Export sound from Flash CC

[Aerobotnik]

For many years I've been using flash to generate animatics which I then import to After Effects to use as a base to build a project over.  The latest AE, however doesn't bring in sound with the SWF files, and the latest Flash doesn't export WAV (or any audio file).

I've managed to get some audio out by using export video - convert in media encoder, but the quality is terrible and completely out of sync with the original.

Is there some arcane method available that's not obvious?  Or has this functionality just been dropped from Flash?

[Sridhar_Elangovan]

Hi,

In Flash Pro CC, we have dropped support for the following formats (Windows AVI(*.avi), QuickTime(*.mov), WAV Audio(*.wav)) via Export > Export Movie.

Can you share the source fla file and the exact steps which you followed to extract audio in Flash CC via AME. Since this issue is directly related to Adobe Media Encoder, we will try to reproduce this issue and escalate the issue to Adobe Media Encoder team.

Thanks,

Sridhar Elangovan

[Guest]

I'm having a similar problem.  The "export video" function completely destroys the quality of the sound files embedded in my .fla document.  I have a voice professional recording, which in its raw format, sounds great.  After being processed through flash, it sounds like I'm talking in a bathtub, and there's a huge amount of crackling distortion.

Has there been any further progress on Aerobotnik's original comments?

Thanks

[Sridhar_Elangovan]

Hi,

We have tried exporting our Fla movie which have sound embedded in the timeline using Export > Export Movie. But while tried to play the exported sound, it does not have any crackling distortion sound. Since you are facing some problem in this case, please share the source fla file which you are facing this problem. Please provide the exact steps which will help us to reproduce the problem.

Thanks,

Sridhar Elangovan

[Spacecat66]

This lack of functionality persists into Flash CC 2014- I can't figure out how to export sound out of a current project now either.

My workflow, for as far back as I can remember, has been to record my soundtracks, bring my audio samples into Flash, create my animation in Flash (often synched to my audio)- move sound around where I need to for timing, export a swf of the animation, export a high quality .wav of my edited soundtrack, and marry the two back together in AE for compositing, effects, and final rendering.

To me, exporting to wav was core functionality and essential to the stuff I've been doing for years. If there is a way to get an audio track out using the media encoder, can you please walk us through it? I've spent the last two hours trying to figure it out with no luck.

UPDATE: I ended up installing Flash CS6 from the CC-2014 installer. Luckily, we can open newer Flash files in older versions of Flash. I was easily able to export Quicktime audio. Solved my problem in about as much time as it took to download and install CS6. Why this essential feature was removed, I can only guess (Adobe's "war" with Apple, perhaps?).

Now for us CC subscribers, we just have to hope and pray that Adobe will never remove our access to CS6.

[Aerobotnik]

Thanks for the reply and sorry I've been slow to respond, I've been busy with work.  I've made file to demonstrate the issues I've been experiencing using the export>video function.  I've eliminated Media Encoder from the process so that's unlikely to be the issue in this case.

Source file   -  Original audio  -   Exported .mov file  -   Extracted audio from .mov

It's easy to hear the difference between the original audio and the audio in the .mov file.  The second one is heavily compressed, which is fine but there's no way (I've found) to change the level of compression.

Next up is the sync issue.  Here's a screen grab comparing the waveform of the original audio with that of the .mov file exported from flash.

Screengrab

Even after nine frames there is a noticable difference.  This becomes even more pronounced when working with scenes of long durations.

To be fair, audio has never been Flash's strong point especially in .mov files but a consistent workaround was always to export a .wav file.  The inability to do that might be the final change that prevents flash from being useful to me .    I'm sure the way I work with Flash likely represents only a tiny fraction of the user base but it's still sad to see it move away from animation production.  Especially since there are some really nice changes in CC!

Cheers, Adam

[Sridhar_Elangovan]

Hi Adam,

Thanks for sharing the file with the detailed notes. We are able to repdouce the issue with the file you have shared. We logged 2 internal bugs for the issues you reported above. Internal bug # 3595722 logged to track the difference in the output sound while export > export video. Internal bug # 3595727 logged to track the sound sync issue.

