Summary

This hour you saw several ways to cut up movies into little pieces. Such modularization can have performance advantages as well as productivity value. The perceived download time is reduced if users only need to download segments as needed. The productivity of you and your team is increased when you break a site into smaller files. Not only can several people work simultaneously, but you can impose consistent styles by using shared Library items. This hour you also learned the steps necessary to modularize. However, the challenging and creative part comes as you decide when and where to modularize.

The specific features you learned this hour started with the MovieClipLoader that lets you (at runtime) play another .swf by loading it into a level number or into a clip instance. You also learned about sharing Library items at runtime, with a .swf acting as a Library shared between several files or among several team members. Finally, you got the basics of how to load an external sound. All these techniques can turn your investment of upfront work into productivity down the line.