Best practice for audio?

I am building a website for an historical novel (http://www.bearriverbooks.com/index.html) and wish to include a recording of a radio interview with the authors. I work on the web very sporadically – picking up as I go along.
What I have read so far is suggests that a swf file with attached audio is likely to reach the largest audience, due to the widespread availability of the Flash Player. (I've heard 95%. Is this real?) If I go this route, it looks like I will have to roll my own controller in ActionScript, which would be fun, but I'm under time constraints and would have to pick up AS's syntax in a hurry.
An alternative would be to link to a QT audio-only .mov file. Presumably, this would give me instant controller, but I'm not sure how many listeners I would lose over on the Windows side. Anyone know how widespread the QT Player is over there in PC land? Any comments on preferred compression? (Voice-level mono is okay. The music in the clip is incidental.)
Or, it could be that both of the above options may be foolish, and a simple and effective solution has eluded me because I'm basically a thrill-seeking newbie to web delivery.
In any event, I'd really appreciate a little nudge in the right direction.
TIA
Richard Hurley
Grass Valley MultiMedia

I've used the JPlayer Audio Playlist generator before for a little site for a local singer / songwriter.
The generator:
http://chapmanit.thruhere.net/nick/source/v_0.2/
It was quite straightforward to restyle for the site:
http://www.rachel-worrall.co.uk/music/
Once its set up, its easy to change the tracks to be included in the playlist - simply add or remove them from the defined folder on the server.
Having said that, I'me going to bookmark Nancy's links, as a long with Murray, they're possibly the two most consistantly helpful people posting here.

Similar Messages

Best practices for audio files in your app

Hello All,
I was just curious what everyone is doing as far as having quality sounds in their app but keeping the file size down. Here are a few questions:
Is it better to have them compressed like mp3's, or not as .wav. Is .caf really better than .wav?
What have you found to be the best "sweet spot" for sample rate etc. for good quality and lower file size for an iphone app?
What programs can you recommended to do the final conversions necessary to keep the file size low and the file still working for the iphone. As an example when I make a .wav file by bouncing a mix from my PC based protools it creates .wav file that for some reason throws an error when used in an app; but if I take that same .wav file and open it in freeware like Audacity and save it as a .wav again; it reduces the file size and "fixes" whatever the issue was.
Any help you can offer would be very much appreciated. Thank you.

Well I'm not sure if any of the benefits of caf will be apparent to your app given that you are playing and not recording and you are using PCM. I think you can go directly from wav to caf with /Developer/Examples/CoreAudio/SimpleSDK/ConvertFile but I'm not sure. However, if you can produce compressed audio you will have a lot of space savings and you can experiment with sample rates to make a good size / quality tradeoff. I do not know what tools there are to record compressed audio...

Best practices for setting up projects

We recently adopted using Captivate for our WBT modules.
As a former Flash and Director user, I can say it’s
fast and does some great things. Doesn’t play so nice with
others on different occasions, but I’m learning. This forum
has been a great source for search and read on specific topics.
I’m trying to understand best practices for using this
product. We’ve had some problems with file size and
incorporating audio and video into our projects. Fortunately, the
forum has helped a lot with that. What I haven’t found a lot
of information on is good or better ways to set up individual
files, use multiple files and publish projects. We’ve decided
to go the route of putting standalones on our Intranet. My gut says
yuck, but for our situation I have yet to find a better way.
My question for discussion, then is: what are some best
practices for setting up individual files, using multiple files and
publishing projects? Any references or input on this would be
appreciated.

