.Wav from Audition not playing in Animate

[JerGuy2327abc]

I've searched the forums and found a similar question but the solution didn't worked for me.

When I save a .wav file from Audition then import it into Animate, either the library or stage, it imports but with no audio (just a straight blank line). I saved with another file format in Auditon (tried .au and mp3) and it imports and plays fine, but not PCM WAV (.wav).

I unchecked the "include metadata" checkbox when saving in Audition but it still doesn't work. (that was the solution from the similar question I found searching the forum)

I'm planning on publishing a video next week and want the highest quality audio available, all help is much appreciated.

Thanks.

[Colin Holgate · Accepted solution]

Make sure to use 16 bit audio, and not 24 or 32 bit. Also, using 44.1 kHz will help with sound synching.

As you are making a video, make sure that the FLA type is ActionScript 3.0. With those you can set the synch of the sound to Stream, and it will make the animation keep up with the sound, and you'll be able to scrub the timeline and hear the sound at that point.

If you have done HTML5 Canvas you can only do Event sound synch, and would have to play the sound from the start every time. You can convert between the two types, with File/Convert To/.

[JerGuy2327abc]

Yeah I was using 32 bit, I changed it to 16 bit as you suggested and it worked, but the sound quality is noticeably poor.

I suppose I'll have to not use wav in Animate or use the lower quality for timing animations and combine the higher quality audio with the .fla in Premiere. If you have any suggestions on using high quality audio with Animate that's easier than that I'm open to recommendations. Thanks a lot for you help.

[ClayUUID]

16-bit is what CDs use. If your 16-bit WAV files sound poor, then you've done something wrong in converting them. Or all CDs sound poor to you, is also a possibility.

[JerGuy2327abc]

The reason it sounds poor could be that I recorded the audio in 32bit 48khz, then opened it and saved as 16bit 44.1khz as recommended above. What was originally a 19MB file turned into a 9MB file so you can imagine the quality drop.

If I record initially in 16bit and 44.1khz perhaps the results will be better, I may test that in the future.

They still make CDs?

[Colin Holgate]

I have different opinion than the other two! I don't believe anyone in normal listening conditions can honestly say that CD-Audio quality is "poor". What may have happened is that you did a test movie, and then you would have been listening to MP3.

Whether I'm right about that or not, something important to know for when you export to video: in the publish settings make sure the audio is set to 16 bit Raw, 44.1 kHz. That will make it be as good as CD-Audio. If you use any MP3 settings it won't be anywhere near as good.

For the final video, if it's to go to YouTube for example, they specify 8 mbps H.264, 320 kbps AAC sound. I usually do 10 mbps, and I don't get rejected for doing that.

Oh, another tip, the stage quality can have various degrees of antialiasing. The default settings are medium or high, depending on the publishing platform, but it can go better than that. If you include this in the Actions panel for frame 1:

stage.quality = "16x16";

the quality should look better.

[Colin Holgate]

I had another thought, if you want to push for perfection, and if you're only animating on top of a sound track: keep your 32 bit 96 kHz WAV on standard. Do the animation, export to video, then take the MOV you get (don't send it to Adobe Media Encoder) and recombine the video with the 32 bit audio, in Premiere or After Effects. Then render the final video.

[JerGuy2327abc]

Thank you a lot for the tips and information. This video will be for youtube so that helps a lot.

[Asymetrical]

Also if you export your audio in Audition with Markers and Metadata that will sometimes cause the audio to come in silent as well. Simply turn off that option when you export and the audio comes in fine.

[leom3876090]

I'm having the same problem as the original post, but my audio is already in 16 bit.

[Colin Holgate]

Can you post a sound online that causes a problem, for us to try? Or an FLA that already has the sound in it.

[Asymetrical]

Try it as an aiff. I've found better success with those.

[Colin Holgate]

I suspect that you haven't had as much success recently! I always used AIFF, but switched to WAV a few versions ago, when AIFF was becoming flaky at times.