Music Play List 3

[Milk]

Ok, each time I come here I'm in deeper and more confused. Maybe someday I can stop being confused and be able to help others instead out but until then here's my questions.

I'm making a site w/ a song play list. My problems are:

A. The .swf file is too big to host (over tripod which before I found to hold some of the biggest files of anywhere), 20+megs. My solution would be to host the songs seperately and link them through HTML to the flash site but I don't know if this is possible since I wanna be able to pic the song through flash. My other solution would be if there's any chance I could make a couple different movies for the songs and then link them seemlessly to each other. But is that possible?

B. Who could host this thing if those ideas are no goes? And how much would I have to shell out to host this honker of a file?

and C. Is there any smaller file form to use on flash besides MP3? I know WMA is smaller but flash doesn't support it (I threw a fit when I noticed that).

What can I do?

Thanks,
Jeremy

 

[TulsaJeff]

To be honest with you...mp3 are very small if they are configured correctly. I have a song playing on one of my sites I built recently for a church. It was originally over 3000k. I set it to 16kbps and changed the stereo setting to mono. this dropped it down to about 459k. I then set it to streaming with a 10 second buffer, It works like a champ on the slowest of connections from what I have been told.

Check it out at

http://www.lifetab.net

My idea wold be to have multiple swf files with a different mp3 in each one. just load the movie you want into the main movie.

God Luck!

 

[coldfused]

and try using f2s.com..they have a lot of free space for you..keep tripod as your movies host, and use f2s to host all your music..then as jeff said just call them into the tripod site from f2s..

jeff would you do me a favor and go into detail exactly how to stream audio through flash..after talking to you that day i went through some search engines but the files i found were not that informative..so if ya don't mind and you have some time, maybe a faq with step by step instructions..

would be appreciated..

carlsatterwhite@endangeredgraphics.com

 

[funkymonk]

That would be a good faq. I think it would help a lot of people! roda B-)

http://www.sameplanet.co.uk

Learning is like rowing against the current. As soon as you stop, you start going backwards.

 

[TulsaJeff]

I will write an FAQ on it maybe today or tomorrow as soon as I get a chance. In the mean time...it is quite simple actually...

I am as of yet unsuccessful at streaming audio anywhere but the main timeline. I am assuming you guys know how to get your audio into a separate layer on the timeline. Select the layer and in the sound properties panel select "stream" from the drop-down list("Event" is default)

then select the first frame of the audio layer or a separate actions layer...your choice. right-click/Actions and under the properties heading double-click on _soundBuffer. add the amount of seconds you want it to buffer as in _soundBuffer=10 and close. Cntrl+Enter to Test.

 

[coldfused]

sweet thanks jeff..thats all i needed..

carlsatterwhite@endangeredgraphics.com

 

[funkymonk]

Yep, cheers man! roda B-)

http://www.sameplanet.co.uk

Learning is like rowing against the current. As soon as you stop, you start going backwards.

 

[coldfused]

just tried it jeff..cut a file from 4700k to 470k..sweetness..now tell me one more thing..do you load that audio externanly or do you have it in the movie..i'm guessing loading it into a level would be better then in the movie..

carlsatterwhite@endangeredgraphics.com

 

[TulsaJeff]

Either way actually. I have tried it both ways. I think it might be best to put the music in a separate movie and load it into a level when needed. Doing it this way you could actually have several pieces of music that could play one after the other or selected by the user.

In the

http://www.lifetab.net

site I put the music and a welcome page together into one movie. This is what the visitor sees initially. When they hit the enter button...the actual site opens as a pre-sized popup window with the music still playing the background movie behind the popup window. It works pretty well also.