Hi,
Here are some of my suggestions:
1) Set up a style guide for all your standard slides. Eg.
Title slide, Index slide, chapter slide, end slide, screen capture,
non-screen capture, quizzes etc. This makes life a lot easier.
2) Create your own buttons and captions. The standard ones
are pretty ordinary, and it's hard to get a slick looking style
happening with the standard captions. They are pretty easy to
create (search for add print button to learn how to create
buttons). There should instructions on how to customise captions
somewhere on this forum. Customising means that you can also use
words, symbols, colours unique to your organisation.
3) Google elearning providers. Most use captivate and will
allow you to open samples or temporarily view selected modules.
This will give you great insight on what not to do and some good
ideas on what works well.
4) Timings: Using the above research, I got others to
complete the sample modules to get a feel for timings. The results
were clear, 10 mins good, 15 mins okay, 20 mins kind of okay, 30
mins bad, bad, bad. It's truly better to have a learner complete
2-3 short modules in 30 mins than one big monster. The other
benefit is that shorter files equal smaller size.
5) Narration: It's best to narrate each slide individually
(particularly for screen capture slides). You are more likely to
get it right on the first take, it's easier to edit and you don't
have to re-record the whole thing if you need to update it in
future. To get a slicker effect, use at least two voices: one male,
one female and use slightly different accents.
6) Screen capture slides: If you are recording filling out
long window based databse pages where the compulsory fields are
marked (eg. with a red asterisk) - you don't need to show how to
fill out every field. It's much easier for the learner (and you) to
show how to fill out the first few fields, then fade the screen
capture out, fade the end of the form in with the instructions on
what to do next. This will reduce your file size. In one of my
forms, this meant the removal of about 18 slides!
7) Auto captions: they are verbose (eg. 'Click on Print
Button' instead of 'Click Print'; 'Select the Print Preview item'
instead of 'Select Print Preview'). You have to edit them.
8) PC training syntax: Buttons and hyperlinks should normally
be 'click'; selections from drop down boxes or file lists are
normally 'select': Captivate sometimes mixes them up. Instructions
should always be written in the correct order: eg. Good: Click
'File', Select 'Print Preview'; Bad: Select 'Print Preview' from
the 'File Menu'. Button names, hyperlinks, selections are normally
written in bold
9) Instruction syntax: should always be written in an active
voice: eg. 'Click Options to open the printer menu' instead of
'When the Options button is clicked on, the printer menu will open'
10) Break all modules into chapters. Frame each chapter with
a chapter slide. It's also a good idea to show the Index page
before each chapter slide with a progress indicator (I use an
animated arrow to flash next to the name of the next chapter), I
use a start button rather a 'next' button for the start of each
chapter. You should always have a module overview with the purpose
of the course and a summary slide which states what was covered and
they have complete the module.
11) Put a transparent click button somewhere on each slide.
Set the properties of the click box to take the learner back to the
start of the current chapter by pressing F2. This allows them to
jump back to the start of their chapter at any time. You can also
do a similar thing on the index pages which jumps them to another
chapter.
12) Recording video capture: best to do it at normal speed
and be concious of where your mouse is. Minimise your clicks. Most
people (until they start working with captivate) are sloppy with
their mouse and you end up with lots of unnecessarily slides that
you have to delete out. The speed will default to how you recorded
it and this will reduce the amount of time you spend on changing
timings.
13) Captions: My rule of thumb is minimum of 4 seconds - and
longer depending on the amount of words. Eg. Click 'Print Preview'
is 4 seconds, a paragraph is longer. If you creating knowledge
based modules, make the timing long (eg. 2-3 minutes) and put in a
next button so that the learner can click when they are ready.
Also, narration means the slides will normally be slightly longer.
14) Be creative: Capitvate is desk bound. There are some
learners that just don't respond no matter how interactive
Captivate can be. Incorporate non-captivate and desk free
activities. Eg. As part of our OHS module, there is an activity
where the learner has to print off the floor plan, and then wander
around the floor marking on th emap key items such as: fire exits;
first aid kit, broom and mop cupboard, stationary cupboard, etc.
Good luck!

