Optimize fla option in FlashEff panel

The "optimize fla" option in the FlashEff panel (Menu -> Optimize fla) is meant to remove from Library all the unused patterns. For example, you are trying to animate some text and go through the different text patterns listed in the panel to find a suitable animation. Each time you select a pattern from the list (regardless of the type of pattern) the FlashEff panel applies it on your target object. For this, the panel looks into the Library and if it doesn't find the pattern there, it imports it from the Components panel. This happens with every pattern you test so you might end up with quite a few patterns in the Library, even though you only need to use one.

The Optimize fla option was created to clear out the Library for you of any unnecessary FlashEff presets. So if you would use it, it would check to see the FlashEff instance on stage what kind of pattern(s) uses and would remove the rest of patterns from the Library. The problem with this, is that the panel only looks for the FlashEff instances directly on the stage and not inside other movie clips (from the stage or just in the Library). So if you would have a FlashEff component instance that is found inside a container movie clip, the panel wouldn't detect it because it is not directly on stage so if it uses a pattern that's never been used somewhere else, it removes that pattern, leaving the FlashEff instance inside the clip with no pattern. In this case you'll see that the effect does not work (it is not applies).

For example, you place a FlashEff instance on the stage, over a movie clip, and a FlashEff instance inside a second movie clip, over a text field. One of the FlashEffs is using FESAlphaBars and the other is using FETBlur. In your Library you also have two other patterns that you don't use. If you would apply the Optimize fla option at this point, the FlashEff panel would remove the other two patterns that you don't use plus the FETBlur pattern, because the FlashEff instance that applies it is inside a movie clip and not directly on Stage. So if you run the movie, you'll notice that there is no effect applied on the text.

Unfortunately there's no immediate solution to this problem. All you can do is pay attention to the FlashEff patterns you import in the Library and the way you use the Optimize fla option.

By fixing this problem, we would create another one: the panel would have to go through every movie clip and sprite you might have on the stage and inside the Library, so in case of a large number of assets, it is possible that Flash itself would break.

Also, another problem for this feature is the large number of FlashEff instances in your Flash movie and the large number of patterns. If the panel would have to go through that large number of items, it is possible that it slows down your computer or even breaks Flash itself (which would inexplicably close).