Adding Narration and Audio to a Movie Project

Narrating Your Movie:

• You will need a microphone to make a live recording. Plug the microphone into the correct port. Most computers have an input jack where you can plug in a microphone. The jack looks like the headphone and it is usually labeled with the word “Mick” or a small microphone symbol. It is often color-coded pink. Some computers come with a built in microphone, eliminating the need for the plug in mic.
• To narrate, either select the Tools menu and then Narrate Timeline (Figure A) or select the microphone icon at the top left of the timeline (Figure B).

A	B

• From the Narrate Timeline window, select Start Narration and the program will begin recording. To stop the process simply select Stop Narration.

• Once stopped, you will be directed to save your narration. Give your narration a name and select save.
• On the Narrate Timeline window, select Done and the audio will be inserted into the Audio/Music track on the timeline. As with video, title, and photograph elements, your created narration can also be moved or edited within the timeline.
• Click Play on the Monitor (or top left of the timeline/storyboard) and sample your narration.

To Insert Audio:

In order to add audio to your story you first must import it. Once you have it in the collection bin, follow the steps below. It is very important that you don't use music CDs due to copyright issues. This has become a major issue in education in the last few years. Most feel that you can use copyright materials for educational purposes, but this has proven to be a misconception and is highly frowned upon in the education community. Midi files were once thought to be safe but with the recent lawsuits brought on to midi websites, this has also proven to be an incorrect assumption. There is a fool proof way to insert music into a story and that is by having the student create their own. This can be done with a free software entitled Audacity. For download information and online tutorials click here to learn more about this awesome program.

• Click on Show Timeline button in the Storyboard section of your screen.
• Drag your music track from the collection to the Audio/Music level of the Timeline.
• Drag the endpoint of the music track to meet the end of your video track.
• Right Click on the sound track to set other attributes such as Mute, Fade In, Fade Out, or the Volume of sound.

Audio Adjustments:

After inserting audio, you have a number of options for adjusting transitions between music clips, adjusting the volume of a clip, and adjusting the audio strength between video and music.

• Between the junction of two music clips, select the right clip, drag clip left over preceding clip and release. This will create a transition between the two clips, and as one clip ends the following clip will fade in.

• To adjust audio levels, select the desired clip.

  • Select Clip menu, then Audio, and last, Volume.

  

  • In the Audio Clip Volume window, move the slider left or right to decrease or increase volume, then select OK.

  

  • At the top left of the timeline or storyboard windows, select the volume icon Figure A) and the Audio Levels window (Figure B) will appear.

  Figure A	Figure B

   

  • In the Audio Levels window, move the slider left or right to decrease or increase volume between video and music, then select OK.