Lowering file sizes!!!!!

[Diana04]

Hi everyone!
Im new to Swish and I have made a movie which is way too big!! 627k to be exact, so it takes about 90 seconds to load(way over the limit.) I was wondering if anyone knows how to lower the size of the movie, tricks, tips, anything that can help me out. I'd really appreciate it!!

Thanks,
Diana

[Dead Rabbit]

Hello Diana04, and Welcome to Flashkit!

There are lots of ways to keep file sizes down. Here are a few of the basics:

Sound: Using stereo pretty much doubles the size of the sound file. If it sounds OK as a Mono sound, use that and cut it in half. (Stereo is 2 copies of the sound in the same file - 1 for the right channel, 1 for the left channel. Mono is the same sound played on both channels) Lowering the Sample rate also reduces file size. Check it in your sound editor and reduce it until you find the balance of filesize and acceptable sound quality.

Images: Before you import an image into Swish, make sure it is the correct size, or as close to the correct size as possible. Reducing the zoom percentage does not reduce the size of the file. Although this has less impact on vector images than it does raster images, there will still be a difference. Keep the file size as small as possible. Remember that anything over 96dpi is wasted, as only the best monitors can even display that. Most monitors max out at 72dpi, and even hi-res systems will see the 72 very clearly.

Daisy-Chain: You can always break your movie into smaller parts. If you have a movie that is a website, and some sections will not be seen until someone clicks on something, you can use a Load Movie action to tell one movie to load another, and can even load a window into your main movie using sprites.

Let us know if you need help on anything in particular, and we'll be happy to be more specific.

Hope this helps!

[Diana04]

Thanks Dead rabbit for your insightful suggestions. I have tried some of them but I haven't had that much luck in reducing the file size. I tried uploading the swi file as an attachment so that you can see the file for yourself and give me more suggestions but the server told me that it was too big, so if there is anyway I can send it to you by email or some other way I'd appreciate it. I have no personal server space myself so I'm sorry I don't have a Url where I can place it. You can write me at my email if you'd like to let me know if i can send the .swi to you.
By the way, the intro is for a rock band website.
Hope you like it!!

Thanks for the welcome,
Diana


*If anyone else wants to help me out, I'd really like your input too!

[wcoleman]

Diana,

I would start by going to File --> Test --> Report to see what aspects of your movie are contributing to the file size issues. Then you can focus on those aspects of the movie. For example, if you find that images are the the problem - too many of them or they are just too large in file size, you can start looking for ways to reduce their size. DR has given you the place to start. I would also suggest playing with the image compression in Swish (shape, properties, jpeg compression, and set the compression to the lowest value you can without losing image quality. You should also avoid complex text effects whenever possible - particularly on larger text blocks.

In addition to the other points that DR has made you might also want to make use of one or more preloaders - there are many threads here on using these.

Hope this helps further,

Flick

[Dead Rabbit]

You can send it to dead.rabbit@REMOVEfrets-files.com

Just be sure to take out the word 'REMOVE' from the address.

[Diana04]

Hi Dr:

I sent you the swi file, let me know if you received it! Hopefully we can find a solution to my problem

Thanks,
Diana

[wcoleman]

Diana,

Your only problem is the sound file - it makes up almost 95% of the movie size. As DR said you could cut it in half (about) by using a mono version rather than stereo. In addition, you might try editing the sound in a sound editor to a lower sampling rate, save it as a wav file and then use mp3 compression in Swish.

Cheers,

Flick

[Dead Rabbit]

Once again, Flick is correct. Not sure how he got the file, but that sound is close to 560k of your file size.

You could modify the sound to reduce it, or use a 3rd party tool like Swideo, Soundnails, or Flix to convert your sound file into a streaming audio file. This way, it will play as it downloads.

[wcoleman]

Originally posted by Dead Rabbit
Once again, Flick is correct. Not sure how he got the file, but that sound is close to 560k of your file size.

Well I could start a myth of omniscience, or admit that Diana sent me the file. I think I'll go with the first option - deniability in action.

Cheers,

Flick

[Dead Rabbit]

lol

[Diana04]

Dr and Wcoleman:
Thank you for looking at my file. I will try to change the audio and see how it works. I'm glad that the audio might be the problem.... I wasn't if there was somenthing else! I'll let you both know how it all works out. By the way Wcoleman, pretty funny in you response to Dr. I wonder if he bought it, lol


Thanks,
Diana