Playback performance tips

Performance can vary greatly depending on the options in effect and the playback environment. Following are tips for getting optimal playback performance out of the Flash Asset Xtra:

If adequate for your needs, use the Low quality setting rather than High. Using Low turns off anti-aliasing, which speeds up Flash animation rendering. A handy technique is to switch the quality of the sprite to Low while displaying a fast-moving animation sequence (such as a spinning logo), and then switch the quality back to High on the fly as the animation slows down or comes to a stop. This way, performance can be improved during the part of the sequence where it would be more difficult to perceive the improved quality anyway, without sacrificing quality in the end result.

Set your display depth to 8 bits (256 colors). Existing display drivers are still optimized for 8 bits, so performance can be considerably faster when running in this mode.

Use Copy ink if possible. Transparency, using Background Transparent ink, requires much more processing time. If your Flash sprite is in the background (no other Director sprites are behind it), use Copy instead of Background Transparent, and author your Flash movie in such a way that its background color is the same as the background color you chose for your Director stage.

Use Direct to Stage if possible. Layering and transparency are not supported in this mode; however, if you just want to play a Flash movie "in a box" with the best performance possible, this may be the way to go.

Make sure your Director movie tempo is set high enough. Unless you're using Direct to Stage, your Flash movie will not play faster than your Director movie frame rate, regardless of its frameRate or fixedRate setting. For smoothest playback, set your Director frame rate to at least 30 fps.

Use Lock-step or Fixed playback mode to adjust your Flash movie frame rate. Lock-step will give the best performance, since playback of the Flash movie is synchronized to the Director movie frame-per-frame.

Set the Static property of the sprite to TRUE if your sprite a) contains no animation (such as a static block of text) and b) doesn't overlap other moving Director sprites. This keeps Director from redrawing the sprite every frame unless it moves or changes in size.

When modifying Flash Asset properties via Lingo, set the properties on the sprite rather than the cast member. Setting the property on the cast member modifies the cast member-level values and broadcasts the change to all sprites on stage. This overhead can affect performance. If you only have a single sprite for the member, modify the sprite property directly.

Limit the amount of Lingo that executed while the Flash movie plays. Avoid tight repeat loops between frames. The usual Director performance optimizations apply when using the Flash Asset Xtra.

The Flash Asset Xtra provides the following Lingo commands to control Shockwave Flash movies.

	If adequate for your needs, use the Low quality setting rather than High. Using Low turns off anti-aliasing, which speeds up Flash animation rendering. A handy technique is to switch the quality of the sprite to Low while displaying a fast-moving animation sequence (such as a spinning logo), and then switch the quality back to High on the fly as the animation slows down or comes to a stop. This way, performance can be improved during the part of the sequence where it would be more difficult to perceive the improved quality anyway, without sacrificing quality in the end result.
	Set your display depth to 8 bits (256 colors). Existing display drivers are still optimized for 8 bits, so performance can be considerably faster when running in this mode.
	Use Copy ink if possible. Transparency, using Background Transparent ink, requires much more processing time. If your Flash sprite is in the background (no other Director sprites are behind it), use Copy instead of Background Transparent, and author your Flash movie in such a way that its background color is the same as the background color you chose for your Director stage.
	Use Direct to Stage if possible. Layering and transparency are not supported in this mode; however, if you just want to play a Flash movie "in a box" with the best performance possible, this may be the way to go.
	Make sure your Director movie tempo is set high enough. Unless you're using Direct to Stage, your Flash movie will not play faster than your Director movie frame rate, regardless of its frameRate or fixedRate setting. For smoothest playback, set your Director frame rate to at least 30 fps.
	Use Lock-step or Fixed playback mode to adjust your Flash movie frame rate. Lock-step will give the best performance, since playback of the Flash movie is synchronized to the Director movie frame-per-frame.
	Set the Static property of the sprite to TRUE if your sprite a) contains no animation (such as a static block of text) and b) doesn't overlap other moving Director sprites. This keeps Director from redrawing the sprite every frame unless it moves or changes in size.
	When modifying Flash Asset properties via Lingo, set the properties on the sprite rather than the cast member. Setting the property on the cast member modifies the cast member-level values and broadcasts the change to all sprites on stage. This overhead can affect performance. If you only have a single sprite for the member, modify the sprite property directly.
	Limit the amount of Lingo that executed while the Flash movie plays. Avoid tight repeat loops between frames. The usual Director performance optimizations apply when using the Flash Asset Xtra.