Re: FLASH: Maximum file size

[Marc Hoffman, Poison Dart Frog Media]

At 02:10 AM 4/23/2000 , you wrote:

>What is considered a "good" size for a Flash movie.

>

>Specifically, I am working on a project in which there will be a parent Flash

>file that  contains the the navigation and about 70% of the animation in the

>site. Other child movies will be loaded on-demand for the content and stuff.

>Anyway, this parent file was just handed off to me and now it's my turn as 

>I am

>the action scripting, etc etc...   It's already 225k as a swf file and that's

>without any audio!!!   It seems rather large to me and I was wondering if you

>guys feel this is too large.



Yes, for navigation this is too large, unless targeted exclusively 

high-bandwidth. Many users are on 28.8k modems; your movie would take over 

1.5 minutes to load, which is too long for navigation.



>Any rules of thumb for file size in Flash?



Rule of thumb: Divide the total file size by the number of seconds the 

movie will run. This will give you kilobytes per second. If it is less than 

the bandwidth of your users, it will stream smoothly. If it is greater, it 

will require some preloading or redesigning, or else it will stall during 

initial playback (when first downloading). Even if it's less, if the 

beginning of your movie has a lot of weighty elements, the movie will stall 

while the bandwidth catches up. Allowable bandwidth for 28.8k connections 

is 2k per second.


A well-designed Flash piece will have light-weight content up front, giving 

bulkier elements (bitmaps, sounds) time to load. It won't need anything 

that says "now loading" because it will be providing meaningful content the 

whole time. If the Flash piece is a navigational piece, it will be 

functional before the user gets bored and hits their "back" button. I 

figure boredom sets in soon after 10 seconds, but that depends how 

motivated the user is to see what you're offering.


By the way, I haven't always observed these rules; there's quite a learning 

curve to getting Flash to behave in this way.




Marc Hoffman


Poison Dart Frog Media

http://www.dartfrogmedia.com



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