66 Working with Flash Documents
Testing document download
performance
Flash Player attempts to meet the frame rate you set; the actual frame rate during playback can
vary on different computers. If a document that is downloading reaches a particular frame
before the frame’s required data has downloaded, the document pauses until the data arrives.
To view downloading performance graphically, you can use the Bandwidth Profiler, which
shows how much data is sent for each frame according to the modem speed you specify. The
Bandwidth Profiler is divided into two panes. The left pane shows information about the
document, the download settings, the state, and streams, if any are included. The right pane
shows information about individual frames in the document.
In simulating the downloading speed, Flash uses estimates of typical Internet performance,
not the exact modem speed. For example, if you select to simulate a modem speed of 28.8
Kbps, Flash sets the actual rate to 2.3 Kbps to reflect typical Internet performance. The
profiler also compensates for the added compression support for SWF files, which reduces the
file size and improves streaming performance.
When external SWF files, GIF and XML files, and variables are streamed into a player by
using ActionScript calls such as
loadMovie and getUrl, the data flows at the rate set for
streaming. The stream rate for the main SWF file is reduced based on the reduction of
bandwidth caused by the additional data requests. It’s helpful to test your document at each
speed and on each computer that you plan to support. This helps you ensure that the
document doesn’t overburden the slowest connection and computer for which it is designed.
You can also generate a report of frames that are slowing playback and then optimize or
eliminate some of the content in those frames. For more information, see “Optimizing Flash
documents” on page 64.
To change the settings for the SWF file created using the Test Movie and Test Scene
commands, use File > Publish Settings. For more information, see “Publishing Flash
documents” on page 459.
To test download performance:
1. Do one of the following:
■ Select Control > Test Scene or Control > Test Movie.
If you test a scene or document, Flash publishes the current selection as a SWF file
using the settings in the Publish Settings dialog box. (See “Publishing Flash
documents” on page 459.) The SWF file opens in a new window and begins playing
immediately.
■ Select File > Open, and select a SWF file.
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