Best Practice for Conversion Workflow

Hello,
I'm converting video files from our "home grown" virtual media reserve to iTunes U. Some of the files are in RM format, some are already compressed .mov's (not H.264) and some I have the original DV files for.
Anyone out there have a best practice for converting these file types for posting to iTunes U? I have Final Cut Studio (Compressor), QT Pro and Squeeze available to me.
Any experience you have with this would be helpful.
Thanks,
Jeana

For converting old files to a podcast compatible video and based on the machine you have, consider elgato turbo.264. It is a fairly priced "co-processor" for video conversion. It is comprised of an application and a small USB device with a encoder chip in it. In my experience, it is the fastest way to create podcast video files. The amount of time that you will save will pay for the device quickly (about $100). Plus it does batch conversion of any video that your system currently plays through QuickTime. it has all the necessary presets and you can create your own. It has a few minor limitations such as not supporting (at this moment) enhanced podcasting features such as chapter markers and closed-captions but since you have old files for conversion, that won't matter.
For creating new content, the workflow varies a lot. Since you mention MP3s, I guess you are also interested in audio files. I would stick with GarageBand, especially if you are a beginner plus it supports enhanced podcasts.
In any case the most important goal is to have the simplest and fastest way to go from recording to publication. The less editing the better. To attain that, the best methods will require the largest investments. For example, for video production the best way is to produce the content live so when you finish recording it is only a matter of encoding and publishing. that will require the use of a video switcher that can ingest at least one video camera and a computer output to properly capture presentation material. That's the minimum. there are several devices that can do this for you. Some are disguised PCs and some connect to a PC for tapeless recording. You can check the Tricaster, which I like but wish it was a Mac and not a Windows Xp PC. Other routes may include video mixers from manufacturers like Edirol, Pansonic or Sony connected to a VTR or directly to a Mac for direct-ti-disc capture. I f you look at some of the content available in iTunes U, you will see what I explain here. This workflow requires preparation and sufficient live support but you will have your material ready for delivery almost immediately after the recorded event. No editing required. Finally, the most intensive workflow is to record everything separately and edit it later, which is extremely time consuming.

Best practice for server configuration for iTunes U

Hello all, I'm completely new to iTunes U, never heard of this until now and we have zero documentation on how to set it up. I was given the task to look at best practice for setting up the server for iTunes U, and I need your help.
*My first question*: Can anyone explains to me how iTunes U works in general? My brief understanding is that you design/setup a welcome page for your school with sub categories like programs/courses, and within that you have things like lecture audio/video files and students can download/view them on iTunes. So where are these files hosted? Is it on your own server or is it on Apple's server? Where & how do you manage the content?
*2nd question:* We have two Xserve(s) sitting in our server room ready to roll, my question is what is the best method to configure them so it meets our need of "high availability in active/active mode, load balancing, and server scaling". Originally I was thinking about using a 3rd party load balancing device to meet these needs, but I was told there is no budget for it so this is not going to happen. I know there is IP Failover but one server has to sit in standby mode which is a waste. So the most likely scenario is to setup DNS round robin and put both xserves in active/active. My question now is (this maybe related to question 1), say that all the content data like audio/video files are stored by us, (We are going to link a portion of our SAN space to Xserve for storage), if we are going with DNS round robin and put the 2 servers in Active/Active mode, can both servers access a common shared network space? or is this not possible and each server must have its own storage space? And therefore I must use something like RSYNC to make sure contents on both servers are identical? Should I use XSAN or is RSYNC good enough?
Since I have no experience with iTunes U whatsoever, I hope you understand my questions, any advice and suggestion are most welcome, thanks!

Raja Kondar wrote:
wht is the Best Practice for having server pool i.e
1) having a single large serverpool consisting of "n" number of guest vm
2) having a multiple small serverpool consisting of less of number of guest vm I prefer option 1, as this gives me the greatest amount of resources available. I don't have to worry about resources in smaller pools. It also means there are more resources across the pool for HA purposes. Not sure if this is Official Best Practice, but it is a simpler configuration.
Keep in mind that a server pool should probably have up to 20 servers in it: OCFS2 starts to strain after that.

