hi-res pictures in flash

[JoElAtHaN]

I was just visiting the site for the the royal tenenbalms (http://bventertainment.go.com/movies/royal/index2.html) and just look how clean the photos are and yet the file size is realtively low. I feel like I am importing incorrectly... what is the best file type and quality size wise for flash?

[Jesse]

My general rules would be:
- Few colors - Gif with X number pallete
- Lots of colors or lots of variation - JPG. Medium quality is always good. 30% compressions or something.
- Transparency - PNG. File sizes get big though.

I'm prolly comparatively inexperienced in terms of graphic imports though, so others, please speak up!

[funkmyer]

I think the 24 bit PNG format has the absolute highest resolution and color fidelity of all the formats, but does have a large filesize though. So to compensate, export out of photoshop as a png-24 and then do a custom compression setting in flash using, JPEG compression at about anywhere from 10% - 40%, depending on the range of colors and transparency of your images

Latez

PS. Jesse, I just you a PM!!

[§ilver§hocker]

i have tried exporting graphix from photoshop as png 24 but i can see alot of pixels so i used highest jpg and i cant see the pixels
wats up wit that??

[JRBT]

Alot of people claim that png is best - I disagree.

JPG always looks smoothest for photograph style pics. Photoshop 5.5+ has the "save for web" feature which really lets you perfectly tweak your jpgs. Flash will ruin any bmp image if you allow it to though! I suggest going into "publish settings" and playing with the compression and/or the library and set your compression there also.

There are a zillion possible settings.

[nic]

Jesse also knows about importing graphix into fla!! Way to go J!

Yep, I'm with Jesse all the way.

Photoshop 5.5 & 6 have a save for web command, but you can achieve slightly better results using Adobe ImageReady (comes with PS 5.5 & 6) or Fireworks::

Want real transparency? PNG (24 bit w/transparency) > import into FLA, then set that bitmap to publish out, with jpeg compression to get that rediculous file size down! GIF's only support naff transparency - only absolute transparencies, as apposed to the real alpha channel action of the 24bit PNG.

Which is 'best' depends entirely on the specific image, client bandwidth considerations, etc., et-bloody-cetra, and your optimisation decisions are all about a compromise you choose...

Action scripting your image tweens or movement will really help out in reducing that file size blowout. Otherwise try not to move images around in FLA...

[mikeman126]

From what I have found when making web sites not much can beat the high quality and low file sizes of a GIF. PNGS also work great but from what I have found GIFS are the way to go. There is only one type of file I really would suggest, JPG's they look like hell in flash.

[funkmyer]

Here's the deal guys and trust me cuz I know what I am talking about here...

PNG's is the best looking image format in Flash for several reasons. First, it is the native format created by Macromedia for Fireworks. Secondly, it uses a a true 24 bit Alpha channel unlike GIF's which have a 256 maximum color palette. JPEG's look ok but but have more noticeable noise fragments.

To get the best looking graphics export as a 24but PNG out of Photoshop and then select JPEP compression in Flash (Library or Publish Settings...)

latez