Flash® Professional CS5 Bible

Appendix C. Digital Audio Basics

IN THIS APPENDIX

• Audio sampling and quality basics

• Production tips

If you plan carefully and pay attention to technical detail, sound can add dimension to your Flash projects. That's because sound introduces another mode of sensory perception. Coordinated with visual form and motion, sound deepens the impact and can even enhance the ease of use of your Flash creation.

Note

For detailed information on adding sound to your Flash productions, refer to Chapter 12, "Adding Sound." Chapter 12 explains how to work with imported sound in Flash CS5, covering topics from codecs and compression to syncing to behaviors.

Understanding the Basics of Sampling and Quality

Before you begin integrating sound with your Flash project, it's important to understand the basics of digital audio. To help you with this, this appendix is dedicated to sampling, bit resolution, and file size.

What is sound?

Hearing is one of our five senses; it's the sense that's produced when vibrations in the air strike the aural receptors located within your ears. When you hear a sound, the volume of the sound is determined by the intensity of the vibrations, or sound waves.

The pitch that you hear — meaning how high (treble) or low (bass) — is determined by the frequency of those vibrations (waves). The frequency of sound is measured in hertz (abbreviated as Hz). Theoretically, most humans have the ability to hear frequencies that range from 20 to 20,000 Hz. The frequency of the sound is a measure ...