Recommended way to add audio

[2_cats]

Hello,

Is there a recommended way to add audio to a Captivate file? I have always reset the audio to CD quality and I have either recorded the audio directly onto the file (through the Text Caption box) or onto a digital recorder and then imported the files into the file.

In recording the audio directly onto a file (using a microphone, of course), I noticed that the file will be slightly bigger than if I imported the audio files. However, in using a digital recorder, the audio file converts three times, once from its original format, then to .wav then to .mp3. This means that for every 10 slides, 2 might have to be re-recorded because they sound slightly tinny.

I'm using version 1.

Any thoughts?

Anita

[CatBandit]

Hi Anita. I can't explain why 20% of your audio sounds tinny but for the rest of it, I'll share what I do know. First, I don't reset anything. I leave all settings at the defaults because I've found that these are generally the best settings for most occasions. I change default settings (for anything) only to solve a problem ... for instance, I might change audio quality to "CD" to correct a "tinny" sound.

Is there a reason why you are attaching audio to text-captions? This is generally a bad idea, because it makes it very difficult to get the timing right for your audio. I only attach audio to objects (as opposed to the slide-level) for special effects. For instance, I might attach a "ringing" sound to an image of a telephone to avoid interrupting the main slide voice-over.

The reason there are multiple audio files is because Captivate uses/needs the WAV file for its built-in WAV editor, but due to file size considerations, always creates the smaller MP3 for use in the published SWF output for web applications.

Lastly, the cost of upgrade to version 2.0 is money well spent. Do it as soon as you can, because version 2 did include improvements to audio handling (getting rid of that "tinny" sound?) as well as a host of great features, like the library feature that allows you to re-use objects from the library by dragging them onto the current stage (slide background) from the library folder.

Have a very nice day, Anita.
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[2_cats]

Hi Larry, thanks for responding.

When I say "tinny," I mean the recording sounds like it was done in a metal box. I always set it to CD because FM sounds like you are recording in a wind tunnel.

Someone here is QA'ing the new version, it's not my call to upgrade (wish it was).

I add the audio to the text and not to the slide for a couple of reasons. I prefer to have a lot of slides with a single step on each rather than fewer slides and lots going on. I create e-learning lessons with two users in mind, the kind that are me and the kind that are, how do I say it nicely, those that are "right-click challenged." I hate taking courses and skip through everything quickly whereas a slower user has to take their time. They are easy to create for. My worry is the faster learner. I'd rather have just one step per slide because if they hit the Forward button, they won't miss a whole lot of instruction, they will just skip to the next step. Does that make sense?

As well, I don't have a problem setting the timing because as I create the lesson, in each slide, I set the Text Caption, Highlight, Click or Image or whatever box to Display for: Rest of slide, that way I don't have to set anything after, I just adjust the slide's timing. Sometimes I have to get a little fancier but I find this way works.

Hopefully that made sense.

Have a great weekend and thank you.

Anita