Topic: Flash MX '04 help needed please

[notaclue]

Hi, me again!

Iv been using Fireworks to create designs for various projects but recently put it to use by making my signature for my various on-line car clubs im involved with.
e.g;


However I now fancy having a crack at one where the car image changes for another pic, then another & so on with a delay of say 3 secs a picture.
Iv attempted to try this using Flash MX '04 but its all gobblediguke to me!
Is there a simple way of doing this?

Thanks

[notaclue]

Oh, how do you get a tune to start when someone moves the cursor over the sig, like some of you have?!?!?!

[Simon]

Hi, can't help you with Flash, but most of the sigs are done with Swish.  You just add a roll on / roll off sound file, but sigs should be kept to a maximum size of 80Kb (total), otherwise it can slow down loading of the pages, especially for those without broadband.  

[Sandra]

I dont think that any flash animation prog is really easy to use at the start, its just a case of reading the help files and tutorials to get the basic idea then learning as you go.
I think Swish is a little easier to understand as its not as complicated as Flash MX, I still looked at it every day for about 2 weeks before I managed my first sig though  

The sound is activated if you put a "Button" in to either click on it or roll over it  

[notaclue]

Right! Iv found the animation settings on fireworks, so iv got the Audi sig to fade in & out! Only thing is Iv set it as my sig on here & its not working!!!!?!?!? >

[Sandra]

Its  a .png file it should be a .swf if its a flash file.
Did it give you the option to save as or export in something other than a .png ?
Swish has an export as swf option or a save as .swi , I think that only a .swf  or .gif will play animations in IE  

[Sandra]

Off the macramedia fireworks FAQs on their site it says one of its features is :

Work and export faster. Speed workflow in a streamlined, intuitive user interface. Manipulate large images, edit text, and complete other processor-intensive tasks much faster. Automatically output specific file formats from Fireworks to Macromedia Flash, Dreamweaver, Macromedia FreeHand, Macromedia Director, and third-party graphics and HTML packages with one click.

I havent used it so I am not sure if you can export as a .swf or a .gif  

[notaclue]

Thanks Sandra.

It won't let me change the file type to a gif so I moved it to paint then changed it to a gif file.  :-[ Dumb thing to do & obviously it didn't work either. Maybe I need to get another program like photoshop insted, that lets you save it as a gif in the first instance

[Adept]

In Fireworks you always work with PNG files. If you want another type, you have to select the graphics format you need from the optimise panel and use Export from the File menu.

Alternatively, you can use Export Preview on the File menu to interactively select the correct format and compression settings.

Edit: Forgot to mention that you need to select "Animated GIF" if you have animation in the file

[notaclue]

Wahey! Good stuff, were getting somwhere now!
Thanks for that, i just changed it to an Animated gif & exported it like you said.
One other question now for the time being(I have lots to come!), its not as good as it should be because my host reduces file sizes down to 250k if its bigger. Its 345k. I don't have winzip, is there anyway I can reduce it otherwise?

ta

[Sandra]

If you zipped it then it wouldnt work while still zipped so thats a no no anyway  
Zips and other compression programs are only really to save space for storage or e-mailing etc.
The only way to reduce the file size and still have it working is to reduce the quality of the original pictures or whatever you are building the animation from and/or reduce the number of frames unfortunately  

[notaclue]

Found a host now that will allow each file to be up to 850kb! Ideal.
Thanks for your help on this one all you replied, no doubt I'll be requiring some more of your knowlage v soon!

Cheers

[Simon]

Hi, that's a nice sig, but at 154Kb,  it's a bit on the large side for here, as it takes a couple of seconds to load even with broadband.  If there are several posts, with a sig that size, in one thread, it will cause problems.

As I said above, the maximum size of a sig, should really be not above 80Kb.  Any chance you can reduce the size, by about half?