I often see posts on our forums from users asking what type of audio (WAV or MP3) they should import into Articulate Presenter, or people asking if it is better to import MP3 audio than WAV because they think that since MP3 files are smaller it will produce smaller output.
So to answer the question, "What audio file type should I use to import into Articulate Presenter?"
Use WAV files when possible when importing into Articulate Presenter.
Here are the facts:
Importing WAV files will produce the same output file size as MP3 files of the same length
If you are importing MP3 files in the hopes that it will produce smaller output file sizes don't bother. The same audio file when imported in WAV format vs MP3 will produce the same output file size.
Imported MP3 files are converted to WAV when importing into Articulate Presenter
The reason we do this is that when using the Timeline Audio Editor the files must be in WAV format in order for us to edit the amount of audio that plays on each slide, so if you import MP3 files into Articulate Presenter we will automatically convert it back to WAV.
Imported MP3's audio quality will be less than imported WAVs
The MP3 audio format is a lossy format, meaning that when you convert WAV to MP3 the output file won't sound as good as the original WAV. Articulate Presenter will convert the WAV file to MP3 when published, but doing this conversion only once from WAV to MP3 will be less lossy, than converting to MP3, then converting to WAV, then converting to MP3. That being said, we always keep your source WAV on disk, so each time you publish it won't affect the quality of your audio file.
Articulate Presenter lets you specify the audio quality settings of the output MP3
If you want to use a specific audio bitrate for one reason or another, Articulate Presenter allows you to specify the audio quality settings for your ouput audio file. To change this go to Articulate>Library and Options>Quality and choose Custom. We allow you to specify any of the Audio Bitrates that Flash supports. By limiting you to only audio bitrates that Flash supports we prevent audio from sounding chipmunky.
So to answer the question, "What audio file type should I use to import into Articulate Presenter?"
Use WAV files when possible when importing into Articulate Presenter.
Here are the facts:
Importing WAV files will produce the same output file size as MP3 files of the same length
If you are importing MP3 files in the hopes that it will produce smaller output file sizes don't bother. The same audio file when imported in WAV format vs MP3 will produce the same output file size.
Imported MP3 files are converted to WAV when importing into Articulate Presenter
The reason we do this is that when using the Timeline Audio Editor the files must be in WAV format in order for us to edit the amount of audio that plays on each slide, so if you import MP3 files into Articulate Presenter we will automatically convert it back to WAV.
Imported MP3's audio quality will be less than imported WAVs
The MP3 audio format is a lossy format, meaning that when you convert WAV to MP3 the output file won't sound as good as the original WAV. Articulate Presenter will convert the WAV file to MP3 when published, but doing this conversion only once from WAV to MP3 will be less lossy, than converting to MP3, then converting to WAV, then converting to MP3. That being said, we always keep your source WAV on disk, so each time you publish it won't affect the quality of your audio file.
Articulate Presenter lets you specify the audio quality settings of the output MP3
If you want to use a specific audio bitrate for one reason or another, Articulate Presenter allows you to specify the audio quality settings for your ouput audio file. To change this go to Articulate>Library and Options>Quality and choose Custom. We allow you to specify any of the Audio Bitrates that Flash supports. By limiting you to only audio bitrates that Flash supports we prevent audio from sounding chipmunky.
Creating Custom Engage Color Schemes
15 Comments Dave blogged on Monday, October 23, 2006 at 9:44 PM.
Ok, now that Articulate Engage has launched and people are getting more familiar with the program, I wanted to start showing some examples of things you can do with Engage that you might not notice right out of the box. Well, one of the cool things you can do is create your own Engage color schemes so that you can customize the colors of your Engage Interactions to match your corporate color scheme.
In the presentation linked below I show you how you can create your own custom color schemes for use in Engage. It is a short presentation (7:07) that should walk you through the basics of creating your own color schemes.
In the presentation linked below I show you how you can create your own custom color schemes for use in Engage. It is a short presentation (7:07) that should walk you through the basics of creating your own color schemes.
