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americanhome
3-20-02, 12:01 PM
hi,
i decided to make my site interactive and learn the ins and outs of flash. i run an english school in japan, and i want something my kids can use at home. my first project is to make an alphabet page, where the screen simply has the abc's written. when the child puts the mouse over each letter, my voice says that letter.
i went through the tutorial (i'm using Flash MX) and had a go at it. i made each letter into a button with it's own layer. also, the letters dance around the screen for 75 frames until they finally sttle into place. so, each letter has it's own layer, 1-2 sec mp3, and a motion guide. when i enable buttons and hit enter it all works perfectly (aside from all the visible motion guide lines). when i test the movie, however, the animation is fine, but the sounds are all screwed up...either not playing or delayed playing. i decided to publish it, hoping for better performance on the web. the page took a minute or two to load halfway (using cable internet) and then just stayed at the halfway point until i finished lunch.
any ideas of what my problem is? other than me being a flash infant. it seems simpler than most flash things i've seen out there. the file size reads about 900,000Kb on my ftp. is that normal? again, my first time, so i dont know what to expect.

thanks
art
horsepill.com
3-20-02, 11:46 PM
900,000 K is huge. Try taking out the sounds, make sure you save the original though, and see if just the animation works. The movie should be around, I'm guessing, 3-10K. If it works without the sounds, you know what the problem is. I would see how much space the sounds take up alone. That is where your problem probably lies. Try cutting it down since sounds take alot of space.

Good Luck
americanhome
3-21-02, 05:02 AM
thanks for the help. i found that one of my problems was that my ftp changed the .swf file name to all capitals, so the html document couldn't find it. but the sounds still didn't go right. i took out the sounds, which brought it down to 30K and everything worked. but i need the sounds in there.
i figure i can split the alphabet into 3 or 4 different flash movies (ie. a movie for a-g, h-m, n-t, u-z) and put them all in the same web page. do you think this can work.
if so, how do i put the different movies into 1 page. so far, i've only used the publish feature, which creates a page only for that movie. i imagine i need to make a table or frames to put each movie in, but how do i put it in?
sophiespo
3-21-02, 06:05 AM
theres an option in flash to compress the sounds.. from what i understand (ive only meddled with flash, im no expert) when you publish the final swf there is an option to compress the sound. I dont know where this option is, but you should have a look at the tutorials on www.flashkit.com they have the tutorials in sections.. they might help..

sophie
horsepill.com
3-21-02, 12:27 PM
You can compress the sounds, I know the option is there somewhere. To publish different movies on one page, just take the source code of all the movies, and copy and paste them on one page. Just stack them back to back. One movie should start with <OBJECT classid...> and end with </OBJECT>. Just start the next one after that.

You leave only the <HTML> and </HTML> at the top and bottom of the page.

Good luck.
SBGlasby
3-23-02, 08:04 AM
I'm not an expert on FLASH.... so take this for what it's worth...

I've read somewhere..... the optimum size for a FLASH.... SWF file is around 100 K..... if it's much over that.... without proper timing.... things can go buggy....

I do know.... you need a Preloader for anything .... of any size.... 50K or more.....and that FLASH.... "UNLIKE SWISH".... can actually LOAD.... othe SWF files in the background... before they are needed.... for that seemless effect..... this is done in the actionscripting.....

There are also scripts.... that will look at a persons connect speed.... and determine... which version.... to load....

Basically..... for a file that big.... it needs to be broken up in several scenes.... then linked.... to go from one file to the next... as it plays.... loading the first... with a preloader.... then as the that one is playing..... go ahead and load the second one into memory.... and so on.... and so on.....

http://flashkit.com is a great resource....

FLASH can be extremely intensive.... and exhaustive... in the learning process..... but once learned... you can do some pretty amazing stuff......

Hope this helps.....
horsepill.com
3-23-02, 01:56 PM
Pre-loading is always a good idea...especially for a large size. What I don't like is putting things into different scenes and loading them only when someone clicks on it. For this example, a student clicks on a letter...now they have to wait for the image and the sounds to load...which could take awhile. This could happen with every letter which is clicked or mouseovered. It gets annoying after the first 2 letters.

Stick to cutting the movie into smaller movies and possibly adding a pre-loader. Or...keep the movie, split the letters into different scenes...have the pre-loader stay on until all scenes load.

Have fun with this one.
SBGlasby
3-24-02, 09:22 PM
Not even what I was talking about.....

go to http://xdude.com.... check out some of his FLASH stuff....

Older stuff.... but relevant.... Everything is timed.... to load into memory.... before the first move runs out.... all depending on what .... and where you're going.... and your connection speed.... no of which you can really control.... in swish.... since the Actionscripts.... are not as robust.... as Flash...

What you're speaking of is really annoying.... but as long as it's pre-loaded.....

I've used a lot of SWISH in the past... for the sake of speed... but haven't really worked .... even with SWISH.... in months.... SO I consider myself out of the loop.... on the newest stuff....

But the basics.... are still the same....