Ariaware Optimizer

2004-10-11

ARIAWARE OPTIMIZER DRAMATICALLY REDUCES THE SIZE OF FLASH WEB SITES AND APPLICATIONS

New solution optimizes Flash files without programming

London, UK - October 11, 2004 - Ariaware today announced Ariaware Optimizer, which can dramatically reduce the size of your Macromedia Flash web sites and applications (RIAs.) Created by leading Flash developers Aral Balkan, Peter Hall and Burak Kalayci, Ariaware Optimizer is a Windows tool for optimising Flash websites. For more information on Ariaware Optimizer, visit http://ariawareoptimizer.com

It's a simple equation: Optimized SWFs are smaller and thus lead to direct savings in bandwidth costs. They also take less time to load and this means an instant usability boost for your web site or application.
Smaller, better performing applications and web sites can result in a much more enjoyable user experience and aid the user acceptance of your products.

What would you do if your Flash site was instantly 60% smaller?
We're not sure what James Rowley of EasyStream.co.uk did when Ariaware Optimizer resulted in just that amount of savings for his company's latest application but we can gleam that he was happy about it when he said to us: "I have been testing Librarian with some pretty amazing results. It does exactly what it says on the tin and has reduced our application down by around 60% Amazing stuff!" In our internal tests, Ariaware Optimizer has achieved results of up to 70% (and more) optimization on well-architected Flash applications using Version 2 components.

Due to the number of unique factors regarding the architecture of
applications and web sites, we cannot guarantee the same results for you but even a small optimization percentage can mean a substantial
improvement for a large site. This is what John Grden of Blitz Digital
Studios discovered when he ran Ariaware Optimizer: "After running our
framework through it, I saw a 7% reduction. The result seems minor, but it actually was HUGE in that it took many of the content SWFs (the files that are the greatest impact to bandwidth) that used the same class file and reduced them all by 24k...on a site that gets HUGE amounts of hits, this is a BIG deal."

Running the Optimizer will lead to an overall file size reduction whenever
your application or site has two or more SWFs that share classes. SWFs
that use the Version 2 Components are a prime candidate for optimization as they share many core classes. Sites that are primarily HTML-based but which contain SWFs that use classes can also be optimized.

PRICING AND AVAILABILITY

Ariaware Optimizer is now shipping for Windows in English worldwide.
Introductory pricing is £695 (ex. VAT) for the Enterprise edition
and £125 (ex. VAT) for the Freelancer edition. Offer ends 10th of November, 2004. Ariaware Optimizer is available for download in a free 30 day trial edition.

ABOUT ARIAWARE

Ariaware is a London-based provider of Rich Internet Application tools,
training, consulting and development.
http://www.ariaware.com

Ultrashock Version 3.0 - Coming soon!

Matt-Norwood · 2004-10-11 #2

No Mac version?

Am I the only one who uses a Mac?

Don't answer that.

Basta · 2004-10-11 #3

virtual pc will solve that issue Norwood

Goten · 2004-10-11 #4

or buy a pc norwood have the two plataforms is cool buddy for testing and do things that you can't do in a mac...

sbrewer · 2004-10-11 #5

Not to get on topic but has anyone actually used this yet?

pisotens · 2004-10-11 #6

Wow!

This is a good news for all flash developers and designers.

jko170 · 2004-10-11 #7

no mac, no cash

deplatt · 2004-10-12 #8

Where's the Mac version you daft buggers!

ErieDesign · 2004-10-12 #9

Anyone actually use this software yet? is it better than optimaze was? and does it compress just the vectors or more than that?

ernande · 2004-10-12 #10

Originally posted by ErieDesign
Anyone actually use this software yet? is it better than optimaze was? and does it compress just the vectors or more than that?

I don't see how it could compress raster graphics like GIFs, JPEGs or PNGs without degrading the image some.

Peter-Hall · 2004-10-12 #11

Just to clarify, Ariaware Optimizer does not touch your graphics, and it does not perform any extra compression.

The way that it works is to extract all of your classes into external files and seamlessly automates the process of getting SWFs to load and use these classes.

You can, of course, do this by hand. But Optimizer allows you to build you application without having to worry about this, and then run it once when you deploy your application. If you have ever attempted to share code between SWFs, using _exclude.xml and shared libraries then you will understand the productivity and maintainabilty benefits.

If you are not using V2 components or a lot of AS2 classes, or if your app is only one SWF, then Optmizer will probably not be useful to you.

