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Trim Fat
From Flash Files
By
Grant Crowell
Businesses and
designers alike prefer
Flash Web banners over
GIFs because Flash Web banners allow more complex
animations, have high graphic quality, and can include scripting
features and interactivity, all of which are desirable for
e-commerce.
End users, in
turn, benefit from Flash's smaller files, faster download times
and streaming capabilities.
For example, a
short banner animation can play in the forefront while the main
banner downloads in the background.
And Flash
banners are now almost universally accepted, displaying on more
than 96 percent of computers with Internet connections.
But Flash
banners aren't designed as well as they could be when it comes
to file size. If not handled skillfully, Flash files can become
too big and take too long to download.
Below are some
important tips that will trim the fat from your Flash file and
leave you with a lean, mean banner machine.
These tips
assume you have a copy of Macromedia Flash and are familiar with
its functions.
And because
Macromedia Flash is a complex software program, both basic and
advanced tips are provided.
Beginners can
visit Macromedia's online support
for further assistance with the terms given here.
Colors
When working
with colors, use a limited color palette — Web-safe colors are
best.
Use gradients
sparingly. Each area of a gradient fill requires more data than
a solid fill. Linear gradients, left to right, are preferable as
browsers read them more quickly.
Advanced.
To understand advanced optimizing in Flash, you must first know
how to create symbols.
Symbols are
elements in your movie that you select for using over and over
again. Symbols can be graphics, buttons, movie clips, sound
files or fonts.
By creating a
symbol, the symbol is stored in the Flash file's library, which
you can grab and place for multiple uses and edits. Symbols
reduce file size because no matter how many times you make and
place a symbol, Flash stores the symbol in the file only once.
For advanced
color optimizing, use the effects panel's tint to create
different colored instances of a single symbol instead of
creating multiple symbols.
Be careful not
to overuse the alpha transparency color effect. It can slow
playback.
Fonts
Limit the
number of fonts and font styles you use. For embedded font
options, select only the characters needed instead of the entire
font.
Advanced.
Use font symbols as shared library assets. A library is where
all your symbols are stored.
You can access
the main library by going toWindow>Library, or you can access
a shared library by defining the linkage properties of the
original library's items or assets.
To use the
assets from a shared library in another movie, chooseFile>Open
As Shared Library in your current movie and select the shared
library file you want to use.
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Lines
Limit the
number of special line styles used, such as dashed and dotted.
Solid lines require less memory. Lines created with the pencil
tool require less memory than brush strokes.
UseModify>Optimize
to minimize the number of separate lines in your shapes.
Advanced.
Limit the number of special line effects. The commands Convert
Lines to Fills, Expand Shape, and Soften Edge in theModify>Shape
submenu increase the number of vector elements in your file.
Bitmaps
Graphic files
imported into Flash, such as a photo or a file from another
software program, take up more file size than Flash (vector)
graphics. Use them sparingly.
Size bitmaps to
the exact dimensions you need before importing them into Flash.
This includes reducing image quality as much as possible.
Avoid animating
bitmap elements.
Advanced.
Try converting your bitmaps to vector graphics. Sometimes you'll
achieve considerably smaller file size.
Adjust the
JPEG quality of bitmap files and turn off the
Smoothing option for bitmaps in a movie's library. Playback will
be faster because the bitmaps will render more quickly.
Sound
To choose sound
compression options, use the options in the Export Settings of
the Sound Properties dialog box. Use the lowest sampling rate
and bit depth required. Sixteen
Kbps should suffice for most situations.
Instead of
using a long sound file, take a segment of the file and set it
to loop, that is, to repeat itself.
Choose fast in
your quality button under Sound Settings. Fast gives better
compression results than medium or best.
Advanced.
In the Compression menu from the Sound Properties dialog box,
choose ADPCM (Advanced Differential Pulse Code Modulation) for
short sounds, and streaming (MP3 compression setting) for longer
sounds such as background music and soundtracks.
Animation
File size
increases with the number of frames. Use symbols for every
element in your banner that appears and changes in more than one
frame.
Use keyframes
and tweening to reduce the number of individual frames and keep
your file size down to a minimum. Avoid using too many tweening
operations at one time, however. Too many could significantly
slow playback.
Animate a fixed
area of your banner, not everywhere on it.
Advanced.
Choose motion tweening over shape tweening and motion
tween symbols instead of grouping objects.
Use caution
when creating complex symbols or having many symbols in a single
frame. It might cause the movie to pause while symbols are
downloading.
Exporting to
the Web
Flash movies
for export — SWF or ShockWave Flash movie — require you to
also save an HTML file. The HTML document is needed to activate
the Flash movie and specifies the browser settings, including
where the Flash movie appears on screen and the movie size. You
can change these settings in the HTML panel of the Publish
Settings dialog box.
Be sure to
choose carefully among the anti-aliasing options found in the
HTML section of a movie's Publish Settings. I usually recommend
autohigh.
Advanced.
Use the bandwidth profiler to see if your movie meets or exceeds
your target audience's connection speed. You can see where a
movie may be paused to wait for a large file to download.
Flash is a
powerful tool for creating Web banners. It will take time to
learn all the features. But keep these optimizing tips in mind
and you'll be able to make stunning banners that are quick to
download.
The views of our authors don' t necessarily
reflect the views and policies of this company or its
advertisers.
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