Tutorial:Sound

From Anipedia

Sounds are a very important aspect in Flash animations, for they help give the viewer a sense of interactivity and involvement in your animation or your game (this is generally avoided in websites).

When bringing in sounds to your Flash file, you'll probably want them to be in the .WAV format, since Flash has a hard time with .MP3 files in all the older versions (Flash 8 and down).

You can bring any audio file that's compatible with the program to the Library by choosing "File" on the top menu and selecting "Import to Library". Once you have your music or sound effect imported, the song will show up there.

You may add sound to any layer in your Flash - designating specific layers for the audio files is highly recommended, since it helps you keep the sound organized. Click on the layer you wish to use and go to your properties bar.

There are two important options, as far as sounds goes - Sound and Sync. Go to the sound bar and choose the song you want. Notice how it goes into the layer you have selected (if you have trouble with low speed or absence of sound, try the Publish Preview option under the "File" menu).

Now you are going to choose how your song plays - choosing the wrong option is a very common mistake for beginners.

Choosing "Stream" will make the sound play exactly with the timeline. It is good for voice overs because, if there is any lag or if someone rewinds the movie, the audio won't be thrown off and will remain in sync.

Then there's the "Event", "Start", and "End" options - these are generally very close. Out of these three, "Event" is the most common option. It makes the music play continuously once it starts, which is good for background music or sound effects. When using this you only need a single frame of the sound itself - any other frames would be meaningless and wouldn't affect anything.

Please note that streamed sound has poorer quality than the "Event" option provides.