my site is 291k, is that big? Do i need to preload?

[dtrace]

Okay, I have a site that is about three frames long. There is a stop action, and a bunch of movie clips. The buttons tell the movie clips to play.

Now, the whole thing is 291k, but when I check it out on the bandwidth profiler, it tells me that there is a 69 second preload for a 56k modem.

Here is a stupid thought. If it is 291k, and the user is on a 56k. Doesn't that mean that the site should load in less than 6 seconds? I guess not. Why is is called 56k when it is actually downloading at 4.7k per second.

So....when you go to a site, does it download the whole file before it starts? Or will it play the frames that it has downloaded as it goes?

Like, I don't need them to download all 291 at once. As they click the buttons, it can download then.

The first frame is 90k though. So does this mean that it will still take 20 seconds for a 56k user to see the site?

Is 90k that big? What is typical? What are the solutions to this dilemma?

Thanks.

Also, what is high speed access. If 4.7 is a 56k, then what is cable, dsl, and t=one.

Thanks.

[Robert Blackwell]

correct me if I'm wrong but most 56k modems if you read closely say 56 kbps
so it's not 56 kilobytes per second it's 56 kilobits which translates
roughly to about 5 kilobytes per second.

So, yeah, considering that I got harrassed big time for my site being 160 k,
291 is pretty big.

[megagringo]

In a perfect would a 56k modem would download at 56kb per sec, but unfortunately about 6kb per sec is the average. I have an ADSL connection that gives me around 30kb per second (on a good day that is....). I hear you can get 1mb+ per second with broadband (oh, the joy of it!!!!).

The fact is your site is too large and you are going to have to split it up and use the loadmovie action. I would also include a preloader for each seperate movie.

Here's a suggestion split the site up into pages just like good ole html. ie have like a main interface with your navigation buttons. On pressing the buttons the corresponding movie/link loads into the original movie.

And remember it is best to keep movie size under 100kb.

I started out knowing nothing, i'm still not a pro, but stuff is starting to work for me now.
Learn about these things: Preloaders, vector graphics, flash and php together.

I started out using Swish - It is very easy to use, you can churn out swf's very quickly - I still use it 80% of the time and I only use Flashmx when I have too (this is for dynamic stuff, and scripting).

Hope this helps

Kindest regards

Megagringo.

[midsection]

dtrace:

You're on to something here. The K's you're referring to are actually different nomenclature and are commonly misunderstood. The 56K modem means 56 Kilobits per second. File sizes are referred to in bytes. A file that's 100k means 100 kilobytes. There are 8 bits in one byte, and here's where it gets confusing - in decimal systems, kilo stands for 1,000, but in binary systems, a kilo is 1,024 (2 to the 10th power).

Remember this:
Files sizes are always measured in bytes.
Bandwidth is always measured in bits per second.

I'm not sure if this is absolutely correct, but I've always referred to bandwidth with an uppercase K and file sizes with a lowercase k. I'm not sure what the correct convention is here because you always see large files with a capital M for Megabyte. I'll have to look into that.

In order to figure out how long it will take a user to download a file with a given bandwidth (56K modem, T1, etc.) you have to do a conversion as follows.

File size: 291k
8 bits = 1 byte
1 kilobyte = 1024 bytes = 8,192 bits (1024 x 8)
291 kilobytes = 2,383,872 bits (291 x 8192)

Bandwidth: 56K modem (56 Kilobits per second)
1 Kilobit = 1024 bits
56 Kilobits = 57,344 bits (56 x 1024)

A 56K modem operating perfectly (which they never do) will download 57,344 bits in one second. If you're file size is 2,383,872 bits, then here's your final calculation:

2,383,872 divided by 57,344 = 41.57 seconds

I hope that clarifies the terminology for you. You'll find that there are many tools out there that will allow you to calculate the download time of a given file size over a given bandwidth, thus saving you the trouble of the calculations. It gets even one step deeper when you start talking Megabytes and Megabits, or Megabyte files over Kilobit speed connections. It's all algebra!

Take a look at http://download.stormloader.com/ or go and download an actual software tool that does the trick for you.

Good luck!
MidSection

[Robert Blackwell]

Usually, I go by the second letter

Kb = kilobit
KB = kilobyte

etc. etc.