Re: FLASH: Maximum file size

[neal cabage]

Marc,


That helps alot!  Thanks!


Neal



"Marc Hoffman, Poison Dart Frog Media" wrote:


> 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

>

> flasher is generously supported by...

> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>  Get the last 100 messages from the flasher list NOW

>     http://www.chinwag.com/flasher/last100.shtml

>

>  Flash books http://www.chinwag.com/flasher/books.shtml

> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

> To unsubscribe or change your list settings go to

>

http://www.chinwag.com/flasher or email helpchinwag [dot] com

flasher is generously supported by...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Get the last 100 messages from the flasher list NOW

    http://www.chinwag.com/flasher/last100.shtml


 Flash books http://www.chinwag.com/flasher/books.shtml

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To unsubscribe or change your list settings go to

http://www.chinwag.com/flasher or email

helpchinwag [dot] com