Launch Presentation (7:07)
Also, I have created 3 new custom color schemes that you can download here. The colors are:
- Fata Romana
- Off 2 Africa
- Grunge school
To install the color schemes unzip the 3 attached zip files into the following folder:
C:\Program Files\Articulate\Articulate Engage\schemes
After unzipping the files close and restart Engage and you should see the new schemes.
The color schemes I created were inspired by http://beta.dailycolorscheme.com/ (cool site).
Labels: Engage
If you have distribuled your Articulate Presenter, Quizmaker or Engage content via a CD you might have run into a Flash Player Security warning about Flash and local content.
For more info on the issue see this technote (http://support.articulate.com/kb/000699.php).
Well a cool program called HTML Executable allows you to repackage your published web content as a single EXE file. The bonus of doing this is that your users won't get prompted about Flash Player security warnings.
I would recommend trying it out though because I haven't fully tested it, but it seemed to work pretty well for me.
For more info on the issue see this technote (http://support.articulate.com/kb/000699.php).
Well a cool program called HTML Executable allows you to repackage your published web content as a single EXE file. The bonus of doing this is that your users won't get prompted about Flash Player security warnings.
I would recommend trying it out though because I haven't fully tested it, but it seemed to work pretty well for me.
Ok, this has absolutely nothing to do with Articulate or eLearning, but since my blog readership seems pretty decent I am posting this here in hopes someone will join me. I just bought the Nike + (plus) kit for my iPod Nano and am desperately looking for others to join my Nike+ Articulate 5k Challenge. What is the Nike+ iPod kit you ask? Check out this video below for more info...This is by far my coolest toy, and if you are a runner and have the iPod Nano it is a must have, and doesn't require Nike shoes.
Well to get to the point, the challenge is to see who can run the fastest 5k before the end of the year. If anyone is interested in joining send me an email at dmozealous AT articulate.com. The winner just might get an Articulate Capitan Smiley.
Sorry, I know this isn't eLearning or Articulate related, just hoping I can find others to run against. Will post again on something meaningful later this week, so stay tuned.
Well to get to the point, the challenge is to see who can run the fastest 5k before the end of the year. If anyone is interested in joining send me an email at dmozealous AT articulate.com. The winner just might get an Articulate Capitan Smiley.
Sorry, I know this isn't eLearning or Articulate related, just hoping I can find others to run against. Will post again on something meaningful later this week, so stay tuned.
Race Info
Date: Fastest run by 12/31/06
Distance: 5k (because I like the metric system)
Who: Anyone who wants to join
Cost: Must own Nike+ Ipod Kit (only 29$ Cheap!)
Prizes: Articulate Capitan Smiley (for winner)
To Join: email dmozealous AT articulate.com
Why won't my FLV's playback when deployed via a server?
1 Comments Dave blogged on Tuesday, October 10, 2006 at 4:45 PM.
One possible reason is that in IIS in WINDOWS 2003 FLV needs to be configured as a supported MIME type. I continually foget this, so I am posting here for two reasons:
- Maybe it will help someone else out
- Maybe it will help me remember to do this
To setup IIS to support FLV as a MIME type follow the directions below:
- Right click the site in IIS and select Properties
- Select the HTTP Headers Tab
- Select File Types
- Under the MIME Map section and select New Type
- Type ".flv" as the associated extension and "video/x-flv" as the content type
- Select OK
Your FLVs should now play back when viewed from the server. If you use a hosting company to host your files it is best to check with them about adding FLV as a supported MIME type.
Labels: FLV
For those of you who haven't heard...Articulate announced it's new product Articulate Engage today. For anyone who has come to my blog looking for advice on how to add Flash Video (FLV) to a slide, Engage now allows you to easily add slide level FLV without a bunch of complicated work arounds or having to know Flash. You can find out more about Engage here.
To see an example of how you can add FLV video to a slide in Articulate Presenter click the presentation image below.
To see an example of how you can add FLV video to a slide in Articulate Presenter click the presentation image below.
AICC
Articulate Presenter SDK (2:03)
Articulate