Get Started with Sounds
Sounds can be attached to any step of a Behavior. When that Behavior is run the sound is triggered when the selected step starts.

Sounds and music can also be started at any point in a Movie Scene.

All sound types (wav files or midi files) are stored in sound files.

ANIMOIDS comes with a small selection of sounds. You can download many more from the Star Gallery .

You can also create your own sounds:

• using programs like "Sound Recorder" (that comes with Microsoft Windows - started from "Start", "Programs", "Accessories", "Entertainment", "Sound Recorder" ) or

• download them from sites such as http://www.partnersinrhyme.com/.

This will open the Choose Sound dialog:

Single click on any of the sounds images in this tree to add that sound to the current step of your Behavior.

You can add as many sound as you want to each step of your Behavior.

When you add the sound it will play immediately to allow you to confirm that you have selected the correct sound.

Remove all sounds from the current step of your Behavior with the (Remove) Sound button:

Sound Control Panel
When you add a Sound to a Behavior or select the Edit Sounds action from the Behavior Action Panel:

you'll open the SOUND Control Panel:

This panel lists any sounds attached to the current step of your Behavior. It also allows you to remove, play or change the volume of those sounds.

• The Remove button will remove any sounds that you have selected from the list box. (Select sounds by clicking on the sound.)

• The Play button will play any sounds that you have selected from the list box. (Select sounds by clicking on the sound.)

• Double click on a Volume field in the list box to edit that field. Normal volume is about 1.0. (Default is 0.7.) Volume is a floating point number between 0 and 10. (Values close to 10 are very loud and would not be expected for normal contest entries!)

Use the Behavior Control Panel Step slider

to change the current step in your Behavior.

Note: since Behaviors normally repeat themselves, you typically want sound files to be shorter in play time than the cycle time of the Behavior. E.g. if you gave a Behavior that replays every 2 seconds and a sound that lasts for 5 seconds then the sound will not get a change to finish before it is restarted for the next cycle. Although this can sometimes lead to interesting effects, it will eventually overload the sound mixer with too many simultaneous sounds (system dependent) and cause abrupt termination of some of the sounds.

Importing a Sound
If you have a sound file (like a .wav file or a .mid file) you downloaded or created yourself, you need to import it (to convert it to an ANIMOIDS .sound file) before it can be used by ANIMOIDS.

This simple task is performed using the File, Import Sound... option from the main menu.

You simply choose the source file from a file open dialog, then the target .sound file is created in your My Animoids/sounds/ folder.

The imported sound should also be visible in the Local Sounds folder in your Control Panel (for Behaviors and Movie Scenes).

Although ANIMOIDS supports a variety of source sound file types, it does not support all encoding options for each file type. If you import an unsupported file option then your 3D Canvas might hang up when it attempts to play the sound, requiring you to restart ANIMOIDS.

Note that, when ANIMOIDS Sound files are initially created, they behave like "Shortcuts" or "Symbolic links" to the original source audio file. So that, if that source file is modified, then the sound will change when ANIMOIDS tries to play it. If the source file is moved or deleted, ANIMOIDS will generate an error when you try to play the associated Sound file.

However, after a Sound file is uploaded (as part of an uploaded Behavior), the source data becomes a permanent part of that sound file.

Mute Button
The ANIMOIDS main toolbar contains a mute button:

When selected, it changes to

You can use these buttons to enable and disable sounds.

The mute state you select is saved in your user preferences and will be reused the next time you start ANIMOIDS.

Add Sounds to a Movie Scene
Adding sounds to a Movie Scene is very similar to adding a sound to a Behavior.

When you open a Movie Scene you'll see the (Add) Sound button     in the Action Panel.

To add a sound to your Scene:

• Press the Record button on the Movie Scene Control Panel to start recording.
• Move the time slider (in the same control panel) to the required time in the Scene.
• Click the Sound button.
• Single click on any of the sounds images in the Choose Sound Dialog to add that sound to the current time of your Scene.
• Press the Record button again to stop recording.

You can add as many sound as you want at any time in your Scene.

When you add the sound it will play immediately to allow you to confirm that you have selected the correct sound.

Note: sounds are attached to the currently selected Animoid. As the Animoid moves from side to side, the sound will follow it.

Important: don't start a sound at time 0.0 in a Movie Scene. If you do, the sound will start before the Scene is "Run". (All Movie Scene actions at time zero are invoked when the Scene is reset.) Starting sounds or music at something like time 0.010 (10 msec) will effectively start the sound as soon as you press Play for the Scene.

Midi (music) files
Midi files can be used within ANIMOIDS, but the are not as fully supported as wav files.

Midi files can't be used for Behaviors - they can be used only in Movie Scenes.

When a Midi files is used in a Movie Scene it is played in the background - it is not attached to an Animoid.

More
Go to the start of the Tutorial.

Try the Set Designer tutorial.