photography site

[twist118]

Just looking for some good feedback on this site. Mainly looking for issues with different browsers/platforms... but please feel free to comment on the design. The text is still rough, and the images for the gallerys aren't all there yet.

Thanks to findShorty for all the help getting the gallery working!!!

http://www.elementnsquared.com/shade...nce/index2.htm

[desy4]

Hey!
Your interface looks okay. Some really nice photography. Your type on your intro is a little sloppy and misplaced in my opinion. I dont think the music you are using for the intro really fits. I would use somthing different. Maybe somthing a little less dramatic. It seems like your preloaders are not working that well. Maybe you should look into the file size or scripting. I can't really tell whats going on there. I can just tell they are not working rite. Also when i clicked on your thumbnails to view some of the pics in the gallery none of them would come up. I dont know whats going on there. I think you have a good start but some issues need to be solved.

[twist118]

Thanks for the feedback...

On the sound, I completely agree, but unfortunately my client loves this music and compared to the first two he sent me and I turned down, this is much better. I had found a loop here on flash kit, that sounded really nice, but my client really wanted something 'different.'

On the preloading... I did notice that the preloader doesn't really apear until its more than halfway loaded? I used a preloader from a flashkit tutorial. Maybe I'll try a different one. Any suggestions?

And the gallery's. I appologize some of the images are missing (my client did not want to pay me to crop and size his images, so I just did a random few to test it. The first three thumbnails on the wedding gallery page should work. If they don't, could you let me know what it's doing exactly. It appears to work fine for me.

Thanks again.

[monstermash]

your scrollbars also pull out of place.

[twist118]

I noticed that too... I was just going to add returns to the text file that is loading in to keep it from doing that. Is there another way to fix it?

[monstermash]

how are you making them?

[twist118]

I'm using script from a tutorial I found here. Here is the script:

onClipEvent (load){

this.loadVariables("text.txt");
scrolling = 0;
frameCounter = 1;
speedFactor = 3;
numLines = 7;

origHeight = scrollbar._height;
origX = scrollbar._x;
needInit = false;

function initScrollbar(){

var totalLines = numLines + daTextBox.maxscroll - 1;
scrollbar._yscale = 100*(numLines)/totalLines;
deltaHeight = origHeight - scrollbar._height;
lineHeight = deltaHeight/(daTextBox.maxScroll - 1);
}
function updateScrollBarPos(){

scrollbar._y = lineHeight*(daTextBox.scroll - 1);
}
}

onClipEvent (enterFrame){

if( needInit ){
if(daTextBox.maxscroll > 1){
initScrollbar();
needInit = false;
}
}
if( frameCounter % speedFactor == 0){

if( scrolling == "up" && daTextBox.scroll > 1){
daTextBox.scroll--;
updateScrollBarPos();
}
else if( scrolling == "down" && daTextBox.scroll < daTextBox.maxscroll){
daTextBox.scroll++;
updateScrollBarPos();
}
frameCounter = 0;
}
frameCounter++;
}

onClipEvent (mouseDown){

if(up.hitTest(_root._xmouse,_root._ymouse)){
scrolling = "up";
frameCounter = speedFactor;
up.gotoAndStop(2);
}
if(down.hitTest(_root._xmouse,_root._ymouse)){
scrolling = "down";
frameCounter = speedFactor;
down.gotoAndStop(2);
}
if(scrollbar.hitTest(_root._xmouse,_root._ymouse)) {
scrollbar.startDrag(0,origX,deltaHeight,origX);
scrolling = "scrollbar";
}
updateAfterEvent();
}

onClipEvent (mouseUp){

scrolling = 0;
up.gotoAndStop(1);
down.gotoAndStop(1);
stopDrag();

updateAfterEvent();
}

onClipEvent (mouseMove){
if(scrolling == "scrollbar"){
daTextBox.scroll = Math.round((scrollbar._y)/lineHeight + 1);
}
updateAfterEvent();
}

onClipEvent (data){
needInit = true;
}

[monstermash]

will adding returns to the text file work? i was thinking it might be an issue with instance names and paths but if your solution works then i am completely off...

[twist118]

Well it's probably not the best solution, but it did work...

Does anyone have any ideas on my preloader? I tried one that just gives a percentage loaded (no bar) but it has the same problem as the bar ( nothing displays until it's about 60% loaded? )

Thanks!

[pr0004]

Pleasant atmosphere. Only...the preloader leaves late because you use the embedFonts (I believe for experience)...maybe taking away the fonts suits you (in the preload).
i like your job.

[twist118]

Thanks pr0004, but I don't see where my script uses embedFonts anywhere? This is my script:

second frame:

if (_root.getBytesLoaded() != _root.getBytesTotal()) {
gotoAndPlay(1);
}

third frame:
gotoAndPlay("intro", 1);


Then on the loading bar:

setProperty(this, _xscale, (_root.getBytesLoaded()/_root.getBytesTotal())*100);

There's no other script for the preloader?

[robbmcaulay]

You don't use Actionscript to embed fonts...

Select the dynamic text box and click character now select all characters (unless it's only being used in the preloader then you can only click numbers 0-9 and the % sign)

[pr0004]

yes, agree to robbmcaulay.
or use arial only in the preloader.

[twist118]

I'm sorry, I don't understand still...

The text in the preloader "loading" is a movie clip containing a static text box.

[desy4]

Are you using flash MX? If you are you should take advavtage of the components. Just skin them to match up with your interface. There are also some good preloader components you can downlaod on the Macromedia exchange.

[val2000bg]

Very unique site.Maybe the background music gives you that feeling which I like a lot!Accept the preloader I don't have any complainings.Try to copy all the contents in the preloader section and paste them in a new one.Many times that thing did the trick.You never know what did you miss.Try not to select them with a key combination or copy frames but just with your mouse.Ofcourse that's not a great solution but you can try it.Otherwise I can send you a premade preloader with the whole code and you only have to paste the movie in a new scene.Good luck!

[twist118]

Thanks for all your suggestions. I don't know what is going on. I downloaded that preloader component from the flash exchange and it still didn't show up until it was over 50% loaded. I tried deleting my preloader scene. Created a new scene and placed the preloader component there, but still the same:

http://www.elementnsquared.com/shade...nce/index3.htm

It seems like the pause is just the time for the server to find the .swf or something?

[monstermash]

do you have anything that is attached from your movie library?

[pr0004]

For the preloader delay.
If the music is in the mainmovie, take away it and put it in a secondary one.

[twist118]

monstermash - the sound is being loaded from the library...

pr0004 - I don't have a secondary movie, it's all in one big swf? If you mean secondary scene, then the sound doesn't preload and comes in way too late.

I somewhat solved this by creating a new movie with just the word loading. Then the real movie loads on top. The loading bar still comes in late, but at least there is an indicator that something is happening.

http://www.elementnsquared.com/shade...ance/index.htm

If someone has a better solution, I'd love to try it!

Also, the entire wedding gallery should be working now, please let me know if it seems smooth...

Thanks for all the help!