this has been started in another thread but i thought it may be good to put it into an own one:
gifs with transparent area act faster if you save them without transparent area,then import them to flash,break them apart,cut off the "to be transparent" area and then reduce the vector corner points the shape is made up of as much as possible


here´s the sample file:
http://www.stimunation.com/majortom/flas/vektor.zip
(the sample file was on a german flash cd)
you can click on the icons on the topright to see the vector/transparent gif comparison and on the left there´s the millisecond timer,the version with vector method is about 100% faster.
raster graphics don´t look as crisp as before once you break them apart,so this is probably best used for small graphics or moving objects (like particles,rain,bullets etc.).