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 Name: Troy Hipolito
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
User Group: Atlanta Macromedia User Group
Email: troy@shockwaveserver.com
Homepage: old portfolio :( http://www.thirdimpact.com/ )
Birthday: 07.19.72
Education: Degree in Graphic Design, Certificates
in CAD and Engineering Development
Nickname that I hate: Well, I don't currently
have a nickname, but in my late teens I did. Back then I was very fit
and my close friends liked to make fun of me by calling me Hercules.
That really got under my skin and embarrassed me in front of the ladies.
Now, I really wish I were still in shape. Now I am just a regular guy.
My mom said she would mail me a Bow Flex but she really
sent me a Toe Flex instead. That was a very sad day for me.
Oh yes, I forgot about "swissapino". I get that because
my mom is from Switzerland and my father from the Philippines.
Job title that best describes what I do: Well
I have many titles, however if I had to narrow it down to three it would
be: Interactive Developer / Entrepreneur / Enthusiast
Years in multimedia: Going on 7 years It
is a combination of design, Web, CD-ROM and other interactive areas.
The last good book that I read: Most of
my Director information is picked up from forums. I have one on my shocksites.com resource site. I did just pick up [Paul
Catanese's]Director's Third Dimension. It seems very promising.
I would like to do more in the 3D realm and continue learning as well
as developing cool interactive apps for clients.
Favorite music to crunch code by: My wife
gave me tons of Latin Dance music. I like that a lot, however I would
have to say my favorite is the '80s music. Yes the good old times. With
happy or sad strange songs you can hear of the sound tracks of movies
like Goonies, The Wedding Singer, and Better off Dead.
If I wasn't doing this I'd be: Well, I really
do not know. I tell my family that I would be selling coconuts by some
beach (that means that I would like to do something a little less stressful).
Seriously though, I think I would like to expand and maintain my interactive
consulting firm (full time), and maybe teach and help others get excited
in creating interactive stuff.
I've always wanted to meet: There are many
people worth meeting, but I would have to say Bruce Lee. Ya, Bruce
Lee! He had a way of thinking that was very enlightening. He fought
against many struggles and proved to the world that one man can make
a difference. I think that in some way I would like to make a difference.
When they make my life story into a movie, they'll
cast: Hmmmm, I would have to Keanu Reeves would play my part
because he is a very bad actor and people say we look similar (actually
I am much better looking). My extended family in Costa Rica calls my
son "The son of the One". So they are referring to me as the "One".
I know that it is pretty darn corny but it was not my doing.
Currently working on:
#1 I just finished a little desktop application for DASANI water (it's
a Coke company). It is called the Watermeter. It is not a great achievement
but it does have some cool features like a soft shadow, transparent
background without any pixelation. It also reads, writes, and tracks
how much water you drink. You can download it at DASANI's site. #2 I am constantly working on my Director resource site
and trying to cram more stuff in it. I am getting lots of help from
other developers and that's good. I think I will need to do some redesigning
and arranging of some elements.
Three words that best describe me: In this
order: Father, Nerd, Designer, Enthusiast and Ninja (well, just when
I am playing with my son, he likes playing Ninja). Ummm, sorry I think
that is 5 words.
If I had a time machine, I'd: Probably buy
some Micosoft stock at the beginning of it all (you know you'd do it
too).
Besides that, taking into consideration of all the
good and bad in my life I would not change a thing. For the most part
are what we are for the reasons and choices we make and I like that.
DOUG: Troy, tell us something about how you got
into the multimedia business and what types of projects you've worked
on over the years.
OK here is a short life story:
Back in the days of High School I enjoyed drawing and building so I
went to the Vocational school for Drafting. I saw that computers were
just starting to be used for CAD and that interested me in more ways
you count. I figured CAD (Computer Aided Design) was a way to express
creativity and using those new fancy 286 computers running DOS. After
that I worked for an Engineering firm for about a year and a half.
I got really bored with the engineering stuff. It was very restrictive.
Then the market crashed and everyone lost their government contracts.
Sooo, I joined the Army thinking it would help pay for school (which
it did). There I was a sniper for a while, it was kinda fun but I just
knew that there was more to life than shooting at "targets." Just kidding!
