How long should a intro be

[BenMorton]

I'm planning on starting an Intro/Outro and I have some music files that I want to use one music file lasts 2:44 or I have a longer version of the same file that lasts 8mins. I'm guessing 8 minutes is too long because I know i wouldnt want to watch one that long but is 2mins too long or too short?

Ben

[THobson]

It should really depend on the story you want to tell.  If that doesn't fit the length of your music the you could try editing the music to lengthen or shorten it.  Only when you have the length of both pretty close should you start tinkering with the story.

I expect an 8 minute track would make the mission very big but you could shorten it to fit your story and then fade it out at the end of the intro.

But heh I am no expert, I have only written two into's ever.

[nominesine]

A good intro is never too long. The csla mod campaign starts with 45 minutes of film, and I enjoyed watchig it all the way. But an 8 min soundtrack is way too long (because it's a large file).

I don't think you can say that there's an ideal length of an intro. It depends, as THobson said, on the story you are telling and how interesting the intro is to watch.

[The-Architect]

If its a good intro then how ever long you want it to be, or however long it ends up being.
Like Nominesine says, an 8 minute track is going to make a large file. A lot of fairies in the community don't like downloading files that big. Plus, if the mission turns out to be bad, then people will remember your big file, poor mission and it'll be even less likely that they'll download your next release.
Its really up to you, but you'll have to take all these things into account.