Large audio file (200 MB +) slows down systems

[DrunkFromBeer]

We are putting a 90-minute audio presentation on a CD-ROM and I used Flash to create an audio player for this 220 MB mp3. However, whether it is an EXE or embedded into HTML as a SWF, systems seem to choke a bit when the audio file gets loaded. Has anyone else experienced this type of problem? Any reccomendations? I don't really want to split the audio up because I'm not sure how to go about it...

[tongxn]

Aye, you can get a preloader so that it loads proper, or you might just put the audio file into bits, make loaders on every frame (1frame/sec) and so you can get the audio to load - em - one by one.

[DrunkFromBeer]

Well I have it streaming so it loads just fine... it is just after the entire audio piece is loaded that the slow-up begins to occur. That is 220 MBs in the user's browser cache now, and that seems to create some performance issues as the audio piece nears its end.

However, if you were to split up the audio into many smaller pieces, would that unload the previous piece of audio from the user's cache while the next audio chunk loads or would it all end up being the same amount in the queue at the end?

[tongxn]

you could do that

[JWin]

If it is a solid 220Mb chunk then the comp may not have enough ram to handle everything going on and load that HUGE audio file. Try slicing the audio file into peices and have the flash player load them sequentially.
-JWin

[DrunkFromBeer]

Do you know if it is quicker to simply have the big MP3 file load in the user's default media player (i.e. Windows Media Player, Quicktime, etc.)?

[launchpad67]

Do you know if it is quicker to simply have the big MP3 file load in the user's default media player (i.e. Windows Media Player, Quicktime, etc.)?

I would think so because then it can simply 'read from cd' and doesn't actually have to store any data. Is it just an audio presentation? Or is there anything else on the cd?

[DrunkFromBeer]

There are some other materials, like Power Point presentations and some PDFs. I think I am just going to go with loading it straight into a media player... not as elegant, but more efficient. Thanks for your insight.

[tongxn]

You can use unloadMovieclip(instance/MCname).
That's wat I think of doing in my animations anyway, if u can't fit it in, slice it in, it's just like toasting bread, you gotta slice them first, put one piece in the toaster, *pop-out*, and put the second in.... I am not gonna waste your time with my toaster theory.

Just think if you can pack the sound into a exteral movie.. will that help? I don't know.. I am asking it here then!

Also you might just put the music into a seperate Movies, load movie bit 1, then unload it, load movie bit 2, unload.. load movie 3, unload.... I mean it will take more loading and unloading but its better to use anyway.