Re: FLASH: Best site structure - frames? tables? 1 movie? 10 movies?

[Marc Hoffman]

At 12:45 PM 5/6/99 -0500, you wrote:

>1) Is it best to have one huge swf, and regulate d-loading with 

>scenes and wait-for-load type code?


Repeat after me: Don't use scenes.

Whether you preload the whole thing (except for, of course, an

instructional or entertaining preload sequence) depends on how big it is

and whether all content must be available when the main scenario opens.


>

>2) Or, is it best to have totally descrete nav swf that calls different 

>swf-containing html pages into a frame?


This would be needlessly slow. Having a number of movie clips available or

.swf's in higher levels will achieve the same thing without the user

waiting for the connection to the server to refresh and new content to

download.


>

>3) Or, is it best to have separate nav swf in table cell, and content 

>swf(s) in another cell and switch content using inter-movie 

>communication (possible, right?)?


Certainly possible but if you're designing this from the ground up you

would be just as well off to create this all in one movie or at least use a

stack of movies all created on the same stage size but placed in different

parts of the stage to simulate frames.


General rule for movie clips versus movies on levels:  if there is a huge

amount of content and you cannot predict the order in which the user will

request it, movies on levels will help manage the download stream.  But you

will need to plan carefully since they cannot share the same symbol

library, so think about assigning content to movies in a way that symbols

won't have to be duplicated. If all content must be available at the

outset, you may as well use movie clips.





Marc Hoffman

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

marcdartfrogmedia [dot] com (mailto:marcdartfrogmedia [dot] com)

Play a virtual marimba at: <www.dartfrogmedia.com/dartfrog> (featured 

in the book Flash 3 Web Animation by Ken Milburn).

Flash3 samples: <http://www.jps.net/dartfrog/sampler>.


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