Capturing Audio

The most effective method of adding audio to a Macromedia Captivate project is to record the audio at the same time you capture your screen action. Recording narration can be used for many different types of Macromedia Captivate projects.

Recording Audio While Capturing Your Macromedia Captivate Project

Click the following link to view a Macromedia Captivate demonstration of how to record audio while capturing your project:

Play the demo: Recording Narration While Capturing Screen Action

With a microphone connected to your PC, you can record your narration as you create your Macromedia Captivate project. Follow these steps:

1. From the Start page, click the Record or Create a New Movie link. You can also choose File > Record or Create a New Movie.

2. Select from one of the following three recording options and click OK:

   • Application
   • Custom size
   • Full screen
3. Specify the window, area, or monitor you want to capture during your narration.
4. Select the Record Narration check box.

5. Click OK. By default Macromedia Captivate informs you that in order to create the best possible audio quality, the application must establish microphone- and recording-sensitive levels (see Figure 1).

   

   Figure 1. Click Yes if you want Macromedia Captivate to test the audio levels

6. Click Yes.

7. Macromedia Captivate now responds by displaying the Calibrate Microphone dialog box (see Figure 2). This dialog box enables you to set the optimal microphone level and adjust the recording sensitivity.

   

   Figure 2. Set the microphone recording level for use with Macromedia Captivate

   Note: If you see the dialog box shown in Figure 3, you might need to check in the Record Control panel (part of the Windows operating system) to see whether the microphone volume needs to be adjusted.

   

   Figure 3. When you see this dialog box, you have to verify that your microphone is properly connected

Adjusting the Microphone

To adjust the microphone, follow these steps:

1. Select Start > Program > Settings > Control Panel.
2. Double-click the Sounds and Multimedia control panel applet (Windows 2000) or Sounds and Audio Devices (Windows XP).

3. Make sure Microphone is selected and that the volume slider is not at the bottom.

   Tip: If you are still having problems try capturing an audio file using the application Sound Recorder that ships with your Windows operating system, consult the documentation that ships with your sound card.

Recording Narration at Capture Time

After the record levels have been calibrated, you can click the Record button shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4. You're ready to record

Macromedia Captivate now displays a countdown box which counts down from 5 to 1. After the box disappears, you can start recording your narration.

To proceed, simply speak into the microphone or recording device. When you have finished recording, click the End key. Macromedia Captivate now generates the individual slides that comprise the Macromedia Captivate SWF file and displays them in Slide view.

During recording the files are stored in WAV format. After you stop recording, the files are automatically converted to MP3 format. The original WAV files are left intact so that if you need to make further changes, you always get to work with the original, full-quality, uncompressed files.

Note: The WAV format is the default audio file format for the Windows platform. It is neither a digital nor a compressed file format. By contrast, MP3 or MPEG-3 is a lossy audio file format. This means that during the compression of the audio data, some of the audio information is thrown away to reduce the compressed file size. The quality of the audio is not affected, however, because the discarded audio data is outside the range of human hearing.

Tips on Adding Audio to Your Macromedia Captivate Project

Narration is a powerful vehicle of communication that can dramatically improve your Macromedia Captivate projects. In turn, it helps your audience remember your demonstration or presentation better. Like everything else, creating a good narration is a skill that takes some time to perfect. To assist you with this process, I have outlined a number of tips that should help you get up to speed:

1. Always script out what you want to say.
2. Rehearse the script.
3. Break the script into short segments (less than one minute is preferable).
4. Perform some audio tests and listen to the way the narration sounds.
5. Replace hard-to-pronounce words or phrases with easier alternatives.
6. Always check any technical terminology.
7. Relax when recording; you can always correct mistakes later.
8. Create your own style of narration. If you don't normally sound like a BBC news reader from the 1930s when you talk, then don't try to narrate like one!

Recording Audio after Capturing Your Macromedia Captivate Project

Although the best method of adding your narration is to do it at capture time, you also have the ability to insert audio after you have captured your screen action. This method of working gives you the ability to narrate using a script taken from either captions on the selected slide or slide notes. This feature is ideal for users who just don't feel comfortable with attempting to record audio as they capture their screen action.

Click the following link to view a Macromedia Captivate demonstration of how to record audio after having captured a Captivate project:

Play the demo: Recording Narration After Capturing Screen Action

To record a narration after capturing your movie, follow these steps:

1. Open an existing Macromedia Captivate project.

2. Select the slide to which you want to add audio. You have two options:

   • Insert a text caption.
   • Choose Edit > Properties. Next, click the Notes button, enter the text you want to narrate, and click OK.
3. Click the Audio button on the Main toolbar.

4. Under View script select either of the following:

   • Captions (to view the contents of a Caption that is present on the current slide)
   • Slide notes (to view notes for this slide)
5. Click the Record button and speak the caption text or slide notes into the microphone.
6. When you have finished recording your narration for this slide, click Next.
7. Read the contents of the next slide note.
8. Repeat Steps 6 and 7 until you have read all the slide notes for the entire project.
9. Click the OK button.

Macromedia Captivate now adds each of the audio clips to the appropriate slide.

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