Hi all,

I've created a new Director survey that attempts to gather information
on current user base and their expectations going forward. Will say that
it is not a wish list survey but one that looks deeper at features and
how they translate into real projects. I have done this by asking users
to the
following:
(1) rank broad feature categories (3D, text, sound.)
(2) look at a subset of these broad categories and rank them
(3) give detailed examples of products that employ these features.

I have other sections that look at 'How you use Director', 'Director 11'
and 'About You'. These are short sections to give context to your
feature answers. The most detailed section is on the features and how
they will be used.

This is the most detailed Director survey in history. It will take 25-45
minutes to complete. The time will depend on how many feature categories
you choose to focus on and how many examples you provide. I STRONGLY
encourage you download a PDF version of the survey to review the
questions and features covered. Once you have put your thoughts
together, you can then enter your answers online.

I'm using Survey Monkey to manage and collate the survey. Please go to
the following URL first:
http://www.deansdirectortutorials.co...rectorRoadmap/
It gives the survey link, the PDF version, and some general info on the
survey.

The survey is mainly focused on users that develop products with
Director. But educators, learners, or anyone else that uses Director in
some form other than commercial development, can fill it in. So, spread
the word

Last thing for this email is a thanks to all that helped put this
together. This includes input from Ben (Duck), Noisecrime, and various
people at Adobe. Special thanks to Thomas McCrystal for his large role
in formulating and reviewing questions.

Thanks.

regards
Dean

Director Lecturer / Consultant / Director Enthusiast
http://www.deansdirectortutorials.com/
http://www.multimediacreative.com.au
email: d.utian@unsw.edu.au

Brilliant! Good initiative. Seems like a serious attempt at collecting some real data instead of relying on 'thoughts' and forum ramblings...
Hope everyone takes their time to answer this survey.

mikromidas wrote:

> Brilliant! Good initiative. Seems like a serious attempt at collecting some real data instead of relying on 'thoughts' and forum ramblings...
> Hope everyone takes their time to answer this survey.

Thanks. Yes, that's my plan and I do hope to collect some meaninful data.

regards
Dean

Director Lecturer / Consultant / Director Enthusiast
http://www.deansdirectortutorials.com/
http://www.multimediacreative.com.au
email: d.utian@unsw.edu.au

Thanks very much for all your efforts helping put this together! I for one
appreciate it.

I hope Adobe really put some resources behind the next version and get
Director back on track.

Best regards

Richard Smith


"Dean Utian" <d.utian@unsw.edu.au> wrote in message
news:48C5CDEE.3569E69A@unsw.edu.au...
> Hi all,
>
> I've created a new Director survey that attempts to gather information
> on current user base and their expectations going forward. Will say that
> it is not a wish list survey but one that looks deeper at features and
> how they translate into real projects. I have done this by asking users
> to the
> following:
> (1) rank broad feature categories (3D, text, sound.)
> (2) look at a subset of these broad categories and rank them
> (3) give detailed examples of products that employ these features.
>
> I have other sections that look at 'How you use Director', 'Director 11'
> and 'About You'. These are short sections to give context to your
> feature answers. The most detailed section is on the features and how
> they will be used.
>
> This is the most detailed Director survey in history. It will take 25-45
> minutes to complete. The time will depend on how many feature categories
> you choose to focus on and how many examples you provide. I STRONGLY
> encourage you download a PDF version of the survey to review the
> questions and features covered. Once you have put your thoughts
> together, you can then enter your answers online.
>
> I'm using Survey Monkey to manage and collate the survey. Please go to
> the following URL first:
> http://www.deansdirectortutorials.co...rectorRoadmap/
> It gives the survey link, the PDF version, and some general info on the
> survey.
>
> The survey is mainly focused on users that develop products with
> Director. But educators, learners, or anyone else that uses Director in
> some form other than commercial development, can fill it in. So, spread
> the word
>
> Last thing for this email is a thanks to all that helped put this
> together. This includes input from Ben (Duck), Noisecrime, and various
> people at Adobe. Special thanks to Thomas McCrystal for his large role
> in formulating and reviewing questions.
>
> Thanks.
>
> regards
> Dean
>
> Director Lecturer / Consultant / Director Enthusiast
> http://www.deansdirectortutorials.com/
> http://www.multimediacreative.com.au
> email: d.utian@unsw.edu.au
>

Thanks Richard,

Currently, 104 have started the survey, but only 75 have completed it to
section 4. In section 1 and 2, I have 104 responses. In section 3, question 1,
I have 78. The rest of section 3 has lower responses.