Peter-Hall · 2004-10-12 #12

In response to the question of Mac support, unfortunately we couldn't justify the extra expense. We believe the product is fairly specialised and will be used by only the top few percent of companies, who have large applications and where bandwidth usage really does cost a significant amount of money.

Optimizer is a deployment tool, so you can build your entire application without it. As long as you have one windows machine then you can develop on a Mac and then run the Optimizer when you come to deploy the application.

miko · 2004-10-13 #13

Congratulations on the release Peter and Aral!!! It must be nice to see it get to the market after all of your hard work.

aral · 2004-10-13 #14

Thanks Patrick -- and thank you for your support

miko · 2004-10-13 #15

Looks like you have some Mac fans here Aral. Will you make a version for Mac soon or is it in the works?

Renjamin · 2004-10-13 #16

Whoa, good news.

/me read more about it.

colorblind · 2004-10-14 #17

very interesting software! !!

aral · 2004-10-14 #18

Hi Patrick,

I do not believe that there will be a Mac version in the foreseeable future. It's not because we have anything against the Mac (we have both Macs and PCs at Ariaware) but purely a matter of resources.

Creating Ariaware Optimizer required us to overcome some very important technical challenges -- some of which had even our expert team scratching their heads for days at a time. Given this, the product would not have been possible if we had to create *everything* from scratch (as opposed to just the business logic for the application itself, its UI and command-line version and the documentation.) What made the product possible were the existing libraries we had -- libraries developed over years of work -- and the head-start that these gave us. Unfortunately, these custom libraries are Windows-only.

Given that Optimizer is a niche product -- it will only work if your web site or application contains multiple SWF files that use AS2 (or V2 Components) -- we cannot, at the present time, justify the expense of porting these Libraries (and the application) to the Mac platform.

That said, as Basta pointed out, Ariaware Optimizer will work with Virtual PC. In fact, we have a page in the documentation with information on how to configure Virtual PC to make Ariaware Optimizer work on it.

We are also considering possibly offering this as a service over the Internet (pay-per-optimization) but we have to gauge the demand that such as service would have to see if it would justify the development cost.

Ariaware Optimizer is really a unique product and the best way to see if and how well it works for you is to try out the free 30-day trial. For projects that have multiple SWF files (and this includes HTML-based sites that contain multiple SWFs) and use AS2 and/or the Version 2 (Flash MX 2004/Flash MX 2004 Professional) components, the results that we are getting are quite amazing!

Nutrox · 2004-11-07 #19

Originally posted by Peter Hall
The way that it works is to extract all of your classes into external files and seamlessly automates the process of getting SWFs to load and use these classes.

Isn't that the only way to use classes in Flash? In order to use classes in Flash you need to use external .as files, which are then compiled with the movie when the .swf is published.

I'm a bit confused about how Ariaware Optimizer actually works. If it doesn't touch any of the graphical information then the only thing left for it to do is to tidy up the code (removing notes and un-needed white space etc). Another thing it could do (which I hope it doesn't) would be to remove strict-typing from the actionscript.

Maybe the application is aimed more towards new users of Flash and/or untidy programmers

JFCS · 2004-11-07 #20

Sounds like a cool product to me. I don't have the money tho. Just In case I do have, how do I pay them if I am here in ASia?

aral · 2004-11-08 #21

Originally posted by Nutrox
[b]Isn't that the only way to use classes in Flash? In order to use classes in Flash you need to use external .as files, which are then compiled with the movie when the .swf is published.

You're correct in describing how the Flash compiler works but not Optimizer

Flash compiles your AS classes into bytecode (instructions that the Flash player can read and understand) and places this bytecode inside your SWF file.

When you can multiple SWF files in your application that use the same classes, the bytecode for these classes is included in every SWF file.

So, for example, you have three classes, A, B and C and three SWF files SWF 1, SWF 2 and SWF 3. The compiled sizes of classes A, B and C are given below (this is the size of the bytecode that is generated)

A: 20kb
B: 15kb
C: 35kb

SWF 1 uses class A and B
SWF 2 uses class A, B and C
and SWF 3 uses class A and C

Now think about the size of your application. Assuming for a second that these are the only classes used by the SWFs:

Size of SWF A = 20kb + 15kb = 35kb
Size of SWF B = 20kb + 15kb + 35kb = 70kb
Size of SWF C = 20kb + 35kb = 55kb

Total size of application before Optimizer = 35kb + 70kb + 55kb = 160kb.

