URGENT HELP NEEDED re - Flash filesizes

[sparky]

Hello there. I'm making an animation that has to be finished tomorrow and something odd has happened with file sizes.

I was working on one version in flash, then saved it as a different name and carried on - I was about to try something that might not have worked and I needed a back-up to return to. The file was 127MB.

So I started working in the new saved one, just carrying on because the thing I was trying worked, and when I came to put it on disk to take home I saw that the flash file was now 82MB, and if anything I'd added things not deleted them.

What on earth has happened? I'm having a bit of a panic over it.

I do recall at one point, I was moving pieces within a symbol and instead of hitting delete on my keyboard I slipped and hit 'end'. It took me to the last symbol in my library, and also added a few keyframes onto the symbol I was working in.

Did this contribute to the file change in anyway?

I hope someone can help because I'm really worrying. This animation has to go out on TV and if I've screwed the quality somehow then I'm dead.

Thanks,
Lauren

[gospastic]

Are you mixing up the SWF and FLA? The SWF will be tiny, the FLA will be huge. The one you need to worry about is the final file, the SWF...

[sparky]

No it's the FLA I'm talking about.

I've just done some searching on the Adobe site and it says..

'You can use several options to save a file: Save, Save As, and Save and Compact. When you save a file, Flash does not analyze all the data before creating an optimized version of the document. Instead, the changes you make to the document are appended to the end of the FLA file’s data, which shortens the time it takes to save the document. When you Save As, Flash writes a new and optimized version of the file, which results in a smaller file size. When you Save and Compact, Flash creates a new optimized file (removing the undo history) and deletes the original file.'

I don't recall ever using 'save and compact', but is it possible that doing 'Save As' took off over 40MB? Anyone had any experience of this?

[Mack]

flash has compact features available in 6 and get better in 7 and 8. However flash 5 does not have this.

You only need to concern yourself with the export size. the file size of the swf.

If you have imported alot of images, "non-vector" assets. Then your fla will get really beefy. There are a few minor bugs with flash as it may retain some bloated filesizes even if those items are deleted out of the library.

so whats the size of your swf? and seeing this is going on TV, is file size really that big of an issue?

[sparky]

Oh not at all, it doesn't matter how big it is. My concern was over the fact that the FLA had gone down from 127MB to 82MB and I didn't know why.

I'm using CS3 if that helps.

So does it all sound normal, the fact that I lost a load of filesize without deleting anything? Do you think it's just because I did 'save as' whereas on the previous file I was just doing 'save' for days?

All help very much appreciated, thank you!

[Mack]

Its tough to tell. transferring the file around to different machines, and possibly different versions of flash? or at least difference settings?

[sparky]

The initial file (127MB) had been going back and forth between the PC at work and my laptop so maybe that could account for something but I think it still boils down to whether resaving the file with a new name could chop off so much weight. Hmm.

I wouldn't mind if it had added to the file size, but because so much has vanished I'm just worried it won't look good on tv.

Can't beat a good bit of last-minute panic!