Macromedia Shockwave
Encyclopedia
Adobe Shockwave is a multimedia
platform
used to add animation
and interactivity
to web pages. It allows Adobe Director
applications to be published on the Internet and viewed in a web browser
on any computer which has the Shockwave plug-in installed. It was first developed by Macromedia
, and released in 1995 and was later acquired by Adobe Systems
in 2005.
environment. While there is support for including Flash
movies inside Shockwave files, authors often choose the Shockwave Director combination over Flash because it offers more features and more powerful tools. Features not replicated by Flash include a much faster rendering engine, including hardware-accelerated 3D, and support for various network protocols, including Internet Relay Chat
. Also, Shockwave's functionality can be extended with "Xtra
s".
or Solaris despite intense lobbying efforts. However, the Shockwave Player can be installed on Linux with CrossOver
or by running a Windows version of a supported browser in Wine
(with varying degrees of success).
Shockwave was available as a plug-in for both Mac OS
and Windows
for most of its history. However, there was a notable break in support for the Macintosh
between January 2006 (when Apple Inc. released Apple–Intel transition based on the Intel Core Duo) and March 2008 (when Adobe Systems released Shockwave 11, the first version to run natively on Intel Macs).
by Macromedia Director team members Harry Chesley, John Newlin, Sarah Allen
, and Ken Day, influenced by a previous plug-in that Macromedia had created for Microsoft's Blackbird. Version 1.0 of Shockwave was released independent of Director 4 and its development schedule has since coincided with the release of Director since version 5. Its versioning also has since been tied to Director's and thus there were no Shockwave 2-4 releases.
Shockwave 1: The Shockwave plug-in for Netscape Navigator 2.0 was released in 1995, along with the standalone Afterburner utility to compress Director files for Shockwave playback. The first large-scale multimedia site to use Shockwave was Intel's 25th Anniversary of the Microprocessor.
Shockwave 5: Afterburner is integrated into the Director 5.0 authoring tool as an Xtra.
Shockwave 6: Added support for Shockwave Audio (swa) which consisted of the emerging MP3 file format with some additional headers.
Shockwave 7: Added support for linked media including images and casts.
Added support for Shockwave Multiuser Server.
Shockwave 8.5: Added support for Intel's 3D technologies including rendering.
Shockwave 10: Last version to support Mac OS X 10.3 and lower, and Mac OS 9
.
Shockwave 11: Added support for Intel-based Macs.
as a multimedia plugin, Shockwave and Flash
became more difficult to maintain as separate products. In 2005, Macromedia marketed three distinct browser player plugins under the brand names Macromedia Authorware
, Macromedia Shockwave, and Macromedia Flash.
Macromedia also released a web browser plug-in for viewing Macromedia FreeHand
files online. It was branded Macromedia Shockwave for FreeHand and displayed specially compressed .fhc Freehand files.
Later, with the acquisition of Macromedia
, Adobe Systems slowly began to rebrand
all products related to Shockwave.
survey conducted in December 2010 finds that Shockwave content reaches 52% of Internet viewers. Over 450 million Internet-enabled desktops have Adobe Shockwave Player installed. It uses .DCR (a Director Compressed Resource) files created using the authoring tool Adobe Director
.
Multimedia
Multimedia is media and content that uses a combination of different content forms. The term can be used as a noun or as an adjective describing a medium as having multiple content forms. The term is used in contrast to media which use only rudimentary computer display such as text-only, or...
platform
Platform (computing)
A computing platform includes some sort of hardware architecture and a software framework , where the combination allows software, particularly application software, to run...
used to add animation
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
and interactivity
Interactivity
In the fields of information science, communication, and industrial design, there is debate over the meaning of interactivity. In the "contingency view" of interactivity, there are three levels:...
to web pages. It allows Adobe Director
Adobe Director
Adobe Director is a multimedia application authoring platform created by Macromedia—now part of Adobe Systems. It allows users to build applications built on a movie metaphor, with the user as the "director" of the movie...
applications to be published on the Internet and viewed in a web browser
Web browser
A web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content...
on any computer which has the Shockwave plug-in installed. It was first developed by Macromedia
Macromedia
Macromedia was an American graphics and web development software company headquartered in San Francisco, California that produced such products as Flash and Dreamweaver. Its rival, Adobe Systems, acquired Macromedia on December 3, 2005 and controls the line of Macromedia...
