Hi all.

I've been using DirX.X since it was a wee pup; and probably one of the
most useful jumps it took was with the adoption of behaviors/parent
scripts, coupled with a property inspector that allowed for
"permanence" and easy setting of parameters.

The ability to code "widgets" of whatever type, and then quickly
customize/combine those "widgets" via the behavior property inspector
makes it much easier to design, implement, debug and "tweak" a
project, as well as allowing the quick and easy reuse of code amongst
multiple projects.

Now, I _love_ the ability to code up 3D using Director, and
demonstrate the resulting applications over the web. Makes getting
client feedback a snap, for one thing!

However, the actual coding _process_ starts to become as bulky and
esoteric as it was back in the old days of director 5.

While using modelling tools such as Maya can make building the actual
_models_ much easier, the coding of how those models _behave_ becomes
very "hard-wired", when compared to the native approach in Director of
"write a script, create a property description list, then set the
properties in the inspector".

For 3D work, I have tended to instantiate parent scripts using
hand-coded parameter lists passed in during instantiation of the
script, which one then attaches to the model. Alternatively, I store
certain parameters in a text member, and then pull them out in some
(usually) ad-hoc way.

The downside of this becomes apparent as the project complexity
increases - you end up with tree-structures of parent scripts
contained within parent scripts, and I find myself rewriting much of
the code from project to project, keeping the whole thing in my head
as I go - ouch!!

What is the take on this amongst the general community of 3D lingo
programmers? Do people write their own tools to streamline this
process, or just hand-code away?

I'm all ears...

Cheers - Chas