Newsletter: Learn More ||| Multimedia Presentation Software |||
Adding a WildPresenter Player to Audio Only Files
This tutorial applies to WildPresenter Pro 2+.
Top
Introduction
This tutorial explains how to use WildPresenter's convenient player functionality to add a player to an audio only file. This allows listeners to apply play controls such as mute, volume, fast forward, rewind, play, pause and stop to audio only files.
Top
Select your audio file
To begin click File>Import File and select an audio file.
The Import Video/Audio/Images will open with the selected audio in the Input box.
Top
Choose your encoding settings
Select an audio only preset (you may also enter the settings you wish to use in the Video/Audio tab).

Presets:
Video/Audio tab audio settings:
As a general rule, we recommend using one of the "Audio only SWF " presets as opposed to the "Audio only FLV " presets. The reason for this is that if you use the SWF output, anyone with Flash Player 4 or higher will be able to hear the content (note: Flash player 5 is required for volume control). If you use FLV audio the listener will require the Flash 7 player or higher. Another big benefit to SWF audio is that you can use any of the features in the Object Settings and/or Project Settings windows such as "click to play ", restrict to url, load at end, etc. (More on this below.)

There are however a couple of major advantages to FLV audio that you should consider if you are creating a very large and/or long duration audio file such as unlimited play length and file size. This is because FLV files do not have the 16,000-frame limit or RAM consumption issues of SWF files. In addition, when deploying your audio files on CD you should use FLV because FLV format offers superior performance when played from a CD-ROM (or DVD-ROM).

To encode your audio into FLV, select an audio only preset and then change the "Export Audio " option in the File tab from SWF to FLV.

As a simple rule, if you are posting your audio on the Internet and it is larger than 25-30 MB or longer than 16,000 frames you will want to use FLV. If you are putting your audio on a CD and your file is larger than 5-10 MB you should use FLV.

In terms of bitrate, you can get reasonable quality audio using the 56k preset. If you are posting your audio on the Internet, you should use that setting rather than posting the audio at multiple bitrates (such as dial-up and broadband). However, if the audio quality is very important (such as a musical performance) you may want to offer a broadband version of the audio encoded at a higher bitrate. You can also encode at a higher bitrate and use one of the preloader options for listeners on a slower connection (more on this below).
Top
Adding a player
Select the Player tab and choose the player you wish to use.
Make sure to check the select the Include player when exporting " option.

For the purposes of this tutorial we'll use the "audio_player " player.
You can download it here. Just download the .zip file and extract the included SWF file into your WildPresenter>Players folder. The zip file contains both the .swf and the .fla for this player, so you can adjust it further in Macromedia Flash if you want. This audio player allows you to set the height to match the size of the play controls, so you don't have any additional blank space in the player, which looks sleeker.

Also, if you have the WildPresenter Power Players collection (http://wildform.com/products/wildpresenter/power_players) we recommend using one of the "Minimal " players, again because they have the smallest possible size

You can also download another audio controls only player here.
If you have selected one of WildPresenter’s audio presets, it will have automatically set the video dimensions to 25 x 25. This will result in the player appearing at a small size, however you may adjust the dimensions.

Select the File tab and click Encode & Insert.
Once your project is inserted onto the stage you will want to adjust your project dimension in the Project Settings window.
Top
Player output options
Your audio and player will be exported together in a single file if you are using SWF output, or if you export FLV audio then there will be two separate files, a player file and the audio file. (FLV files must be loaded into a SWF in order to play in the Flash player - unless you are using the Flashcom streaming server)

Remember that if you use FLV audio you will have two files – a player .swf and your audio FLV and you will have to have both for the player to work. The FLV file will automatically be placed in the “Load_External_Files” folder in your WildPresenter project.
Top
Preloaders
When adding a player to your media files you have the option to also add a preloader. These preload a specified amount of the file before playing begins and display a "__% loaded" indicator.
  • Preload: WildPresenter has 2 options for automatically outputting your media files with built-in preloaders. To use the preloader option, check the box next to "Preload". You must then select one of the two built in preloaders.
    • Fixed: The fixed preloader loads a fixed amount of the video (determined as a percentage of file size) before the video begins to play. You may enter in a value from 1-100.
    • Adaptive: The adaptive preloader loads a variable amount of the video that is based on calculating the viewer's connection speed to determine how much of the video needs to be loaded to allow for uninterrupted play once the video begins playing. The buffer factor can be a number from 0 - 2 in increments of 0.1
  • Include Preloader Text: If you want to include a "__% loaded" indicator check this box. You can then select the font and font attributes you wish to assign to this text.
Top
Adding SWF features
If you are using the SWF audio, you can add any of the features in the Object Settings window (you cannot use these features with FLV output).
Top
Exporting your project
Your project is now ready to be exported.

To export click File>Export File
or click the Export File button.
Top
Adding a player to an existing file
If you already have your audio file in your project (in either swf or flv format) you can use the Add Player/Preloader feature to add a player and/or a preloader to your audio.
Right click on a SWF in your project and select Add Player/Preloader…
The Edit Player box will appear. You can select a player from here. Also, if you want to include a preloader check the Preload box. When complete click the Create Now button.
Top
Conclusion
We have now covered everything necessary to add a WildPresenter player to audio only files. You can do much more with WildPresenter; other tutorials will cover these subjects. The WildPresenter help file also addresses these topics.
Top
 
©2012 Wildform, Inc | Policies | Contact Us | Newsletter Options