movie clips

[z35]

I have a lot of movie clips in my library that are linked and attached as needed. I thought that calling the clip when needed will reduce the size of my movie but my files size is cumulative, including every movie clip in my library.

why is this happening?

 

[wangbar]

It's happening because attached clips from the library and MX components are generally exported in the first frame of your movie so you save nothing in file size.

It also plays havoc with traditional preloaders because any attached/linked material has to download before scripts are executed (you'll have to load the movie into a clip/level in another movie to get an accurate read).

You could use loadMovie() to bring in material at runtime without the logjam you're experiencing at the moment, but of course that only works with certain types of content and might not give you the functionality you need.

 

[z35]

I have been trying to figure this out for 3 weeks now.
my movie size is huge so i broke it up into pieces. i linked them together with "load movie" but there is a flicker when the new movie loads and replaces the old. i am trying all kinds of alternatives to get rid of the flicker. and this last method failed as well since i am saving nothing in file size.

can you please please help me on this? i have flash 5.0.

 

[oldnewbie]

I have been asking you for 3 weeks to post a link to see what flicker you're talking about, and which may allow me to suggest a workaround, because most likely that's what it's going to be in Flash 5.
Until then... Regards,

 

[z35]

I'm looking for the best possible solution with Flash 5.
Here is a link to my movie:

http://www.hdr-designs.com/flash/companies/hdr-designs/design

plans.swf

if you click on "residential" a series of buttons show up.
each button is a separate movie that must load one after the other, automatically. so, when "wall units" finishes and "bar units" loads, there is a flicker...and so on.

I hope you can help me.

 

[oldnewbie]

OK! Think I finally understand your problem!

First of all, you shoudn't be using spaces in your file names, as you've done here! That will get you in more trouble than you can even imagine! Use the underscore "_" if you must, but no spaces.

Second, guess you're talking about the flicker only happening on a slow connection, between items such as wall units, bar units, etc...
That flicker is not seen on a fast connection, as on my cable connection, but is visible on the initial download of the different movies.

I think the best solution is to make your surrounding interface only part of the main movie, and just load the actual content (in the right inside frame) in your external movies, that way at least the surrounding will stay the same and the jump to the new movie will not be apparent. The content movies could either be loaded on another level or in an empty container clip in the main movie.

Here's an example.

http://blake.prohosting.com/~tektips/goat.html

Regards,

 

[z35]

hi oldnewbie;
I posted in a hurry yesterday. i noticed some broken links in my movie. i am fixing that but i guess you could still get an idea of what i want to do.

yes.even on a fast connection, the flicker is visible in the initial download of the movies, which is a problem.

So, there is no real solution in flash 5.0. just minimize the area of flicker. ok. Thanks for your help.

 

[oldnewbie]

Yeah! Saw the flicker on my fast connection this morning, but it's last apparent, because faster. It sort of blends in with the opening of the sub menus, so it is definately, IMHO, not that bad.

But as I say, you should only load content and not the whole interface each time you load a new movie. By the way are you loading these movies on _level0 each time?

If you can send me the first two .flas, I could try to work it out for you. E-mail if you hit my handle.
Maybe e-mail me a link to your uploaded .flas on your site, if they're too big to Hotmail them to me. Regards,

 

[z35]

well, the way i am setting it up is:

main movie is only one frame long with a all the background junk.

a movie clip, "container" on the right that will have the content .swf files loaded into it.

and a movie clip on the left called "navigation" which will have all the buttons.

The navigation movie clip is going to be very long. it only has buttons, which are small in file size, but "navigation" will run the length of my entire movie, all the way from "wall units" to "kitchens"

Is this set up the best way? and what if i decide to add more buttons...and the movie gets longer. i hope i am doing this right.

i'll e-mail you some of my files.

 

[z35]

ALSO, i am attaching actions to the buttons, telling it where to go when pressed. if i add more buttons, will i have to edit the entire movie? can i attach actions to a button in the library and have it update all the instances of that button in my movie?

i would like to set this up the way you suggested but how would you resolve these issues? i want the set up to be friendly for editing later.

please let me know your ideas. thanks.bye.