CIM264B Flash MX 2004

1
CIM264B Flash MX 2004

• Week 4

2
Sound

• Getting audio into your Flash movie -Import
  the sound. -Decide where and how to use it.
• Most Common Sound Files
• WAV (Win), AIFF (Mac), MP3 (small file size,
  high quality)
• Preparing for Import
• Because the sound will be compressed upon export,
  it's best to get source files of the highest
  available quality (usually 44KHz, 16-bit stereo)
• Using files that already are compressed or that
  have been recorded at lower quality is more
  likely to result in a poor-quality end product

3
Sound

• If QuickTime 4 (or later) is installed on your
  system, you can also import other sound files
  such as
• AIFF (Windows or Macintosh)
• Sound Designer II (Macintosh only)
• Sound Only QuickTime Movies (Windows or
  Macintosh)
• Sun AU (Windows or Macintosh)
• System 7 Sounds (Macintosh only)
• WAV (Windows or Macintosh)

4
Sound

• Importing
• File ? ImportThis is the best method from a
  workflow perspective because the sounds are
  placed into the Library only and are not embedded
  on any of the frames of your movie. When you are
  ready to use them, you can drag and drop them
  onto the stage or set them up for use with
  ActionScript.
• Drag and dropSound assets can be dragged and
  dropped into a movie either directly from the
  file system or from the library of another movie.
  This method is useful if you already know where
  you want to place the sound on the timeline and
  you have everything set up and ready to go.

5
Sound
                    You can see the end of the
sound file when the horizontal line stops.
                     The sound only starts in
frame 2.                                      
                                             
The entire length of the Timeline.
6
Sound

• Things to consider when adding sound
• Will the sound instance loop (play repeatedly)?
• Will the sound repeat? If so, how many times?
• Does it need to be synchronized with the
  animation?
• How loud should the sound be?
• Do you want the sound to play through the left,
  right speaker, or both, etc?

7
Sound

• Attaching a Sound
• Two distinct methods of sound utilization exist
  in Flash static and dynamic.
• Static oldest method. It involves assigning a
  sound to a particular frame and setting its
  properties at design time. Such sounds can be
  previewed in the authoring environment and can
  have a variety of effects applied to them.
• To add a static sound to any frame of a movie,
  simply select the frame and drag the sound
  anywhere on the stage. Alternatively, pull up the
  Sound panel and select a sound from the drop-down
  menu.
• A sound which has been dragged onto the
  Stage ends up in the TImeline.

8
Sound

• Four different synchronization options to a
  static sound
• 1. EventCauses the sound to start playing when
  the playhead hits the frame that contains it.
  Sound will play in its entirety even if the movie
  stops, it cannot be turned off. Its Timeline
  Independent.
• The most common use for an event sound is to
  attach it to a button.
• If another sound is triggered, the sounds will
  overlap.
• An event sound must be downloaded before it will
  play, therefore, it should be short.
• 2. StartThis is almost the same as Event, except
  that Start does not allow overlapping instances
  of the same sound. If you Start a sound while it
  is already playing, the second Start is ignored.
  Used mostly for background sounds. Its Timeline
  Independent.

9
Sound

• Four different synchronization options to a
  static sound
• 3. StopThis halts the selected sound.
• 4. StreamStops when the Timeline stops, its
  Timeline- dependent. If your movie is 1
  keyframe, you will not hear your sound. Great
  for animation or narration.Streamed sound does
  not need to be downloaded to play. It downloads
  and plays simultaneously.

10
Sound

• Testing Sounds
• Control ? Test Movie
• Press Enter/Return with certain conditions
• Cannot be used when the Main Timeline has one
  frame
• When the Timeline has more than one frame, you
  can test Event, Start, and Stream.
• NOTE
• Event and Start are Timeline Independent,
  therefore, sound will play entirely.
• Stream is Timeline Dependent, therefore, sound
  will only play if Main Timeline has equal to or
  more frames than the sound file.