I was just Army Reserves and had only about a year and half of active
duty. After that I went back to school to get a Degree in Engineering
but then I found out how to express design on computers. It was called
Communication Arts. I finished up and started out as a Web Designer
at a local firm. (sorry, maybe that was too much information)
Since then, I have worked at several interactive companies (as well
as having lots independent projects). Many projects required me to further
develop skills in Interface Design, Web Development, Flash, Director
and combinations thereof.
Here is a short list of some projects I developed.
- Many .com CDs and websites (now they're all .gone).
- CD-ROMs presentations for Fender Guitars, GE Lighting, the NBA,
the US Army, Dunlop, Maxfli Golf, DASANI, and Cingular.
- Some of the Web Site stuff would be for Land Rover, Jones Design,
PolyVison, Georgia State University, Cingular, Spider-Man, shocksites,
shockwaveserver and lots of smaller companies.
- Most of the interactive downloads I've created are for the same
clients. About 70% of this is done as an employee of an interactive
agency and the rest is all independent contracts. You can find a list
of some of the work at: http://www.thirdimpact.com/.
DOUG: The decision to start up a hosting service
isn't trivial. When the company's name is associated with a product
that's no longer supported by its publisher, you might say it's very
brave or very...well, let's just stick with brave. What lead to your
decision to establish shockwaveserver.com? When did you go live with
the service, and has response met your expectations?
Shockwaveserver is not specifically designed for profit but an added
value to clients and developers. Services offered are quality hosting
with multiple technologies and full control for clients and developers.
Our clients want quick response and developers want full control. Now
any admin of any account can have this. Each account comes with a control
panel that allows them to connect there own ODBC connections, WEB and
POP mail accounts, backups, and much more. Take a look at http://www.shockwaveserver.com/ for details.
A little history:
In the beginning I was just paying for too many website accounts and
was very frustrated when I could not find a good provider with SMUS
[Shockwave Multiuser Server] and the ability to control accounts. I
do not think any developer likes to jump through hoops just to create
a new email or ODBC connection to their database.
The entire system of shockwaveserver now supports all the technologies
we use and most of it is also automated. I no longer pay other companies
for hosting or worry about what technology they will support or if they
have a solid SMUS connection.
Many of our clients have hosting needs, so I use shockwaveserver as
an added value. It also helps to seal contracts by letting clients know
how integrated the entire development/production/hosting process is.
There are many Director apps we make that have updateable or online
components and a website to go along with it. It is good solution and
works with everything we build.
This process keeps costs low for the current client and customer base.
A little bit for the Developers:
The Shockwave Multiuser Server offers great things with Director. Unfortunately
it is pretty useless unless you have access to a live SMUS connection.
In addition, I, along with many other Director developers were a little
disappointed when Macromedia decided to stop support for this. Don't
get me wrong I love Macromedia products. I use Dreamweaver, Flash, Director,
and Fireworks as my main software suite. However I don't see why a very
good product should be dropped so suddenly. I understand that Flash
Communication Server has much of the same functionality but it is very
different, another learning curve and expensive to support. Also there
is not much information on how to use FCS with Director. That makes
it very difficult to develop with. It is much easier to use SMUS because
it is already integrated with Director.
Moving right along:
I figured I would allow SMUS connections as well as hosting to other
developers who had similar needs. Actually I received a number of emails
from individuals and companies that are currently developing or plan
on developing SMUS applications. Their main concern was to figure out
how long do I plan on supporting SMUS connections. Well my answer was:
We will always support the SMUS and developers that wish to use it for
private and commercial needs for as long as we exist.
In conclusion, shockwaveserver by itself is not specifically designed
for profit. It is designed to add value for current and prospected clients
as well as developers that wish to do the same.
NOTE: It is not advertised on the general site but for Director developers
we offer a reduced hosting plan.
DOUG: Shockwaveserver.com offers something that
a number of developers have been crying out for for years. Can you elaborate
on the process that a developer with an account needs to take to implement,
say, a simple multiuser chat through the hosted Shockwave Multiuser
Server? What about projects that require server-side Lingo?
Actually, I was one of those developers crying out - and for years!