, and released in 1995 and was later acquired by Adobe Systems
Adobe Systems
Adobe Systems Incorporated is an American computer software company founded in 1982 and headquartered in San Jose, California, United States...
in 2005.
Description
Shockwave movies are authored in the Adobe DirectorAdobe Director
Adobe Director is a multimedia application authoring platform created by Macromedia—now part of Adobe Systems. It allows users to build applications built on a movie metaphor, with the user as the "director" of the movie...
environment. While there is support for including Flash
Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...
movies inside Shockwave files, authors often choose the Shockwave Director combination over Flash because it offers more features and more powerful tools. Features not replicated by Flash include a much faster rendering engine, including hardware-accelerated 3D, and support for various network protocols, including Internet Relay Chat
Internet Relay Chat
Internet Relay Chat is a protocol for real-time Internet text messaging or synchronous conferencing. It is mainly designed for group communication in discussion forums, called channels, but also allows one-to-one communication via private message as well as chat and data transfer, including file...
. Also, Shockwave's functionality can be extended with "Xtra
Xtra (Macromedia)
Xtras are plug-in applications for Macromedia products , in particular Adobe Director. They can be user-created, or bought from third party vendors. Adobe maintains a list of third party Xtras...
s".
Platform support
Unlike Flash, the Shockwave browser plugin is not available for LinuxLinux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
or Solaris despite intense lobbying efforts. However, the Shockwave Player can be installed on Linux with CrossOver
Crossover
-Fiction and media:* Fictional crossover, a storyline combining characters or settings from separate fictional properties** Fictional crossovers in video games* Crossover , a 2002 documentary by Justin Lin...
or by running a Windows version of a supported browser in Wine
Wine (software)
Wine is a free software application that aims to allow computer programs written for Microsoft Windows to run on Unix-like operating systems. Wine also provides a software library, known as Winelib, against which developers can compile Windows applications to help port them to Unix-like...
(with varying degrees of success).
Shockwave was available as a plug-in for both Mac OS
Mac OS
Mac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...
and Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
for most of its history. However, there was a notable break in support for the Macintosh
Macintosh
The Macintosh , or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced by Apple's then-chairman Steve Jobs on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a...
between January 2006 (when Apple Inc. released Apple–Intel transition based on the Intel Core Duo) and March 2008 (when Adobe Systems released Shockwave 11, the first version to run natively on Intel Macs).
Applications
Although Shockwave was designed for making a wide variety of online movies and animations, its actual use has become concentrated in the area of game development. It is often used in online applications which require a very rich graphical environment. Online Learning tools which simulate real-world physics or involve significant graphing, charting, or calculation sometimes use Shockwave.History
The Shockwave player was originally developed for the Netscape browserNetscape Navigator
Netscape Navigator was a proprietary web browser that was popular in the 1990s. It was the flagship product of the Netscape Communications Corporation and the dominant web browser in terms of usage share, although by 2002 its usage had almost disappeared...
by Macromedia Director team members Harry Chesley, John Newlin, Sarah Allen
Sarah Allen (software)
Sarah Allen is an American software developer and entrepreneur. Sarah attended Brown University in Rhode Island, where she majored in computer science and visual arts. Early in her career, she was a key contributor to the creation of Adobe After Effects, Adobe Shockwave, Flash video...
, and Ken Day, influenced by a previous plug-in that Macromedia had created for Microsoft's Blackbird. Version 1.0 of Shockwave was released independent of Director 4 and its development schedule has since coincided with the release of Director since version 5. Its versioning also has since been tied to Director's and thus there were no Shockwave 2-4 releases.
Shockwave 1: The Shockwave plug-in for Netscape Navigator 2.0 was released in 1995, along with the standalone Afterburner utility to compress Director files for Shockwave playback. The first large-scale multimedia site to use Shockwave was Intel's 25th Anniversary of the Microprocessor.
Shockwave 5: Afterburner is integrated into the Director 5.0 authoring tool as an Xtra.
