I’ve got many thousands of hours into this program; and this company, PixelMEDIA, was largely built on the back of Director.

We started as an interactive media company in 1994 – where our tag was actually ‘interactive multimedia solutions’. Demo diskettes, trade show presentations, interactive CD’s, and eLearning… all was possible. And I even designed at least half of them, and programmed another half (yes, laugh it up, it’s true. I wrote many thousands of lines of Lingo – prepped many thousands of screens of modeling, and animation and interfaces – I did – ask Erik.).

I started using Director in 1992 at Cabletron Systems. Every demo diskette, tradeshow piece and CD was done in Director. There was no Flash; there were no “mature web tools”. And Director ruled the era as Flash has the last several years. But Flash has it’s drawbacks and challenges.

Now I know what your thinking; why? Why unearth what the newer generation of designers and developers consider a relic. I mean – seriously; to some it’s sort of the rotary phone of it’s time. A one time amazing innovation, but may not so much anymore. Or maybe it’s the bag-phone? It depends on your age I guess.

Well, clearly that is no longer the case – as Adobe, in all it’s wisdom has brought it back. They too realized a huge void in the tools space; and have recently launched Adobe Director 11. And who are we to question Adobe? As they have consistently provided the tools we’ve used to build an industry on. Well done Adobe.
Peace. -t

• Demonstrate the strength and extensibility of Web-enabled computer-based training
• Create an experience that would appeal to and be usable by a non-technical audience
• Provide clear metrics to assess progress
• Clearly demonstrate ROI to the Executive committee

PixelMEDIA Solution
PixelMEDIA worked with the Senior Staff at Harvey Industries to create an engaging and highly modular experience that allowed for self-paced training and check-points designed to help train new hires and also keep the veterans current.

A vital component of this engagement was ensuring that participants are fully prepared to interact with contractors in selecting, installing, and troubleshooting product inquiries. This project included:

• An illustrated character to put a friendly, consistent face on the “instructor”
• An intuitive, user-friendly interface to minimize ramp-up time for users not familiar with computers
• Profile-based interactive content with multiple access levels to provide a custom path throughout the experience: Rookie, Journeyman, and Ace
• Check-point quizzes at the completion of each level determine access to the next level, ensuring prerequisites are met
• A final “Certificate” is auto-generated and tied into custom reports enabling HR to monitor an employee’s general proficiency

The Impact

• A 2003 MIMC Award was received for the Harvey Doors and Windows Module
• New hire ramp-up has been reduced from a few months to a few weeks
• Executive sponsorship has resulted in a series of five modules to be developed
• Additional modules and content updates are greatly expedited as a result of the modular framework

I truly believe that the rapport we team developed was instrumental in producing this top product. You guys are a true joy to work with.
—Marian Stuart, Training Manager, Harvey Industries

For this initiative, PixelMEDIA provided:

• Curriculum development
• Script and content development
• Custom illustrations and animations
• Complete FlashMX-enablement
• Custom reporting and SQL Server integration
• Network, Web and stand-alone packaging