Incomplete Site could use a review

[BlueRhino]

Faith Baptist Church

It's incomplete, but your comments would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Blue

[ProMasher]

I like it Blue, very easy to use. Colors are cool and fresh. Like the exanding navigation, although they seem a little sluggish in the transition, what frame rate are you publishing at? The Speed navigation did not seem to do anything, but you said this was incomplete so I'm assuming there is nothing there. Nice work, I like it so far!

- Jeff

[BlueRhino]

Thank you for the reply. I have published the site at 12fps. I assumed this was a standard frame rate - is there a prefered frame rate for high bandwidth users?

You're right about the 'speed menu'. Just an mp3 player on it at the moment - which is lacking the final mp3's. I had orinally thought about a scrolling navigation system for this area but it seemed pointless given the simplicity of the 'sliding navigation'. Guess I need to change it to 'sound control' or something - perhaps just discard it altogether.

The 'speed' menu will close automatically after 15 seconds...as do the text containers in the ministry areas... I thought that was a neat little snippet of code.

Thanks again for the reply.
Blue

[MAD.com]

The layout and navigation is cool. I like it. However I would change most if not all of your text, expecially the quotes and such to device fonts. This will cut down on file size and also make the text easier to read.

[BlueRhino]

I'm still struggling a bit with the whole font issue. I agree that there are areas where the type is difficult to read. The H.I.M. page in particular really stinks But I think that's more to do with type over a dark graphic then the font.


Are pixel font's an option? Do they save much on file size?? or does it not matter what font you use? I've often found sites with pixel font's difficult to read - then again, I run 1280x1024... Kind of a balance between creative control and readability....

Anyway, thanks for the comment, I appreciate your insight.

Blue

[MAD.com]

I've never used pixel fonts. I found that device fonts work best, and are the clearest. Just like HTML though you have to pick a font that everyone else is going to have (Arial, Verdana, Times New Roman). I find that Verdana works the best. Also make sure your text boxes are situated with a .0 for the x and y positions, not a .3 or .7, that will cause fonts to blur even more.

[ProMasher]

I think you'll find that for what you are doing, 20 FPS will be no problem and really smooth out the transitions. For site work I've been using 20 FPS and most of my stuff runs fine on a 500 mhz machine (my base-line). For smaller widgets and stuff I'll push it up to 31.

Try 20 FPS, I think you will really like the difference!

- Jeff

[BlueRhino]

Sweet, I'll give 20fps a shot. I hadn't even considered changing the frame rate prior to this post.

The motion of the 'vertical navigation sliders' is all scripted.... I'll have to speed it up in the script and compare results.

Thanx for the tip.

Blue

[kamyab]

Pretty cool. I don't think the sounds match the style of the site. Maybe change the color of the orange text to green, on the splash page?

[BlueRhino]

Ahh yes, forgot about that bit of orange type on the splash page!! As for the sounds, how is it that they don't fit? Are they harsh? To electronic? Not simple enough? Any thoughts on that??

I do somewhat agree with you...I found it tough to pick out sounds. Suggestions welcome

Thanks!
Blue

[InetStrKid]

Very cool site. I like the sliding nav on the side. How did you do it?

[BlueRhino]

Thanks for the compliment. I scripted the motion....I started out with motion tweens, but it got cumbersome when I wanted to adjust speeds and positions. I pass variables from the buttons to an onclip event of the navbar. The navbar is scripted to compare it's current x position to the end x position so it slows down as it gets close to where I want it. There are 3 nav bars nested inside one another so they don't overlap and cover up the content.

Blue