Isu Animation

7/31/2019 Isu Animation

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Jasmine Hopkins 1

ISU Audio in Synch with Animation

Intro

This write up is to explain how to add audio to an animation segment.

When working with animation, one must understand what it is exactly. The term

animation means to create a moving image with a sequence of pictures, each

slightly moved a different way each time; these sequences are called frames.

What is audio?

Audio, to begin with, is the recording or transmitting of sounds. Radio shows,

television channels, the morning announcements at school, and even musical

albums are all dealing with audio. Audio has many key components, and it takes

skilled professionals to work in the audio industry. Take a movie for example. Every

character in the film has a person voicing them, also known as a voice actor. The

producers of films have auditions to see

what persons voice will suit each

character perfectly. An example is Jeremy

Irons who played Scar in Disneys The

Lion King. Scars character was evil,

determined and very sneaky. While many

people tried to fit his part as best as they

could, its no wonder Irons was selected:

not only is he well known for playing villainous roles, he is also known to have a

deep and edgy tone to his voice, like none other!


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(Above: Jeremy Irons, the voice actor of Scar from Disneys The Lion King,

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lm6xdo84ce1qj5t08o1_500.jpg)

Another aspect to audio is SFX, or sound effects. Sound effects imitate actual

sounds. For example, recording a horse running in action wouldnt be practical

for movie producers, as they want to manage their time wisely as well as their

money. Instead, audio specialists would be at work doing things such as hitting

coconuts together to make the sound of a horses hooves. Its surprising

sometimes how the homemade way of doing things is more efficient! Another

audio subcategory is ambience sound. Ambience is any sound that is

background noise. Movie producers add in ambience to make the audience feel

as if they are actually present in the current scene. A few examples of ambience

would be if theres a shot in a film of the main character standing in the streets;

the sounds you are likely to hear are traffic, birds, sirens, people talking, and

footsteps. These sounds enhance the feeling and make the scene more realistic.


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ISU Tools of the trade

In this independent study unit, I will be able to give a walkthrough of how

to add audio to an already existing animation of mine. By using my Wacom

Bamboo pen and touch tablet, Adobe Flash CS5, and a microphone to record, an

audio clip will be synchronized to go with the animation (of a fox running through

snow).

(Above: Wacom Bamboo Pen and Touch tablet, http://www.mydigitalphotos.dk/wp-

content/uploads/Bamboo_Fun_S_PenTouch-with_Pen_in_Holder.jpg)


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http://asp-net-developer.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Flash-CS5-Projects.jpg

Animation Quick Summary

This is a quick synopsis (lacking detail) of how to create your own

animation. The making of this animation took quite a while- the first process for

me is always coming up with the idea. I wanted to do something simple, but

effective. I have a lot of practice with quadruped walk cycles, so thats what I

decided to do. After I have the idea thought of (I recommend writing it down, or

quickly sketching it out), I opened Flash CS5 and used layers to create the

sketch. After the image is sketched out, next is the outlining process. I made

another layer on top of my sketch and went over it with more care, making the

lines as smooth as possible. Once the outline was finished, I began to fill in the

image with colour.

(Above Left: Close up of foxs head.) (Above Right: Extreme close up of detail in

background)
http://asp-net-developer.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Flash-CS5-Projects.jpghttp://asp-net-developer.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Flash-CS5-Projects.jpghttp://asp-net-developer.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Flash-CS5-Projects.jpg


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(Above Left: Close up of fox running, and details in background.) (Above Right: Extreme

close up of tree in the distance

The last step of finalizing the fox was to add shading, so I took a darker colour

than the main fur color, and applied shadows to where necessary. I repeated all

of the above steps by how many frames I had in my animation to complete the

character walk cycle. For the background, I chose a light blue and a dark blue

and used the gradient tool to keep the colours nicely blending together. This is

what created the sky in the animation.

(Above: First frame of the animation outlined coloured and shaded.)

I then painted the clouds using the color pallet and paintbrush tool, and for the

trees and the snow, I did the same thing. Lastly, I stuck my copyright on the


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animation by using the text tool, and played the short film back. I then saw that I

had a full animation with a constant loop, with a total of twenty frames.

Recording the audio

The most major part of making the animation is adding the audio, and to

do that, it needs to be recorded. In my animation, the fox is walking through the

snow, so I needed to add a crunchy sound and make it as realistic as possible.

