Introduction to Flash MX Tutorial > Test download performance and publish the movie > Test movie download performance |  |

Test movie download performance

For a Flash movie to play correctly over the Internet, a frame must download before the movie reaches that frame. If the movie reaches a frame that hasn't downloaded yet, it pauses until the data arrives. The low bandwidth of Flash files promotes fast downloads.

You can use the Bandwidth Profiler to test your movie and identify where pauses might occur. The Bandwidth Profiler graphically shows how much data is sent from each frame in the movie, according to the selected modem speed.

1 | Save your document and choose Control > Test Movie.
2 | From the Debug menu, select a modem speed to determine the download rate that Flash will simulate.
| You can also choose Customize to enter a download rate.
3 | Choose View > Bandwidth Profiler to see the SWF with a download performance chart.
| The shaded bar represents the first and only frame in your main movie. Movies with multiple frames will have multiple shaded bars. The height of the bar represents the frame's size in bytes and kilobytes. Bars that extend above the red line, especially if the bar represents a frame other than the first frame, indicate there could be delays in movie playback. You can optimize your movie for faster downloads. For details, see Optimizing movies.
4 | When you finish viewing the Bandwidth Profiler, choose View > Bandwidth Profiler to deselect it. Close the SWF window to return to the authoring environment.