I want to add a short soundclip that plays when my nav bar loads. I edited
down a song in Garageband to 3 seconds, then I exported it to iTunes. I assume
I have to convert it to mp3 to put it into my Flash file, so my first question
is this... how many kbps should I save the mp3 at? Normally I have mp3's in
iTunes that are 128 or 192, but would this make my swf filesize too big? Can
anyone suggest a setting?

Then, once I convert my mp3 in iTunes, how would I bring it into my flash file
and trigger it so it plays when the nav bar loads? Thanks!

As far as encoding MP3s, you'll need to experiment with that to get the best
sound to file size ratio. But a 3 second sound can sound terrific and not be
big at all. Since this is the Flash forum, I'll answer your second question,
regarding how to import sound:

// first, create a Sound object:
var navBar_sound:Sound = new Sound(_root);
// this assumes that your sound file is named navsound.mp3 and it is in the
same directory as your SWF file
navBar_sound.loadSound("navsound.mp3", false);

Now, the trick is to trigger the sound at the right time. The event you've
described is "when the nav bar loads." So determine when this is (at the end of
a timeline? at the end of a load event?) and place this code in a frame or
event handler there:
navBar_sound.start();

Determining when the nav bar loads may be the tricky thing here, but without
further information, it's hard to say what (specifically) you need to do...

Good luck,

Albee

I'd like the sound to trigger after the preloader loads everything and while
the animation plays (logo flies in, nav bar swoops in from the right, pretty
basic). Does this mean I should put the trigger on frame 1 of scene 1? Also,
I'm pretty new to Flash and even newer to ActionScript, so where would I put
the action that creates the sound object you described above?

With the mp3, I encoded it at 128 and it sounds really good, I was just
wondering if it's overkill just for a 3 second byte. Does anyone else have any
experience with this? I'm really not sure of what is an appropriate file size,
is there a number where I shouldn't go over? It's a nav bar animation so I'd
like it to load pretty fast.

Thanks for your help!

Albee, or whoever knows about this sort of thing, why is using ActionScript
superior to just putting the mp3 from the library onto frame 3 with the
Properties Inspector? I'm sure there's probably a good reason for it so please
explain.

Also, does anybody know if I have to set compression on the mp3 once I load it
into the library? Or should I mess with the global compression settings in the
Publish settings? I've never worked with sound before so any help would be
great, thanks...

using actionscript gives you several benefits:
1. if you ever need to edit your sound for some reason, you only need to edit
the MP3 file, not the FLA
2. compiling SWFs is much quicker--Flash doesn't have to process the sound
file during SWF creation
3. SWF file sized remains small--compare a SWF with sound embedded vs a SWF
calling the sound files via actionscript--a huge difference

now for your purposes, there is really not much difference between embedding
the sound and loading it with actionscript, but if you get into a situation
where you have to use a lot of sounds or bigger sound files, it really starts
to make a huge difference. using actionscript to solve problems is a great
habit to get into...

by the way, in response to your ealier post, creating the sound object
involves the code that i posted earlier:

var navBar_sound:Sound = new Sound(_root);

usually, this can be placed in the first frame of your root timeline. by
convention, it's a good idea to make a layer for all of your code, and only put
code in it...

good luck,

albee

Hey Albee thanks, just to clarify, this code would go on a separate layer in
frame 1, correct?

var navBar_sound:Sound = new Sound(_root);
navBar_sound.loadSound("navsound.mp3", false);

Or would it go on frame 3 considering the preloader takes up the first 2
frames?

Since I want the sound to start on frame 3, which is where the nav animation
starts, I assume I would put this code in a separate layer on frame 3...

navBar_sound.start();

Just want to get it straight, I appreciate the help!

yes. you want the first two lines of code to appear on frame 1:
var navBar_sound:Sound = new Sound(_root);
navBar_sound.loadSound("navsound.mp3", false);

and then on frame three (or wherever you actually want to hear the sound), add:
navBar_sound.start();

all code can be on the same layer (hopefully you have a layer dedicated to
just code... really helps keep things straight).

albee