Inspiring

Question

Poor audio quality with narration

Forum|Forum|17 years ago
February 2, 2009
3 replies
3975 views

I posted this in the recording section, but I though I would try here.
I downloaded version 4 which I want to upgrade to, but when I record any narration, it is very poor when I preview it. If I import any files made in another program (such as music) it sounds fine. I have tried different settings and different mics, but to no avail. I even tried to export out, then re-import with out success.

I am using the exact setup that I did with Cap 3 with no problems.

Is anyone having the similar issues? Any ideas anyone? Thank you.

This topic has been closed for replies.

A

Anonymous

I know the previous posts were from a couple of months ago. Hopefully someone can help me with an audio issue I'm experiencing with Captivate 4.

I have recorded sound files in Captivate 4, using a high-quality mic. When I listen to a single slide, the audio sounds good (which is a WAV file). However, when I publish a project, and the files get converted to mp3 files, the resulting mp3 audio files are very poor quality. They have an echo, sound "tinny", and the s's are very pronounced. I've tried playing around with the audio settings in Captivate, but I can't figure out how to fix it. I'm using the following settings: 64 kbps, 44.100 KHz, encoding speed 0. These settings have always worked fine for me when I used Captivate 3 in the past.

I've attached 2 versions of the same file -- one is a WAV file, the other is an mp3 file (I exported the files directly from Captivate:Recording4_Captivate.wav & Recording4_Captivate.mp3).

This almost seems to be an issue with stereo settings. I tried to conver the WAV file to an mp3 using another program that let me change the "channels mode" from "stereo" to "joint stereo". The quality is much better (attached: Recording4_OtherConverter.mp3).

Does anyone know of a way to fix this issue with the wav > mp3 conversion?

-Erica

Note: apparently I can't attach audio files to this post. I'd be happy to email the files to you if you think you can help with this issue.

K

Kristen2810

Known Participant

Interesting post. I have had Captivate 4 for a few months now and what I noticed was that my audio was turning bad in the reviewer. I was originally using Audacity for my audio, but when it sounded awful in the reviewer, I switched to using the Captivate audio recorder.

I haven't had any problems since and my audio sounds great.

Erica, the problem with your audio is common. I get it all the time. Do you have a pop filter on your mic? The tinny sound is probably because you are recording on a hard surface, don't have adequate sound proofing, or your mouth isn't close enough to the mic (or it could be too close).

You can also try bumping it up from 64 to 96, but definitely keep the 44 where it is. You also don't need to record voice over audio in stereo - mono works better with Captivate anyway because the audio files are smaller in mono.

Hope that helps.

- Kristen

M

mvlele

Participating Frequently

Hi All,

Adobe Captivate has released an update which resolves audio quality issues which few of the customers were facing. Please download and install the update. Hopefully it will resolve your audio quality problems.

To install an update, launch Captivate and go to "Help > Update". Captivate 4 update will be recognized, downloaded and installed.

For more information go to -

http://blogs.adobe.com/captivate/2009/05/captvate_4_patch_update.html

Regards,

Mukul

A

Anonymous

I've found that audio quality is poor in Captivate 4 unless you bump up the setting to 96kbps. That's double what I needed to set it in Captivate 3 and prior, to achieve about the same quality level for the audio playback. Not sure why this is. I suspect that the Captivate developers may have fixed the audio encoding, because previous versions (I know for CP3 it was), the audio encoding settings made no sense. See my blog posts about it (link below) and listen to the side-by-side examples and settings and you'll hear what I mean. Unlike in CP4, the difference between 64kbps and 96kbps is huge. And 64kbps is unacceptable in quality, whereas in CP3 I routinely dropped it down to 48kbps at a maximum and it would sound good.

Scroll down about midway down the page for the audio comparison posts:
http://elearninglive.com/wordpress/?s=captivate+audio&searchsubmit=Search

mark
www.elearninglive.com

A

Anonymous

Hi folks,

I would be very grateful if those of you who are experiencing issues with poor audio quality to report these to Adobe using the web address I have included below

Adobe Captivate Feature Request/Bug Report Form

At present it would seem that there are a number of issues with audio; including audio played through the Captivate Reviewer AIR app, which I have reported to the Captivate team.

Thanks - Mark

K

kmartyAuthor

Inspiring

I did send off a bug report.
Thanks everyone.

N

Newsgroup_User

Inspiring

While I've not tried CP4 yet, the quality of audio recordings made from
CP itself has been an issue for many folks over the years (search the
forum for examples).
I always recommend simply recording the narration in a different tool,
such as Audacity (free) and importing the audio - which as you've seen
tends to be problem-free. In my case, most of our narration is recorded
professionally anyway, outside CP, so I've never encountered this
problem myself.

If that's not an option, next bet is to try upgrading the drivers for
your audio card and/or getting a better mic.
Erik

kmarty wrote:
> when I record any narration, it is very poor when I preview it. If I import any files made in
> another program (such as music) it sounds fine.

--
Erik Lord
http://www.capemedia.net
Adobe Community Expert - eLearning
http://www.adobe.com/communities/experts/
------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.awaretips.net - Authorware Tips!

K

kmartyAuthor

Inspiring

Thanks Eric,
I did notice if I do a recording with narration and go through my slides, the audio is fine. However, if I import the ppt slides into Captivate, then try to add audio (F5) the audio is very poor. I did not have a problem with CP3 when I did this. I am using a Samson USB mic.

D

Dakes35

Inspiring

I had variable quality with Captivate 3 (and any other authoring software) so I always go professional now. I've found someone with the equipment to come on site and I get consistantly good quality. Cost is usually $100/hr.

As mentioned try Audacity (I think it's still free), as the quality is usually better.

Surprising that you had no problems previously with the same set up. Have you checked the audio settings on publishing. They may be set at a lower quality than what you had previously.

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