11
Sound

• Attaching Sound Dynamically
• Second way of using audio in your movies
• Relies on ActionScript
• They can be started and stopped in response to
  user input, and the volume and panning can also
  be altered.
• MP3s can by dynamically loaded into a movie
  using loadSound()
• Example You can use the attachSound () script
  without having to place the sound in the
  timeline.

12
Sound

• Setting Individual Compression
• By default, Flash exports all movie sounds in MP3
  format, in 16 Kbps mono. It is possible to set
  the compression and output format of each sound
  individually. Which helps balance file size with
  reproduction quality.

13
Sound

• Setting Individual Compression
• To individually set the optimization setting for
  a particular sound, open the Library. Select the
  sound and choose Properties from the Options
  menu. Notice the drop-down list, set to Default.
  It has five options.

14
Sound

• Five options for optimization
• DefaultThis exports the sound according to the
  movie's global setting. The global sound settings
  for the current movie can be changed using the
  File? Publish ?Flash tab.
• ADPCM(Adaptive Differential Pulse Code
  Modulation). This is the old method of
  compression. This option should be used for 8- or
  16-bit sound data.If you plan to export your
  movie to SWF 3 or earlier, ADPCM is the only
  option.
• MP3This offers the best compression rates
  sound fidelity. It can be used with Flash 4 or
  later.
• RawThis option applies no compression.
• Speech Compression method designed specifically
  for sound files.

15
Sound

• MP3 Sound Setting
• Bit Rate measures amount of compression used for
  audio thats exported in MP3 Format. The higher
  the bit rate, the better the sound. CD quality
  sound is 160kbps (kilobits per second).
• Quality
• Fast- used for voice high compression audio.
• Best- if users are expected to have high internet
  connection, or movie is being delivered on CD or
  DVD
• Medium- unsure about the file size implications
  on the intended audience
• Preprocessing Stereo to mono mixes both channels
  into a single channel.

16
Sound

• Mono vs. Stereo
• Assuming that your source files were created in
  stereo, you have the choice to export them with
  both sound channels (stereo) or to combine them
  into one (mono).
• For speech and most incidental sounds, mono is a
  good choice.
• Music that you want to highlight will always be
  more realistic in stereo. The only downside is
  that including both discreet sound channels will
  double the download time.
• To determine whether an individual sound is
  converted to mono, select it and open the
  Properties dialog box. MP3 compression does not
  allow for stereo with any bit rate less than
  20Kbps. To force stereo output, choose a bit rate
  of 20Kbps or higher and uncheck the box marked
  Convert stereo to mono.

17
Sound

• Reusing Sounds
• Effective way to reduce file size. Static sounds
  can have a variety of effects applied to them,
  making them sound different from the original.
• Cue points can be used to separate portions of a
  sound, fade them in or out, or mute them.
• In the PI, next to effect, Clicking Edit opens
  the Edit Envelope dialog box that displays the
  waveform of the sound and any cue points. By
  default, there are only two points one for the
  beginning and one for end. Moving these points
  horizontally changes the length of the sound for
  the frame it is attached to. Vertical changes
  affect volume.
• To add cue points, click anywhere on the
  waveform. With sufficient alteration, one sound
  can be made into another.

18
Sound

• Edit Envelope displays the waveform of the sound
  and any cue points. By default, there are only
  two points one for the beginning and one for
  end. Moving these points horizontally changes the
  length of the sound for the frame it is attached
  to. Vertical changes affect volume.

19
Sound

• You can apply different effects to your sound
• None - choosing this will remove any previous
  effects
• Left channel plays only left channel
• Right channel plays only right channel
• Fade left to right left speaker to right
  speaker
• Fade right to left right speaker to left
  speaker
• Fade in sound gradually becomes louder as it
  begins to play
• Fade out - sound gradually becomes softer as it
  nears the end.
• Custom allows you to create your own effects.
  When you choose this, another window will open,
  allowing you to edit both audio channels.
• Repeat option- sets the number of times that the
  sound will repeat
• Loop option sets the sound to play
  continuously.

