Macromedia Flash - Making a Flash Web Site

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Making a Flash Web Site - Questions?????

mc108 webforumsuser@macromedia.com

2003-11-30, 12:41 pm

Hi,

I?m doing my first Flash project making a Web Site entirely using Flash, and I have a few questions:

1. I have read that 98% of browsers in the US have Flash installed as a plug-in. Is this true? Can I safely assume that 98% of users will be able to access my site? Is it common practice to offer and html alternative?

2. When the Flash movie for the web site loads, do all the pages load at once? That could be a very long wait! If I have 6 pages in my web site, each page containing bit-map images, some having slide shows, some having a few animations, that adds up to
a lot of content! I understand the concept of pre-loaders, to keep the attention of the viewer while a large file loads, but can the one Flash file load each page discretely, one by one, when needed, or does the content of the entire Flash file need to lo
ad when it is opened?

3. If it is true that the Flash file only loads content such as another page, or slide show, or animation when needed, does this happen automatically, or do we have to build the Flash project in a specific way if we want to load pages or animations discre
tely? I am thinking it would be advantageous to have specific pages or animations load only when needed, rather than having to wait for everything to load.

4. Is the main advantage of creating separate ?Scenes? only for organizational purposes (less clutter etc.), or does creating separate Scenes allow one to have movies loaded only when called upon? Or can one render out separate Flash movies from specific
scenes, then have the ?Menu? scene link to these separate, specific Flash movies that were created from the other scenes?

Sounds like I?m new at this?

Thank you for any answers, opinions, or advice regarding the above questions?

mc108

todd young

2003-11-30, 12:41 pm

1) ive read that too. you can assume that most people have Flash on their
computers and will be able to see your site. whether they want to or not is
a different story. yes, its a good idea to give people a choice.

*note - surfers can go both ways with a website..tho ive read more posts
about people who dont like them than people who do..but..

2) you can create 'movies' and have them load one at a time, while ones up
have the other loading in the background or whatever..then have them load
and unload as needed...if youre worried about it being ;a very long wait'
your pages are already too big..people arent going to wait majority of the
time

3) no its not automatic, you have to script it

4) scenes are good for organization and the other stuff you mentioned
too...i guess it boils down to personal preference..you could create 1 scene
with everything contained in it

"mc108" <webforumsuser@macromedia.com> wrote in message
news:bq91ii$9co$1@forums.macromedia.com...

quote:

> Hi,
>
> I?m doing my first Flash project making a Web Site entirely using Flash,

and I have a few questions:

quote:

>
> 1. I have read that 98% of browsers in the US have Flash installed as a

plug-in. Is this true? Can I safely assume that 98% of users will be able
to access my site? Is it common practice to offer and html alternative?

quote:

>
> 2. When the Flash movie for the web site loads, do all the pages load at

once? That could be a very long wait! If I have 6 pages in my web site,
each page containing bit-map images, some having slide shows, some having a
few animations, that adds up to a lot of content! I understand the concept
of pre-loaders, to keep the attention of the viewer while a large file
loads, but can the one Flash file load each page discretely, one by one,
when needed, or does the content of the entire Flash file need to load when
it is opened?

quote:

>
> 3. If it is true that the Flash file only loads content such as another

page, or slide show, or animation when needed, does this happen
automatically, or do we have to build the Flash project in a specific way if
we want to load pages or animations discretely? I am thinking it would be
advantageous to have specific pages or animations load only when needed,
rather than having to wait for everything to load.

quote:

>
> 4. Is the main advantage of creating separate ?Scenes? only for

organizational purposes (less clutter etc.), or does creating separate
Scenes allow one to have movies loaded only when called upon? Or can one
render out separate Flash movies from specific scenes, then have the ?Menu?
scene link to these separate, specific Flash movies that were created from
the other scenes?

quote:

>
> Sounds like I?m new at this?
>
> Thank you for any answers, opinions, or advice regarding the above

questions?

quote:

>
> mc108
>
>
>

kelv webforumsuser@macromedia.com

2003-11-30, 12:41 pm

Hello,
I will attempt to answer your questions based on what i know but please feel free to get other opinions.

Answer #1. Yes. Offering an alternative HTML is totally up to you or your target audience as of now. With the upcoming release of IE read this section http://www.macromedia.com/devnet/ac..._dev_css_082403
This might help you better understand what choices or workarounds you may want to pursue.

Answer #2. Use loadmovie action this will help break up your files into smaller chunks that can be loaded when called. Read flash doc on LoadMovie.

Answer #3. Same as 2

Answer #4. Use scenes for organization purposes at least thats what i do. Don't forget scenes are part of the main movie use wisely. Read flash doc on using movie clips this will be helpful also plus it gives you control in some or many cases of a project

mc108 webforumsuser@macromedia.com

2003-11-30, 12:41 pm

Thanks Kelv!

LoadMovie is definitely the solution. I'll create separate Flash files for each web page and use LoadMovie.

Here is a link to a web site that inspired me to make my site entirely from Flash:

http://www.lightassoc.com/indexfl.html

Can you tell if they created each page as a separate Movie (using LoadMovie), or did they do it all in one fle?

Thanks

mc108

phatkow webforumsuser@macromedia.com

2003-11-30, 12:42 pm

that site indeed dynamically loads content as it is requested - you see for yourself - go to portfolio and click on subsections - it will display "loading" for each.

1. I have read that 98% of browsers in the US have Flash installed as a plug-in. Is this true?
***yes but depends on what version of the player. see this:
http://www.macromedia.com/software/...enetration.html

2. When the Flash movie for the web site loads, do all the pages load at once?
***flash will load from frame 1 through to the end in a linear fashion. If you have external SWFs, then they only get loaded when user clicks a button that loads them. Example: if you have 10 sections for your site and user wants to visit 5 of them - bett
er to place them in their own SWF and load them only when user wants to - rather tha make user wait until all 10 are loaded for no reason.

4. Is the main advantage of creating separate ?Scenes? only for organizational purposes (less clutter etc.),
***yes

chris georgenes
mudbubble.com
Team Macromedia Volunteer for Flash
http://www.flashfilmmaker.com