1 MC timeline VS multiple timelines 1

[PantherRun]

Hey out there...
Following on my theme of the best way to present large flash movies...

One of the things I've been wondering about is the best way to create my large movies. I've began to create them using 1 timeline saturated with movie clips, but am wondering if maybe each MC should be its own individual movie.

I'm concerned about this because, though I'm creating for broadband, I still want to use the fastest method within the limits of broadband. Inotherwords, I don't want to create a wait on broadband- that would be death.

A question on the boards right now (flash 5 vs MX) points out that with 1 timeline, and multiple MCs, (and I'm assuming streaming takes place), THE LIBRARY for the ENTIRE movie will have to load as the movie starts. If I'm reading this wrong please tell me, but If this is right, then that means my 16000 frame movie, though broken up into MCs, will NOT STREAM THE LIBARAY AS IS NEEDED, but will try to front load it all at once! - for me, bitmap heavy, that could be a huge file.

But as a braodband site, maybe that's not a problem?

So, what's your opinion... Timeline containing multiple MCs or say 10 individual movies all strung together with say "load movie"?

And as I always ask, would either method improve the viewers enjoyment- I.e. - download speed?

Thanks
Hoss

 

[pixl8r]

I should qualify my statement in the other post as that is not entirely correct.

The library will stream it's contents on loading except in the case of componenents or any object which is set to load in the first frame (the ability to stream play while loading has always been one of the advantages of Flash). The difficulty becomes managing the flow of the site. If the Flash in question is a "Intro" or like style movie the default streaming of Flash should work with no problem.

Where you are dealing with streaming an interface (as opposed to a "intro") as the case of the Flash 5 vs MX question, you have to make sure that enough of the site is loaded so that if a user "clicks" one of your buttons before the rest of the library has loaded the movie doesn't just dumbly sit there. Depending on the size of the movie and the connection speed this may or may not be noticeable. That is the nature of my (poorly worded) warning in the other post.

If the entire library is not yet loaded (in his case 50+ high res images will take awhile to load) you would not want to present the interface until all of the dependant pieces had loaded.

So your options are to break up the movie into multiple movies and load only what you need when you need it or preload the movie so that there are no problems with user interaction and timing.

Personally I find that it is much easier to manage file sizes by using multiple movies (as opposed to multiple MC's) but it really depends on your content and how large the file sizes are. It also gives you the ability to track and react to when a load is complete.

Clear as mud? I hope I explained it right. I will rely on Old or Wangbar to correct me if I've made any glaring mistakes in my statements. (haven't had my coffee yet).

Hope it helps.

Wow JT that almost looked like you knew what you were doing!

 

[PantherRun]

I think i got it, Pix...

So, being trapped in a dial up world(and all the ignorance it brings) BUT creating for broadband, let me ask you this: sample movie = 50 MBs. From what you've said, I'm tempted to cut each MC out and make it its own timeline.

Right move?

Any drawbacks?

Hoss

 

[oldnewbie]

IMHO, on a 56k dial-up, anything over 200-300KBs is murder... And I'm very, very patient, compared to the young studs browsing the web these days!

 

[pixl8r]

Only advantages for you Hoss. I think it's the right move.

50MB is big even for broadband. An average DSL connection is only going to get 32 kb/s. Some other connections obviously are faster (and some slower), but what that number means is that you are going to have noticeable load time for anything over about 2.7 KB at that connection speed.

Splitting it up into seperate Fla's(swf's) and loading files only as needed will have the wonderful effect of speeding your initial load time. The only drawback I see is that you are going to have to do a little extra work to rework your super movie.

One of the best ways to really get a feel for the load time of your movie is to use the bandwidth profiler. Test the movie and under view select bandwidth profiler. You will get a chart with some very valuable statistics about your Flash movie. You can select the speed you are targeting under View>Download Settings, and you can simulate the download by selecting View>Simulate Download. If you aren't already using this tool I think you will find it invaluable in optimizing your movies (I know I do).

I definitly agree with Oldnewbie on the dial up file sizes. The average user just won't wait for it.

Hope it helps you!

Wow JT that almost looked like you knew what you were doing!

 

[PantherRun]

Got it Pix, and will follow your lead on breaking this baby up further.
And yes, this will crash dial-up, but it's not being created for dial-up. By the time the first stage of this 5 year movie is ready, (about a year hopefully, said that 3 years ago), many more millions will be embracing broadband worldwide... assuming a meteor doesn't hit us of course.

Again, thanks for the help.

Hoss