Best practice for importing non-"Premiere-ready" video files

Hello!
I work with internal clients that provide me with a variety of differnet video types (could be almost ANYTHYING, WMV, MP4, FLV). I of course ask for AVIs when possible, but unfortunately, I have no control over the type of file I'm given.
And, naturally, Premiere (just upgraded to CS5) has a hard time dealing with these files. Unpredictable, ranging from working fine to not working at all, and everything in between. Naturally, it's become a huge issue for turnaround time.
Is there a best practice for preparing files for editing in Premiere?
I've tried almost everything I can think of: converting the file(s) to .AVIs using a variety of programs/methods. Most recently, I tried creating a Watch Folder in Adobe Media Encoder and setting it for AVI with the proper aspect ratio. It makes sense to me that that should work:using an Adobe product to render the file into something Premiere can work with.
However, when I imported the resulting AVI into Premiere, it gave me the Red Line of Un-renderness (that is the technical term, right?), and had the same sync issue I experienced when I brought it in as a WMV.
Given our environment, I'm completely fine with adding render time to the front-end of projects, but it has to work. I want files that Premiere likes.
THANK YOU in advance for any advice you can give!
-- Dave

I use an older conversion program (my PrPro has a much older internal AME, unlike yours), DigitalMedia Converter 2.7. It is shareware, and has been replaced by Deskshare with newer versions, but my old one works fine. I have not tried the newer versions yet. One thing that I like about this converter is that it ONLY uses System CODEC's, and does not install its own, like a few others. This DOES mean that if I get footage with an oddball CODEC, I need to go get it, and install it on the System.
I can batch process AV files of most types/CODEC's, and convert to DV-AVI Type II w/ 48KHz 16-bit PCM/WAV Audio and at 29.97 FPS (I am in NTSC land). So far, 99% of the resultant converted files have been perfect, whether from DivX, WMV, MPEG-2, or almost any other format/CODEC. If there is any OOS, my experience has been that it will be static, so I just have to adjust the sync offset by a few frames, and that takes care of things.
In a few instances, the PAR flag has been missed (Standard 4:3 vs Widescreen 16:9), but Interpret Footage has solved those few issues.
Only oddity that I have observed (mostly with DivX, or WMV's) is that occasionally, PrPro cannot get the file's Duration correct. I found that if I Import those problem files into PrElements, and then just do an Export, to the same exact specs., that resulting file (seems to be 100% identical, but something has to be different - maybe in the header info?) Imports perfectly into PrPro. This happens rarely, and I have the workaround, though it is one more step for those. I have yet to figure out why one very similar file will convert with the Duration info perfect, and then a companion file will not. Nor have I figured out exactly what is different, after running through PrE. Every theory that I have developed has been shot down by my experiences. A mystery still.
AME works well for most, as a converter, though there are just CODEC's, that Adobe programs do not like, such as DivX and Xvid. I doubt that any Adobe program will handle those suckers easily, if at all.
Good luck,
Hunt

Best practice for putting together scenes in a Flash project?

Hi, I'm currently working on a flash project with the following characteristics:
using a PC
2048x1080 pixels
30 fps
One audio file that plays (once) continuously across the whole project
there are actions that relate to the audio, so the timing is important
at least 10 scenes
about 7 minutes long total
current intent is for it to be played in a modern theater as a surprise
What is the best practice for working on this project and then compiling it together?
Do it all in one project file?
Split the work into different project (xfl) files for each scene and then put it together when all the scenes are finalized?
Use one project file but create different "scenes" for each respective scene? I think this is the "classic" way (?).
Make the scenes "movie clips" and then insert them into the timeline with the audio as its own layer?
Other?
I'm currently working on it by having it all in one project file. But I've noticed that there's some lag (or it gets choppy) at certain parts during playback and the SWF history shows 3.1 MB with a yellow triangle with exclamation point symbol. Thanks in advance.

you would only do that if it makes your job easier. generally speaking, it would not.
when trying to sync sound and animation i think most authors find it easiest to use graphic symbols because you can see their animation when scrubbing the main timeline. with movieclips you only see their animation when testing.
however, if you're going to use actionscript to control some of your symbols, those symbols should be movieclips.

Best Practice for Recording to HDD's.

