Appalling soundtrack

Report · Feb 23, 2008

I've just completed my first recording - 105 slides, very short, just 4 minutes in total - and when I played back the commentary, it started OK but got worse re. volume levels, out of sych, slurring (not me!)
Is this acceptable on such a slide show? Are we all waiting for an industry-standard version (free upgrade, I hope) to emerge?

Report · Feb 23, 2008

> I've just completed my first recording - 105 slides, very short, just 4
> minutes
> in total - and when I played back the commentary, it started OK but got
> worse
> re. volume levels, out of sych, slurring (not me!)
> Is this acceptable on such a slide show? Are we all waiting for an
> industry-standard version (free upgrade, I hope) to emerge?
>

Did you record the sound as you were capturing your slides? If so, you will
probably get the results you describe if your PC does not have enough
horsepower - running your source application, capturing screens and motion
*and* capturing audio can be very processor intensive.

The typical way to get around this is to record your slides first, then add
the commentary afterwards.

You may want to use a separate audio capture software that gives you access
to features such as noise reduction, normalization etc. Then you can create
and edit your sound, and import it to your Captivate project. This is not
essential, but if you are having difficulty getting acceptable sound files
within Captivate, it should help.

Steve

--
Adobe Community Expert: eLearning, Mobile and Devices
My blog - http://stevehoward.blogspot.com/

Report · Feb 24, 2008

No, I post-recorded the soundtrack after creating and editing the slides.
This is becoming a problem and I'll try recording smaller chunks of slides (30 -35?) & stitching it all together, but 105 short slides shouldn't be excessive, should it?

Report · Feb 25, 2008

quote:

Originally posted by: ploughman1
No, I post-recorded the soundtrack after creating and editing the slides.
This is becoming a problem and I'll try recording smaller chunks of slides (30 -35?) & stitching it all together, but 105 short slides shouldn't be excessive, should it?

No, ploughman1, in general 105 slides, while more than normally recommended, should not choke your PC if it is not brought to its knees by other intensive use.

That said, the size of your audio files can get large in a hurry. If the audio in those 105 slides is, say, 20-30 seconds each, a well equipped PC with a decent sound card should be able to handle it. On the other hand, if the average audio for each slide is a minute or more (meaning you are talking about several hours audio), you might very well be asking more than the PC can deliver.
best wishes~
Larry

Report · Feb 25, 2008

> No, I post-recorded the soundtrack after creating and editing the slides.
> This is becoming a problem and I'll try recording smaller chunks of slides
> (30
> -35?) & stitching it all together, but 105 short slides shouldn't be
> excessive,
> should it?
>

Depends on your computer, I guess.

Steve

--
Adobe Community Expert: eLearning, Mobile and Devices
My blog - http://stevehoward.blogspot.com/