March 9
Director 8 Shockwave Studio Available for Download
Beta player also available today

by David Nagel
Senior producer

Macromedia has made good on its promise to deliver its Director 8 Shockwave Studio this month. The new version, announced last month, is now available in full and upgrade versions from Macromedia's online store. A boxed version will be available later this month. Macromedia has also released a beta version of the latest Shockwave Player today, which is available for download at http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/alternates/. The full release version is expected March 27.

Users of Director 7 can upgrade to Director 8 Shockwave Studio for $399. Registered users of Director 5, 6 or 6.5 can upgrade for $499. A full release version is $999. New features in Director 8 include:

  • Property Inspector, which allows users to edit multiple sprite properties with a centralized, context-sensitive tool;
  • Guides, Sprite Locking, Zoom, and Pasteboard Stage Views;
  • Cast Manager, which allows users to sort cast members by name, size, dates, type and comments;
  • Launch and edit Linked Lingo Scripts in a text editor or source-code control system;
  • Multiple Curve Vectors, which allow for small, high-quality shapes;
  • Runtime Imaging effects and Transition Behaviors;
  • Precision Sound Control, which allows for mixing, panning, seeking, pausing, and synchronization of multiple sounds;
  • Fireworks 3 included;
  • Loader Movies with custom progress bars, backgrounds, or games while movies download;
  • Publish Command, which delivers scalable Shockwave content that fits any Web browser window.

The software allows for unlimited cast members and supports dynamic alpha channels, allowing users to import bitmapped artwork with alpha information from Photoshop and other applications. Flash 4 is integrated into Director 8 Shockwave Studio, which allows users to edit and manipulate Flash variables, audio and anti-aliased text.

Requirements for running Director 8 include a 180 MHz PowerPC, MAC OS 8.1 or later, 32 MB or more of application RAM, 100 MB of available disk space, 256-color monitor capable of 800 x 600 resolution and a CD-ROM drive. For more information, visit http://www.macromedia.com/software/director/.

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