# Working on this prototype\[mx\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Uncategorized\ **Created:** [August 1, 2003, 5:07pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/working-on-this-prototype-mx/27378 "2003-08-01T17:07:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![norie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3ec8ea/32.png) [@norie](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/norie)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 5:07pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/working-on-this-prototype-mx/27378/1 "2003-08-01T17:07:31Z")
im working on this prototype and i can’t seem to get it to work. It supposed to draw a mask for an mc and fade the mask so it fades the MC. The reason im doing this, is that i want to alpha fade some BIG bitmaps but it’s too laggy, so i figured this could be a good way to do it. it draws the mask just fine., but it won’t fade. can someone help? ---
**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 5:12pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/working-on-this-prototype-mx/27378/2 "2003-08-01T17:12:47Z")
You can’t fade a mask… well… you CAN, but it doesn’t show. Masks go by shape and shape only. Any other properties aren’t inherited by the mask, including the alpha value. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 5:20pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/working-on-this-prototype-mx/27378/3 "2003-08-01T17:20:57Z")
i guess that would be the problem. I tried it before and somehow it worked, but i guess that must have been a fluke or a mistake ---
**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 5:22pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/working-on-this-prototype-mx/27378/4 "2003-08-01T17:22:34Z")
Yeah, it shouldn’t have worked before… weird :q: ---
**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 5:25pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/working-on-this-prototype-mx/27378/5 "2003-08-01T17:25:10Z")
yup it sure was a fluke. dang…well maybe you can help me out here…im trying to fade BIG bitmaps, but it’s too laggy, are there any more effiecent ways to do this? ---
**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 5:30pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/working-on-this-prototype-mx/27378/6 "2003-08-01T17:30:07Z")
Well the only option you have to is fade the bitmap :-\ So lets see what we got here… Alpha fades are bit on the processor intensive side to begin with (depending on what and how many you are fading) Your bitmaps are big. Alright, so we can’t optimize much with the alpha fade, but we might be able to optimize the bitmap. Bitmaps images (assuming by bitmap you mean .bmp) are very ineffecient file types. Is there any way you convert them to an optimized and much more efficient .jpg format? This MAY make your file run smoother, but im not entirely sure. If this doesn’t work, I don’t really know what else you can do to optimize. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 5:32pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/working-on-this-prototype-mx/27378/7 "2003-08-01T17:32:02Z")
> \*Originally posted by lostinbeta \* > \*\*Well the only option you have to is fade the bitmap :-\ So lets see what we got here… Alpha fades are bit on the processor intensive side to begin with (depending on what and how many you are fading) Your bitmaps are big. Alright, so we can’t optimize much with the alpha fade, but we might be able to optimize the bitmap. Bitmaps images (assuming by bitmap you mean .bmp) are very ineffecient file types. Is there any way you convert them to an optimized and much more efficient .jpg format? This MAY make your file run smoother, but im not entirely sure. If this doesn’t work, I don’t really know what else you can do to optimize. \*\* actually they are PNG’s sorry. they images are 1024x768 and they are like ten of them…this is not gonna run off the web, it’s for a presintation. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 5:34pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/working-on-this-prototype-mx/27378/8 "2003-08-01T17:34:29Z")
Oh, .PNG images aren’t very efficient either, and they are actually quite processor intensive, especially if they contain partially transparent areas. So even with .PNGs I would still recommend trying to stick with a .gif or .jpg type image for optimization. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 5:35pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/working-on-this-prototype-mx/27378/9 "2003-08-01T17:35:44Z")
won’t that bring down the qualitiy of the images? ---
**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 5:37pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/working-on-this-prototype-mx/27378/10 "2003-08-01T17:37:21Z")
not necessarily (lost, if i may take the floor). jpgs can be just as good as PNGs. the only drawback, though is transparency. GIFs can do transparency but they are only limited to 256 colors (🅰\*\*). Unless you are real desperate about that transparency, try to stay away from PNGs. They’re also big as well. Like bitmaps. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 5:38pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/working-on-this-prototype-mx/27378/11 "2003-08-01T17:38:55Z")
well im working with screen shots so i guess i could convert them into jpgs…thanks! ---
**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2003, 5:42pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/working-on-this-prototype-mx/27378/12 "2003-08-01T17:42:02Z")
Thor: I believe the translation of the information of .png images in Flash make them more processor intensive than .jpg images. I know for a fact that is true if they contain transparency (especially partial transparency), but im not sure if it makes a difference if they don’t contain transparent areas.