ptg 320 Chapter 12 Sooner or later, you're going to want to export your Flash movie that contains audio as an SWF file. The process of publishing is relatively painless; however, there are a few considerations as to the compres- sion of the files, which will be important to the size and playability of the Flash movie. Publishing requires knowledge of where the document will be used. For example, if the document is to be streamed over the Internet, and your visitors have relatively low bandwidth, you would want to choose compression settings that would significantly reduce the size of the audio files. It's possible that the Flash document is intended for playing off a CD/DVD; in that case, you could increase the compression settings. When you're designing a Flash document, it's imperative that you understand the end game and design the document toward that goal. Always remember that you can design a Flash docu- ment, but it's your visitors that ultimately will see, and use it. Publishing Documents Containing Audio Publish Sound Documents Click the File menu, and then click Publish Settings. Click the Formats tab, and then select the Flash (.swf) check box. Click the Flash tab. Click the Set buttons for Audio Stream or Audio Event. Select other sound options as desired: ◆ Select the Override Sound Settings check box to override any sound settings applied to the individual sound files within the active Flash document. ◆ Select the Export Device Sounds check box to export sounds suitable for devices, such as mobile devices, instead of the library sound. Click the Compression list arrow, and then select from the following options: ◆ Disable. Turns off all sound compression options and instructs Flash not to export sounds. ◆ ADPCM. Performs minor compression to the audio files. 6 5 4 3 2 1 2 4 5 From the Library of Wow! eBook ptg Chapter 12 Working with Sounds 321 ◆ MP3. Creates audio files, especially music files, with excellent quality in a small file size. ◆ Raw. Leaves the sounds intact without any compression schemes applied. ◆ Speech. Creates optimized files for the human voice. Select the Convert Stereo To Mono check box for the ADPCM and RAW compression formats. Based on your Compression selections from step 5, select the following options: ◆ Sample Rate. Available for ADPCM, Raw, and Speech compression. The higher the sample rate the better the quality, but the bigger the file. ◆ ADPCM bits. Higher bit values translate into better quality audio, but larger file sizes. ◆ Quality. Available for MP3 compression. The Best option gives the finest quality, but produces a larger file. ◆ Bit Rate. Available for MP3 compression. The higher the value, the better the quality and the bigger the file. Click OK. Select the Override Sound Settings check box to take priority over the individual settings applied to the audio files. Select the Export Device Sounds check box to export device sounds with the published Flash movie. Click OK. 12 11 10 9 8 7 9 10 11 6 7 8 12 Changing Audio File Quality You cannot publish a Flash movie with audio files that are better quality than the originals. For example, if the MP3 audio files you're using have a Bit rate of 16kbps, increasing that to 48kbps does not create a better quality audio file. In fact, that’s true of most Flash objects, not just audio. To increase the quality of an audio file would require the use of an audio application. You can find sound programs at www.downloads.com . For Your Information From the Library of Wow! eBook ptg 322 Chapter 12 Flash is not a major sound editing application. For example, you can't trim or cut audio files, nor can you enhance audio or reduce hum and background noises. Flash expects all that to be done before you import the file. However, you do have some control over when the sound begins and ends (time in, and time out), and you do have control over the volume (fade in and fade out). Making sure that your audio file is clean and smooth flowing will help with the quality of your audio file. Editing Sounds Work with Edit Envelope Select a keyframe on the Timeline that contains an audio file. Click the Window menu, and then click Properties to open the Property Inspector. Click the Edit button. Click the Effect list arrow, and then select a channel, fade, or custom effect. Drag the Time In marker to the right to change where the audio file begins. Drag the Time Out marker to the left to change where the audio file ends (the Time Out marker appears at the end of the audio file). Click the Envelope lines to adjust the volume on the right or left channels. Use the Zoom buttons to increase or decrease the size of the audio file in the edit window. Click the Play or Stop buttons to test the changes to the audio file. Click the Time Marker buttons to change the marker code from frames to seconds. Click OK to save your changes. IMPORTANT Adjusting an audio file using Edit Envelope only impacts the select instance of the audio file. The original audio file (in the Library) is unaffected by these changes. 