Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
the sound format and convert the code back to sound. When a user installs plug-in or
player software, it often includes both browser integration (sound that plays from within
the browser) as well as a stand-alone player with its own interface and controls. Most
users have several players installed on their systems, and most players work with a wide
range of sound formats. For example, the QuickTime Player will work with QuickTime
formats as well as with RealMedia and Windows Media formats.
Creating a Consistent Sound Experience for All Users
With care, you can make sure that sound will work for the majority of the target audi-
ence. However, making sound work the same on all users' systems is complex and
sometimes impossible. The inability to control a user's experience with sound is one of
the challenges of adding sound to a Web page. The difficulties depend on the user's
installed players and hardware configuration. For example, a single user might have the
RealMedia, QuickTime, and Windows Media players installed on his or her system. When
the user visits a site that includes a RealMedia Audio clip, any of the installed players
might handle the sound. And, depending on configuration, the sound might just play, or
a separate player window with sound controls (and ads) might pop up, which is often not
desirable. Also, depending on configuration, the sound can either start automatically or
require the user to click the Play button on the launched player. Another user who has
the same players installed might have a different player respond to the RealMedia Audio
clip, leading to a completely different experience.
One way to alleviate this confusion and to ensure the same sound experience for all
site visitors is to use the Flash format to add sound to Web pages. Many professional
sites further ease the potential problems by including a choice between two or more
sound formats containing the exact same content. This gives the user more control and
increases the potential for trouble-free sound playback.
Embedding a Flash Movie That Contains Sound
Although Flash is more often used to add animation to Web sites, it is also a very con-
sistent and reliable method for adding sound to Web pages. Because the Flash Player is
widely installed and does not open a separate application to play sound, Flash delivers
sound without disrupting the aesthetic of Web pages. When you use Flash to add sound to
a page, you are simply adding a Flash movie that contains sound with or without images.
The process for adding the Flash movie to a page is the same whether the Flash movie
contains sound and images or only sound. A Flash movie that contains only sound is gen-
erally created at a size of 1
1 pixel and with the same background color as the page.
Sound-inclusive Flash movies can either prevent automatic play or play automati-
cally when the page loads. (When creating a Flash movie, a stop action added to the fi rst
frame prevents automatic play, omitting this action allows automatic play.) Flash mov-
ies that play automatically are used to add background sound to pages. For example, a
Web page that loads music when the home page loads in the browser might use a Flash
movie that includes only sounds and plays automatically. Flash movies that do not play
automatically are often used to provide sounds that the user can activate by clicking a
button. You can include the button that starts the audio contained in the Flash movie.
For example, when you include multiple Flash movies that contain audio in a page, you
can create a Play button in each movie that the user can click to play the audio in that
particular movie.
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