 

[WhiteTiger]

Why does that reduce the file size so dramatically?...
Does flash embed the mp3 within the movie if you dont stream it, and if you do stream it, call it externally and keep a seperate file or what? ----------------------------------------
Luke WhiteTiger: "to the rescue!"X-)
Oldnewbie: "Luke, you must first learn to use the force first"

 

[TulsaJeff]

the MP3 is always embedded within a swf file I guess you could say. The streaming is not necessarily what reduces the file size. It merely loads about 10 seconds or so of music and begins playing while the rest is loading up ahead.

changing the file's kbps setting in File/Publish Settings is what reduces the file size. I generally use 16kbps and it still sounds pretty decent.

To reduce the file size even further... make sure to check the "Mono" checkbox as well which reduces the signal from a left and a right to a single(mono) signal.

That's how you go from a 4700k MP3 to a 470k MP3.

when we were talking earlier of calling it externally we were referring to calling(loading) the swf file which contained the MP3. This is not necessary but does have its advantages in certain situations.

You could just as easily have the music on the main timeline streaming on its own layer without ever having to load it from an external swf. It would load the buffer during the preload and then continue loading the entire file.

 

[WhiteTiger]

I just thought of something, I've seen a script that detected how fast you were downloading at...you could almost use that to load different mp3s or movies, (whatever), and have different bitrates for broadband machines, dialup users, etc...that would be pretty cool...=) ----------------------------------------
Luke WhiteTiger: "to the rescue!"X-)
Oldnewbie: "Luke, you must first learn to use the force first"

 

[TulsaJeff]

Yes...that would be really cool!

 

[Milk]

Wow, lots of replies. Hey can one of you guys tell me if that HTML idea of mine would work. Cause as far as people coming in and seeing the site that would be the best (although probably the biggest pain for me to do).

Oh, and I didn't know I could change the file sizes of the mp3's through flash. I was being held to having to give them at least 64kbps and sterio.

Jeremy

 

[coldfused]

you can't call html into flash..but you could have the tracks in their own swf and call that into another movie..

carlsatterwhite@endangeredgraphics.com

 

[WhiteTiger]

What do you mean, like have the Mp3 play through HTML instead of flash, but still be able to pick it from flash? ----------------------------------------
Luke WhiteTiger: "to the rescue!"X-)
Oldnewbie: "Luke, you must first learn to use the force first"

 

[unwanted]

If I can put in my 2 cents worth!
Streaming sound might be fine for background music but you don't have much control over it. Pretty much limited to only playing or stopping it. As for file size, you won't be able to cut it down that much, if you want to maintain a comparable quality to the cd or mp3 original. Quality of a streamed piece of music at 16bps mono is, in my mind, at least questionable! No offense Tulsa!

;-)ldnewbie

 

[TulsaJeff]

no offence taken;-)

I only speak from my own personal experience. This is what I have done and it has worked great for me. May not be the right thing for someone else. one could probably leave it at about 44kbps mono and it would do fine. My problem was I did not see a whole lot of difference in sound set at mono between 16kbps and 44kbps.

It is a tradeoff between file size and quality. One just has to determine what they are willing to live with and set the parameters from there.

The best answer to something as objective as this issue is trial and error. Try it...listen to it...make adjustments...listen to it again...etc. Ya' Gotta Love It!

 

[Milk]

I got mine at about 44kbps now and it's fine. 16 is a bit drammatic I think, I might go as low as around 32kbps but that's it. Btw, how do I stream this? I'm fine with the file size now that I reduced the mp3's and got rid of a bunch but now I need to stream them so they'll work on the site without some HUGE preload. I put the soundbuffer property in the frames of the songs and have the songs set at stream but besides that I don't know what to do.

What else do I need to do?
Jeremy

 

[TulsaJeff]

that is all you need to do... do a cntrl+Enter to test. Select edit/view streaming and you will see somewhat of a estimated rendition of what it will do online. Under the Debug menu you can set the connection to 28.8 or 56k. your choice there.

If nothing else...upload it to a vacant spot and do a little test run to see how it does. You may need to increase the buffer if it has a little trouble keeping up on a slower connection. Ya' Gotta Love It!