I'd be very happy with 500 responses. But for now, want to get over 200 at
least. So keep them coming people

regards
Dean

Director Next Roadmap Survey
http://www.deansdirectortutorials.co...rectorRoadmap/

Director Lecturer / Consultant / Director Enthusiast
http://www.deansdirectortutorials.com/
http://www.multimediacreative.com.au
email: d.utian@unsw.edu.au

First they need to start bundling Director Plugin with their Flash Player. The
more people that can view Shockwave content the better. That's the first first
step. They don't have to even make D12 for all I can. Director is dying
because there is a lack of audience over time. The player is not widely
distributed.

Flash wins over Director because its common sense to produce things in Flash
because there is a greater chance the content will be viewed. Who wants to
make Shockwave content when you realize people can't even view the content.
It really does NOT matter what they do to Director 12. No matter how cool it
is. How easy to use it is. How improved the 3D system is. If the market does
not have the plugin for it, it really does not matter.




[q]Originally posted by: Newsgroup User
Thanks very much for all your efforts helping put this together! I for one
appreciate it.

I hope Adobe really put some resources behind the next version and get
Director back on track.

Best regards

Richard Smith
[/q]

[q]Originally posted by: ronnickname
Flash wins over Director because its common sense to produce things in Flash
because there is a greater chance the content will be viewed.[/q]

It's a big misconception, you're typing.
By far the most content produced with Adobe Director is for offline
(projector).
Online Shockwave movies are nice to have, but it's not the major part of
business done with Director.

Just because you don't see Director content on a daily basis on the web,
it doesn't necessarily mean nobody uses it.

Cheers,
Martin

While I only have 130 responces so far, results show that the top primary use of
Director is:
* Desktop Application development.

Second place is tied with:
CD-ROM/DVD-ROM Development
and
3D Games (Shockwave or Desktop)

Third place is:
Shockwave Games (non-3D)

In the question of all the types of uses, results are:
* Desktop Application development. - 69%
* CD-ROM/DVD-ROM Development - 63%

E-Learning, Rapid Prototyping, Shockwave Games (non-3D), Multimedia Presentations
, Kiosk Development are all close at around 40%

What is the approximate mix of online (Shockwave) and offline (Projector) work
that you do?
Projector only - highest at 33.8%
Shockwave only - 31.1%
or in the following terms:
75% or more Projector - 66%
50/50 - 11%
75% or more Shockwave - 23 %

So, clearly, more Director production is happening offline than online. But
clearly teh online market is larger tahn offline, so any growth in Shockwave will
be good for Director.

regards
Dean

Director Next Roadmap Survey
http://www.deansdirectortutorials.co...rectorRoadmap/

Director Lecturer / Consultant / Director Enthusiast
http://www.deansdirectortutorials.com/
http://www.multimediacreative.com.au
email: d.utian@unsw.edu.au

Correction from last message
What is the approximate mix of online (Shockwave) and offline (Projector) work that
you do?
Projector only - 33.8%
Shockwave only - 3.1% (last message has 31.1%)
or in the following terms:
75% or more Projector - 66%
50/50 - 11%
75% or more Shockwave - 23 %

regards
Dean

Director Next Roadmap Survey
http://www.deansdirectortutorials.co...rectorRoadmap/

Director Lecturer / Consultant / Director Enthusiast
http://www.deansdirectortutorials.com/
http://www.multimediacreative.com.au
email: d.utian@unsw.edu.au

Just completed the survey. Goot attemt and I hope that Adobe will listen. From
your data it is clear that the major use of Director is Desktop development. I
am not sure why Adobe is trying to market the product as a web 3d creation
tool. I am sorry to say but I have already started using VB.NET in combination
with Director as I am starting to believe that Director will die. Thank god
that VB.NET is very similar to Director Lingo dot syntax and I am learnign
really fast. Unless, Adobe realises that they need to get Director back on
track as a desktop/rich internet application development tool, this is the last
project that I am doing with director.