Recording Audio

You can record audio for your Mimic movies (e.g., narration). The recorded audio file can be created for an individual frame, cursors, or an entire movie. Steps for recording audio for existing movies, frames, and objects are given below. You can also capture audio when recording a new movie or new frames within a movie. See Recording Movies and Recording New Frames.

When you record audio in Mimic, it is stored as an MP3 file in a folder called "Sounds" where your movie files are located.

For buttons, the audio file plays when the user clicks the button. For cursors, the audio file plays when the cursor reaches the end of its trajectory.

How to Record Audio for a Movie

1. Make sure a microphone is connected to your computer.
2. Open the movie.

3. Select Movie > Properties.

   The Movie Properties dialog opens.

4. Select the Audio tab.
5. Click Enable Audio.
6. Click Record a New Audio Clip. The Record dialog opens.
7. Complete the options in the dialog.

   • Encoding Frequency Select one of the frequency rates in kilohertz (kHz). The available options are 44.100 kHz, 22.050 kHz, and 11.025 kHz. These options have to do with how often bits of audio data are sampled when you record audio. (Sampling means to "record audio on digital media.") The higher the frequency rate, the better the audio quality. However, a higher frequency rate means more bandwidth is required.

     Example  

     CD audio discs: 44.100 kHz

     Broadband internet connections: 22.050 kHz and higher

     T1 connections: 22.050 kHz

     56.6 k modems: 11.025 to 22.050 kHz

     28.8 k modems: 11.025 kHz

8. Click Record.
9. When you are finished recording, click Stop.
10. In the Record dialog, click OK.
11. In the Movie Properties dialog, click OK.

12. Click to save your work. The audio is applied to the movie. When the movie starts, the audio continues to play from frame to frame until the audio file is completed.

    Note Audio added through the Movie Properties dialog is displayed as a Sound bar in the Timeline window pane's Movie View option.

How to Record Audio for a Frame

1. Make sure a microphone is connected to your computer.
2. Open the frame.
3. Double-click the frame. The Frame Properties window pane opens.
4. Expand the Frame Sound section.
5. Click Enable Audio.
6. Click Record a New Audio Clip. The Record dialog opens.
7. Complete the options in the dialog:

   • Encoding Frequency Select one of the frequency rates in kilohertz (kHz). The available options are 44.100 kHz, 22.050 kHz, and 11.025 kHz. These options have to do with how often bits of audio data are sampled when you record audio. (Sampling means to "record audio on digital media.") The higher the frequency rate, the better the audio quality. However, a higher frequency rate means more bandwidth is required.

     Example  

     CD audio discs: 44.100 kHz

     Broadband internet connections: 22.050 kHz and higher

     T1 connections: 22.050 kHz

     56.6 k modems: 11.025 to 22.050 kHz

     28.8 k modems: 11.025 kHz

8. Click Record.
9. When you are finished recording, click Stop.
10. In the Record dialog, click OK.

11. Click to save your work.

    Note Audio added through the Frame Properties window pane is displayed as a Frame Sound bar in the Timeline window pane's Frame View option.

How to Record Audio for a Cursor

Following are steps for adding audio to a cursor. If instead you want to add audio as an object itself, see Adding Audio as Objects.

1. Make sure a microphone is connected to your computer.
2. Open the frame.

3. Double-click the cursor for which you want to record audio. The Object Properties window pane opens.

4. Expand the Audio section.
5. Click Enable Audio.
6. Click Record a New Audio Clip. The Record dialog opens.
7. Complete the options in the dialog:

   • Encoding Frequency Select one of the frequency rates in kilohertz (kHz). The available options are 44.100 kHz, 22.050 kHz, and 11.025 kHz. These options have to do with how often bits of audio data are sampled when you record audio. (Sampling means to "record audio on digital media.") The higher the frequency rate, the better the audio quality. However, a higher frequency rate means more bandwidth is required.

     Example  

     CD audio discs: 44.100 kHz

     Broadband internet connections: 22.050 kHz and higher

     T1 connections: 22.050 kHz

     56.6 k modems: 11.025 to 22.050 kHz

     28.8 k modems: 11.025 kHz

8. Click Record.
9. When you are finished recording, click Stop.
10. In the Record dialog, click OK.

11. Click to save your work.

What's Next?

If necessary, you can open the Sound Editor and edit the audio file. You can perform tasks such as recording additional sound, inserting silence, and adjusting the volume. See Editing Audio Files.