Mp3

[allenrichard]

I just loaded an MP3 music file onto my home page and it appears not to play. Followed the Front Page 2003 book where it indicated to right click on the home page, select page properties, general tab, background sound location, type path and name of sound file. Republish and nothing happened. However, when I did open the home page, www.spindelsportsacademy.com, I saw on the left bottom section that it was downloading. Any suggestions? Thanks.

[jeffery]

The browser is attempting to dowload the entire file before it plays. If your going to use frontpage then you may have to deal with it (I don't actively use frontpage to know of an alternative). It's best to stream the audio file so it doesn't have to completely download but the audio file 'is' playing once your webiste completely loads. Maybe someone knows how to do this in frontpage?

[B&T]

Use a flash mp3 player like this one:

http://www.wimpyplayer.com/products/wimpy_button.html

[Rick_E]

I believe that when the page background music is set the entire file has to download before it starts. This isn't a normal streaming media type application. Most folks use MIDIs for background music because they're small and get started quickly.

[allenrichard]

I think you are correct about using a Midi file because it is smaller in size. The only problem is my free rip program only rips to WAV and MP3. Can anyone suggest a free rip program that allows conversion of audio files to Midi? Thanks so much.

[tbonekkt]

Can anyone suggest a free rip program that allows conversion of audio files to Midi?I don't think that's possible. Midi is digital audio through a PC synthesizer; MP3s and WAVs are audio music formats.

MIDI: http://www.pcwebopedia.com/TERM/M/MIDI.htm
MP3: http://www.pcwebopedia.com/TERM/M/MP3.html
WAV: http://www.pcwebopedia.com/TERM/W/WAV.html

[allenrichard]

bummer, I have seen some home pages that music plays within 3 seconds. am I stuck with mp3 files from my cd because one song was 1.38 mb and if I do alot, it might take up space and slow down my site. :confused:

[joshuamc]

If you know flash, you could compress the mp3 and create a very small flash file thats transparent and embed the sound file in the flash file. Otherwise, you may want to find some Midi databases and see if the song you ripped is available.

[RBB]

If you know flash, you could compress the mp3 and create a very small flash file thats transparent and embed the sound file in the flash file. Otherwise, you may want to find some Midi databases and see if the song you ripped is available.

I agree with goodespeler. You can import a fairly large .WAV file into Flash and convert it to a .SWF file that will load relatively quickly. After you import it, you can find it in the Library function of Flash. Make an 18x18 Flash file (the smallest size possible), then drag the .WAV file from the Library and drop it onto the 18x18 box. Save it as an .FLA (so you can edit later if necessary), then export the movie as a .SWF and you will end up with a much smaller file that loads relatively quickly and is cross-platform.

The .WAV files were created using the Sound Recorder function built in to Windows. Then the .WAV file was saved at the lowest sound quality I could stand that still sounded halfway decent to me--resulting in a smaller .WAV file. Of course, if you go for "CD Quality," the file will be much larger. As an alternative step sometimes, I import the .WAV file into Cakewalk's Pro Audio 9 software, then mix it down and export it as an .MP3. This results in a much smaller file to import into Flash than the equivalent .WAV file.

Here are some .SWF music files that are hosted by PowWeb (they are nothing more than a Flash movie with no movie, so to speak). I made the background color of the Flash file the same as the background color of the page, so that it is invisible). They play automatically on page load--you should hear the audio clips within a few seconds. Each is about a 60-65K .SWF file (and each was originally an uncompressed .WAV file of over 1MB). They load fairly quickly for me--see how they do for you:

http://www.rogersmith.net
http://www.micgillette.com
http://www.jazzrosco.com

[allenrichard]

RBB, now thats what I am talking about :D The question is can I "monkey" through your directons and figure out how to accomplish that. I can certainly rip my audio CD to WAV file, but might neet some guidance from there. Keep in mind that Rick E helped me create video's using WMV format and it worked. I also was able to follow directions and make animated GIF. So, if you want and have the time, I would love to learn and follow directions to accomplish this new feature. (As a teacher, I am a good student, so it will be easy for someone to walk me through). Thanks in advance. Allen

[RBB]

1. Open Flash (I'm using Flash 5.0, BTW).

2. Choose File, Import, browse to the .WAV file on your computer and import it into Flash. Flash automatically puts it in the Library.

3. Choose Window, Library, and the Library dialog box will open and your .WAV file will appear in the Library. You can even click the "Play" button in the Library to hear the .WAV file.

4. Choose Modify, Movie. Change the width and height to 18px. This is the smallest size you can make a Flash movie. If you want this box to be invisible on your Web page, change the color to the same color as the background of your Web page. Click on OK.

5. Drag and drop the .WAV file from the Library onto the 18px box.

6. Choose File, Save As. Give your Flash movie a name. It will end in .FLA and I'm guessing will be about 10MB per 1 minute of audio. The .FLA file is what you edit if you need to go back and make any changes later.

7. Choose File, Export Movie. Give your Flash movie a name. It will be saved as a .SWF (Flash player) file and I'm guessing will be about 60-65K per 30 seconds.

8. The "Export Flash Player" dialog box will appear. I just leave it at the default values and click OK. It defaults to mono. If you change it to stereo, the resulting .SWF file will be larger. When you click OK, it saves the .SWF file to the designated folder.

9. Switch to Dreamweaver (I am still using Dreamweaver 4.0, so these directions might be slightly different if you are using MX). Position your cursor where you want the .SWF file to be inserted into the HTML code. I always put it at the very bottom of the page just above the </body> tag.

