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 Tutorials » Utilities
Setting a maximum load rateThe last bit of code will limit the number of frames that we can leap in a single bound. All we have to do is keep track of what frame we handed back on our last function call, compare it to where we want to go now, and if it is too much of an advance then we clamp it to a maximum jump. To achieve this, we will need an extra variable named lastFrame to store the last frame we showed. This is initialised to 1 which is the frame just before our loader animation starts. Here is the final loader code: lastFrame = 1;
function loadedIndicatorFrame() {
var newFrame = int((_parent.getBytesLoaded() / _parent.getBytesTotal()) * 65) + 2;
if (newFrame - lastFrame > 4) { //too far
lastFrame += 4;
loadedText = int(_parent.getBytesTotal() / 1024 * (lastFrame - 2) / 65) + "kb of " + int(_parent.getBytesTotal() / 1024) + "kb";
} else if (newFrame - lastFrame > 0) { //normal move
lastFrame++;
loadedText = int(_parent.getBytesLoaded() / 1024) + "kb of " + int(_parent.getBytesTotal() / 1024) + "kb";
}
return lastFrame;
}
Most of the code is the same, but I'll give it a quick run through anyway. Given that our frame rate for the Western Australian Museum project was set to 25 fps, we found that skipping 4 frames at a time gave us enough time to see the loader and still not be annoying if a movie was already downloaded. Just play with the values to get it right for your frame rate. If we are skipping frames for a movie that has already been downloaded, then we want to fake our bytes loaded text so that it matches the current frame that we are showing. Our loadedText calculations are now based on lastFrame instead of getBytesLoaded. Preview now (Ctrl+Enter) to see your loader animation play through once in a fast-forward style before continuing on with the parent movie. When streaming the preview, you should see your loader animation tick through according to your bandwidth settings until you hit the required percentage, then it will continue on playing the parent movie to the end.
If you find that you are creating large SWF files (such as for video) you might find that you need to update the Dynamic Text object more frequently than when you advance to the next frame of your loader. The code for this would be: lastFrame = 1;
function loadedIndicatorFrame() {
var newFrame = int((_parent.getBytesLoaded() / _parent.getBytesTotal()) * 65) + 2;
if (newFrame - lastFrame > 4) { //too far
lastFrame += 4;
loadedText = int(_parent.getBytesTotal() / 1024 * (lastFrame - 2) / 65) + "kb of " + int(_parent.getBytesTotal() / 1024) + "kb";
} else if (newFrame - lastFrame > 0) { //normal move
lastFrame++;
loadedText = int(_parent.getBytesLoaded() / 1024) + "kb of " + int(_parent.getBytesTotal() / 1024) + "kb";
} else { //update the text only
loadedText = int(_parent.getBytesLoaded() / 1024) + "kb of " + int(_parent.getBytesTotal() / 1024) + "kb";
}
return lastFrame;
}
Now would be a good time to save this using Save As... so that you can give your loader a better name (choose "loader" again). It would also be good to get rid of any test images, sounds, and layers from your file. After tidying up the file, check the linkage on your loading movie in the Library for loader.fla by right-clicking on it and selecting the Linkage... option. It should look like this:
Save it, publish it, and were ready to rock and roll.
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Yet Another Flash MX Loader
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