Best Preloader Code

[Maximus300zx]

Dear Fellow Swishers

I've been using swish for over a year now and for me, the best way to learn the effects & techniques is to download moves other have posted for review and use and see how they did what they did.

In the movies I've looked at that are 100% swish, I've seen two common ways to code a preloader and wanted to take a quick moment to define those methods and get feedback on which method is best. I'm also hoping that this will help those new to swish with their own creations.

Method 1 (contains 3 scenes)

"Preloader" (58 frames)–contains an animation
"End Loading"( 36 Frames)–contains a nice transition effect from the Preloader to the Main Movie
"Main" (560 frames) – Contains the main movie and sprites

Frame 0 of Preloader contains an "if frame loaded" command which holds the following code
At Frame 0
If Frame 550 of Main is loaded
Goto Frame 0 of end Loading
At Frame 58
Goto Frame 0 of loading

Method 2 (contains 3 scenes)

"Preloader"
"Main"
"Blank Scene"

Frame 0 of Preloader contains an "if frame loaded" command which holds the following code:
At Frame 0
If Frame 0 of _LAST_SCENE_is loaded
Goto Frame 0 of _NEXT_SCENE_

Frames 2-20 contain an animation effect

Frame 30 contains a "Goto" command with the code:
At Frame 30
Goto Frame 0 of Preloader

Frame 33 contains a "Preload content" command

That's about it – Just looking for feedback on which is better or is there is a better method – “woohoo” bring it on

Max
10

[Dead Rabbit]

Whatever works best for you.

The blank scene method is pretty much unecessary. Using If Frame -1 of _LAST_SCENE_ is Loaded will instruct the preloader to load the entire movie. (Frame -1 will be interpreted as the Last Frame of the scene specified) Using a blank scene is just another way of looking for the last frame.

Preloaders just distract your audience while all teh actors are getting ready to go onstage. It should load quickly and should be somewhat entertaining, and allow enough time for enough frames to load that will let your movie play smoothly. You don't have to preload the entire movie - in fact, I don;t recommend it unless your movie is short and the content is quite large for some reason.

Hope this helps!