Adding Background Music or Audio in C#.NET

Generation UCC - 12 in C#.NET Adding Background Music or Audio

To add music to your project, first be sure that you have that music in the form of a Windows Movie Maker clip. If what you want is a CD track, use Windows Media Player to rip the track, then import the resulting WMA file into Windows Movie Maker. (For information about converting CD audio tracks to digital files, see Ripping CDs, 16.) Display the timeline and, if necessary, expand the timeline upward (drag the blue bar at the top of the pane), so that you have a good view of the Audio/Music track. Then drag the clip onto that track. To position an audio/music object precisely within a video track, play the video track from the timeline. When you get to the point where you want the sound to be aligned, click the Pause button in the Preview pane. The playback pointer in the timeline now provides you with an easy-to-hit target for your sound clip. (Adjust the position of this pointer with the Previous Frame and Next Frame buttons if necessary to get it exactly where you want it.) Note that unlike video, which can only be appended to the last clip on the Video track or inserted between existing clips, sound clips can be positioned anywhere on the Audio/Music track. Before you drop the clip on the track, as you move the mouse left and right, a bright blue insertion pointer shows where the sound will land if you release the mouse button.

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If you move the mouse pointer smoothly beneath a set of clips stationed on the Video track, you ll notice that the insertion pointer pauses briefly each time you come to a clip boundary . This behavior is designed to help you align sound clips with video clips .

Clips on the Audio/Music track are not anchored to the video clips with which they re aligned . If the video clips moves (for example, because you insert another video clip or trim a clip), you ll have to realign your sound and video . To avoid frustration, get all your visual blocks in place, and then add sound .

If you have a microphone connected to your computer, you can play back all or portions of a project and record a narration to accompany what you see. Follow these steps: 1. Display the timeline and make sure that the Audio/Music track is visible. 2. Position the playback pointer (the blue bar that runs through all five tracks) where you want to begin your narration. (The Audio/Music track must be vacant at this place; you cannot record a narration over an existing audio/music clip.) 3. Choose Tools, Narrate Timeline (or click the Narrate Timeline tool on the Timeline toolbar). 4. In the Narrate Timeline window that appears, make sure that the Audio Device option is set correctly.

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5. Speak into your microphone at the volume level and distance you re comfortable with; adjust either the Input Level setting, your volume level, or your position relative to the microphone if the meter is going into the red zone or not getting off the floor.

If you have other sound clips on the Audio/Music track to the right of your current position, select Limit Narration To Available Free Space on Audio/ Music Track. (Otherwise, if your narration goes on too long, subsequent objects will be moved to the right while you speak.) If the video that you re about to narrate has much sound of its own, select Mute Speakers (or turn your speakers off). Otherwise, your microphone will pick up some of that sound along with your voice as you narrate.

6. Click Start Narration. Windows Movie Maker will begin playback of your project at the current playback position, and you can match your words to what you see in the Preview pane. When you ve said all you want to say, click Stop Narration. Windows Movie Maker will prompt you for a file name and location for your newly recorded sound. Then it will import that sound file and create an audio clip for you, deposit that clip in the same folder where the video clip you re narrating resides, and finally place that clip in the desired position on the Audio/Music track. Return the playback pointer to that place and play your project again to make sure everything is the way you want it. Then save your work (or delete the clip from the timeline and try again).