Step 4
Now double click the 'goto' action. Enter '3' in the field. These two statements check to see that the last frame loaded into the Flash player equals the total frames in the movie file. You can replace the '_totalframes' property with a frame number. For example you could select 'Frame Number' under 'Type' and enter 500 in the 'Frame' text field. After the 500th frame has been preloaded, the animation will play.

Step 5
Select 'frame 2' in Layer 1 ('Preload Action). Double click the 'goto' action. Do not change the default settings. This 'action' will send the animation back to frame 1, creating a loop if the last frame of the Shockwave file has not yet loaded.

Step 6
The last step was to place the 'movie' clip you created. Insert a new layer and name it 'load movie.' Drag an instance of the movie clip from the library onto the stage.

Step 7
Insert a 'blank keyframe' (F7) at frame '3' of that layer. This means the animation will only be visible while the rest of the animation loads.

Save the file as - preload_test.fla.

Testing
To test the preload action, you have to use the 'bandwidth profiler' and 'show streaming' capabilities in Flash. Go - Control - Test Movie (Ctrl - Enter). Now go - Debug - and choose a download speed - say 14.4. Go - Control - Rewind - to return to frame 1. Now press - Ctrl - Enter - to start the animation. The preloading animation should play while the remaining animation loads.

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