Two questions:
Which other programs do people use in conjunction with Director, for
interactive work (not 3d)?
Also, are there any other programs that will do interactive multimedia work,
with the ability to play videos, etc. like Director (again, not the 3d portion)?

Flash

I forgot to mention the ones I already know of, or use...
Here's (part of) the list:
Premiere Pro
After Effects
Photoshop
Illustrator

I know Flash will do some of the stuff, but a lot of what I do is playing .mpg
or .wmv video files, and anyway, I know Director and I don't know Flash...

Does anybody use Fireworks?
And other programs??
Thanks.

> Premiere Pro
> After Effects
> Photoshop
> Illustrator
>
> I know Flash will do some of the stuff, but a lot of what I do is playing .mpg
> or .wmv video files

A couple of the programs you mention are used to *produce* video, but
not exactly /play/ it. There others are graphics production tools

> Does anybody use Fireworks?

Which is also a (web-centric) graphics production tool.
None of those you mention compete with Director, though they are useful
tools in a Director-centric production pipeline. I thought you were
asking about alternatives for (interactive) multimedia production.

I was asking both...
Basically, I was wondering if there are other useful programs to use with Director, or if there is any reason to look into alternate software for what I'm doing.

ytlevine posted in macromedia.director.basics:

> I forgot to mention the ones I already know of, or use...
> Here's (part of) the list:
> Premiere Pro
> After Effects
> Photoshop
> Illustrator
>
> I know Flash will do some of the stuff, but a lot of what I do is
> playing .mpg or .wmv video files, and anyway, I know Director and I
> don't know Flash...

I use a little Flash once in a while for Director stuff, but since I never
upgraded past Macromedia's Dir 8.5 I have to save as Flash 5 to use with
Dir. Works fine for simple interactivity and anims (better than animGifs
or filmloops).

> Does anybody use Fireworks?

<raises hand>

I've gotten so I prefer Fireworks over PhotoShop for everything
Director/Web. Its UI is sort of a PS/Illustrator hybrid - taking the best
of both UIs. Fireworks .PNG files inserted into Director Castlibs are
still editable with all their layers, objects, and transparency - even if
you've deleted the original .PNG files from disk. I don't know if Adobe's
Dir 11 supports .PSD the same way.

Photoshop & PaintShop Pro still work better for me with photos and print
work.

> And other programs??

I use the UltraEdit text/programming editor for longer scripts - primarily
for column editing and superior search/replace plus other features not
available in Director's script editor.

3rd party Xtras I use in nearly every Director project:
Buddy API
OSControls
DirectMediaXtra (old version - recommend new version, though)
PrintOMatic
PropSave
ScreenXtra


--
Mark A. Boyd
Keep-On-Learnin'