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Hi all, just want to see if anyone can help me with this one. I am just about to start working on a new web site for a design agency and i need to know the answers to the following questions:
1. Once I have created my final flash movie, and got it up on the web can it be read by a PC as well?
2. I am looking at putting up a short flash detection part at the start, anyone know how thats done?
3. Whats the ideal final file size that I should be looking for at the end? Whats the best resolution to work at?
4. Is it possible to put an email link in flash?
and finally!
5. Whats the best compression level for JPG's in flash?
Phew! I've used flash quite a bit to do CD-ROMs, but never used it for the web - until today! I understand Dreamweaver very basically and being a graphic designer, programming is not my number 1 game, but I am willing to learn! If any one can help me with any one of these points that would be great! Thanls to all in advance.
IanJF2000
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I think I can answer most of them, so here we go:
1.swf is a cross platform format (swf is the final file created by flash for the internet). It can be read by Mac's, PC's, Linux, WinCE PC's, some mobile 'phone even. I think there are more but I really can't remember, but it truly is a cross platform file. No worries there.
2.Flash detection for flash 4 is easy. (not sure about 5, I still use flash 4). You need two frames in your movie, make the movie as small as possible, 48x48 I think. The first is blank. The second has a get URL command (actionscript), make the URL you homepage. You must also include a stop command after that, otherwise bad things happen. Next you have to set up the html file. You need to embed the swf file created above, and include a meta refresh tag as well, pointing to you text alternitive, with a small time delay.
The idea behind this is that is the browser has the flash plugin the flash movie will play and it will get the URL of your homepage. If there is no plugin them the refresh command will get your text alteritive.
3.The smaller the file size the better to be honest. Smaller download time. The resolution to work at depends on your target audunce. If you are aiming at professional then work at 1024*864 (or there abouts, I cant remeber if that is the exaxt normal display res sorry, but it is close to that). If you are aiming at home users them work at 800x600. As well as a smaller monitor.
4.I am not to sure about this. I assume it is like what you do in html. Make a button and use actionscript so that when it is clicked the command getURL is envoked. The URL should be
mailto:someone@somewhere.com
This is how it might work, could someone else clarify this. Thanks. :-)
5.The jpg compression again depends on your target audiunce, as nearly all of web site design does. The higher the jpg quality setting the larger the file the longer the download time. And the converse is true for low settings. I generally use about 60%. But experiment and see what you can get away with.
I hope this help. If not I'll be back soon and try to help some more.
Good luck and let us know how it goes.
Allan
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Great, thanks alot for your help!
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I agree in all. But also i recomend you first optimize your jpg and/or gif in some software like Image Ready or Fireworks. You'll save a lot of extra bites.
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that's 1024 x 768,
but I'd consider making it smaller than your target screen size as most people don't use every pixel of their screen to view webpages, and I get annoyed if I have to.
compress your jpg's as needed per picture, some pix can take a higher compression and some can't.
