for interactive cd rom: use Director or Flash? 1

[30js30]

Is Flash capable of creating interactive cd-roms? I know action scripts will allow interactivity, but is Director a better app to use for interactive cds?

Thanks for the help.

 

[kennethkawamoto]

If you need local directory access, then you have to use Director or one of the Flash wrappers. Otherwise you can use Flash projector.

Kenneth Kawamoto

http://www.materiaprima.co.uk

 

[30js30]

Kenneth,

Thanks for your response. I should say up front that I am not familiar with Flash, projector, or the wrappers. What I am aiming to do is create a cd-rom where the user can interact with it. From the literature I've read, Director appears to be able to do this. Flash seems to be a more popular application. Given that, I thought I would use Flash if it was as capable as Director. If not, and if Director is a more user friendly app, I would go with Director. If you could elaborate on this and your earlier post, I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[kennethkawamoto]

Flash is made for web delivery and Director is made for CD-ROM (desktop applications).

But it's not as simple as that. Director movie can be delivered through web ("Shockwave"), and Flash can create executable/application for local playback ("Projector").

Flash is far more popular than Director now because web is far more popular than CD-ROM.

The main difference between Director and Flash is that Flash cannot interact with local machine while Director can. Director can create a file, install fonts, or even restart the machine. Flash is not allowed to do any of those things. AIR is invented to fill that gap for Flash but it is not suited for CD-ROM. 3rd party "wrapper" such as Zinc, mProjector, SWFStudio etc. lets you package your Flash movie so that it can behave like Director.

Director is far more versatile than Flash. Director can display almost any media within. All sorts of video formats are supported in Director while Flash can only display FLV (and H.264 since last week). Director can display PDF or even web page. Director can display and interact with Flash, it can be used as a Flash wrapper.

To summarise, there's nothing Director cannot do what Flash can - you can embed Flash after all - but Flash cannot do all of what Director can do. However, if your movie is simple interactive stuff, Flash would be easier to use. Flash is more up to date. Director is still MX2004, although new Director 11 should be out soon.

One other point is that Director needs plug-ins ("Xtras") to perform certain tasks. Director itself is far more expensive than Flash and Xtras can add more to your bill.

Kenneth Kawamoto

http://www.materiaprima.co.uk

 

[30js30]

Kenneth,

Many thanks for your detailed and clear explanation between these two.

It looked like Director was the choice all along, until you said, "However, if your movie is simple interactive stuff, Flash would be easier to use." Which mine basically is - it's pretty much an interactive educational movie, where the user selects the correct answer from a list of choices, sort of multiple choice. It's not a video game.

But is it still "easier to use" if I want to make a cd-rom, which I assume I could do, but I would need those wrappers?

BTW, I already have Director MX2004. But, I wanted to make sure it is the app before diving in. I would prefer to spend the money on a new app if it's going to save me time (both in learning/producing).

Thanks for patience and your time.

 

[kennethkawamoto]

Personally I would use Director, or Flash + wrapper. Flash on its own is not meant be used for CD-ROM.

Kenneth Kawamoto

http://www.materiaprima.co.uk

 

[30js30]

Kenneth,

Thanks again.
If I could, I would give you multple stars.

js