Sound In Flash

Sound Formats Used in Flash
AIF (Mac)
WAV (PC)
MP3

Power of Flash is in its ability to work easily with sound files: Compression is key

ADPCM- old for Flash 3
MP3- best compression Flash 4/5 compatibility
Raw- no compression

How do we import sounds into Flash for use?
Import to Library: Using this an edited sound file will be placedin movie's library
File>Import>sound file (if you don't see….show:all files
Where are the sound files? Window>Library this is where imported sound files live
Preview sounds by selecting play arrow

Compressing Sounds
Sounds in Flash can be compressed individually or all toghether when the movie is published- Best to optimize individually
Click Properties button at bottom of library window to view sound properties
file size
compression type
select MP3 and adjust bit rate while checking out file size reduction
test to hear compressed sound-size over quality find balance
24kbps is good trade-off (listen to find best compromize (quality vs size)
quality setting fast med best does not increase file size

Background Sound In Flash
Sound should be place on it's own layer
Any sound file must be tied to a keyframe!
Make sure you have a keyframe and it's selected before you place your sound (blank keyframe if necessary)
Test….it works but we can make it better by looping and putting a fade in on the sound
Click anywhere in the sound layer
Properties window at bottom will allow you to set sound atttributes
Click Effect dropdown>such as Fade In (there are other options if you desire)
Click sync dropdown>start most often used for background sounds will make sound play independently even if timeline stops..
Test movie

Start will keep a second sound in a timeline from starting and overlaping a sound that is playing…
Sync options
Event Begins playing sound when the playhead reaches the frame that holds the sound in the Timeline. Event sounds will continue to play independently even if timeline stops.
Start behaves similarly to the event sound except that a second instance of the sound cannot be started until all currently playing sound instances have stopped
Stop Stops the indicated sound.
Stream Forces the movie to keep pace with the sound. If movie cannot download fast enough to keep pace Flash will force it to skip frames. Streaming sounds stop when the movie starts.
Note: Streaming can create problems if missed frames include actions...they won't be played

Sound Synchronizing
File>Open>snooze.fla
Notice that timeline holds many layers to organize elements of the move
play. We'll use the time line to determine when snooring and exhale sound effects should play
Open library and check out the two sound files (listen to them)
Insert new layer…snore
Scrub the playhead back and forth to pinpoint the spot when duck's jaw begins to move
Keep track of frame
In snore layer place keyframe F6 in proper position>make sure frame is selected
Drag sound file out of library onto stage
Click on sound in the timeline then open sound panel and set to Stream
(Stream forces movie to keep up with sound..this is important for sound effects which must sync with movie frame to be effective.)
test movieNow add new layer exhale and place exhale sound in place and play test movie


Recording Sound tracks or effects
In order to record sound you will need sound recording software. Both Mac and PC computers have basic sound recording built in. A more sophisticated approach is to use dedicated sound recording and editing software like SoundEdit 16 which we will use in the lab.

With this software you can use a mic to record a soud or copy a CD track. You can also edit any wav or aif sound file. Remember, you can import an MP3, aif and wav files.

In order to use SoundEdit 16 open the program. Use the control panel to control recording and playback. Sounds can be editied using the timeline and editing effects or cut and paste funcitons.

Save the file as aif(MAC) or wav (PC) for use in Flash

Links to Sound Resources

http://www.loopz.com (sound loops for sale)
http://www.flashkit.com/soundfx (Flash sound discussions and free sounds)
http://www.tucows.com/mmedia/preview/193468.html (freeware to copy CDs tracks to wav files for PC)
http://www.tucows.com/mmedia/preview/196029.html (freeware to copy wav files into MP3 files for PC)
http://www.soundamerica.com (free library of sound effects-good)