Designing Web Audio & CD-ROM

Introduction to Shockwave

Shockwave for Director is a software component that enables compatible browsers such as Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer 2.0 and higher to play multimedia Director movies over the Web. Shockwave is designed to work with standard HTTP servers and is ideal for streaming short- to medium-length audio files and advanced multimedia presentations and games.

Shockwave movies are built within Director using the Score window, where all media elements are placed as cast members on channels or tracks along a timeline, as shown in Figure 9-14. Director is a powerful tool for orchestrating multiple media types such as video, animation, and sound into complex interactive presentations.

Director uses Lingo script to create sophisticated interactive games and presentations. Originally it was designed to provide CD-ROM developers with an advanced cross-platform authoring solution for building multimedia presentations. Shockwave uses Director’s Lingo scripting to directly interact with the operating system and multimedia functionality of a PC. Lingo enables the development of complex interactive soundtracks with audio fade-ins and fade-outs and panning effects tied to specific user actions. For example, with Lingo you can specify elegant cross-fades of separate audio clips when a user transitions from one scene or web page to another, instead of abruptly cutting off a sound.

Figure 9-14. The Score window used for orchestrating interactive events in Director ...