flash (macromedia): cakejazz,

[quoted text, click to view]

Shucks, they didn't tell you that beforehand!?

[quoted text, click to view]

Yup, that needs to go. ;)

[quoted text, click to view]

Starting from scratch might help. Lowering the JPG quality will
definitely help, but of course it's always a trade-off. Slowing the movie
.... not sure what you mean by that. (What do you mean by that?)

[quoted text, click to view]

Do you have samples of these up on the web? It's kind of hard to guess
at what the problem(s) might be.

[quoted text, click to view]

Don't do that! Don't kill yourself and don't pull your hair out. ;)
Here are some thoughts:

* Do these banners use any UI Components? I'm thinking of the Button
Component in particular. If so, dump 'em. You won't get under 40k with
even a single Component in your movie. Use a button symbol instead of the
Button Component.

* Are you using raster images (JPG, GIF, etc.) to present large areas of
solid color or simple gradients? If so, drop the raster in favor of Flash's
native drawing tools. For complex gradients and photo-realistic shots, you
will, of course, need to import raster images.

* Are your raster images larger than they need to be? Did you trim them in
Photoshop (or whatever editor) to remove all extraneous white space?
Imported images should be "actual size," rather than overly large, then
reduced in Flash (the file still weighs the same, even if it looks smaller).

* Have you unecessarily embedded font outlines?

* Do you have raster artwork overhanding the boundaries of the Stage?

* Do you have raster artwork stacked overtop of itself? If so, combine
those assets into a single image and use that, instead.


David
stiller (at) quip (dot) net
"Luck is the residue of good design."

Sbisa,

[quoted text, click to view]

I'm sure there are even more than those. But I'm glad they're helpful
to you. :)

[quoted text, click to view]

Yes, that's a very good approach.

[quoted text, click to view]

Oh, very much so! Certainly, that's a good way to optimize a movie
(actually, a series of movies). I would say the same applies to audio in
Flash. Obviously, each situation is unique, but if often makes sense to
load lengthy audio files as MP3s dynamically. Same goes for video (FLVs).
As you pointed out, this practice doesn't reduce the over all volume of
files, but it does provide a way for the user to load content only as
needed -- for example, if the user chooses not to click the "Hear music!"
button, why should the user have to endure the download?

I didn't mention this approach in my original reply because the OP is
talking about banner ads. Banners *might* be complex enough to merit being
broken into separate piece, but the likelihood is low, and I get the idea
that these banners are supposed to be less then 40k total, apiece.


David
stiller (at) quip (dot) net
"Luck is the residue of good design."

NSurveyor,

[quoted text, click to view]

Indeed! They look great. :) Really, they look *just* like the Button
UI Component. But for someone who isn't a programmer, the easiest way to
make a button -- and to make it look exactly like you want -- is to use a
button symbol.


David
stiller (at) quip (dot) net
"Luck is the residue of good design."

Hello and thanks for your anticipated help here, I am a graphic/web designer
trying to relearn flash for some new projects. I have extensive exp. in pshop
and jazz, but need to start seriously learning Flash, its been a few years. I
created 3 ads for a client, then was told after the final (3rd) revisions were
done, that they all need to be under 40k in size. Currently, they are 80k,
120k, and 242k!!!

Starting from scratch, lowering the jpg quality, slowing the movie, seems to
be my only option. I was able to recreate one of the banners so far, but still
it's at 50k and I can't find a way to get it under 40k. The files absolutely
have to be under 40k.. I'm killing myself trying to finger out how to make
these without losing too much flair.

thanks!

David, these are all very good tips. Thank you. I am constantly struggling with
the same problem, and all of your tips are new to me.

One thing that I have gotten into a habit of doing is loading external small
movies as needed instead of having bulky stuff in my main timeline. This way,
although the collective-mass can be big, the initial download is almost
instantaneous, and no hangup as the movie does its thing, loading components
only as needed when needed.

Since this seems to work, I've not questioned it. But, since you seem like a
learned expert, is the above method sound (or even logical or a best-practice0?

The above method of loading external resources ? other swfs, jpegs, flv,
sounds, xml, etc. ? is a great way to distribute the loading time and provide a
better user experience. In addition it allows the Flash Player to better manage
the memory requirements.

It is not, however, recommended for something like a banner ad. At least I
wouldn't think so.

About the UI components.. indeed they are big, but if you want to use them, you
could engineer your own version. For example, here's my version of the Button
component: http://www.geocities.com/swf7463/Button.html and it's done
completely with ActionScript, so its about 1 KB.

NSurveyor posted the code for his buttons in this thread:


http://www.macromedia.com/cfusion/webforums/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=288&thre
adid=1108815

Unless the code has changed / been further optimized ... if it has, please let
us know!

Total size of swf may or may not be a problem. Remember Flash streams the
frames down. So the size of the frames is also a critical issue.

Size decisions depend on

1. Total Size: Do you need to limit the total transfer bytes such as an
publisher or ad broker may require its advertisers to stay within a size? Or
you need to control the total transfer bytes because of your server limits.
For most folks this is the monthly allotment. For some it is the pipe size.

2. Particular Frames: Do you have studdering in the movie playing at target
client bandwidth? This is an issue of certain frames have content that is
too large and needs to be looked at with suggestions so far mentioned in
this thread. Use the bandwidth profiler and simulate download in Test Move
and turn on Generate Size report in File->Publish Settings to identify these
bottle necks.

3. If the content presentation is dependent on user selections, then look to
break the movie into multiple movies.

4. Look for the best trade off for media value for usage. For example higher
media value for content, lower (optimized) for navigation.

--
Lon Hosford
www.lonhosford.com
May many happy bits flow your way!
[quoted text, click to view]
David, these are all very good tips. Thank you. I am constantly struggling
with
the same problem, and all of your tips are new to me.

One thing that I have gotten into a habit of doing is loading external
small
movies as needed instead of having bulky stuff in my main timeline. This
way,
although the collective-mass can be big, the initial download is almost
instantaneous, and no hangup as the movie does its thing, loading components
only as needed when needed.

Since this seems to work, I've not questioned it. But, since you seem like
a
learned expert, is the above method sound (or even logical or a
best-practice0?