flash (macromedia): rump888;
Didn't check the url, but Fireworks has a polygon tool for creating star
shapes, simply import the native png to flash and specify vector in the
import dialogue (or optionally export as ai). -Tom Unger

Here's the situation - it really makes no sense to me at all...

So I had this Flash file I was working on in MX. It had a whole bunch of large pictures in the library, and the FLA ended up being about 4MB, and the SWF was abou 500k. Since I was using this on the web, that was WAY too large, so I posted the big pics on a server. Then, I went in Photoshop and shrank all the pics down REALLY small (so they were like icons), and imported THOSE into the library of the FLA. I put these "icons" on the page, and just had the big pics load up off the server when the mouse was rolled over the respective icon, so as to get the file size down.

Now, since I didn't need those "big pictures" in the library anymore (cuz they were loading off a server), I deleted them from the library. My attempt at decreasing the size of the SFW worked beautifully, as I got it down to a 36k file, but for some reason my FLA is now 10 MB!!! I like to keep my source FLAs on a web server too, but I only have 20MB of space total, so I don't want to take half of it up with a FLA. But the whole thing doesn't make sense - why would my file have shot up to 10MB after I deleted all teh big pics from the library?!? Any ideas (or help as to what I can do to get the file size of the FLA down?)....

Incidentally, to see visually what I'm talking about that I did, go to http://www.PauliesPortfolio.com/ and click on the "paintings" link - that's the SWF that I shrank down, but the FLA is huge.....

hey man, try to delete unused items > open library panel (ctrl+L), and there is menu (top right corner, bottom of the [x] button, and there choose "select unused items", and then press trashcan to delete them..
(some times, not all unused are selected ato one time, repeat to be shure..)
hope that helps..,

PS.: i think if you use vector graphics for you buttons with a stars, it looks better.. realy!
(;

Ya know, I made that site for a friend of mine, and he e-mailed me that "star-button" thing cuz he said he wanted me to use that as the navigational button. Every time I look at that site it bothers me, though, cuz I KNOW that it would look WAY smoother as a vector. Problem is, I am not proficient enough with design skills to redraw that as a vector - I tried, and making a perfect star was holding me up. Sucks, cuz I hate the way it looks now, but nothing I can do!.....

As far as my original problem goes, I just re-saved the file as a different name, and for some reason the newly-named FLA file was only 168kb - weird $hit, but it worked! Anyway, thanks for the advise, and if you know an easy way to use Fireworks or Flash to draw a vector star, let me know!!!....

I think the flash save function ins wiedrly incremental, so if you just keep clicking save, some data that you think you have deleted (such as large media files) are still hidden away somewhere. Try doing a save as, and saving your fla as a new version. This should give you a much smaller fla file.

EG:
save "myMovie.fla" as "myMovie_v02.fla"

This is good practice anyway, since fla files can crash or corrupt, so it's wise to save incremantally new versions on a regular basis. I tend to save a new version every time I make a major change to the file -- usually at least three or four versions each day.

Cheers,
Gil

Gil Fewster

get it man!
http://www.electron.balticom.lv/starbutton.html
nothing hard to draw a star, some programs, such as corel or freehand have built in star shape..
but in flash you can simply draw 5 triangles (rectangles with one corner deleted and rotated) move transform center to the center of your star, and duplicade how many rays you need with rotation increment.. and then fill inside...
he ehee, it is one more way - draw it with actoinsript.. ((: lineTo.....

When you simply save your changes to a FLA file the file increases in size
because Flash appends the changed data to the file. To reduce the size,
simply go to File > Save As and save the file as a new name. Then you can
delete the old FLA and use the new one and you'll see that the file size has
been reduced.

--
Shane Elliott
www.timberfish.com
www.friesontheside.com


[quoted text, click to view]
large pictures in the library, and the FLA ended up being about 4MB, and the
SWF was abou 500k. Since I was using this on the web, that was WAY too
large, so I posted the big pics on a server. Then, I went in Photoshop and
shrank all the pics down REALLY small (so they were like icons), and
imported THOSE into the library of the FLA. I put these "icons" on the
page, and just had the big pics load up off the server when the mouse was
rolled over the respective icon, so as to get the file size down.
[quoted text, click to view]
they were loading off a server), I deleted them from the library. My
attempt at decreasing the size of the SFW worked beautifully, as I got it
down to a 36k file, but for some reason my FLA is now 10 MB!!! I like to
keep my source FLAs on a web server too, but I only have 20MB of space
total, so I don't want to take half of it up with a FLA. But the whole
thing doesn't make sense - why would my file have shot up to 10MB after I
deleted all teh big pics from the library?!? Any ideas (or help as to what
I can do to get the file size of the FLA down?)....
[quoted text, click to view]
http://www.PauliesPortfolio.com/ and click on the "paintings" link - that's
the SWF that I shrank down, but the FLA is huge.....
[quoted text, click to view]