Adding sound to animation - Polyloop

Jack 3D · 7th April 2007, 17:07

Hi. I would like to be able to bring music tracks created in an audio production application into Carrara and then create animation synchronized to the music. I found the instructions for doing so in the Carrara 5 Reference Guide on pg. 441 and was able to import sound files in AIFF format and can see them on the sound track channels in Carrara but no sound is heard when I play the timeline with the sound tracks. Does anyone have any idea what I am doing wrong? Thanks very much for any replies.

Jack 3D

McGuiver · 7th April 2007, 22:57

I found the only way to hear the sound is to render the animation.
To sync the sound to the animation is tricky, I did this by looking at the soundfile graph in the timeline and matching it up to the animation.
Not very convienent, but it works....I guess it's something that needs improvement.

Jack 3D · 7th April 2007, 23:46

Thanks, McGuiver. It's frustrating that there's no provision in Carrara for playing the soundtrack on the timeline along w/ the animation. I was really hoping to be able to take a piece of original music and create animation that would be in sync with the score, basically like Disney's approach to Fantasia (although on a smaller scale, certainly). Seems like it would be way too tricky to do that purely visually by analyzing the soundfile graphs although I will give that technique a try and see how far I can go with it. Thanks for your reply.

Jack 3D

medeamajic · 8th April 2007, 04:48

I can not get the audio files to play either. It is sad news that Carrara can not play audio files during animation previews.

dbigers · 8th April 2007, 10:10

If you look at the clip on the timeline you will see a gray or blue vertical line where the clip starts--by default, depends on if you moved it. Grab that on the timeline and scrub it slowly, you can hear the sound that way. Would be nice if you could just scrub the timeline and have the audio play, but you will be able to hear it with this method. Just have to move it slow enough to understand what is being played or said. I used it in a recent project.

medeamajic · 8th April 2007, 10:28

Thanks for the info. The Animation preview needs to be revamped.While scrubing the audio track the animation does not play. Adios Carrara.TS, XSI or Lightwave will be my software of choice after my taxes come back.

Jack 3D · 8th April 2007, 19:41

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and comments. Donnie, when I first imported a sound file into Carrara I became aware that dragging the blue/black verticle line in the sound channel gave me an audible indication that there was a signal in the channel which made it all the more surprising that the sound channel remained silent while previewing the animation. After reading your post I tried scrubbing with it as you suggested but the sound I hear is so confusing as to make a music track impossible to work with (for me). No matter how slowly I drag the line, what I hear is a signal with mutiple repeats as if it's been run through a delay and I can't tell where I am in the track. By contrast, if I bring the same sound file into Flash (MX) and scrub with the playback head on the Flash timeline I can hear exactly where the accents and beats are. This is one workaround that has allowed me to add music to Carrara animation, by importing a jpeg sequence from Carrara into Flash and then adding and synching the music/sound on the Flash timeline. I can also work in a similar fashion in Final Cut Express and within my sound production software (Cubase LE). The disadvantage of working this way is if you have to tweak the animation you must go back to Carrara and then re-export and import the animation and of course, when you make your animation adjustments you're working silently. Mediamajic, I assume the three programs you mentioned offer full support for working with sound files. Maybe a future update to Carrara will extend its sound support capabilities.

Jack

dbigers · 10th April 2007, 02:34

Hi Jack, yes I know it is not the best setup. One thing to do is make sure you are zoomed way into the timeline, that makes it easier to move it slowly, as the scale of the time expands. As you zoom in the nearly straight vertical peaks will appear to flatten out some of course. That is the only way I can drag it slow enough too. I was working with a narrated piece that I had to sync to. I would imagine it would be much tougher with a full musical score to hit the right notes, etc.

Hopefully this will be fixed in the future, because as it is, it is not a very good solution.