10. Choose, Insert, Media, Flash. Dreamweaver will insert the .SWF file and write the necessary HTML code for you. Here's a sample of what the resulting code looks like in the HTML view:

<p><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=5,0,0,0" width="18" height="18">
<param name=movie value="youraudiofile.swf">
<param name=quality value=high>
<param name="BGCOLOR" value="#FFFFFF">
<embed src="youraudiofile.swf" quality=high pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="18" height="18" bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
</embed>
</object></p>

There's a colon above where the smiley-face is--I couldn't figure out how to get rid of it in this post! This is cross-platform and hence ought to work in most browsers, 4.0 or higher. I've tested it in IE, Netscape and Mozilla on both Windows and Mac machines and it worked in all three.

That ought to do it! Good luck and best wishes!

Sincerely,

RBB

P.S. By the way, if you tried all three links that I gave above in my previous post, I should have pointed out that the 3rd link is a 60-second audio clip. The first two are only 30-second clips. The third audio clip, therefore, is about 120K instead of 60K.

[allenrichard]

Wow, will try this in the next day and let you know how I did. Many thanks. Allen :D

[allenrichard]

Here is the final output after following your very detailed and great directions. Now, how do I place it in my home page? The name of the flash file is Kung Fu Flash. Thanks again. Allen

<html>
<head>
<title>Untitled Document</title>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
</head>

<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
<object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=5,0,0,0" width="18" height="18">
<param name=movie value="file:///C|/Program%20Files/Macromedia/Dreamweaver%204/Lessons/Lesson%20Files/Kung%20Fu%20Flash.swf">
<param name=quality value=high>
<embed src="file:///C|/Program%20Files/Macromedia/Dreamweaver%204/Lessons/Lesson%20Files/Kung%20Fu%20Flash.swf" quality=high pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="18" height="18">
</embed>
</object>
</body>
</html>

[RBB]

It looks like you ought to be able to just copy this code and paste it into your HTML page:

<object classid="clsid:27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=5,0,0,0" width="18" height="18">
<param name=movie value="Kung_Fu_Flash.swf">
<param name=quality value=high>
<embed src="Kung_Fu_Flash.swf" quality=high pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="18" height="18">
</embed>
</object>

Please note that I changed the name of the file to "Kung_Fu_Flash.swf" and got rid of all that nasty code that refers to the location on your hard drive. So find the .SWF file on your hard drive and rename it as I have above, then you should just be able to paste the above piece of code into your Home Page where you want the 18px box to be placed on the page.

Don't forget to upload the .SWF file to your server in the same directory as the Home Page, presumably /htdocs. I forgot to do that the first time I tried this and it took me two days to figure out why I couldn't get the audio clip to work. :rolleyes:

Good luck!

[allenrichard]

Thanks. I will work on it and let you know. Thanks again.

[allenrichard]

Hmmmmmm, I changed the name of the file as you mentioned. Then I copied the new code using front page 2003, code page. I pasted the html code in the html code on the bottom. It created a tiny little square box that can hardly be seen. I then copied and pasted the swf file from the hard drive to the front page Folders file that I created called Audio. I did not paste the html code on my home page but a sub page and when it loaded, it said waiting for one file, but never played. I think I missed a step :confused: You mentioned to upload the swf file to the server in the same directory as the Home Page, presumably /htdocs. I think because I am using front page 2003, that is where I messed up. What do you think? thanks.
This is the page where loaded the html code. http://www.spindelsportsacademy.com/mrspindel.htm
It is still loading by the way :D

[RBB]

Hmmmmmm, I changed the name of the file as you mentioned. Then I copied the new code using front page 2003, code page. I pasted the html code in the html code on the bottom. It created a tiny little square box that can hardly be seen. I then copied and pasted the swf file from the hard drive to the front page Folders file that I created called Audio. I did not paste the html code on my home page but a sub page and when it loaded, it said waiting for one file, but never played. I think I missed a step :confused: You mentioned to upload the swf file to the server in the same directory as the Home Page, presumably /htdocs. I think because I am using front page 2003, that is where I messed up. What do you think? thanks.
This is the page where loaded the html code. http://www.spindelsportsacademy.com/mrspindel.htm
It is still loading by the way :D

I can think of a couple of possible problems:

(1) The class id portion of the <object> tag might be wrong because of all those smiley-faces that appeared in the code on up this page. Actually, the code looks correct to me, but there might be a problem in that class id statement where the colon is located.

(2) I gather that the Home Page is your index.htm or index.html file. Make sure the .SWF file is in the same folder on the server as the index file. Unless you have a HUGE .SWF file, it ought to load fairly quickly.

(3) Does anyone know if .SWF filenames are case-sensitive? I'm thinking "yes." Check to make sure that the filename on the server matches "Kung_Fu_Flash.swf" in both upper and lower case letters.

Now I remember why I dislike FrontPage so much. I used it for a couple of years and found that it rewrote my code to what it thought I intended to do, instead of what I intended to do!!! Particularly bad on the FORM ACTION statement in Web forms. Yuk!

Let me know if you can't figure it out and we'll try something else.

[allenrichard]

That is the only problem with front page, as it messes up the code. I am stuck with it because I dont know code. I will re-try it this weekend. Thanks so much. Allen

[Rick_E]

FrontPage will not rewrite your code if you surround it with these tags...

<!--webbot bot="HTMLMarkup" startspan -->
Your stuff here
<!--webbot bot="HTMLMarkup" endspan -->

This may also be found at the Insert menu... Web Component... Advanced Controls... HTML.

[allenrichard]

Thank you.