u5d1 Exercise 5.1

Adding and Utilizing Audio in Flash
� Add at least two different types of sound files to your movie. Import, then add one sound as an event, and one as a background with an on and off switch, or add a synchronized audio to animation.

� Edit the imported files and optimize them to keep the file size as low as possible, without losing too much quality.

� Write a one paragraph summary of your experience. Be sure to tell us which file formats you used and what, if any, problems you experienced.

� Post your edited project and your written summary.

� Discuss the reading material assigned in this unit with regard to adding sound to Flash.

� Comment on at least one other learner's project by asking questions and giving opinions or advice concerning their audio. Discuss your classmates' work. Focus on techniques used in controlling, organizing, and optimizing audio files in Flash.

u5d1

When I get home from Florida I will research (mostly during the course break and I can post them then) the various methods but I am wondering about music and video sources. The text (Flash MX 2004 Bible) mostly involves importing, storing, manipulating, and editing the sound files.

I can attempt this later but, even though I know there might be copyright issues involved, I am wondering if it is possible to import sound from a music CD (using the CD ROM drive on the computer) as well as video from a VCD or even a DVD. So far, I have heard mostly about importing sound and video from the Internet, computer, or digital camera sources but I am curious, as I mentioned, about other sources for importing music onto the computer or in Flash.

Richard

From JULIE ANDREWS:

There are plenty of shareware and freeware programs that will rip a song from a CD into a .wav and then encode it into an .mp3. I can't recommend one in particular because it's been awhile since I've done this, but a Google search should yield you more than you could ever want.

For video, it's harder to find free software to do this.

U5d1 Thank you for that information. I will try out those ideas later. ----- Richard

U5d1 Julie, I think you have improved the visuals (the fire in particular, but I liked the big outline bubbles before, too) and the sound sounds really good, too. ----- Richard

U5d1 I think you have integrated the visuals and sounds very well. I always liked Strauss's �Thus Spake Zarathustra� which was used in my favorite movie of all time (2001, A Space Odyssey). -----Richard

 

 

u5d2 Exercise 5.2

Embedding Video in Flash
� Embed at least one video clip into your project.

� Write a paragraph summarizing your experience with adding sound and video to your project.

� Edit the imported files and optimize them to keep the file size as low as possible, without losing too much quality. Be sure to tell us what file formats you used and what, if any, problems you experienced.

� Post your edited project and your written summary.

� Discuss the reading material assigned in this unit with regard to adding video to Flash. Comment on at least one other learner's project by asking questions and giving opinions or advice concerning video. Discuss your classmates' work and techniques used in controlling, organizing, and optimizing video files in Flash

 

U5d2

As I mentioned in the previous discussion, I plan on experimenting with various sources for for importing video including VCDs which are movies that can be played on the computer using Media Player and other players. I haven't seen any in the USA but in Asia there are more VCDs than DVDs and these could perhaps be a source for video images if someone were to use short clips or montages or altered images from them. Also digital video cameras as well as the Internet can be sources for video images.

I plan on also getting a thorough understanding of movie clips development and usage so that I can use those sorts of video images throughout my webpage projects in the future. The video storage techniques can become complicated such as an embedded video made into a Flash movie or swf file and loaded into another movie. So movies and movie clips within other files or movies can create complex webs of interaction but the good point about making these sorts of files is that once they are created and they function properly then they continue functioning every time they are used. To clarify: the functioning of each use of a computer program is the same but only within each computer but within different computers the displayed design and results may differ such as different type styles and page and margin differences so this needs to be considered when designing website projects. ----- Richard

U5d2 comment to Brandi: I enjoyed watching the informative movie (the loading time was over a minute). Perhaps it is what you intended but I noticed that the draggable movie would only move around the central part of the computer screen which is about half the width of the screen. ----- Richard

Unit 5 Objectives and Activities -- August 9, 2004

Objectives

Through successful completion of this unit, you will: Recognize and discuss issues of multimedia delivery and audio and video streaming. Develop issues of utility and accessibility of Flash sites and multimedia material. Recognize the differences between types of multimedia authoring and related tools.

Study

Presentation Read this Learning Unit's Presentation . u05s1 Text Reading Read Chapters 15 and 17 of Macromedia Flash MX 2004 Bible. u05s2 Web Site Review Study the following Web sites: Counterspace . Shockwave.com .

Assignments and Discussions

u05d1 Exercise 5.1 Adding and Utilizing Audio in Flash �  Add at least two different types of sound files to your movie. Import, then add one sound as an event, and one as a background with an on and off switch, or add a synchronized audio to animation. �  Edit the imported files and optimize them to keep the file size as low as possible, without losing too much quality. �  Write a one paragraph summary of your experience. Be sure to tell us which file formats you used and what, if any, problems you experienced. �  Post your edited project and your written summary. �  Discuss the reading material assigned in this unit with regard to adding sound to Flash. �  Comment on at least one other learner's project by asking questions and giving opinions or advice concerning their audio. Discuss your classmates' work. Focus on techniques used in controlling, organizing, and optimizing audio files in Flash. u05d2 Exercise 5.2 Embedding Video in Flash �  Embed at least one video clip into your project. �  Write a paragraph summarizing your experience with adding sound and video to your project. �  Edit the imported files and optimize them to keep the file size as low as possible, without losing too much quality. Be sure to tell us what file formats you used and what, if any, problems you experienced. �  Post your edited project and your written summary. �  Discuss the reading material assigned in this unit with regard to adding video to Flash. Comment on at least one other learner's project by asking questions and giving opinions or advice concerning video. Discuss your classmates' work and techniques used in controlling, organizing, and optimizing video files in Flash. COURSE BREAK