Project Update: Problem - movie file size

I have run into a problem.. the movie file sizes for the animations from the 3D model are too large.

Exporting the animations @ 600x450 @ 10fps resulted in an 11meg file size. For the final site the animation needs to be at least double the size if not more. The resulting file size would be way too large load on a web page.

Another issue is that the quality is not sufficient to have a seamless transition Sketchup cannot export at a higher definition.

As a result i need an alternative. a simple means to convey a change in orientation. the animations themselves were essentially a zoom with a rotation of the view. This is relatively easy to do in flash. The trick is how to change over to the next image:

The options are:
1. Bury the images in major image so that when you zoom through you can get into enough detail. - this works for one level of detail but only allows a linear progression.
2. Have a cross fade at mid rotation. can look cheap if not done well.
HOWEVER there is the potential that the page is always in cross fading thus everything would blend into one constantly moving image.. The major issue is how to get smooth transitions.

Option two is the best option. Assuming I can get smooth transition animations in photoshop or imageready...

The page will be one animation which you can change time around.. the BEST way to do this is to find a way to make a mouse over operation that moves you in the timeline.

This solution is much better. much simpler and ultimately more effective. the final touch would be if there was some way to make the whole animation rotate, so the mouse over also changes the orientation.

I need to see what is possible before I go any further. I will ask Gianni in class.