Hi, I’m a newbie to this forum (and to any forum), but I’m unable to resolve this preloader question.
I have a flash website for which I need to create a preloader. Each page on the website is represented with a separate, external .swf movie (about 6 in total for “home”, “about us”, “contact us”, etc.). Without a preloader, the buttons so far function (using loadMovie and target as _root), but each page that renders takes a little time and isn’t seamless. Lots of blank pauses also as the .swf movies (pages) are rendered.
I simply need a preloader to preload all 6 external .swf movies/pages before users can enter the website.
I’ve been working on this for a month now. I’ve checked out books and online sites. I’ve mostly seen preloaders used in Scene 1, followed by the main movie in Scene 2. Or, I’ve seen the loading of external .swf’s into different levels onto one main movie, so the animations play simultaneously.
There’s got to be a way to do this, because I’ve seen preloaders on other flash sites. What code are they using?
Many, many thanks for your feedback!
they are putting a preloader into the first couple frames of the external swf that they are loading. That wil give you the load bar for every external swf that you load in…
I’m so glad you took the time to reply. I’ve tried creating a preloader for each page too, but my experience was this… After the external .spf’s were loaded, when I clicked buttons to return to a page, each page goes through its individual preloading process again. This seems cumbersome to me, and potentially the viewer too, especially because I’d like these movies/pages to transition seamlessly, once already loaded. Is there some way I can do that?
I’m sure there is using variables and If statements however, the way that you have it set up, loads it in as a new swf each time you press the button. I don’t have the time to go through it now, still trying to finish my paper. Someone else might know, but most sites have that loader each time you press the button to load each swf…
Im trying to do the same thing. Find a preloader that calculates the total bytes across several _levels.
Doing a variable like this doesnt seem to work.
totalBytes = _level1.getBytesTotal()+_level2.getBytesTotal()+_level3.getBytesTotal()
I know how to have a small preloader on each swf, but I’d like ONE progress bar for ALL movies, to reside only one _level0.
If anyone has a link to a tutorial or a sample FLA file, it would be great!
-georgekaplin
I still haven’t found one overall preloader. Though I’d love one. I’m sure it exists! For example, check out www.choppingblock.com. Great site. One very obvious preloader. Wouldn’t there be a way to preload external .spf’s “behind the scene” of one introductory preloader…so all external .spf’s remain in cache from the get-go, and the user doesn’t need to wait for additional pages to load when they click a button to navitage to the next external .spf/web page? Why wait for 5 (or however many that represent different pages) distinct preloaders? Why not create one preloader, provide the user a game in the meantime for distraction and play, and load those other .spf’s in the meantime. I know the code exists, but where? If you find any out, would you please share. So far, this seems to be a topic other flashers haven’t addressed.