Re: FLASH: Maximum file size

[Matt Wobensmith]

Re: maximum file size of a Flash movie.


Several people asked this question, and I do have some answers for people.


The text below is copied from an up and coming TechNote that is aimed *specifically* at this question. 


Please be aware that the text I pasted in here is still pending edits, and may change before going live. I just saw the question and couldn't help but want to give you all some info, rather than wait until later this week when it would likely get posted on the site.


Hope this helps!


Matt


---------------

Matt Wobensmith

Macromedia Tech Support

Flash Team Lead



>How big can a Flash movie be?

>

>Some Flash users are curious to know what limits Flash has, in regards to symbols, layers, file size, and ActionScript expressions. While these limitations aren't documented, every program has logical limits. Many of those limits are difficult to pinpoint, as they may vary from computer to computer, and are often dependant on things such as RAM, CPU, operating system, video card, and browser version. There is an additional factor of chance, as users often use Flash in ways that may have not been intended by the program's designers. 

>

>Sometimes an intended behavior is achieved, and other times it fails. This may be due to reaching a limit in the program or the machine that it is being played back on.

>

>It's important to understand - when asking the question "how big can a Flash movie be?" - that it's always best to defer to the obvious. Flash was created to make small, streamable, vector-based files for web delivery. This is what the bulk of the documentation covers, and is where Flash performs best. Flash has also be used for non-standard purposes, such as CDROM authoring, desktop publishing, stand-alone application building, and other uses. While developers aren't told they cannot do these things, it's important for users to ask themselves, "is this what this program is designed for? Is there a better program for this use, should this one fail?"

>                 

>It's big 

>Some Flash users create stand-alone projector files from their movies. This is a great feature in Flash that allows the user's movie to play outside of a browser, without having to have the Flash Player installed on the machine that it plays back on. In addition, Flash projectors are given a limited amount of system-level functionality that allows them to perform simple operations such as playing full screen, opening an application program, and quitting the projector. 

>

>Creating a file for desktop delivery often makes a file that is much larger than a web-delivered SWF. They may work, but users often have problems exporting a projector or SWF file that is over a few megabytes in size. The same files can also have problems during playback, such as crashes, inconsistent playback, slow playback, file corruption, and unpredictable behavior in logical statements. In situations where large multimedia projects are needed, it's best to use a program that was built for this purpose, such as Director.

>

>

>The magic number

>A little known fact - a Flash movie can have up to 16000 frames. Exceeding that limit will cause the movie playback to stop. While this limit is rarely reached by most developers, it's possible to have movies that are this long. If a movie is required to have more than this many frames, it would be best to create multiple movies with less than 16000 frames each, and link them together with a method such as Load Movie.

>

>The number 16000 is a limit to other things in Flash as well. It is the maximum amount of layers that Flash can export, and the maximum amount of loaded movies that Flash can support. In addition, the maximum amount of symbol instances allowed in a Flash movie is also 16000. Combining these limits together would create greater risks, as using them together would most likely create other problems. Keep in mind that Flash and the Flash Player are optimized for normal circumstances, and testing the extreme limits of Flash can cause memory and other operating system issues. 

>

>It's logical

>With the creation of ActionScript, there are also measures that prevent users from reaching maximum memory limitations. Since this feature of the program allows users to create loops and mathematical calculations that are capable of taking up a lot of system resources, measures have been put into place to assure that the user doesn't accidentally create a function that crashes the machine. By limiting certain methods, such as the Loop action, to 10000 iterations, Flash provides a way to escape a situation that would probably crash a machine, if the stopgap weren't there. 

>

>Additionally, functions such as Int() and Random() are limited to numbers around 2 billion, which makes sure that they don't take up valuable memory reserved for other programmatic mechanisms. 

>

>When is a Flash movie too big?

>This is a question that does not have an absolute answer. One of the best ways to approach this question is to look at the obvious. Consult the Flash manual and see if the features being used are documented for the purposes you are intending to use it for. 

>

>If you are working with large files, you may want to defer to the default system specifications for Flash. On a Macintosh, memory for applications is allocated on a per-application basis. The memory required to run the Flash 4 editor is a minimum of 18500K, with a preferred size of 26143K. In contrast, the Flash 4 standalone player has a preferred size of 4000K of memory. This should make sense, as SWF files are compressed and therefore much smaller than the work file. Since Flash loads most media into RAM, it would be wise not to exceed this amount of imported media in the Flash movie without increasing the RAM allocation. While that number can be increased, keep in mind that this is the recommended size, and extreme limits are not known. Your mileage may vary. 

>

>On a Windows machine, memory is allocated as the application requests it. While the same memory requirements aren't posted, it is safe to assume that Flash still has a preferred size that works best for FLA and SWF files. 

>

>The possibilities are endless, but memory is not. Having described the theoretical limits above, it is not recommended that users approach them for practical purposes. 

>

>

>Additional information

>For additional information please refer to the following TechNotes.

>

>Why can Shockwave offer higher frame rates than Flash? (TechNote 13981)

>Using Flash movies in Director projects (TechNote 14329)

>General Macintosh Troubleshooting (TechNote 3500)

>Top Ten Windows Issues (TechNote 3504)

>Exporting My Flash Movie as an AVI File Freezes My Machine (TechNote 12862) 


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