You can create this model with two separate meshes: one for
the plastic body of the monitor, and one for the screen. This approach allows you to change the shader on the screen
mesh without changing the shader for the body. You can refresh the screen of your monitor efficiently.
When designing a 3D model for a human character, you can use a separate mesh for the skin, the hair, and for each of
the characters clothes. This makes it easy to use the character as a customizable avatar.
Model resources and texture coordinates
An associated technique allows you to map specific points inside a texture to specific vertices of model resource. Your
third-party 3D design software will normally do this for you before you export your 3D world as a W3D file.
For more details on how to do this from within Director, see “Mapping a texture to a mesh resource” on page 150.
Lights
The appearance of a model depends on both the shaders that are attached to it and the lights that are shining on it. The
shader defines what the surface of the model looks like. The lights in a 3D world create an effect of light and shade on
the model. In a static scene on a 2D screen, the variations in light and shade on a model give your brain clues about
the 3D shape of the model.
In the real world, photons of light travel from a light source, and collide with real world objects. Depending on the
wavelength of the photon and the material it strikes, the photon may bounce off and change color. If you can read this,
there are countless photons around you, all moving at the same time.
When a team is making a high-budget computer-animated film, they can afford to simulate the movement of a large
number of photons. Each image of the film may be show for less than 42 milliseconds, but the company can afford to
have multiple state-of-the-art micro-processors working for several minutes to create each image.
In a movie created for Shockwave 3D, you need to rely on the micro-processor in your end-user's computer doing all
it can in less than 42 milliseconds. Shockwave 3D has to take shortcuts. The more realistic you want your scene to look,
the less efficient the shortcuts become.
Last updated 8/26/2011
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