slow performance when using non-animated _alpha effects

[darthraider]

I have a flash movie which when loaded, contains approx. 50-100 objects. Objects are positioned not only next to each other, but also on top of each other. Each object has a part which is partially transparent (_alpha 30). Not every object is visible, that is, they cannot be seen by people because the object is covered by another one and does not become visible until the object above is removed. The _visible parameter is true at all times. Each object has a rollOver/rollOut action. These actions however do nothing with _alpha.

Whatever browser I use, performance is ok except when using Internet Explorer. Even on 450Mhz the flash movie runs smooth when using a standalone player or viewing in e.g. netscape/mozilla.

Can the transparent have such an impact on performance even when the ._alpha is not tweened or changed by actionscript?

Changing frames per second does not result in visible changes.

[farafiro]

just have u updated the IE flash player's plugg-in

[jimburton]

AFAIK the alpha property of clips should only have an impact on performance when they are tweened and that's cos they require more screen redrawing....so I don't think that's the prob, but could be wrong:confused:

[darthraider]

that's also what i thought. transparent objects should not dramatically drop performance. But when i remove the transparent object, performance is increased. Does flash understand that underlying objects should not rendered (calculate on) when not visible?

There is a large amount of small objects on the scene, all of them instances of a base-object (MC). Could this be the problem? Sounds kinda strange to me, because most browserplugins play it fast/smooth enough. Also note, that when completely loaded, the _root timeline is stopped. Any animation (mostly a simple rollOver) is performed on user input/mouse movement. The only MC which updates without user input is a timer.

[farafiro]

HUH
Originally posted by farafiro
just have u updated the IE flash player's plugg-in

[darthraider]

Originally posted by farafiro
just have u updated the IE flash player's plugg-in

i have