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1 3 89 7 10 4 5 2 11 From the Library of Wow! eBook ptg Chapter 12 Working with Sounds 323 Adobe Soundbooth is a program that allows you to record and modify sound files. If you have Soundbooth installed on your computer, you can edit imported sounds in Soundbooth directly from within Flash. When you’re done editing the sound file in Soundbooth, you can save the file and your changes automatically appear in Flash. If you change the name or format of a sound after editing it, you’ll need to re-import the modified file back into Flash. You can edit all different sound file formats in Soundbooth. If you want to non-destructively edit sounds, then use the default sound file format (ASND) in Soundbooth for the best results. Editing Sounds Using Soundbooth Edit a Sound Using Adobe Soundbooth Click the Window menu, and then click Library to open the Library panel. Right-click (Win) or Control-click (Mac) the sound file you want to edit, and then click Edit with Soundbooth. The sound file opens in Adobe Soundbooth. Edit the sound file using Sound- booth tools and commands. ◆ Use Help in Soundbooth to edit the sound file the way you want. When you’re done, save the sound file in Soundbooth. Click the File menu, and then click Save. ◆ To sa ve the chang es in a no n- destructive format, save the file using the ASND file format, the default in Soundbooth. ◆ If you change the name or format of a sound after editing it, you’ll need to re-import the modified file back into Flash. Quit (Mac) or exit (Win) Soundbooth to return to Flash and view the edited version of the sound file in the Library panel. 5 4 3 2 1 1 2 4 3 5 From the Library of Wow! eBook ptg This page intentionally left blank From the Library of Wow! eBook ptg Working with Video Introduction The Flash Video Import Wizard lets you import a video clip as a file that is streamed from a Flash server, progressively downloaded from a Web server, embedded (stored in movie) or linked (stored out of movie). It guides you through the steps for the specific deployment method. During the import process, you have the ability to compress the video using user-defined profiles, or preset values, set cue points, and trim excess video. It's important to understand that although Flash can import a video file, it can't make the quality of the video any better than the original. If you receive your video from outside sources, there is little you can do; however, if you're the one shooting the footage, pay close attention to lighting, camera angles, and distractions within the video. The more time and attention you spend taking the video, the better the video will be when imported into Flash. If you do need to tweak a video file, video-editing applications such as Adobe's Premiere (Mac/Win), and Apple's Final Cut Pro (Mac) are excellent choice for the budding movie director. If you have a video-editing application and Flash, you can create a movie against a blue screen and then mask the area out using alpha channel masks. They do this in the movies all the time. The process involves opening the image within a video-editing application, and creating the transparency using a specific color (referred to as blue or green screening), using luminosity levels, or actually creating a mask in an image-editing application such as, Adobe Photoshop, and then importing the mask. When you open the movie in Flash, any other background you place behind the movie will replace the original green screen. 13 13 What You’ll Do Use the Video Import Wizard Work with Video on the Stage Work with Video on the Timeline Use Movie Clips with Video Files Add Cue Points to a Video Use Video with ActionScript Control Video Through Movie Clips Use the FLV Playback Component Work with the Video Encoder Work with Alpha Channel Masks Export as a QuickTime Video Export as a FLV File 325 From the Library of Wow! eBook . compression schemes applied. ◆ Speech. Creates optimized files for the human voice. Select the Convert Stereo To Mono check box for the ADPCM and RAW compression formats. Based on your Compression. select from the following options: ◆ Disable. Turns off all sound compression options and instructs Flash not to export sounds. ◆ ADPCM. Performs minor compression to the audio files. 6 5 4 3 2 1 2 4 5 . 12 Sooner or later, you're going to want to export your Flash movie that contains audio as an SWF file. The process of publishing is relatively painless; however, there are a few considerations