Why the HUGE .swf File Size ???

[BiggyRat]

Hello...

I created a photo slide show of my band (in Sony Vegas Movie Studio 6); & am in the process of rendering it to different formats for various indie music sites (some sites want .mov's...some want .wmv's...etc.)

So...to render to a Flash movie (.swf)...which to be honest is my favorite...I can import an .mov or an .wmv or even an .avi into Flash...& export it as an .swf. But when I do...no matter which format I bring in to use (or the size of that file)...the resulting .swf file size is huge!

For example...I can use an .wmv of my project, which was output from Vegas at 256Kbps/29.970fps w/ compression; & which has a file size of 6 MB...& the resulting .swf is 140 MB !!! Conversely...I can bring in an .avi or an .mov output at the same speed/frame rate...w/ no compression...& which sport file sizes in the area of 3 GB...& the resulting .swf file is still 140 MB.

[My movie dimensions for this first project are 420 X 315...to accommodate my Bio table width at myspace music, while maintaining a 4/3 aspect ratio.]

So...how do I get the file size down when making a Flash movie? I can upload the big file (140 MB) to my server & hopefully it will stream OK to the various sites...but at 140 MB a pop...my web bill could skyrocket, right?

Anyway to make a Flash movie under 10 MB's? I'm not getting why importing a compressed, smaller size format would result in a larger .swf.

Thanks,

Biggy Rat

 

[oldnewbie]

Have you attempted to lower the quality setting to 95% or even lower? That should make a huge difference in the .swf's size.

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[ImpInTraining]

I've heard that Flash doesn't do a great job of resizing images. With that in mind, it is entirely possible when you imported your images to library, you imported them as high quality images, each picture probably taking more than 1 MB apiece. This may be causing your sizable problem.

My suggestion is to edit your images using gimp.exe, photoshop, or some other image manipulating software, resize the images to lesser quality, and then reimport them. Even a picture 1/20th the quality of a high quality image can still look good enough for a flash animation.

 

[BiggyRat]

oldnewbie...

I took that setting down to 80%; & it only brought the file size down to 130 MB (from 140 MB.)


ImpInTraining...

Like I said before...no matter what file type or file size I bring in; & get a big one back. I haverecently however, stumbled across how to customize the output templates in Vegas, utilizing different video formats & levels of compression. I'm hoping I can find the middle of the road in this regard...don't know if it'll help, but...

Thanks,

Biggy Rat