FLASH: FYI: Macromedia Unveils Director 7 Shockwave Internet Studio and New Shockwave 7

[Brad Bechtel]

Forwarded for your information:

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MACROMEDIA UNVEILS DIRECTOR 7 SHOCKWAVE INTERNET STUDIO AND NEW SHOCKWAVE 7 


Major Upgrade to the Premier Tool for Creating and Delivering Powerful Multimedia Enables Richer, More Compelling Web Experiences



San Francisco, Calif.  November 16, 1998 - Macromedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: MACR) today announced Director� 7 Shockwave� Internet Studio�, a major upgrade to the company�s flagship authoring software. The established standard for creating and delivering powerful multimedia, Macromedia Director is re-architected for the Internet, enabling developers to build the most engaging, entertaining Websites possible. The company also debuted Shockwave 7, a major new release of the popular Web interactive multimedia player. Optimized for speed and ease of use, Shockwave 7 provides the fastest, most reliable interactive multimedia playback available.  


�The Internet is changing everything, and Director 7 Shockwave Internet Studio will change the Internet,� said Norm Meyrowitz, President of Macromedia Products. �Extensive research into customer needs for multimedia development helped us define core capabilities for the Studio: narrowband and broadband-quality animation, rich audio integration, streamlined playback, and support for emerging Web standards such as XML. With these innovative new features, our customers can build Websites that engage, entertain, and educate through the compelling use of sound, animation, and interactivity. Anyone who is developing Web content needs to look at the Director 7 Shockwave Internet Studio."


Director 7 features an optimized, completely redesigned playback engine and a comprehensive set of new Internet features. Support for a wide range of media types as well as sophisticated effects such as alpha channels and dynamic scaling and rotation allow developers to create compelling experiences that marry the production values and visceral appeal of television with the immediacy of the Internet. The compact Shockwave player gives multimedia developers reach, providing them access to a mass audience. Ease of use features like pre-built behaviors make authoring multimedia simpler and faster.


The Studio includes Macromedia Fireworks�, a highly acclaimed tool for creating and producing Web graphics, as well as Sonic Foundry�s Sound Forge XP4 or BIAS Peak LE for professional quality sound editing. Customers also receive a multi-user server for creating distributed Shockwave experiences such as multi-player games and online chat rooms.


All-New Shockwave


Shockwave 7 has been revamped to deliver incredible multimedia experiences on the Internet. Playback is faster and more stable, thanks to optimized event processing, smart media streaming, and faster startup. Shockwave 7 downloads quickly and updates automatically, providing easy access to rich multimedia Web experiences regardless of connection speed. With over thirty million successful downloads to date, Shockwave is the de facto standard for interactive Web multimedia. Inclusion of the player in Microsoft Windows 98, MacOS 8.5, and AOL 4 gives Shockwave the greatest reach of any interactive multimedia playback technology, creating the infrastructure for an unprecedented diversity of entertainment and educational programming. Shockwave 7 delivers high performance, new effects and, with auto-updating, the guarantee that Web audiences will always be able to view the latest multimedia. 


Internet-Native Design and Delivery


To address the growing sophistication of Web applications, Director 7 now supports Internet standard protocols such as HTML, with links to all Director-supported media types (text, graphics, sound, video, and animation); HTTP for media distribution; HTTPS for secure e-commerce transactions; XML for data exchange; CGI POST for two-way communication; and updated support for Java. Super-compressed �Shocked� fonts beautifully solve the problem of cross-browser and cross-platform typeface display, and the anti-aliased text can be edited even at run time. The multi-user server dramatically reduces the cost of creating multi-player games and shared experiences such as media-rich chat rooms by eliminating the need for complex, custom-engineered server solutions. New vector drawing tools and native support for Flash animations allow developers to easily integrate high-quality, compact vector imagery, further reducing download times.


Compelling, Immersive Web Experiences


A central issue facing Web developers is how to create sites rich with sound, animation, and interactivity in a bandwidth-constrained environment. Director 7 Shockwave Internet Studio addresses this problem, adding support for sophisticated features such as alpha channels to control object blending and transparency, plus real-time effects such as flipping and skewing. Processing is performed dynamically on the client machine, taking advantage of today�s processor speeds while reducing demand for bandwidth resulting in a faster, more enjoyable experience for Web audiences. In addition to its native effects capabilities, Director 7 uniquely allows developers to integrate and control other key Web technologies such as Flash, QuickTime 3, QTVR, animated GIF, HTML, and XML, enabling Internet retailers, entertainment sites, and others to communicate with maximum effectiveness.


"Reebok is a brand about technology and creating possibilities,� said Marvin Chow, Director of Interactive Marketing, Reebok International Ltd. �In Reebok's continuous effort to improve communications with its consumers and retailers, innovative technology often comes into play. Macromedia�s Director 7 Shockwave Internet Studio is a pivotal technology, allowing us to create a rich interactive experience both on the Web and CD-ROM." 

 

Immediate Creation and Playback


Director 7 speeds multimedia authoring with new behavior libraries so that experienced designers and novices alike can quickly add animation and interactivity to Websites encouraging surfers to spend more time on the site and return more often. New drag-and-drop behaviors in Director 7 include multi-state buttons, progress bars, rotation, quad animation, scale effects, and many more useful operations. Behaviors are fully editable, and can be shared across projects via the new Library Palette. Director�s powerful Lingo scripting language has been greatly enhanced to control Internet connectivity, vector shapes, alpha channels, scaling, and rotation. In addition, Lingo now supports an efficient dot syntax familiar to users of JavaScript or Visual Basic along with script coloring for faster coding and debugging.


The new playback engine enables Director 7 to support up to 1000 media channels per frame. Animation performance has been dramatically increased as well: Director can now process and play back up to 999 frames per second. Importantly, all this power has been added without sacrificing Director�s simple visual development metaphor, which has become the industry standard.



Pricing and Availability

Director 7 Shockwave Internet Studio for Windows 95/98, Windows NT 4.0 or later, and MacOS 7.6.1 or later, will be available in December 1998 for an estimated street price of US $999 in North America. Registered users of previous versions of Director can upgrade to the Director 7 Shockwave Internet Studio for US $499 or the standalone version of Director 7 for US $449 (U.S. and Canada). The Director 7 Shockwave Internet Studio can be purchased by calling (800) 457-1774, or bought directly from Macromedia�s Website at <http://www.macromedia.com/http://www.macromedia.com. Interested parties outside North America should contact their local Macromedia distributor for pricing and availability.


About Macromedia 

Macromedia's mission is to add life to the Web.  By providing its award-winning Web Publishing, Web Traffic, and Web Learning solutions to Web designers, consumers, and the enterprise, Macromedia is delivering a completely new generation of Internet tools and technologies designed to transform the Web experience.  Headquartered in San Francisco, Macromedia (NASDAQ: MACR) has more than 500 employees worldwide and is available on the Internet at <http://www.macromedia.com/http://www.macromedia.com.  Macromedia also hosts one of the most engaging entertainment sites on the Web at <http://www.shockrave.com/http://www.shockrave.com. 


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Director, Director 7 Shockwave Internet Studio, Flash, Fireworks and Shockwave are trademarks or registered trademarks of Macromedia, Inc., as indicated. All other names and terms in this release may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.


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