Do animations need loading bars?

The-Bloody-Fedora · Post by **The-Bloody-Fedora** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 6:56 pm

I want to do a long animation but I need to know if a laoding bar is needed. So is it? And if so how do you add and/or make one?

Please and thank you ^^

DK · Post by DK » Wed Nov 12, 2008 7:52 pm

You create a pre-loader in Flash AFTER you make the animation in AS. Export it as swf from Anime Studio and import that into Flash.

EDIT: Here's the script for a pre loader in case you need it.

ifFrameLoaded ("end") {
gotoAndPlay ("start");
}

Cheers
D.K

The-Bloody-Fedora · Post by **The-Bloody-Fedora** » Thu Nov 13, 2008 5:48 pm

DK wrote:You create a pre-loader in Flash AFTER you make the animation in AS. Export it as swf from Anime Studio and import that into Flash.

EDIT: Here's the script for a pre loader in case you need it.

ifFrameLoaded ("end") {
gotoAndPlay ("start");
}

Cheers
D.K

Thank you I'll try it = ) but how do I import it in?

DK · Post by DK » Thu Nov 13, 2008 7:01 pm

Create your animation in AS then outpt it as an SWF file. Open Flash and
select File/Import to stage.

Cheers
D.K

synthsin75 · Post by **synthsin75** » Thu Nov 13, 2008 7:05 pm

I know you do mostly Flash output, DK. Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't most web players handle this themself? Unless you need it in Flash format, there's no need for a loading bar.

DK · Post by DK » Thu Nov 13, 2008 7:19 pm

Your right. There's no real need for a preloader. It mostly depends on the size of your swf and what you are creating. A preloader is a visual indicator of how the download progress is going. If it's just a small animated swf file that you want put on the net you probably won't need a preloader but I assumed from the initial question that The-Bloody-Fedora had a Flash background and wanted to know if a preloader could be added in AS rather than Flash.

Cheers
D.K

funksmaname · Post by **funksmaname** » Fri Nov 14, 2008 12:41 am

bear in mind that when exporting the animation in flash, pay careful attention to the streaming graph - quite often, even a long animation/big file doesn't need a preloader if your viewers are generally 1mb+ broadband viewers... if the frames height are lower than the line (the line changes depending on which speed of connection you are simulating, check the menus) then the animation will load faster than it plays and YOU DON'T NEED TO PRELOAD (if you do you are unnecesserily forcing people to download 1 big file instead of just playing it perfectly anyway!)

The-Bloody-Fedora · Post by **The-Bloody-Fedora** » Sat Nov 15, 2008 1:16 pm

DK wrote:Your right. There's no real need for a preloader. It mostly depends on the size of your swf and what you are creating. A preloader is a visual indicator of how the download progress is going. If it's just a small animated swf file that you want put on the net you probably won't need a preloader but I assumed from the initial question that The-Bloody-Fedora had a Flash background and wanted to know if a preloader could be added in AS rather than Flash.

Cheers
D.K

But lets say if it was 10 minuets long, wouldn't I need a loading bar? And I unfortunately don't have Flash, could that be a problem?

DK · Post by DK » Sat Nov 15, 2008 2:43 pm

Yes....that could be a BIG problem! Sorry....not sure what you can do about that but maybe make the animation in swf format and see how it performs without a preloader.

D.K

synthsin75 · Post by **synthsin75** » Sun Nov 16, 2008 8:53 am

Maybe you could clear this up? Where exactly are you wanting to post the video? If it is a video hosting site like YouTube, you definitely DO NOT need a preloader as those sites handle loading themself within the web player.

If you needed to post it in Flash, I'd assume you'd have Flash.

I assume there's some confusion between a loading bar and a preloader. A loading bar is something produced by the web player that is streaming the video, while a preloader is used to show the download progress of a Flash video.

The-Bloody-Fedora · Post by **The-Bloody-Fedora** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 5:25 pm

synthsin75 wrote:Maybe you could clear this up? Where exactly are you wanting to post the video? If it is a video hosting site like YouTube, you definitely DO NOT need a preloader as those sites handle loading themself within the web player.

If you needed to post it in Flash, I'd assume you'd have Flash.

I assume there's some confusion between a loading bar and a preloader. A loading bar is something produced by the web player that is streaming the video, while a preloader is used to show the download progress of a Flash video.

I'm posting it on deviantart, and I ment the laoding bar, sorry for the confusion. And I don't have flash, I can't play my animations on my computer but when I do post them on deviantart they do work.

synthsin75 · Post by **synthsin75** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 5:35 pm

Then no, you don't need a loading bar, DeviantArt's player handles that itself.

Can't play them on your own computer?!

The-Bloody-Fedora · Post by **The-Bloody-Fedora** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 8:53 pm

synthsin75 wrote:Then no, you don't need a loading bar, DeviantArt's player handles that itself.

Can't play them on your own computer?!

Nope, and now I'm faced with another problem: The frame limit. Only 3000? Not sure why there is a frame limit but okay. Well I thought it was to good to be true, to have an animation program for $50. I looked around here and I'm guessing the most I could do on an animation is 2 minets. Well I think I really don't need a loading bar for that. Thank you all anyway ^^