Shockwave 6: Added support for Shockwave Audio (swa) which consisted of the emerging MP3 file format with some additional headers.
Shockwave 7: Added support for linked media including images and casts.
Added support for Shockwave Multiuser Server.
Shockwave 8.5: Added support for Intel's 3D technologies including rendering.
Shockwave 10: Last version to support Mac OS X 10.3 and lower, and Mac OS 9
Mac OS 9
Mac OS 9 is the final major release of Apple's Mac OS before the launch of Mac OS X. Introduced on October 23, 1999, Apple positioned it as "The Best Internet Operating System Ever," highlighting Sherlock 2's Internet search capabilities, integration with Apple's free online services known as...
.
Shockwave 11: Added support for Intel-based Macs.
Branding and name confusion
In an attempt to raise its brand profile all Macromedia players prefixed Shockwave to their names in the late 1990s. Although this campaign was successful and helped establish Shockwave FlashSWF
SWF is an Adobe Flash file format used for multimedia, vector graphics and ActionScript. Originating with FutureWave Software, then transferred to Macromedia, and then coming under the control of Adobe, SWF files can contain animations or applets of varying degrees of interactivity and function.,...
as a multimedia plugin, Shockwave and Flash
SWF
SWF is an Adobe Flash file format used for multimedia, vector graphics and ActionScript. Originating with FutureWave Software, then transferred to Macromedia, and then coming under the control of Adobe, SWF files can contain animations or applets of varying degrees of interactivity and function.,...
became more difficult to maintain as separate products. In 2005, Macromedia marketed three distinct browser player plugins under the brand names Macromedia Authorware
Macromedia Authorware
Macromedia Authorware was an interpreted, flowchart based, graphical programming language. Authorware is used for creating interactive programs that can integrate a range of multimedia content, particularly e-learning applications...
, Macromedia Shockwave, and Macromedia Flash.
Macromedia also released a web browser plug-in for viewing Macromedia FreeHand
Macromedia FreeHand
Macromedia FreeHand is a computer application for creating two-dimensional vector graphics that are oriented primarily to professional illustration, desktop publishing and content creation for the Web. FreeHand is similar in scope, intended market, and functionality to Adobe Illustrator, CorelDraw...
files online. It was branded Macromedia Shockwave for FreeHand and displayed specially compressed .fhc Freehand files.
Later, with the acquisition of Macromedia
Macromedia
Macromedia was an American graphics and web development software company headquartered in San Francisco, California that produced such products as Flash and Dreamweaver. Its rival, Adobe Systems, acquired Macromedia on December 3, 2005 and controls the line of Macromedia...
, Adobe Systems slowly began to rebrand
Rebranding
Rebranding is the creation of a new name, term, symbol, design, or a combination of them for an established brand with the intention of developing a differentiated position in the mind of stakeholders and competitors....
all products related to Shockwave.
Market penetration
According to Adobe Systems, a Millward BrownMillward Brown
Millward Brown is a global company focused on brands, media and communications. It is part of Kantar Group, the insights arm of WPP plc, and the world’s second largest market research organization after Nielsen Company.-Leadership:...
survey conducted in December 2010 finds that Shockwave content reaches 52% of Internet viewers. Over 450 million Internet-enabled desktops have Adobe Shockwave Player installed. It uses .DCR (a Director Compressed Resource) files created using the authoring tool Adobe Director
Adobe Director
Adobe Director is a multimedia application authoring platform created by Macromedia—now part of Adobe Systems. It allows users to build applications built on a movie metaphor, with the user as the "director" of the movie...
.
External links
- Adobe Shockwave Player
- Adobe.com/shockwave/welcome - Test your Shockwave and Flash plugins
- Adobe.com/TechnoteAdobe.com/Technote using The Wayback Machine - What's the difference between Shockwave and Flash? (dated 2004)
- How Stuff Works - The Difference Between Flash and Shockwave
- Shockwave.com, games website created as an independent company in 1999 by Macromedia and merged with AtomFilmsAtom FilmsAtom.com is a broadband entertainment network offering original short subject films, animations, and series by independent creators...
in 2001. - Shockwave3d.com - hundreds of examples of Shockwave's 3D capabilities
- Dean's Shockwave Hall of Fame