20
Sound

• Create Audio
• WIN
• Acid www.acidplanet.com
• Fruity Loops www.fruityloop.com
• Sonar Plasma www.cakewalk.com
• MAC
• Phrazer www.bitheadz.com
• BOTH
• ReCycle www.propellerheads.se/
• Live www.ableton.com

21
Forms Components

• Components -Special type of movie clip with
  predefined appearance and functionality.
• - Each component has a specific function and
  role that, when you combine it with ActionScript,
  provides the base for extremely powerful movies
• Components Panel Window ? Developmental Panels
  ? Components or (Ctrl F7)
• User Interface (UI) components Control visual
  tools onscreen (for example, check boxes, menus,
  text input areas, and scroll panes)
• When you add a component to your project file,
  the component is added to the Library.
• Configure Components In the PI, select the
  Parameters tab

22
Forms Components

• UI components in Flash MX 2004
• Button accepts standard mouse keyboard
  interactions.
• CheckBox allows users to select or deselect this
  check box
• ComboBox- displays a single choice with a
  drop-down menu revealing additional choices.
• Label - can have text dynamically added to it.
• List -similar to a ComboBox, except that it lists
  all the options users can select.
• Loader - empty component into which a SWF or JPG
  can be loaded.
• NumericStepper - lets you scroll through a
  numbered menu.

23
Forms Components

• UI components in Flash MX 2004
• RadioButton- allows you to have a group of items
  from which only one can be selected. For
  instance, you can have a RadioButton group of
  five colors, from which you need to choose just
  one.
• ScrollPane allows users to view movie clips,
  JPEGs, SWF files through a scrollable window.
• TextArea can be used to display text or allow
  users to input text.
• TextInput allows user to insert text (for
  username, password).
• Window draggable window for displaying content
  that includes a title bar Close button

24
Forms Components

• Four General Phases when working with
  components
• Adding the components to your project file.
• Configuring the components with the correct
  information for the user to see and select from.
• Modifying the component themes to change their
  appearances.
• Writing ActionScript to gather and submit the
  data for the form.

25
Midterm Next Week

• Please be on time
• Midterm consists of 2 parts - 10 pts written
  - 40 pts project presentation ? Make sure you
  follow the guidelines.
  Project needs to be
  submitted on a CD with a storyboard.
• 
  
• Final Guidelines Handout next week.
  

26
Midterm Review

• Written Part ----- 10pts
• 10 questions (Multiple Choice, True and False)
• Review PowerPoint Presentations, notes in class,
  hands on techniques used in class, etc.

27
Midterm Guidelines

• Due Week 5 Total Possible Points 50
• Part 1 Written/Scantron 10 questions ..10pts
• Part2 Project Presentation..40pts
• Choose a topic from the 4 basic projects created
  in flash
• 1. Animations/Short Movie
• 2. Presentation ( Resume, Event Promotion)
• 3. Complete Interface ( Navigational Design)
• 4. E-Commerce storefronts (Electronic business)
• Remember to have fun with this and throw in your
  creative/ imaginative side! ?

28
Midterm Guidelines

• Part 1 Guidelines--------------------------------
  -----------------30pts
• Project must include at least the following
• At least 2 Movie Clip----------------------------
  -------------10pts
• At least 1 Disjointed Rollover Button-------------
  --------5pts
• At Least 1 Animated Rollover Button---------------
  ------5pts
• At least 1 Sound file ---------------------------
  ---------------5pts
• Project must be submitted on a CD-ROM where the
  instructor will keep---------------------------
  ----------------5pts

29
Midterm Guidelines

• Part 2 Technical---------------------------------
  -------------------------------10pts
• The storyboard is an accurate blueprint for the
  development
• of the project. It includes
  animation-----------------------------------2.5pts
  
• The visual treatment presentation of the story
  is appropriate to the target audience.------------
  ------------------------------------------------2.
  5pts
• The project functions smoothly, no errors,
  etc.---------------------2.5pts
• The story maintains a consistent visual style. It
  blends in as a whole ..2
  .5pts
• Please note There are no makeups for a missed
  midterm/finals unless you were absent due to
  circumstances beyond your control such as a car
  accident, etc.
• If you cannot make it to the midterm due to
  extreme circumstances, prior arrangements must be
  made between the student and the instructor.