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Q about exporting Flash files
Hi everyone…
As part of a larger project a client asked me to create a web banner in AE and export a 30k Flash file. The dimensions are roughly 800×90, and the look is somewhat busy. I’ve tried simplifying the design and animation as much as possible and when exporting to Flash (using export, not the Adobe flash render option) I still cannot get anywhere near 30k.
A friend suggested that After Effects vectorizes its Flash output and therefore cannot really make a 30k animated file, no matter how short or simple. Their advice was to do it in Flash (which I personally cannot do) so it remains vector-based. This sounds reasonable to me, but as I’d say I’m about a 5 on the 10 scale of AE expertise I’d really appreciate any second opinions. Is he right?
Thanks!
-Mike -
4 Replies
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When I said AE vectorizes Flash output I meant to say it rasterizes it.
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Partly. If you do things a certain way, without using a lot of the features of AE, you can make a small Flash file in AE. Search the Help for “SWF” to see which features are supported for vector SWF Export.
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This page of the help files tells you what stays vector. Open the “Supported features for SWF export” link:
At first it looks extremely limited but you can create some nice stuff with what’s available.
1) Under Layers, it lists Text Layers. Search the Wing Dings for shapes/graphics you can use.
Here is a tut for bring AE Text to Flash, giving extremely small files, 5k after he took it back into flash. After Effects and Flash-Part 1:
https://library.creativecow.net/articles/brimelow_lee/ae4flash1.php
Lee also walks you through exporting to SWF. Unfortunately for use Lee got grabbed up by a computer education company, I was looking forward to further tuts from him. I’ll stop whining now.
2) One of my fav but least used effects, Render>Waveform (and it’s related Audio Spectrum) export vectors (with small limitations). Create a new Black Solid (or other color). If you leave the default for Audio Layer, the layer itself, in this case the Black Solid, then Audio Waveform is the same as Stroke. It strokes a chosen path, with lots of variations. You can even do a stroked outline, the more complex the better, by animating the Displayed Samples from zero to a high number, that looks like a laser is drawing the shape, very cool and never used. Frequency Bands is the equivalent parameter for Audio Spectrum. Both offer dots under the Display options parameter.
3) Also, AE supports AI vector files, so lots of possibilities there.
4) Also, even with doing everything right, AE doesn’t optimized it’s Flash vector files as good as Flash does (I’m back on AE 6.5, so maybe that’s improved), so Import you completed SWF into Fly, then Publish that again and the resulting files will be considerably smaller, I’ve seen identical looking files shrink by as much as one tenth when republishing from Flash. Ask a Flash guy to do it, it’s easy. Actually, Lee walks you through it above.
5) As a quick Test Ion a 900×90 comp, I animated 12 windings (Wingdings2, 60 px) in with the text preset “Center Spiral” (so there is a lot of wasted motion offscreen here, you can do better) and did a Stoked rectangular box outline with that laser thing I mentioned (Audio Waveform on a mask), and for a 10 sec file the SWF AE produced was 83k, when brought into Flash and Published it was 8k.
I think you can do it!
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Thanks for all the help guys. I have to say, of all the forums I’ve ever posted in, the Cow peeps are the best, most responsive and knowledgeable, and I really appreciate that.
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