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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.jpg7/31/2019 Isu Animation
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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.png7/31/2019 Isu Animation
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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!
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