Delay in loading Flash content slides in LMS

[mdlasure]

Default Delay when loading Flash content slides

I have a Flash movie on just about every slide in my presentation due to the fuzzy screenshot issue discussed in the general forum. I converted all of my screenshots to .swf files, since that gives me the sharpest image. The file is usually tiny, since the whole movie consists of just one screenshot.

Anyway, once I publish this project using SCORM, I am getting a lag time of about 0.5 seconds when these slides load. My audio starts right away, but the Flash file has a delay and I get a pre-loader on the screen. I published all of my Flash files with a blank preloader so I would have that issue, but I guess this is something Articulate does automatically??

I have set the buffer size to 1 (from the default of 5) on the Flash settings within Articulate, but that doesn't seem to help. It looks fine when viewing the published file on my machine, but once I put it into my LMS, I get the delay.

Does anyone have any idea how I can remedy this? Does anyone have this same issue? Thanks.

[Spectre]

Hi mdlasure. Although AP preloads two slides ahead, it does not preload inserted SWFs associated with a slide (as you suspected). As a result, the SWF associated with a slide does not start loading until the slide begins playing--resulting in the slight delay. Changing the buffer size will have no effect on this.

The best solution I have come up is to use a custom Flash preloader--which puts the SWFs into cache and enables them to appear in slides with almost no delay. I regularly use this when I have several inserted SWFs in a course and am always pleased with the results. In this blog article I wrote awhile back (near the bottom), I discuss the use of the preloader and include a Flash source file that can be used to create your own. So if you are familiar with Flash, I encourage you to give it a whirl...it should cut down the delay you're experiencing.

HTH,
Phil

[mdlasure]

Hi Phil-

Thanks for the quick response. I checked out that blog entry...this looks like it may work for me. However, I'm a little fuzzy on how to use the downloaded pre-loaded file. Where do I load that? And do I have to add every .swf file in my entire preso to that actionscript? That will be able 125 files...is that too much? (We had to import every screenshot as a .swf file to get the clearest picture).

Thanks!

[Spectre]

My pleasure. BTW, try this file instead, as I made a slight tweak to the original file.

The published SWF (after you've added your list of files in the ActionScript) is inserted into the logo panel. Personally, I have never tried anywhere near 125 file references with this, but I see no reason why it wouldn't work. Because the SWFs you're using are so small, the files should load pretty quickly (with a reasonable connection speed).

Before you throw in all 125 file references, you might try 10 or so first to see if this preloader meets your needs.

I hope this works for you. Please let me know how it goes...

Phil

[Justin]

Another simple thing you can do is to insert the Flash movie to display after the slide has begun and specify 0 seconds into the slide. This will load the movie with no buffering.

[Spectre]

Good point Justin...that's the first thing you should try (if you haven't already) and is much simpler. If that doesn't diminish the delay, give the preloader a go.

I should also mention that for single frame SWFs, I normally don't use the preloader, as the delay is usually negligible using Justin's suggestion. In a few cases, an underperforming network or server could cause a lag.

Phil

[mdlasure]

I'm used Justin's suggestion, but it didn't yield the results I was looking for. I think the server may be an issue here. I'm going to give the pre-loader a go and see how I make out.

One question...do I use the file names as they appear in the presentation.xml file? (It puts a prefix of "fm" on my .swf filws) Or do I use them as I inserted them (without the prefix)? The only files that have the path written like Phil's example script (data/swf/myFile.swf) are the Engage files. Mine are just listed as fm_myflashfilename.swf.

Thanks for your help on this!

[Spectre]

For the preloader, definitely use the filenames referenced in the presentation.xml file...otherwise, the preloading won't work. Good luck with this!

Phil

[mdlasure]

Looks like that didn the trick, Phil. Thanks so much for your help!!

[Spectre]

My pleasure...glad it worked for you. Thanks for the update!

Phil