SWF size is way too large!

[deuce121]

i have my test swf uploaded to www.aartpack.com/~michele if anyone would like to check it out. I have 2 major problems with the site and hope that someone will have some suggestions for me before I pull my hair out.

#1 Problem
The first problem is the size of my swf. My preloader percentage bar in my "Portfolio" section is getting stuck because there are so many images for it to load. My swf size is 12.6 MB (I know I know...it's WAY too big!) and I need to figure out a way to make it smaller so it will load faster. My images are saved as png files because the color and quality looks so much better than a gif or a jpeg. My images are also loaded into the .fla file and not externally. Does the swf file size decrease dramatically if you load the images externally??? Does anyone have any suggestions for me to decrease this whopper of a swf size?

#2 Problem
You can see on the site that I originally made my document size 1000x720 because we wanted to have the white space around the content. Now we just want the content of the movie in it's own window. Is there anyway to decrease the white space area of the swf using html?? We want to make sure that the content of the movie stays the same size.

I would appreciate is anyone could help me out! I have been working on this site forever and I just want to get it posted!

Happy Flashing!

[EvolveDesigns]

yes loading your images separately decreases file size in a huge way, especially when you have alot of pics. Also people won't have to load stuff they're not going to see like if they only want to look at a couple things in your portfolio.

EDIT: maybe you should check over your preloader too, it did stop on me but when i clicked one of the portfolio links it was actually all loaded up.. hmm

[zzzurdeadzzz]

i have a thing that decreases size up to 70%, its called flash optimizer, search on google

[angmarvin]

HI,

I think I can answer your question on how to decrease the white space area of the swf using html. You can use Dreamweaver. they have a function to decrease the unwanted white space surrounding your movies. Open up your HTML file in Dreamweaver. Go to modify/Properties. put '0' in the left and right margin and also the width and height.

Try It!

Regards,
Marv

[EvolveDesigns]

Originally posted by zzzurdeadzzz
i have a thing that decreases size up to 70%, its called flash optimizer, search on google

optimizer is pretty cool, but it only has an effect on vector graphics so not much help when the large filesize is based on your pics.

[ar2525]

Are all the sections of your website within one .swf?

Is that why your swf file is so large?

Is so, you need to use the loadMovie script for each section. Your "homepage" can then be very small and only load the section swfs when needed.

dont know if thats what you're tlking about.

[border_line2]

Wow, I know you already know this, but 12.6 is huge for an entire site (all pages included) if done in flash (unless the site has thousands of pages or something). Try optimizing all of your images in Macromedia's Fireworks by clicking Ctrl+Shift+X and setting the quality a bit smaller. I find it that for normal sized images the quality level of 80-85 is great. Also, when exporting, set your movie JPEG quality to something like 85. This alone should decrease your site's size dramatically.

I also find it that it is very important to get rid of things outside the stage. For example, I sometimes import a wrong image and set it off of the stage (or cover it with another image) forgetting about it, but the thing with Flash is it remembers it and uses it in the movie as well (unless the movie's stage is behind a mask).

[davidkhen]

OK...
1 about flash optimazer, i don't thing it will halp you
2 about PNG GIF JPJ, use JPG for small pic. & quality 70-75
3 if you have large pictures, make them external, load it to empty MC
4 small pic inside FLA , and large photos/pic external
5 look realy for offline images like file that you have inported it to fla, and you don't know that you have it

6 work clear, with folders in library, images in images folders, Mc to Mc ...

7 and nothing will be bad

good luck

David K

if you want you can see my last work
site with more than 250 large external images and 250 small pic inside FLA
in to languages English & Hebrew and it is only 600 KB 0.5 MB '
Mitos-Shoval.com

[davidkhen]

and don't forget to tell us how it after
Regards
David K.