What is the DXR file format?
Files with the .dxr extension are created by Macromedia Director software. .dxr files store movies or animations - multimedia presentations built inside Director using cast members such as bitmaps, audio clips and text - packaged in a binary RIFX container. The format was developed by Macromedia, which was acquired by Adobe in 2005. Adobe discontinued Director in February 2017 and retired Shockwave Player in April 2019, making .dxr a legacy format today.
Similarities to the .dir format
.dxr is the protected counterpart of the .dir format. Both use the same RIFX chunked container and carry the same cast-and-score structure - bitmaps, sounds, a timeline and compiled Lingo or JavaScript behaviours. The key difference is that a .dir file can be reopened and edited inside Director, while a .dxr has its authoring data stripped or locked so it can play but cannot be modified.
DXR as a data distribution format
Because .dxr files are read-only, they were used for distributing finished presentations and interactive content to users who had no need to edit them. The web-streaming equivalent is the .dcr file - the "shocked" compressed form of the same movie intended for browser delivery via Shockwave Player.
Additional information
.dxr does not apply whole-file compression; the container itself is uncompressed, though individual cast members may use internal encoding. The RIFX container means .dxr files open with the byte signature XFIR (little-endian on Windows) or RIFX (big-endian on classic Mac OS). The format tracks the Director version that created it - internal chunk layouts differ across Director 4 through 12.
Security & safety
RISK: MEDIUMThe Adobe Shockwave Player needed to run a DXR is discontinued (April 2019) and unpatched, with a history of critical remote-code-execution vulnerabilities - so running DXR/Shockwave content, especially online, is unsafe. If you must play a legacy DXR, do it on an isolated, offline machine with a trusted file, never by reinstalling Shockwave Player on your everyday system. Also beware: fake "Shockwave Player" / "DXR player" download sites are a common malware lure now that the real product is gone - never install a "codec" or "player" from an unofficial site to open a DXR.
Format details
in a nutshell- Daniel's XL Toolbox report (rare) - A few niche tools have used .dxr for unrelated data exports; the Director protected movie is by far the dominant meaning.
Programs that open DXR files
Windows3 apps
Adobe Shockwave Player (archived, offline)
Free Discontinued April 2019. Only a last archived Shockwave Player build on an isolated/offline legacy Windows machine can still run a DXR locally - use for trusted files only, never online.
Adobe Director 12 (archived authoring tool)
Paid The original authoring app can play a DXR, but it is discontinued (2017) and cannot re-open the protected movie for editing. Only relevant to legacy developers with an existing licence.
ProjectorRays / Director-related extractors
Open-source Community tooling to inspect/decompile Director movies and extract assets; useful for preservation when no player is available. 
macOS1 app
Adobe Director (archived)
Paid Legacy Mac Director can play a DXR but is long discontinued and 32-bit; will not run on modern macOS. Technical details
deep spec| Container format | RIFX (RIFF-family) chunked binary container |
| Byte order | Little-endian on Windows (signature XFIR); big-endian on classic Mac OS (signature RIFX) |
| Magic bytes | XFIR at offset 0 (Windows/little-endian) or RIFX at offset 0 (Mac/big-endian) |
| MIME type | application/x-director |
| Protection mechanism | Authoring data, Lingo script source and score-editing information stripped or locked; movie plays back but cannot be reopened for editing |
| Encoding | Binary |
| Related editable format | .dir - the editable Director project file; saving it as protected yields a .dxr |
| Web distribution counterpart | .dcr - the Shockwave-compressed form of the same movie intended for browser streaming |
| Internal structure | Cast members (bitmaps, sound, text, video clips), a score/timeline, and compiled Lingo or JavaScript behaviours |
| Compression | No whole-file compression; individual cast-member assets may use internal encoding; .dcr is the compressed streaming variant |
| Color depth | Cast bitmap assets support up to 32-bit color; legacy movies commonly 8-bit (256-colour) |
| Audio | Embedded audio cast members at commonly 11, 22 or 44.1 kHz sample rates |
| Stage dimensions | Set by author at creation; legacy stages typically 320×240 to 1024×768 px |
| Version tracking | Internal chunk layouts differ across Director versions 4 through 12; files carry version metadata |
| Platform support | Windows and classic Mac OS / early macOS (both discontinued) |
| Released | Macromedia Director (DXR is the protected counterpart of the editable .dir; format dates to the 1990s) |
| Latest version | Adobe Director 12 (2013) - the last release; Director and Shockwave Player are discontinued |
| Specification | web.archive.org |
DXR conversions
Community Q&A
asked by usersNo questions yet - be the first to ask about DXR files.
