Design Center Tutorial
The fundamentals of working with sound in After Effects and Flash
Tom Green
Tiago Dias
www.friendsofed.com
Table of Contents
Sometimes we just don’t “get” audio, and, to a great extent, our clients don’t either. Why is it that audio is regarded as either an afterthought or a line item on the budget for the project? Yet when you really think about it, we are surrounded by sound, and people do tend to become a bit anxious when they encounter profound silence. Think back to your reaction when watching TV and suddenly the audio disappears. Your immediate reaction was probably, “What the . . . ?” Though we aren’t psychiatrists or psychologists, we suspect that reaction came about because you were suddenly deprived of access to information.
Sound, whether in the form of a voice, music, or sound effect, is an important aspect of video and Flash work. It enriches the user experience because it adds an aural dimension to the piece and, if done properly, has a profound effect upon how the audience both reacts to and perceives the work. The film industry understands this so deeply, it is ingrained into their DNA. When the music in a sound track suddenly takes on a sinister edge, you just know someone is about to have a really bad day.
This tutorial is not designed to turn you into an audio master. Our intention is to show you the fundamentals of working with audio in both Adobe® After Effects® and Flash®. There are some fascinating things you can do with audio in both applications.
What you need to understand, though, is how they each handle audio in their own unique manner. To start that process, we are going to look at each application as a separate entity. We will start with importing, previewing, and generally manipulating audio in After Effects. Then we will head over to Flash and explore the fundamentals of audio in that application.
Download the sample files, crank up your speakers or put on some “cans,” and let’s get busy.
Requirements
To complete this article, you will need the following software and files:
Adobe After Effects
Flash
Sample file:
Prerequisite knowledge:
Basic knowledge of working with After Effects and Flash, and a basic understanding of digital audio.
About the authors
Tom Green is a professor of interactive multimedia at the Humber Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning in Toronto, Ontario. He is the author of several best-selling books in the area of Flash and Flash technologies. His latest book is Foundation Flash CS3 for Designers, coauthored with David Stiller, and he recently completed an updated version of Foundation Flash CS3 Video, which will be available early in 2008. Tom has completed DVD videos for Lynda.com and Adobe Systems, and is a partner at Community MX and regular contributor to Digital-Web.com. He is also an active member of the Adobe Community Experts Group, speaking at conferences and seminars around the world and contributing regularly to the Adobe Developer Connection in the areas of Flash and video technologies.
Tiago Dias started to get into Flash around the time of Flash 3, after seeing his first Flash site. He started off by doing freelance work on the side from his day job as a network/systems engineer. On the motion graphics side of things, he got a lot of After Effects and Adobe Premiere® experience at multimedia school in Zurich. From those humble beginnings, he now works as a video producer and Flash developer at a corporate television and news production company based in London with subsidiaries around the world. This is Tiago’s ideal job, as it combines two of his favorite technologies! In his free time, he writes tutorials on Flash and After Effects for various communities, tries to go snowboarding every time the sun is shining in the Swiss Alps, or hops on a plane to visit new countries. He currently lives and works in Zurich, Switzerland.
Excerpted from “From After Effects to Flash” by Tom Green and Tiago Dias. © 2006. Used with the permission of friends or ED, a division of Elsevier. To purchase this book, please visit www.friendsofed.com