Let's start with a general account then move up to the SMUS. After
a customer or developer signs up for an account, within 24 hours they
receive a welcome email with all the information they will need to set
up the account.
This will give access to, FTP, email, WebMail and most importantly
the control panel. The control panel is an interface that lets you setup,
create and control eMail accounts, ODBC, backups, FTP and just about
everything else (except connecting to SMUS capabilities).
Now the SMUS information is only sent to the developer when they request
it. It is separated for reasons of additional security and resource
allocation.
With the SMUS account they will be able to test and develop their applications.
It is not restricted to web-based but can be used for desktop presentations/applications
and CD/DVD as well. It is however suggested to link the SMUS connection
information externally (with a text file, linked cast or linked Director
Movie) so it can be changed without altering the Shockwave movie, projector
or CD/DVD. We will have more information on implementing this by mid-August
2003 on our support page.
There are several reasons to suggest separating the SMUS connection
information from the main online shockwave piece, projector or CD/DVD.
- For security purposes, the SMUS account information may change to
prevent unwanted users taking up customer's bandwidth.
- Depending on the processor demand we often add new servers for better
performance.
- If the SMUS info is separated it can be changed quickly without
problems to websites, desktop applications, or CD/DVD based material.
As far as the server-side Lingo goes, it all depends on what functions
it performs and may require a quick approval through the server administrator.
Also the developer must keep in mind that the server is running a Windows
environment.
DOUG: Can you tell us a little about the physical
makeup of shockwaveserver.com? What type of connection do you have?
What level of technical support do you offer?
We are located in Atlanta and connected directly to the backbone of
the Internet. Each server has an average throughput of 1 to 10 MBs per
second (1.5 MBs is equal to T1 speeds). The servers are custom-built
Pentium IV processors running 512 to 2 gigs of ram with a RAID 1 system
running a Windows OS. The number of accounts per hosting station are
limited to allow better performance. For additional information on server
specs and accounts check out the Getting Started page.
Now getting to the technical support:
For hosting services we make sure it works. That would include connectivity,
email, ODBC connections, stats and things of that nature. We respond
quickly to every request to resolve many issues, however we do not extensively
troubleshoot other site's code for errors. This service is for developers
or individuals that want to maintain and have full control over their
account.
If the need becomes greater than hosting, customers may be accommodated
through our managed solutions. They can contact us via email with their
specific needs and we can go from there.
DOUG: Who do you see as the target market for shockwaveserver?
Your current account plans are less than US$25 per month. They offer
up to 50 SMUS connections. Are you orienting it toward small developers,
do you intend to focus mainly on people needing SMUS hosting, do you
develop custom accounts for developers requiring more than the Advanced
plan offers? Dare I ask about the Flash Communication Server?
These are all very valid questions.
The target market is strictly for developers and the clients we develop
for. That's it. We are not going for a mass market, nor do we even care
to rule the world. We like keeping it small and keeping quality high.
There may be times where we have high-profile or high-traffic clients
that want managed services as well as development. In these cases we
can allocate separate servers to help meet their needs.
The number of SMUS connections is the minimum and most likely extends
closer to 2000 connections per server. So when we say you have 50 connections
that means that you have a minimum of 50 available and up to 2000 connections
that can be used at any given time.
Flash Communication Server is also a very nice tool, but not integrated
enough for most Director users (at least not yet). As mentioned previously
there are many reasons why it is just easier to develop in a Shockwave
Multiuser Server environment.
In the future we may also plan on supporting the Flash Communication
Server but only when it develops in to a more Director friendly platform.
By this we mean:
- The cost of Flash Communication Server must go down
- The documentation for Director integration and tutorials must surpass
or equal the current SMUS information out there.
DOUG: As someone who's obviously interested in
Shockwave and its development over the years, where do you think it
needs to go for the future? What improvements do you think are necessary?
How should Macromedia move ahead with Shockwave and Director?
I am glad you asked.
There is always room for improvement in any software. In Director
there is quite a list of things. I feel as if Director offers many things
other applications cannot.
Just to name a few:
- The ability to control and integrate most of media types out there.