I want some answers from some people who have been using Logic for a while and have experience in this topic. I have a 2010 MBP 13" with 1 Firewire 800 port, after looking for a cheap quality interface i purchased a Saffire Pro 14 which has a Firewire 6pin interface and i assume is Firewire 400mbps. The interface also doesn't have an extra Firewire port and the manual says not to "daisy-chain" becuase of latency and CPU spikes. Honestly i haven't noticed any problems with my HDD I/O in Logic, when i skip around it peaks but never any errors. I formatted an old 160GB Sata 1 drive and hooked it up over USB, i noticed that when i "skip" arround or w/e its called it doesn't peak (get red) anymore. I want to know peoples experience with Daisy chaining firewire devices, and using USB HDD's.
When i invest more money, would it be ok to stick with my interface for now and get a Glyph drive and daisy chain my interface on at the end? Should i stick with USB storage? Should i stick with internal 5400RPM drive? Should i upgrade it to a 7200RPM ( my original idea). In I.T. we call it best practices, whats the best practice for storing your audio/logic files on a Mac when running Logic.

Please don't just tell me Firewire is faster than USB.....I'm an I.T. Proffesional (wishing i went to school for recording ) I know how comptuers work, i build them and fix them all day. I want to know from peoples personal experience what they run and their suggestions. Thanks so much!

Best practices for image compression in dps

Hi! I have been reading up on best practices for image compression in dps, and I have read that the source assets of panoramas, image sequences, pan and zoom images, and audio skins are not resampled on upload. So you therefore need to resize them and compress them before dropping them into your article, because dps doesn't do it for you. Okay can do!
So then Im also reading that the source assets of slideshows, scrollable frames, and buttons ARE resampled as PNG images. Does this mean that DPS will compress them for you when you build the article? So does that mean I shouldn't bother going to the trouble of resizing these images at all? I can just pop in the 15mb 300dpi files used in the print magazine and dps will compress them upon building the article - and this will have no affect on file size?
And this is also the case with static background images?
Thanks for your help!

All images are automatically resampled based on the size of the folio you make. You can drop in whatever resolution image you want, it doesn't matter.
Neil

Best Practices for Team Collaboration using Adobe Captivate

With a team of 6 Instructional Designers, how can Adobe Captivate be approached where we can collaborate while producing e-learning material while maintaining a consistent look and feel of the e-learning we produce?
What are the best practices for a team of 6 IDs working and creating e-learning material in Captivate? Is there anything build-in that allows us to connect to the same libraries, templates, etc to share?
Please advise.
Thank you!
Susanne

Only some tips, never collaborated with someone else, being the solo teacher. You didn't mention which version you are using, what I write here is meant for CP7.
Be sure to prepare a theme and/or a template that will be used by everyone. A theme consists of master slides, object styles, skin editor. Master slides can have custom navigation shape buttons. In a template you can eventually also prepare different slides with placeholders, and eventually advanced actions etc. For CP6 and earlier that is the only way to reuse advanced actions, in Captivate 7 you can export shared actions that can be imported in any project for reuse.
A feature that few users know about are the external libraries. You can open the library of any project as an external library in another project. That is a good idea to store assets that you want to use in different projects: images, audio clips, video clips, eventually equations. The shared actions in a library can not (yet?) be used in another project however.
If you are on CP7 you have automatically the roundtripping with source Adobe Photoshop files and source Audition files, both from CC. That can also make collaboration lot easier if those assets are prepared in those applications. Will not expand on that, because I'm not sure you have the Creative Cloud applications.
Those are my two cents.
Lilybiri

Best practices for setting up users on a small office network?

Hello,
I am setting up a small office and am wondering what the best practices/steps are to setup/manage the admin, user logins and sharing privileges for the below setup:
Users: 5 users on new iMacs (x3) and upgraded G4s (x2)
Video Editing Suite: Want to connect a new iMac and a Mac Pro, on an open login (multiple users)
All machines are to be able to connect to the network, peripherals and external hard drive. Also, I would like to setup drop boxes as well to easily share files between the computers (I was thinking of using the external harddrive for this).
Thank you,

Hi,
Thanks for your posting.
When you install AD DS in the hub or staging site, disconnect the installed domain controller, and then ship the computer to the remote site, you are disconnecting a viable domain controller from the replication topology.
For more and detail information, please refer to:
Best Practices for Adding Domain Controllers in Remote Sites
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc794962(v=ws.10).aspx
Regards.
Vivian Wang