Thanks,

Sridhar Elangovan

[markGodriguez]

Sridhar, why do you no longer offer these export options? especially the audio export? i too have always used this to bring the audio into after effects when working on longer animations to correct sync issues and also cause i do additional special effects in AE. without this ability i too may need to look elsewhere for an animation program as this seriously hinders my workflow.

i also don't understand for the export video why it does not go straight to the Media encoder and instead has to write a huge MOV file first...this seems convoluted at best. i am not an engineer so i am sure you have your reasons but maybe in the future get designers into the process when you guys make these changes and definitely before stripping key features out of programs

[Shadi Nashwan]

Agree with you,I used to do it the same way to guarantee the audio sync in my timeline then render on after effects, I don't know how I can do it now!?

[Asymetrical]

Why on EARTH would you get rid of ANY support for ANY format if it already exists? It certainly cant be to HELP us?!?!? WHY do you CONSTANT hamstring Flash worse and worse, crippling it with each 'update' and I use that term UPDATE loosely because what you're doing in reality is bringing it back to the old days of Future Splash! I truly do not understand it, you HAVE to see you're making it worse and worse with each iteration.

I rue the day Adobe bought Macromedia.

[chrisgelles]

If there's a way to request that the FUNCTIONALITY BE PUT BACK IN, I'd like to put my signature on that petition.

One of Flash's greatest strengths is how infinitely customizable it is (or was...thanks).

Removing stuff like this and bundling it into Media Encoder doesn't help anybody who is streamlining a production process around your products.

[pixpusher]

I managed to extract the audio from Flash CC2014 by making a copy of the Flash file and changing .ai to .zip then extracting the files. What a pain. Makes no sense to remove wav support.

[pixpusher]

Also, if you need to convert swfs to other formats I find that Swivel is the best... http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1331054

[chrisgelles]

Actually, I made a JSFL command that exports sound from the Library.

It takes advantage of this:
Adobe Flash Professional * soundItem.exportToFile()

Works like a charm.

[kheftel]

I am also disappointed to find that exporting WAV has been removed. I often have swfs with audio tracks composed of several files in a sequence.  Looks like I'm gonna install CS6 to get this functionality back.....  this was a core feature for me, I don't understand why on earth you would drop support for it if it was already working!

[Colin Holgate]

You can set the publishing settings for sound to Raw, and export Video to get perfect frame rate animation, and perfect quality sound. Just make sure not to have Adobe Media Encoder convert the file after it's exported. I use QuickTime Player to export the movie sound track, but it's likely that audio editors will be able to open the video file and get at just the audio.

[chrisgelles]

There are JSFL snippets to do exactly this.

Do a cursory search and, I'm positive you can find something.

If you run into trouble, send me a message and, I'll hook you up.

[kheftel · Accepted solution]

Thanks guys! I fixed it in this instance by exporting a WAV from CS6 on my windows machine - in the future I'll definitely look into these other options.  Turns out exporting WAV isn't available in mac CS6 either!

[kheftel]

I did end up finding a JSFL snippet, but it was hard to find and the one I found is a few years old.  I tested it and it works in CC 2014: Extract sounds and images from FLA in Flash CC with JSFL | khef.co

[chrisgelles]

Since this conversation, I've actually made a few sound export tools to grab things from the library and spit out the sound files.

You could extend this a little bit by making a jsx script to run in after effects which could read in the frame index of the Timeline and place your sound files in an After Effects comp that way.

If this is something you run into a lot, it might be worth a little time to investigate.

[toddr47043624]

I too am STUNNED by this removal. I used export to WAV all the time. I will check into other programs now and move on from Adobe.

Was it such a burden of programming to carry over EXPORT AUDIO???

It's almost like some dude over at Adobe said... Nobody does this anymore. And checked the box because it was obsolete.

Meanwhile...

F.

[Colin Holgate]

I'm happy for you that you have a reason to move on, but I'm curious what the use case is for exporting WAV, that exporting video doesn't give you? Also, how far back are we talking? I don't see any export to WAV in CS6.

[toddr47043624]

Just recently installed the new Animate -- I'd export WAVs to import into a sound program and mix and levels etc...

then import the wav into premiere etc...

I realize there's work arounds but it's one of those things that seems super unnecessary.

[Colin Holgate]

Still curious where the WAV export was. All sounds in an FLA were imported, can you not use the original files?

[toddr47043624]

I would create the entire file in Flash. Import sound effect and VO and all that and place it all along the timeline. When I exported the WAV it would give me the full audio put together into one file.