| Many technology-oriented
books are quickly rendered out of date by the rapid pace of development in the field that
they try to cover. Director Power Solutions (DPS), published in late 1996,
not only suffers from this, but, with its many authors and poor editing, is inconsistent
in its focus and quality of information. Internet references now only a year old are no
longer available. Proclamations such as "not available on platform X" and
"no Xtra available that can Y" are now incorrect. While most of these problems are unavoidable (after all, it's now early 1998), DPS
readers are also confronted with inconsistencies that exacerbate the problem of staying up
to date with the latest in technology. Consider the following examples: some references to
"JavaScript" refer to it by its pre-release name, "LiveScript";
the font used to indicate code is often inconsistently or incorrectly used;
and there are excessive typographical errors in both code and body text. Anyone who has
tried to follow or duplicate code knows how much more difficult the process becomes when there are errors in the original text. The claim on the cover,
"Advanced Techniques You Can't Learn Anywhere Else," is significantly weakened
when authors point you to listservs and websites where the information can be
found.
Inaccuracies and layout errors aside, many of the chapters give good,
detailed examples on specific topics. In addition, several of the authors are luminaries
in the Director development field, so DPS should really be judged on a
chapter-by-chapter basis.
Chapter 1: Using Photoshop to Process 3D Elements in Director
Author: Jihad Battikha
Battikha points out errors common to developing interface graphics with a 3D appearance
for use in Director projects: don't anti-alias graphics' edges and make sure all
elements appear to have the same lighting sources based on their screen location.
Unfortunately, the masking technique he describes is closely tied to Kinetix's 3D Studio MAX and many of his Photoshop
pointers are rendered unnecessary by the recent release of Medialab's PhotoCaster Xtra.
Chapter 2: Understanding Digital Video within Director
Chapter 3: Lights, Camera, Action! - Working with Digital Video in Director
Chapter 4: Controlling Digital Video via Lingo
Author: Bruce Epstein
Perhaps the best section in DPS is Epstein's three chapters that detail the
intricacies of digital video in Director. These chapters are quite valuable. The
information here is primarily concerned with Apple's QuickTime video format. Epstein
neglects the MPEG option entirely and only briefly touches on AVIs. However, the
prominence of QuickTime in Director development and its superior integration with Director
is ample justification for Epstein's poor treatment of MPEG and AVI.
 |
|
Written February 1998
By Jon Ashley
Copyright © 1998 Jon Ashley.
All rights reserved. |
 |
 
Figure 1: Cover 52K jpg
Title:
Director Power Solutions
Authors:
Jihad Battikha
Dudley Bryan
Jeff Buell
Mark Castle
Bruce Epstein
Andy Hock
Tab Julius
Kirk Keller
Raśl Silva
Publisher:
Macmillan Publishing / New Riders
Date:
November 1996.
ISBN:
1-56205-665-4
Pages:
454.
several Director files are available
for download
Quick Summary:
If you find this book in the bargain bin, go ahead and pick it up. While having multiple
authors made the book's quality level and focus inconsistent (it would have benefited
greatly from better editing), there are many helpful chapters and examples. Unfortunately,
the book is plagued with typographical errors, formatting problems and inconsistent or
incomplete information. To its credit, the book contains a wide variety of information and
some of the authors are prominent in the Director developer community. |