Now, what Optimizer does is it goes into each SWF, takes out the bytecode for the classes and makes a SWF out of each class. It then makes sure that each class is included *only once* for each application.

So, the total size of our fictitious application after Optimizer would be equal to the sum of the sizes of the classes or:

20kb + 15kb + 35kb = 70kb.

So, in this fictitious example, Optimizer would reduce the size of your application from 160kb to 70kb.

That's how Optimizer works!

NB. Regarding the question on paying from Asia -- we accept credit cards!

blackmamba · 2004-11-08 #22

Aral,
Really interesting and useful explanation of how it works.

Seems this could be very useful indeed.

A couple of questions though.

If you make a separate swf for each class that could be an awful lot of classes, we have some 100+ classes overall and even the core could be say 40+. Will having to load these very small but numerous classes have a performance impact on the application? Is it(would it?) be possible to create a "core" set of classes in a single swf ... a bit like a DLL and load that one swf for the core rather than one for each class and then have other non core classes load individually?

Does it indeed create a swf for every class or only common classes ie I mean how about my application specific non-component classes.

Does loading class files via separate swf impose any limitations on the application like accessing library items or is it just completely transparent?

rob

Originally posted by aral

Now, what Optimizer does is it goes into each SWF, takes out the bytecode for the classes and makes a SWF out of each class. It then makes sure that each class is included *only once* for each application.

[/b]

aral · 2004-11-08 #23

Hi blackmamba,

If you make a separate swf for each class that could be an awful lot of classes, we have some 100+ classes overall and even the core could be say 40+. Will having to load these very small but numerous classes have a performance impact on the application?

Loading in a lage number of remote shared libraries (RSLs) -- which is what the class SWFs become -- can have a performance impact. Currently, there are two ways to load in the classes: Using a preloader and without a preloader.

In the former, Optimizer creates a Preload SWF that you load in using the provided Class Manager component. Each class is loaded in on its own frame which means that for a large number of classes, the frame rate of your application can become a bottleneck. In recognition of this, we have a new (internal) build of Optimizer that allows you to specify how many classes you want to bunch together into a single frame in the preloader. This will allow you to fine tune the preloading experience to find a balance between accurate preload statistics and a performant loading sequence (especially on subsequent loads of your application when the classes will be cached on the client.)

Is it(would it?) be possible to create a "core" set of classes in a single swf ... a bit like a DLL and load that one swf for the core rather than one for each class and then have other non core classes load individually?

This is definitely something we will be looking into. There are technical difficulties involved in doing this, however (related to the dependencies between classes and load order.)

Does it indeed create a swf for every class

Yes

I mean how about my application specific non-component classes.

You can exclude any class you want to from the Optimization process so that it is not externalized and made into a SWF.

Does loading class files via separate swf impose any limitations on the application like accessing library items or is it just completely transparent?

It is completely transparent. Furthermore, since Optimizer is a deployment-time tool, you can develop/test your application without undue restrictions.

If you haven't done so already, why not download the trial and try it out for yourself!

I look forward to hearing of your experiences with it.

Nutrox · 2004-11-08 #24

Originally posted by aral
If you haven't done so already, why not download the trial and try it out for yourself!

I look forward to hearing of your experiences with it.

Well, I have been convinced to download the trial

Thank-you aral for allowing us to fire all of these questions at you, it's rare for software developers put themselves in the firing line.

aral · 2004-11-08 #25

No worries Nutrox -- glad I could be of help! I'm Flash community member first, software developer second

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	Ultrashock Forums > Community Essentials > News • Ariaware Optimizer


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	Matt-Norwood	2004-10-11 #2
	No Mac version? Am I the only one who uses a Mac? Don't answer that.

	Goten Creative Assets	2004-10-11 #4
	or buy a pc norwood have the two plataforms is cool buddy for testing and do things that you can't do in a mac...

	sbrewer	2004-10-11 #5
	Not to get on topic but has anyone actually used this yet?

	pisotens	2004-10-11 #6
	Wow! This is a good news for all flash developers and designers.

	deplatt	2004-10-12 #8
	Where's the Mac version you daft buggers!

