Re: "Loading..."

[Joshua Ulm]

>One of the real advantages of using Flash is its streaming capability.

>No one should have to see a Please Wait, Loading or dead time.

>A small loading animation should be disguised as eye candy and blended

>into the presentation (if and when needed). The viewer shouldn't be made

>aware he is waiting. Use a wait-for-frame loop to implement this to

>adjust for variations in download time. The loading sequence should be

>at the beginning of the movie. A Wait-for frame Demo movie and tech note

>can be found at the Flash Tech Resource (URL in sig below).


I have to disagree with John here.


In the development of the Olympic.org site we had originally believed 

that Flash would stream adequately. Which for the most part it does. 

However, in many circumstances, the unpredictability of download streams 

would cause serious problems. initial frames would load and be available 

to users but sometimes pauses in the network download streams would be 

sufficient to hang up the stream just long enough for the user to 

interact with the movie, and access parts that required deeper potions of 

the movie to be loaded - resulting in scripting errors (we were using 

javascript), dropping of symbols, and non-functional buttons. Seriously 

disconcerting problems for our users. That unpredictability alone was 

enough for us to incorporate wait frames.


furthermore, if you are using Flash in a non-participatory event, (ie. 

the user sits back and watches, not interacting), as we often do in the 

site, the streaming oftentimes fails to keep up with the speed of the 

movie, creating painful gaps. even if, as John suggests, you make a frame 

that is transparent, which i agree you should always try and do (make 

wait frames as seamless as possible that is), they need to be apparent 

enough that users know what is going on. Many of our users suggested that 

they didn't mind waiting if they knew that that was what they were doing.


I do not suggest making Flash wait until the entire movie is downloaded, 

just enough so that the rest can stream after the user begins to watch. 

Again, pay special attention to you end-users system set-up. If you 

audience is on slower systems, give it more of a wait. Take a look at 

<http://www.olympic.org> for examples.


josh.




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 quokka sports.

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