7th April 2007, 17:07	#1 (permalink)
Jack 3D Vertex Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 18	Adding sound to animation Hi. I would like to be able to bring music tracks created in an audio production application into Carrara and then create animation synchronized to the music. I found the instructions for doing so in the Carrara 5 Reference Guide on pg. 441 and was able to import sound files in AIFF format and can see them on the sound track channels in Carrara but no sound is heard when I play the timeline with the sound tracks. Does anyone have any idea what I am doing wrong? Thanks very much for any replies. Jack 3D

7th April 2007, 22:57	#2 (permalink)
McGuiver Dennis Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Washington State Posts: 20	I found the only way to hear the sound is to render the animation. To sync the sound to the animation is tricky, I did this by looking at the soundfile graph in the timeline and matching it up to the animation. Not very convienent, but it works....I guess it's something that needs improvement. __________________ McGuiver

8th April 2007, 10:10	#5 (permalink)
dbigers Spline Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 31	If you look at the clip on the timeline you will see a gray or blue vertical line where the clip starts--by default, depends on if you moved it. Grab that on the timeline and scrub it slowly, you can hear the sound that way. Would be nice if you could just scrub the timeline and have the audio play, but you will be able to hear it with this method. Just have to move it slow enough to understand what is being played or said. I used it in a recent project. __________________ Donnie

8th April 2007, 19:41	#7 (permalink)
Jack 3D Vertex Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 18	More perspectives on working with sound in Carrara Thanks everyone for your suggestions and comments. Donnie, when I first imported a sound file into Carrara I became aware that dragging the blue/black verticle line in the sound channel gave me an audible indication that there was a signal in the channel which made it all the more surprising that the sound channel remained silent while previewing the animation. After reading your post I tried scrubbing with it as you suggested but the sound I hear is so confusing as to make a music track impossible to work with (for me). No matter how slowly I drag the line, what I hear is a signal with mutiple repeats as if it's been run through a delay and I can't tell where I am in the track. By contrast, if I bring the same sound file into Flash (MX) and scrub with the playback head on the Flash timeline I can hear exactly where the accents and beats are. This is one workaround that has allowed me to add music to Carrara animation, by importing a jpeg sequence from Carrara into Flash and then adding and synching the music/sound on the Flash timeline. I can also work in a similar fashion in Final Cut Express and within my sound production software (Cubase LE). The disadvantage of working this way is if you have to tweak the animation you must go back to Carrara and then re-export and import the animation and of course, when you make your animation adjustments you're working silently. Mediamajic, I assume the three programs you mentioned offer full support for working with sound files. Maybe a future update to Carrara will extend its sound support capabilities. Jack

10th April 2007, 02:34	#8 (permalink)
dbigers Spline Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 31	Hi Jack, yes I know it is not the best setup. One thing to do is make sure you are zoomed way into the timeline, that makes it easier to move it slowly, as the scale of the time expands. As you zoom in the nearly straight vertical peaks will appear to flatten out some of course. That is the only way I can drag it slow enough too. I was working with a narrated piece that I had to sync to. I would imagine it would be much tougher with a full musical score to hit the right notes, etc. Hopefully this will be fixed in the future, because as it is, it is not a very good solution. __________________ Donnie

7th April 2007, 23:46	#3 (permalink)
Jack 3D Vertex Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 18	Thanks, McGuiver. It's frustrating that there's no provision in Carrara for playing the soundtrack on the timeline along w/ the animation. I was really hoping to be able to take a piece of original music and create animation that would be in sync with the score, basically like Disney's approach to Fantasia (although on a smaller scale, certainly). Seems like it would be way too tricky to do that purely visually by analyzing the soundfile graphs although I will give that technique a try and see how far I can go with it. Thanks for your reply. Jack 3D

8th April 2007, 04:48	#4 (permalink)
medeamajic Now, I learn animation Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 1,028	I can not get the audio files to play either. It is sad news that Carrara can not play audio files during animation previews.

8th April 2007, 10:28	#6 (permalink)
medeamajic Now, I learn animation Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 1,028	Thanks for the info. The Animation preview needs to be revamped.While scrubing the audio track the animation does not play. Adios Carrara.TS, XSI or Lightwave will be my software of choice after my taxes come back.

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