Best-practice for Catalog Views ? :|

Hello community,
A best practice question:
The situtation: I have several product categories (110), several items in those categories (4000) and 300 end-users. I would like to know which is the best practice for segment the catalog. I mean, some users should only see categories 10,20 & 30. Other users only category 80, etc. The problem is how can I implement this ?
My first idea is:
1. Create 110 Procurement Catalogs (1 for every prod.category). Each catalog should contain only its product category.
2. Assign in my Org Model, in a user-level all the "catalogs" that the user should access.
Do you have any idea in order to improve this ?
Saludos desde Mexico,
Diego

Hi,
Your way of doing will work, but you'll get maintenance issues (to many catalogs, and catalog link to maintain for each user).
The other way is to built your views in CCM, and assign these views to the users, either on the roles (PFCG) or on the user (SU01). The problem is that with CCM 1.0 this is limitated, cause you'll have to assign one by one the items to each view (no dynamic or mass processes), it has been enhanced in CCM 2.0.
My advice:
-Challenge your customer about views, and try to limit the number of views, with for example strategic and non strategic
-With CCM 1.0 stick to the procurement catalogs, or implement BADIs to assign items to the views (I experienced it, it works, but is quite difficult), but with a limitated number of views
Good luck.
Vadim

Best Practice for Securing Web Services in the BPEL Workflow

What is the best practice for securing web services which are part of a larger service (a business process) and are defined through BPEL?
They are all deployed on the same oracle application server.
Defining agent for each?
Gateway for all?
BPEL security extension?
The top level service that is defined as business process is secure itself through OWSM and username and passwords, but what is the best practice for security establishment for each low level services?
Regards
Farbod

It doesnt matter whether the service is invoked as part of your larger process or not, if it is performing any business critical operation then it should be secured.
The idea of SOA / designing services is to have the services available so that it can be orchestrated as part of any other business process.
Today you may have secured your parent services and tomorrow you could come up with a new service which may use one of the existing lower level services.
If all the services are in one Application server you can make the configuration/development environment lot easier by securing them using the Gateway.
Typical probelm with any gateway architecture is that the service is available without any security enforcement when accessed directly.
You can enforce rules at your network layer to allow access to the App server only from Gateway.
When you have the liberty to use OWSM or any other WS-Security products, i would stay away from any extensions. Two things to consider
The next BPEL developer in your project may not be aware of Security extensions
Centralizing Security enforcement will make your development and security operations as loosely coupled and addresses scalability.
Thanks
Ram

Best practice for multi-language content in common areas

I've got a site with some text in header/footer/nav that needs to be translated between an English and Spanish site, which use the same design. My intention was to set up all the text as content to facilitate. However, if I use a standard dialog with the component's path set to a child of the current page node, I would need to re-enter the text on every page. If I use a design dialog, or a standard dialog with the component's path set absolutely, the Engilsh and Spanish sites will share the same text. If I use a standard dialog with the component's path set relatively (eg path="../../jcr:content/myPath"), the pages using the component would all need to be at the same level of the hierarchy.
It appears that the Geometrixx demo doesn't address this situation, and leaves copy in English. Is there a best practice for this scenario?

I'm finding that something to the effect of <cq:include path="<%= strCommonContentPath + "codeEntry" %>" resourceType ...
works fine for most components, but not for parsys, or a component containing a parsys. When I attempt that, I get a JS error that says "design.path is null or not an object". Is there a way around this?

Best Practice for utility in Sol Man 4.0

We have software component ST-ICO of release 150_700 with Patch level 5
We want a Template Selection for Utility industry. I checked in
the service market place and found that 'Baseline Package United
Kingdom V1.50, Template: BP_BLKU150' is available in the above software
component.
But we are not getting any templates other than 'BP_UTUS147 - Best Practices for Water Utility' in the 'SOLAR_PROJECT_ADMIN'
transaction.
Kindly suggest any patch needs to be applied or some configuration need to be done.
Regards
Mani

Hi Mani,
Colud u plz give me the link of "where u find the template BP_BLKU150"?
It will be helpful for me.
Thanks
Senthil

Best practice for audio?

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