here are the basic steps for putting a project on a cd.

the idea behind all this, is that you only put one version of your (big) director project on the cd, but create a "starter" to play your project. one for the pc and one for the mac. the starter is around 2 megabytes in size, and contains the director engine. one for the pc, and one for the mac, so both mac and pc can play your project file. this way you make maximum use of the cd space.

protect your director project.

first save your movie.

how it works: director converts your editable ".dir" file on your harddisk, into a protected ".dxr" file, that cannot be edited anymore. there is no way to change it back to a ".dir" file, so you should also create a backup of your original file into another folder. you can do it yourself, or let director do it for you. you choose.

it's a bit awkward how this works in director, so here is the explanation.

go to the menu "xtras, update movies". if you didn't save your project first, director will ask you to save it now.

if you want director to make a copy of your original file, before it gets converted to a protected movie, then start at the bottom of this menu to select the "back up folder". hit "browse", select (or create and select) a different folder for your original file, and hit the button:

just remember that if you do not have a copy of your original file, you will have quite a big problem after the conversion. be very careful, you are warned.

at the upper half of the menu, select "protect" and hit "ok".

the next pop up window will show:

here you can select the files that you want to convert into protected files. that is why you had to save your movie first before you can protect it: director only converts projects that are on the harddisk, not the project that is currently loaded into director.

select the director file and click "add".

then click "proceed".

when you did not select a folder for your original files, here is your last chance, after this you get a last warning, which you should read and understand before you click "ok".

director starts the conversion, and you will find a ".dxr" file in stead of a ".dir" file. when you try to open it, you get an error.

 
of course, this new ".dxr" file you use for your cd, so people will not be able to steal your work.

create a starter movie.

first start a new director project.
create a new behavior (for example "start movie") which, on the event "exit frame", opens another director movie (see under actions: "navigation", "go to movie").
fill in the exact filename of your protected movie. do not forget the ".dxr" file extension.

place the behavior on the first frame of the behavior channel in the score.
you only see the first letter of the name of the behavior, because there is not enough room. here it is the "s" from "start movie".

save this project into the same folder as your protected ".dxr"-file and call it something like "start.dir".

check if it works by playing this "start" movie. it should open and play the protected movie.

create a projector ("executable") of the starter movie. one for the mac, and one for the pc.

it is easiest to do this on a macintosh osx machine. open the "start" movie and go to "file, publish settings".
you should create a projector for windows and also one for the macintosh. the windows filename will be something like "start.exe", and the mac filename will be "start.osx".

for windows, the ".exe" file extension is obligatory.
for the macintosh, the ".osx" file extension is not obligatory.

hit "publish".

when you create the projectors on a windows machine, for safety reasons your macintosh projector will be zipped into an ".hqx" file. you first have to unzip it, before you can burn it. winzip or stuffit for windows will do the job nicely. on the mac, you use the program stuffit to unpack the file.
when you create the different projectors on a macintosh, you do not have to unzip the files first. they are ready to use.

do not forget to test. on a windows computer, double click "start.exe", and on a macintosh computer, start the mac "start" projector. your director project should start.

sometimes, this is called a "stub" movie. see foldoc or wikipedia (nl, uk).

make the cd autostart.

for the macintosh: os9 and earlier ("classic mac") can take autostart cd's, but you have to create them on an apple computer with a classic os9 or earlier installed. the burning software (like adaptec "toast") lets you point to the file that automatically starts when the cd is loaded into the mac.

osx and later cannot take autostart cd's. this functionality is disabled for security reasons. in the past, too many viruses were spread using the cd autostart function of the mac.

windows can take autostart cd's. when the cd is inserted into the machine, windows looks for a file named "autorun.inf" in the root of the cd. this is a text file, and you can create one yourself with notepad (pc) or simpletex (mac). do not use office word, because the file has to contain only plain text, no markup.
the file should contain the following two lines:

"start.exe" is the name of our director projector for windows.

now you have the following files that have to be copied to the cd:
- your big director project as a ".dxr" file
- the quicktime or avi movies (if there are any in your project). this is because director does not integrate movie files inside your project. all the other file types will be inside the project file.
- the windows and macintosh "start" projectors ("executables")
- the "autostart.inf" text file

burn and test your cd on a windows and a macintosh computer.
good luck!