	ErieDesign	2004-10-12 #9
	Anyone actually use this software yet? is it better than optimaze was? and does it compress just the vectors or more than that?

	ernande	2004-10-12 #10
	Originally posted by ErieDesign Anyone actually use this software yet? is it better than optimaze was? and does it compress just the vectors or more than that? I don't see how it could compress raster graphics like GIFs, JPEGs or PNGs without degrading the image some.

	Peter-Hall	2004-10-12 #11
	Just to clarify, Ariaware Optimizer does not touch your graphics, and it does not perform any extra compression. The way that it works is to extract all of your classes into external files and seamlessly automates the process of getting SWFs to load and use these classes. You can, of course, do this by hand. But Optimizer allows you to build you application without having to worry about this, and then run it once when you deploy your application. If you have ever attempted to share code between SWFs, using _exclude.xml and shared libraries then you will understand the productivity and maintainabilty benefits. If you are not using V2 components or a lot of AS2 classes, or if your app is only one SWF, then Optmizer will probably not be useful to you.

	colorblind	2004-10-14 #17
	very interesting software! !!

	Peter-Hall	2004-10-12 #12
	Last edited by Peter Hall : 2004-10-13 at 01:38. In response to the question of Mac support, unfortunately we couldn't justify the extra expense. We believe the product is fairly specialised and will be used by only the top few percent of companies, who have large applications and where bandwidth usage really does cost a significant amount of money. Optimizer is a deployment tool, so you can build your entire application without it. As long as you have one windows machine then you can develop on a Mac and then run the Optimizer when you come to deploy the application.

	miko a lot of Creative Assets	2004-10-13 #13
	Congratulations on the release Peter and Aral!!! It must be nice to see it get to the market after all of your hard work.

	aral	2004-10-13 #14
	Thanks Patrick -- and thank you for your support

	miko a lot of Creative Assets	2004-10-13 #15
	Looks like you have some Mac fans here Aral. Will you make a version for Mac soon or is it in the works?

	Renjamin	2004-10-13 #16
	Whoa, good news. /me read more about it.

	aral	2004-10-14 #18
	Hi Patrick, I do not believe that there will be a Mac version in the foreseeable future. It's not because we have anything against the Mac (we have both Macs and PCs at Ariaware) but purely a matter of resources. Creating Ariaware Optimizer required us to overcome some very important technical challenges -- some of which had even our expert team scratching their heads for days at a time. Given this, the product would not have been possible if we had to create everything from scratch (as opposed to just the business logic for the application itself, its UI and command-line version and the documentation.) What made the product possible were the existing libraries we had -- libraries developed over years of work -- and the head-start that these gave us. Unfortunately, these custom libraries are Windows-only. Given that Optimizer is a niche product -- it will only work if your web site or application contains multiple SWF files that use AS2 (or V2 Components) -- we cannot, at the present time, justify the expense of porting these Libraries (and the application) to the Mac platform. That said, as Basta pointed out, Ariaware Optimizer will work with Virtual PC. In fact, we have a page in the documentation with information on how to configure Virtual PC to make Ariaware Optimizer work on it. We are also considering possibly offering this as a service over the Internet (pay-per-optimization) but we have to gauge the demand that such as service would have to see if it would justify the development cost. Ariaware Optimizer is really a unique product and the best way to see if and how well it works for you is to try out the free 30-day trial. For projects that have multiple SWF files (and this includes HTML-based sites that contain multiple SWFs) and use AS2 and/or the Version 2 (Flash MX 2004/Flash MX 2004 Professional) components, the results that we are getting are quite amazing!

	Nutrox 17 Creative Assets	2004-11-07 #19
	Originally posted by Peter Hall The way that it works is to extract all of your classes into external files and seamlessly automates the process of getting SWFs to load and use these classes. Isn't that the only way to use classes in Flash? In order to use classes in Flash you need to use external .as files, which are then compiled with the movie when the .swf is published. I'm a bit confused about how Ariaware Optimizer actually works. If it doesn't touch any of the graphical information then the only thing left for it to do is to tidy up the code (removing notes and un-needed white space etc). Another thing it could do (which I hope it doesn't) would be to remove strict-typing from the actionscript. Maybe the application is aimed more towards new users of Flash and/or untidy programmers

	JFCS	2004-11-07 #20
	Sounds like a cool product to me. I don't have the money tho. Just In case I do have, how do I pay them if I am here in ASia?