- Making true applications to read, write, store, export and manipulate
information online as well as on the user's computer (this includes
raw data as well as image manipulation).
- Making interactive 3D environments, utilities and games.
The list goes on and on.
But, looking at how features have been piling up since Director 4,
I really think there is time to streamline. Look at Flash, many concepts
came directly from Director. In some cases they just made it easier
to work with.
I also think it is important to realize that the Director learning
curve is kind of high. It would be nice to target very high-end Flash
developers that wanted more functionality. Like a natural progression
from beginner to expert. In addition the only way to keep good software
alive is with new blood. This guarantees innovation and updates. New
users must feel comfortable enough to dig there hands into it.
I think there are several thinks to keep in mind to make Director easier
to work with.
- The first is fix bugs or what seem to be bugs. That is why
we support the "Campaign for Director". The campaign raises awareness
on some the major issues that slow down development and add much frustration.
The information is sent directly to Macromedia and may be implemented
in the next version of Director (or maybe and update).
- Continue with some interface changes. Macromedia has already started
on this in the MX version. Advanced users may not care for this but
it really helps when working with the other products (of course having
the option to have the old interface could remedy the ones that like
it the old way). Some of these would be as simple as reversing the
sequence of channels adding MX inspector box, cast and so on.
The primary reason for me is that I use most of
the MX programs and sometimes at the same time! When I bounce from
program to program and it is frustrating to go from one way to another
way (referring to the interface). "Is this layer or channel on top
of this of is it below?" "The Inspector is over here and now it looks
different and over there". Hmmmm? You think it could flow a little
better?
- I'm not a programmer and do not know what it took to get Director
from there to here but it does seem to be lacking some performance.
Applications made from Director in many cases are extremely processor
intensive. Well I know that part is a never-ending battle.
- More awareness for Director and its capabilities. I do have to say
I have notice much more visibility on Macromedia's site but we still
need more.
- Make an easer download for the [Shockwave] plugin. People do not
want to be brought to a different page nor sign up for stuff or reboot
the computer for a plugin. They just want the darn thing to work!
I would like to just click on the install and get on with my life.
- Expand some needed capabilities like:
a. Adding multiple sprites to a channel.
b. Making more useful animated masks.
c. Making certain functions or tasks easier to perform.
d. Integrating LDM "Linked Director Movie" or a
type of movie clip with in a cast with out breaking it all up and
having the ability to edit these without opening another instance
of Director
e. Better dual-monitor support -- for goodness sake's
at least fix the max button to cover both monitors.
f. Better or more communication methods for talking
to other media types like Flash (and others).
g. Speed media compositing so that sprites with
inks applied to them would have Direct-to-Stage-style speed.
h. Ability to test a saved .dir (outside of Director)
without getting the "Currently in use" message (maybe disable the
Save command in Director until the .dir is no longer being used externally).
Now I sincerely believe that Shockwave and Director are here to stay
for a long time. People always want more! More, cool, interactive useful
stuff. I think Macromedia realizes that bandwidth is not as much as
an issue any more. There are more and more broadband connections every
day and for most readers it may be standard. That being said, the opportunity
to revisit the concepts of 3D Multiuser environments (that we've been
promised since Tron) is now very possible. "We now have the bandwidth
and technology to rebuild him stronger, faster and smarter then ever
before. Na, na, na, naaaa, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, naaa" (that
is the sound and tagline for the Bionic Man)" Well just replace the
"him" with "the Internet" and it may make better sense.
DOUG: What do you do for relaxation when you're
not running shockwaveserver or developing?
My son is a year-and-a-half old; playing with him may not be what you'd
call relaxing but it is very enjoyable. I like spending time with him
and my wife.
DOUG: What do you expect to be doing in a year?
Five years?
In a year I wish to finish my online portfolio. It seems like I never
have time to start. I would also target learning more 3D techniques,
Director, business and so on. I am also thinking of expanding the office
areas to accommodate workload.
In 5 years....
Hmmmm, maybe I could work myself into a position to directly affect
how Director (or a related product) is developed and managed. You know,
really make a difference. I would also like to teach (interactive stuff),
continue my consulting on a grander scale and buy a nice piece of land
in Costa Rica.
That would be a good day. |