After thinking long and hard, tissue paper was the best option: its crunchy and

crinkly, and really does sound like snow when you shuffle it around.

(Above: Tissue paper I used to create the sound)


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In order for me to record my sound clip, I went to my desktop screen, and found

the icon for Audacity, which is free audio editing and recording software.

(Above:http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-

MhLMUhwEzG8/T3XHZe09qQI/AAAAAAAADOY/NAn6lgzLP0E/s1600/audacity_logo.png).

Open Audacity. The screen should look something like this:

Before you start recording your sound clip, make sure there is no background

noise; you want this clip to be as clear as possible. Also, make sure you have a

microphone attached to your computer (please note: most computers these days

have built in microphones, so an external microphone may be unnecessary).
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MhLMUhwEzG8/T3XHZe09qQI/AAAAAAAADOY/NAn6lgzLP0E/s1600/audacity_logo.pnghttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MhLMUhwEzG8/T3XHZe09qQI/AAAAAAAADOY/NAn6lgzLP0E/s1600/audacity_logo.pnghttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MhLMUhwEzG8/T3XHZe09qQI/AAAAAAAADOY/NAn6lgzLP0E/s1600/audacity_logo.pnghttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MhLMUhwEzG8/T3XHZe09qQI/AAAAAAAADOY/NAn6lgzLP0E/s1600/audacity_logo.pnghttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MhLMUhwEzG8/T3XHZe09qQI/AAAAAAAADOY/NAn6lgzLP0E/s1600/audacity_logo.pnghttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MhLMUhwEzG8/T3XHZe09qQI/AAAAAAAADOY/NAn6lgzLP0E/s1600/audacity_logo.png


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I then opened Flash CS5 and opened the file that held my animation. I played it

back as I went to record to make sure I was moving the tissue paper at the right

pace: at the same time the feet were hitting the ground. You might want to do a

few test clips before doing your final audio file to ensure crisp sound. Take your

tissue paper in one hand, slide your mouse over the record button in Audacity,

and click. Now you should be able to record your sound.

Move around your tissue paper in your hand, scratching it together, crumpling it,

and pulling it apart. You should now see the audio being recorded.

Press down therecord button

like this.

These jagged lines

indicate that thesound is being

recorded.


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Stop your recording by pressing the stop button:

You now should have your full audio clip that you will add to the animation.

However, you might notice a couple seconds at the beginning that are silent.

How might we take this out? Well we have to edit the audio, still using Audacity.

Click the beginning of your clip and drag your mouse to the right, horizontally,

and drag until the audio starts. (The straight line will be the part where there is no

sound, take this out until you get to the first arc).

The square is the

stop button. Click

this.


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This is the straight line.This is what will be removed.

To remove the selected, go to Edit > Cut, or Ctrl + X. Play your clip and it

should start immediately with the sound and without any hesitations. If there is

any more trimming to your audio clip that needs to be done, follow the same

process however many times it needs to be done. Next is the process of saving it

as the appropriate file, preferably as an mp3.

Flash should be open already, but if not: go to the Start menu, go to

Accessories, find the Macromedia or Adobe folder, and Flash should be in there.

Click it, and let it load. Then lets open your animation, File > Open, or Ctrl + O.


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Make a new layer by clicking on the timeline.

Double click on the layer and name it Audio; its always good to name your

layers so you know which ones which.

Now its time to add the audio. To import your audio, go to File > Import > Import

to Stage, or Ctrl + R. You can find your clip in the Library, which should be

located in a tab on the timeline. If not, you can always go to Window > Library

or Ctrl + L. Make sure the first keyframe is selected, and then press F5 on

keyframe 120.

This is where your audio is. The reason why we had to extend the keyframes is

because you need a space to insert your clip. Go back to your first keyframe.

Select the Library and go to the tab, Sounds. Go over to Name and go to the

drop down menu (click None) and you will see your audio file.


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Under the heading "Images and Sounds", go to where it says "Audio EVENT:

MP3, 16 kbps, Mono."

Click on the button that says Set Make sure you do not change Compression.

Go to the Bit rate, and set it as 32 kbps.


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Make sure to save your file under File > Save, or Ctrl + S, and name the file

and place it under its appropriate folder.

If you have completed every step as written above, you have officially

completed adding audio to an animation. If you watch your animation you will

now realize why its so important to add sound to a film: it makes it far more

interesting, and more realistic! Congratulations!

Isu Animation

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