	aral	2004-11-08 #21
	Originally posted by Nutrox [b]Isn't that the only way to use classes in Flash? In order to use classes in Flash you need to use external .as files, which are then compiled with the movie when the .swf is published. You're correct in describing how the Flash compiler works but not Optimizer Flash compiles your AS classes into bytecode (instructions that the Flash player can read and understand) and places this bytecode inside your SWF file. When you can multiple SWF files in your application that use the same classes, the bytecode for these classes is included in every SWF file. So, for example, you have three classes, A, B and C and three SWF files SWF 1, SWF 2 and SWF 3. The compiled sizes of classes A, B and C are given below (this is the size of the bytecode that is generated) A: 20kb B: 15kb C: 35kb SWF 1 uses class A and B SWF 2 uses class A, B and C and SWF 3 uses class A and C Now think about the size of your application. Assuming for a second that these are the only classes used by the SWFs: Size of SWF A = 20kb + 15kb = 35kb Size of SWF B = 20kb + 15kb + 35kb = 70kb Size of SWF C = 20kb + 35kb = 55kb Total size of application before Optimizer = 35kb + 70kb + 55kb = 160kb. Now, what Optimizer does is it goes into each SWF, takes out the bytecode for the classes and makes a SWF out of each class. It then makes sure that each class is included only once for each application. So, the total size of our fictitious application after Optimizer would be equal to the sum of the sizes of the classes or: 20kb + 15kb + 35kb = 70kb. So, in this fictitious example, Optimizer would reduce the size of your application from 160kb to 70kb. That's how Optimizer works! NB. Regarding the question on paying from Asia -- we accept credit cards!

	blackmamba	2004-11-08 #22
	Aral, Really interesting and useful explanation of how it works. Seems this could be very useful indeed. A couple of questions though. If you make a separate swf for each class that could be an awful lot of classes, we have some 100+ classes overall and even the core could be say 40+. Will having to load these very small but numerous classes have a performance impact on the application? Is it(would it?) be possible to create a "core" set of classes in a single swf ... a bit like a DLL and load that one swf for the core rather than one for each class and then have other non core classes load individually? Does it indeed create a swf for every class or only common classes ie I mean how about my application specific non-component classes. Does loading class files via separate swf impose any limitations on the application like accessing library items or is it just completely transparent? rob Originally posted by aral Now, what Optimizer does is it goes into each SWF, takes out the bytecode for the classes and makes a SWF out of each class. It then makes sure that each class is included only once for each application. [/b]

	aral	2004-11-08 #23
	Hi blackmamba, If you make a separate swf for each class that could be an awful lot of classes, we have some 100+ classes overall and even the core could be say 40+. Will having to load these very small but numerous classes have a performance impact on the application? Loading in a lage number of remote shared libraries (RSLs) -- which is what the class SWFs become -- can have a performance impact. Currently, there are two ways to load in the classes: Using a preloader and without a preloader. In the former, Optimizer creates a Preload SWF that you load in using the provided Class Manager component. Each class is loaded in on its own frame which means that for a large number of classes, the frame rate of your application can become a bottleneck. In recognition of this, we have a new (internal) build of Optimizer that allows you to specify how many classes you want to bunch together into a single frame in the preloader. This will allow you to fine tune the preloading experience to find a balance between accurate preload statistics and a performant loading sequence (especially on subsequent loads of your application when the classes will be cached on the client.) Is it(would it?) be possible to create a "core" set of classes in a single swf ... a bit like a DLL and load that one swf for the core rather than one for each class and then have other non core classes load individually? This is definitely something we will be looking into. There are technical difficulties involved in doing this, however (related to the dependencies between classes and load order.) Does it indeed create a swf for every class Yes I mean how about my application specific non-component classes. You can exclude any class you want to from the Optimization process so that it is not externalized and made into a SWF. Does loading class files via separate swf impose any limitations on the application like accessing library items or is it just completely transparent? It is completely transparent. Furthermore, since Optimizer is a deployment-time tool, you can develop/test your application without undue restrictions. If you haven't done so already, why not download the trial and try it out for yourself! I look forward to hearing of your experiences with it.

	Nutrox 17 Creative Assets	2004-11-08 #24
	Originally posted by aral If you haven't done so already, why not download the trial and try it out for yourself! I look forward to hearing of your experiences with it. Well, I have been convinced to download the trial Thank-you aral for allowing us to fire all of these questions at you, it's rare for software developers put themselves in the firing line.

	aral	2004-11-08 #25
	No worries Nutrox -- glad I could be of help! I'm Flash community member first, software developer second