Chapter 8: Speak to Me Recording Audio Vibrating objects generate waves of compressed air that we hear as sound.

Chapter 8: Speak to Me Recording Audio Audio waveforms are visually represented in Flash and After Effects.

Chapter 8: Speak to Me Recording Audio Common digital audio sampling rates.

Chapter 8: Speak to Me Hearing Voices…Recording Dialog Finding the right voice talent for each character is crucial.

Chapter 8: Speak to Me Lip-Syncing Dialog The Flash Timeline helps you plan out animated scenes in your movie.

Chapter 8: Speak to Me Lip-Syncing Dialog The simplest form of lip sync only requires two mouth shapes: an open and closed mouth.

Chapter 8: Speak to Me Exercise 1: Creating a Lip-Sync in Flash The character has been set up and is ready to speak. 1.Open 01_BasicLipSync.fla in the Chapter_08. Test the Movie. The character is set up and mouth shapes have been created so all you need to do is complete the shot to make the agent talk. 2.Select File > Import > Import to Library. Open AreUThere.wav. Click on the Play arrow in the thumbnail preview area to listen to the audio.

Chapter 8: Speak to Me Exercise 1: Creating a Lip-Sync in Flash Increase the layer height from 100 to 300% to see the waveform better. 3. Go to the Timeline and create a new layer. Position it at the top of the layers above the monitor layer. Rename it audio. 4. Click and drag AreUThere.wav from the Library panel to the Stage. The audio is added to the audio layer. To see the entire waveform in the Timeline, click on the empty cell on frame 60. Select Insert > timeline > Frame (F5) to extend the audio to frame To magnify the waveform, right-click on the audio layer name and select Properties. In the Layers Properties dialog box, change the layer height to 300%. Click 0K.

Chapter 8: Speak to Me Exercise 1: Creating a Lip-Sync in Flash Label the frames using the Name property in the Properties panel. 6. Go to Properties and set the Sync property to Stream. This enables you to hear the sound file as you scrub back and forth in the Timeline. 7. Create a new layer directly above the audio layer by clicking on the New Layer icon at the base of the Timeline panel. Rename the layer labels. This layer will act as the exposure sheet to record the words spoken in the audio file. 8. Scrub through the Timeline to frame 9. This is where the dialog begins in the audio. Click on the empty cell on frame 9 of the labels layer. Select Insert > Timeline > Blank Keyframe (the keyboard shortcut is F7). Go to the Properties panel and enter are in the Name text entry box.

Chapter 8: Speak to Me Exercise 1: Creating a Lip-Sync in Flash Extend the remaining layers to frame Repeat this step to set labels for the remaining words spoken in the dialog. -On frame 12 add a frame label named you. -On frame 19 add a frame label named still. -On frame 25 add a frame label named there. 10. Extend the remaining layers that contain artwork to frame 60. Shift select the empty cell on frame 60 from layer monitor to layer background to select multiple layers. Select Insert > Timeline > Frame (F5).

Chapter 8: Speak to Me Exercise 1: Creating a Lip-Sync in Flash All of the mouth shapes are nested inside of Graphic symbol. 11. Now that you have set up the frame labels to correspond to the dialog, it is time to create the lip-sync. Before you do that, let’s deconstruct how the artwork is built. The secret agent’s head contains all of the facial features except the mouth. The mouth is a separate graphic symbol. Double-click on the mouth to open its Timeline. Scrub through the frames to see the different mouth shapes. The lower chin is also nested inside. This will animate depending on which mouth shape is shown on the main timeline,

Chapter 8: Speak to Me Exercise 1: Creating a Lip-Sync in Flash Each shape has been converted into a graphic symbol and then nested inside another symbol on frame after another. Using this technique, you can then control which frame is shown on the main timeline. 12. Close the graphic symbol and return to the main Timeline. While the mouth symbol is still selected go to the Properties panel. Under the Looping section, select Single Frame from the Options menu. Type in 8 for the frame number. The graphic symbol displays the nested mouth shape on the eighth frame.

Chapter 8: Speak to Me Exercise 1: Creating a Lip-Sync in Flash Set the graphic symbol to display a single frame in the Properties panel. 13. Scrub through the Timeline to frame 9. This is where the dialog begins in the audio with the word “are>” Phonetically, that would be pronounced “aah – rrr.” Add a keyframe (F6) to the mouth layer. Go to the Properties panel and type 2 in the Looping Section to display the corresponding “Aah” mouth shape.

Chapter 8: Speak to Me Exercise 1: Creating a Lip-Sync in Flash Change the displayed frame number to correspond to the audio.

Chapter 8: Speak to Me Exercise 1: Creating a Lip-Sync in Flash 14. Repeat the previous step the complete the lip-sync. To do this, add a keyframe on the following frames and change the graphic symbol’s displayed frame. -On frame 12 add a keyframe and change the graphic symbol’s frame to 10. -On frame 14 add a keyframe and change the graphic symbol’s frame to 5. -On frame 17 add a keyframe and change the graphic symbol’s frame to 6. -On frame 19 add a keyframe and change the graphic symbol’s frame to 1. -On frame 21 add a keyframe and change the graphic symbol’s frame to 10. -On frame 23 add a keyframe and change the graphic symbol’s frame to 4. -On frame 25 add a keyframe and change the graphic symbol’s frame to 9. -On frame 28 add a keyframe and change the graphic symbol’s frame to 3. -On frame 31 add a keyframe and change the graphic symbol’s frame to 10. -On frame 36 add a keyframe and change the graphic symbol’s frame to 8.

Chapter 8: Speak to Me Exercise 1: Creating a Lip-Sync in Flash The completed lip-sync animation is nested inside a movie clip and rotated to fit the background artwork. 15. Save and test your movie. 16. To see a completed version, open 01_BasicLipSync_Complete.fla in the Completed folder inside the Chapter_08 folder. The animation was nested in a movie clip and repositioned in the cell-phone art. The symbol was rotated using the 3D Rotation tool to match the perspective in the background art.

Chapter 8: Speak to Me Mixing Sound Effects Off-screen sound can enhance the scene without you showing a lot.

Chapter 8: Speak to Me Exercise 2: Mixing Audio in Flash The animated scene is ready for sound effects to be added.

Chapter 8: Speak to Me Exercise 2: Mixing Audio in Flash One technique to create a lip-sync in Flash is to store all of the mouth shapes inside a Graphic symbol.

Chapter 8: Speak to Me Exercise 2: Mixing Audio in Flash Another technique is to swap the mouth shape symbols frame-by-frame.

Chapter 8: Speak to Me Exercise 2: Mixing Audio in Flash Add each sound effect to a different layer in the Timeline. Use the frame labels to sync the effect with the animation on Stage.

Chapter 8: Speak to Me Exercise 2: Mixing Audio in Flash To adjust the sound envelope, drag the envelope handles to change the volume levels at different points in the sound.

Chapter 8: Speak to Me Exercise 2: Mixing Audio in Flash Save and test your movie to see the final results.