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| Adding
preloaders to SWF and FLV files in Wildform Flair |
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| Introduction |
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Wildform Flair has a very useful preloader feature that enables you to add a preloader to your entire Flash SWF output or to any individual SWF or FLV file within your project.
This tutorial explains how to add a preloader
to SWF and FLV files in Wildform Flair.
The Preload option allows you to program an automatic
preloader into your Wildform Flair output. This
is for web streaming purposes only. Preloaders
will not work on Wildform Flair Flash SWFs or
FLVs played locally from a hard drive or CD.
The purpose of preloaders is to ensure smooth
playback of larger Flash SWF and FLV files for
users on slower connections. In this way, users
on slower speed connections (e.g., dial up modems)
can view larger Flash SWF/FLV files without buffering
or the Flash SWF/FLV stopping and starting.
For instance, if someone on a 56k connection
tries to view a Flash SWF/FLV that was created
to stream to a broadband, 256k connection, the
Flash SWF/FLV is still going to play, but the
amount of information contained in the Flash
SWF/FLV will be much larger than it would be
for a Flash SWF/FLV specifically created for
a 56k connection. This will cause an inconsistent
and choppy playback experience for the 56k user.
The preloaders ensure that enough of the Flash
SWF/FLV has loaded so that there will be no interruption
once the Flash SWF/FLV begins to play. While
there is a delay while the user waits for the
Flash SWF/FLV to begin playback, if you preload
enough of the file, once it starts to play, it
will continue to play uninterrupted until it
finishes. |
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| Adding a preloader to your entire Flash SWF output file |
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| To add a preloader to the entire Flash SWF output file use the SWF tab in the Export Tab in the Settings Window. |
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| This will add a preloader to the output Flash SWF file generated by Wildform Flair. This method will not work to add a preloader to FLV files. Using Wildform Flair it is also possible to add preloaders to any SWF or FLV within a project using the "Add Player/Preloader" feature. For more on that see below. |
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| Adding
a preloader to an individual SWF or FLV in your
project |
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begin click File>Import File and select a
SWF of FLV file. |
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| (Note:
You can also import a video or audio file and
encode it into Flash SWF or FLV using the video,
audio and image importer.)
Right click the SWF/FLV and select Add Player/Preloader
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Edit Player box will open. |
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| Check the Preload box. |
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There
are two preload options:
- Fixed: When
selected this causes the Flash Player to
preload a specified percentage of your Wildform Flair
output prior to beginning playback. You specify
the percent of the movie to load (from 1%
- 100%) in the box directly to the right.
The Fixed preloader works with any Flash
player version 4 and higher.
- Adaptive: An
adaptive preloader is an "intelligent" preloader
that will preload a variable amount of your
Flash SWF based on the size of the Flash
SWF and the viewer's internet connection
speed so that the viewer can watch the Flash
SWF without stops and starts - no matter
what speed they are connected to the internet
at. The adaptive preloader determines the
user's connection speed and based on that
figure and the size of the Flash SWF file
you are preloading, it preloads precisely
the amount of the Flash SWF required to enable
the Flash SWF to begin playing as soon as
it possibly can and still not stop at any
point until it is done. In this way, the
preload process is optimized so the amount
of time taken for a Flash SWF to preload
is minimized as much as possible. The Adaptive
preloader works with any Flash player version
5 and higher.
If you're not sure which preloader to use, we
recommend that you use the adaptive preloader
with the default buffer factor.
To show users the percentage (0-100%) that has
been loaded check the Include Preloader Text
box. To edit the font or font size click the
Font button.
To change the text color click the color picker. |
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| To
add a preloader you must use one of the player
options provided. If you want to add a preloader
without adding a player (with play controls)
you can use the "Blank" player. |
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| To
finish click the Create Now button. |
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| Notes |
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When
adding a preloader to a SWF within your project
Wildform Flair will incorporate the Flash SWF
and the player with preloader into a single file.
The original file will still be saved in your
Source files folder within your project directory.
When adding a preloader to an FLV within your
project Wildform Flair will generate a separate
player SWF that will load the FLV file (FLV files
must be loaded in order to play - this is the
way the format has been designed). The FLV file
will remain in the Load External Files folder
in your project directory.
Files set to the Preload play mode will preload
100% before playing and adding a preloader will
not affect them. The preloaders will only affect
Flash SWF files that have been set to play using
the Stream play mode or FLV files that have been
set to the Load External Files play mode. |
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| Conclusion |
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| We
have now covered everything necessary to add
a preloader to SWF and FLV files in Wildform Flair.
You can do much more with Wildform Flair; other
tutorials will cover these subjects. The Wildform Flair
help file also addresses these topics. |
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