  The DIRECT project aims to determine direct distances to two important
galaxies in the cosmological distance ladder - M31 and M33 - using detached
eclipsing binaries (DEBs) and Cepheids.
  We present the results of the first large-scale CCD-based search for
variables in M33. We have observed two fields located in the central region of
M33 for a total of 95 nights on the F. L. Whipple Observatory 1.2-m telescope
and 36 nights on the Michigan-Dartmouth-MIT 1.3-m telescope. We have found a
total of 544 variables, including 251 Cepheids and 47 eclipsing binaries.
  The catalog of variables is available online, along with finding charts and
BVI light curve data (consisting of 8.2x10^4 individual measurements). The
complete set of CCD frames is available upon request.
