How do I make a simple placeholder webpage with an auto play flash movie?

Question by kaptvating1: How do I make a simple placeholder webpage with an auto play flash movie?
Hi!
I want to create a black web page with an embedded flash movie that plays automatically. I will probably need a preloader as well. I have very little experience in this area, so I hope the questions I have make sense:
1. What kind of page do I create? CSS? HTML? OTHER?
2. What software can I use? I have Flash, but not Dreamweaver. Is there a free program or can I use a free template that is editable somehow?
3. How to embed the Flash movie, and how to make it play automatically. Do I need both a SWF and FLV file? Can these files be stored on my hard drive or do they need to be on a server? Is there a script or code to make it play upon loading?
4. I know the file size of the movie is large, because I created it in AE and exported it. It’s just under 3MB, so I believe that means I should use a preloader.
5. Can someone give me the basics of how to make a preloader? Links are appreciated.
Any advice would be helpful, I think this is simple enough to do if I can have a better understanding of what is going on. Help me connect the dots!!
Thanks 🙂

Best answer:

Answer by Angela Q
1. You will make an html page. You can format it with html tags or with css.
2. Flash is all you need to make your flash movie. You do not need dreamweaver to make a page this simple.
3. Unless you put a stop at the beginning of the movie, it should automatically start when the page loads.
It will be an SWF or an FLV, not both.
For other people to watch this, both the flash file and the html file need to be on a server someplace.
4. You should make a preloader.
5. I don’t have Adobe Flash, so I can’t tell you how it works. But besides this link, there are thousands of other tutorials if you don’t find exactly what you are looking for.

http://www.gotoandlearn.com/

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