Stop Captivate from Resaving mp3 to wav

[joe_les_schwab]

How do I stop this? This is a huge flaw on the part of captivate. When I import an audio mp3 clip on a feedback caption it 90% of the time saves as a wav file and quadruples the size!

Wav Audio is very large and makes my projects much larger than they need to be.

Captivate 5

Expert user

[Captiv8r · Accepted solution]

Hi there

You can't stop it. It's simply the way Captivate works. Insert MP3, it converts to WAV. Insert WAV, it converts to MP3. Both formats must exist internally. I suspect because it is only capable of editing WAV.

When you publish your output, only the MP3 version is actually used.

Cheers... Rick

Helpful and Handy Links Captivate Wish Form/Bug Reporting Form Adobe Certified Captivate Training SorcerStone Blog Captivate eBooks

[joe_les_schwab]

But I dont edit my files. I dont need them edited. I would rather have my file names intact. This is still a huge flaw in captivate. One of many. I use captivate every day for the last year. I wish Adobe would pay more attention to it.

[Captiv8r]

Hello again

Trust me. Adobe *IS* paying tons of attention to it.

The main way that changes get made is by enough users such as yourself report back to them their likes and dislikes. This is done using the Wish Form/Bug Reporting Form (same page is used for both purposes). So please consider filing a Wish Form to report your disdain for the behavior. (Link is in my sig) Each of these that gets submitted actually ends up in front of the development team.

Cheers... Rick

Helpful and Handy Links Captivate Wish Form/Bug Reporting Form Adobe Certified Captivate Training SorcerStone Blog Captivate eBooks

[RodWard]

MP3 is a lossy compression format.  This means that some information is lost everytime the audio file gets compressed.  Eventually it "wears down" and the original quality is lost.

WAV is a better format to use if you want to ensure available audio quality is kept at optimal levels.  This gives you the ability to choose the MP3 compression settings used to control the quality of the published output,   WITHOUT sacrificing the ability to go back and choose higher quality settings for a later publishing run.

Adobe's strategy in having Captivate convert MP3 to WAV on import so that the audio quality is maintained makes perfect sense to me.  And as Rick has already pointed out, since your published file will be using the MP3 output anyway, you're NOT really bloating your published file. 

[joe_les_schwab]

I know how the sound editing goes and the process of loss however as I stated; I do not need my sound files edited.

[RodWard]

I think you're missing the point.  The reason Adobe chose to save audio files internally in Captivate projects as WAV format was to preserve audio quality.  Whether you intend to edit your recorded audio files or not is beside the point. It's ALWAYS in your best interest to have the highest quality audio available, even if you decide to output to an extremely compressed version of MP3 to save on published file size.  Your final PUBLISHED file size is dependent on the output settings you choose, not how big the original project file was.

You can tell Adobe you happen disagree with their approach to maintaining audio quality over minimising the PROJECT file size if you want. However, if they put this issue to a vote, I think the overwhelming majority of end users would prefer it to work the way it currently does.  It makes perfect sense to be able to always roll back to the highest quality audio if you ever need it.

[joe_les_schwab]

I think your missing the point. I was looking for support and not a forum nazi. Renaming was the main issue which you have over looked twice. Good job!

[RodWard]

If your main issue is around Captivate altering altering file names, you haven't made that very clear in your posts.

Now that we all know "renaming is the main issue" perhaps you'd better tell us how you are importing your MP3 files into Captivate so that it renames them.  When I import an MP3 from my hard drive into the Captivate library, it does not change the file name at all.  So how are you doing it?

[ryan_schar]

Hi RodWard,

Sorry I am replying to a super old post, but I have a question. : )  I am attaching a mp3 audio to an object and Captivate is converting it to a .wav file with the word "(Clip)" in front of the name.  I understand it does this because it keeps a copy of the audio in wav format internally for quality purposes. So far, so good. : )  My question is:  is it ok to delete the original mp3 version from my library because it is not using it (last file in attachment)?  Also, what does "(Clip)" mean?  At first glance, I think, "oh, it is only using a part of the audio" but it is still using the whole audio..

Thanks for any help!

Ryan   

[RodWard]

It's OK to delete any object from the Library that has a 0 in the Usage Count column.

The word Clip in front of an audio file usually means there has been some kind of editing done on that file within Captivate.  Perhaps the fact that it was created from an MP3 is enough reason to add the Clip in front.

[ryan_schar]

HI RodWard,

Thanks !