[Lunatique]

I want to do something like this for my website's entrance page. I'm wondering if doing it in flash will reduce the file size significantly?



The actual animation would be about 550x400, and it just fades from one image to the next--and only 2 to 3 images.

In animated gif, the file gets ridiculously large--totally unpractical. How big would the same animation be in flash?

[Awetopsy]

well depends how gigh resolution you want in flash.. but if its not too big pixel-wise, flash would probably be the way to go.

the only way to do it in animated gif would be to drop the color depth down to 32 or 64 colors or something.

my $.02

[digitaldecoy]

Especially the fading will produce a huge filesize as GIF. With flash you will only have to save the three images and let flash calculate the inbetweens at runtime. That�s definetly the way to go in this case.
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[[Shizo]]

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[Gort]

All and all Flash is far superior to animated gif format, but be mindful that Flash will tax a CPU - no matter how fast. Multiple, tweened rastar images can cause hiccups. The best thing to do is experiment with different compression ratios on your output - try to find the "sweet spot".
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[AndyT]

http://andyart.de/ether.html

The filesize is 81kb. Framerate is 12. The quality could be better I guess.
The font for example should be on a seperate layer.

I wanted to export the movie as an animated gif but it didn't work.
The swf file:
http://www.andyart.de/ether.swf

I'll remove it as soon as you've seen it Lunatique.
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[Lunatique]

Wow Andy. 81 kb is very small, and the quaity is great! Can I use it? I'll give you a hot, juicy kiss for it.

[Gort]

The swf at full size is slow, but the smaller one works great - looks good!! One of the panels shifts slighty, though.
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[Lunatique]

Hey, check out this java script:

http://www.dynamicdrive.com/dynamicindex14/fadeinslideshow.htm

Should I use this java script or flash?

[Lunatique]

I used that java script and this is the result: http://ethereality.info/

[digitaldecoy]

That javascript should indeed produce minimum filesize. Although the chance that someone has disabled javascript is bigger than someone having disabled (or not installed) the flash plugin I guess.
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[AndyT]

Gort: Actually the it's the same swf file. The 2nd link is just the downloadable version.
I didn't know what happens when you click it ... yeah it's slow
I saw the panel shifting in the preview version in Flash. In the final I can't see it. Weird.

Lunatique: Sure you can use it if you still want. But it's just a really quick job ... not at all optimized.
The java script fading looks great too . I don't know how many people disable javascript.
I had to make another version ... with pauses:
http://www.andyart.de/ether2.html
http://www.andyart.de/ether2.swf

That's the HTML Source

[Lunatique]

Thanks Andy!

Why is that people say there's more flash than java activated? I mean, it seems you need java activated to view a lot of websites these days--especially many links are using popup windows.

So, should I use the java or the flash? *agonizing*

[AndyT]

I wouldn't disable javascript either. Dunno if that's actually a big disadvantage.
My homepage seems to be down right now. I didn't remove the files yet ... just in case you wondered.

[edit]I just removed it[/edit]
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[francmidi]

I disable javascript if the (advertising-)popups are getting on my nerves - works fine . And a lot of javascripts don't work the way they should, because I have a Mac (The "fade"-script also doesn't work). With flash there is no platform-problem. You could ignore the Mac-users but a lot of them work in advertising-agencies - maybe you want them to see your work.
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[dsoul]

You should have more control using flash and you won't have too much problems with flash/browser compatibilty, as long as the viewer has the latest plugin installed... which I'm sure a large % of internet users do.
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