Director 8.5 to Pack "Tron" 3D Engine

Macromedia will soon announce a 3D software component package that will ship as part of the company's Director 8.5 Shockwave Studio Suite, sources told AppleInsider last week.

Referred to as "Tron" by Macromedia employees and company beta testers, the software adds powerful 3D capacity to Director 8 Shockwave Studio, allowing users to create and animate 3D models within Director.

Additionally, sources said, users will have the ability to import 3D models or entire 3D worlds created with external 3D modeling programs. "Developers can then take that 3D world created in their modeling program and add to it or modify it in Tron, eventually using Director to package those 3D models for delivery on the world wide web," one source said.

The Tron software is apparently based on a combination of Macromedia and Intel technology and allows development of a wide spectrum of 3D productions, ranging from simple text handling to complete immersive game environments that can be accessed via Macromedia's free Shockwave player with current versions Netscape or Internet Explorer.

According to its developers, Tron features advanced hardware detection procedures that automatically detect the capabilities of the user's system and adjusts playback demands accordingly.

The package will ship with a Shockwave 3D Xtra, which adds 3D capacity to Director 8 Shockwave Studio as well as a "Tron" Shockwave 3D Viewer the allows users to inspect and edit a 3D cast member in a viewing environment that resembles what the end-users will see on the web.

Most complex operations in Tron are performed through Lingo, Director's built-in scripting language, however, the Suite will ship with a Tron behaviors library that allow users to build and control a 3D environment without any knowledge of Lingo.

The Tron software package is currently in its mid developmental stages and the completed Director 8.5 Shockwave Studio Suite is due out some time later this year.