Sounds in Flash

This tutorial was written for the Flash Designer software, which allows you to create flash animations in a much easier way than by using Macromedia Flash. You may get Flash Designer here.

Sounds

Before a sound can be used it must be imported. Choose "Movie" > "Import Sound". Flash Designer supports WAV and MP3 sounds. To display currently loaded sounds choose "Movie" > "Sounds" command.

Event Sounds

Event sound can be played when a user clicks the item. To define the sound choose "Item" > "Sounds" > "On Click". Select imported sound and click OK.

Frame Sounds

Frame sound starts playing when Flash player displays the frame. To define the sound choose "Frame" > "Frame Sound" command.

Streaming Soundtracks

You can use WAV format sound files and place them in your Flash movie as streaming sound, music that plays in the background when movie is displayed. The WAV file must be saved in PCM compressed format.

To add the sound to the movie in Flash Designer:

1. Open your animation in Flash Designer
2. Choose "Movie" > "Export Options"
3. Click "Browse" in streaming sound to browse for WAV file
4. You can specify how many times the sound will be played in "Iterations" edit.
5. Click OK to confirm your settings

Specifying iteration count

By default the sound is played once. If the animation loops after it comes to the end, the sound starts every time the animation loops. If you specify iteration count greater than one, the sound will be repeated during the movie.

File Optimization

You can achieve better compression results by using lower sample rates of your sound file. If you choose stereo sound instead of mono the file will grow respectively. If your sound is 44kHz Stereo and you want to keep your SWF file small, use Sound Recorder to resample your sound to lower rate, for example 11kHz mono.

To verify what format is the file compressed in:

1. Open Sound Recorder from Start menu > Accessories.
2. Open the WAV file in Sound Recorder.
3. Choose Properties from File menu.
4. The file should be compressed in PCM format.
5. If not, click "Format Now" and choose PCM as the format.