## Flash file size limitations

Captivate exports files into Macromedia Flash format (SWF) and is, therefore, subject to its limitations. The most important limitation is that movies in SWF format cannot be larger than 16,000 frames, or about 13 minutes.

Note:
This figure refers to frames per second—not individual Captivate movie slides!
It is important to set the correct frame rate before creating Captivate SWF files. The default setting is 30 Flash frames per second and is appropriate in most cases. For example, with the default setting, a caption that appears for 1 second, requires 30 Flash frames. Dividing the number of frames in a movie by 30 gives you the length of the movie in seconds. You may need to change the rate if the location that will be hosting the SWF file requires a specific frame rate. Change the frame rate using the Movie preferences dialog box.

There is an easy way to see how many frames are in a specific Captivate movie.

#### To determine the number of frames in a movie:

1. Open a Captivate movie in Storyboard view.

2. On the left side, see Information. The Time field shows the number of frames in your movie in parentheses. Example

   In the example below, the movie contains 335 frames as listed in Time.

Note: If the movie information is not listed on the left side, publish the movie. Correct information about the movie should then appear under Information.

### Solutions for the Flash file size limitation

In general, it is best to keep movies fairly short. If you require long movies, try to split them into separate projects so that they are exported, they are in separate SWF files. You can also try to reduce the default timing for slides, captions, and mouse speed until your movie is below the 16,000 frame limit.