How to Add Sound to a Flash Movie

Flash movies already have movement, colors and graphics, but you may want your Flash movie to do more than that. Adding music or a voiceover to a Flash movie is much easier than you may have assumed. All you have to do is get the right piece of software and learn how to use it.

Things You'll Need

• Audio file
• Microphone (for a voiceover)
• Camtasia software

Instructions

Acquire or Produce an Audio File

1. Determine whether you want a voiceover, a particular kind of sound, like a car honking or a bee buzzing, or whether you want to have music with your Flash movie.

2. Search for an already-produced audio file. There are many websites that will sell you a well-formatted audio file.

3. 

   Prepare a voiceover file using a microphone and Camtasia. If you want a voiceover, simply start Camtasia, and, when prompted, check the "Record Audio" box.

4. 

   Click F9 when Camtasia has finished starting. This will put Camtasia in recording mode. Make sure your interface looks like the image. The ball beside "Camtasia Recorder" should be red.

5. Record your voiceover. Simply speak into the microphone, and your voice will be recorded.

6. 

   When you have finished recording, select the "Stop" option under "Capture" as shown in the image.

7. 

   Save your recording as an .avi file. Give your .avi file a file name, then click "Save." You have now produced an audio file to add to your Flash movie.

8. Listen to your audio file. You will want to make sure you are satisfied with the quality of the recording. If you are not, simply repeat these steps.

Add the Audio File to your Flash Movie

1. 

   Import the Flash movie. On the left side of your Camtasia Studio screen, you should see the "Import" area. Select "Import video" to add your Flash movie to your work area.

2. 

   Move your Flash movie down to the time line. You should see an icon very similar to the image. Take your cursor, highlight it by clicking on it, then drag the icon down to the time line.

3. 

   View your Flash movie on the Camtasia time line.

4. 

   Add your audio to the time line. Select "Import audio," and find your audio file. Perform the same steps you did with the Flash movie.

5. 

   Drag the audio file down to the time line.

6. 

   View your audio and your video (Flash movie) together on the time line. You have how added the audio to the Flash movie.

Produce the Flash Movie with Audio.

1. 

   Select "Produce Video As..." from "File" in Camtasia Studio.

2. 

   Produce the video as a Flash file. You will see a new screen. Select "Macromedia Flash (SWF) movie file," then select the "Next" button.

3. 

   Select the video size you prefer. If you are not satisfied with the size of your Flash movie at the end, you can reproduce your movie by simply repeating these steps.

4. 

   Select the folder in which you would like your new Flash movie to reside, and give the Flash movie file a name. Note that the Flash movie will have an extension of .swf.

5. Click the "Finish" button, and your Flash movie will be produced.

Tips & Warnings

• Some microphones have switches on them. Make sure your microphone is switched to the "on" position.

References

• Wave Central
• Find Sounds
• Camtasia