Embed WAV file in Flex Builder 3 / ActionScript project?

[chrisnyc]

I've built a game in Flex Builder 3 thinking it could do just about everything Flash CS3 can in a more developer-friendly environment. Everything was going great until I hit my head on the ceiling when I added audio to my project.

It seems the only supported embedded sound format is MP3, but MP3 is not suitable for loops because encoders add a few milliseconds of silence at the start and end of every MP3 track which kill the effect. The solution is to use WAV files for loops and I would love to do it, but it seems there's not provision in Flex Builder 3 or ActionScript 3 for embedding WAV files.

In Flash CS3 you can import WAV files to your library and bind them to objects, but I see no way to do anything like this in FB3.

Any suggestions, or am I at a dead end here?

[dr_zeus]

Originally Posted by chrisnyc

MP3 is not suitable for loops because encoders add a few milliseconds of silence at the start and end of every MP3 track which kill the effect.

There should be a setting to turn that off in most encoders.

[chrisnyc]

Replying to myself in case anyone has the same question in the future and is searching for an answer.

I couldn't find any direct support for embedding WAV files in a Flex Builder 3 / ActionScript 3 application. What I did try and was delighted to see it works is to create a Flash Movie in Flash CS 3 (you will need to own that or get an evaluation) and import your sounds to the library and link them to be exported by ActionScript. Export the Flash CS3 project to a SWF movie and save it in your project (I added it to a "lib folder").

Your ActionScript code to create and play the sound should be:

[Embed(source="lib/Sounds.swf", symbol="BigShipSound")]
private static var BigShipSound: Class;

...

var : bigShipSound : Sound = BigShipSound as Sound;
bigShipSound.play(0, 20);

[dr_zeus]

Oh wait, you said a few milliseconds. I thought it was seconds. Sounds like a crappy encoder. I've looped MP3s before no problem.

[chrisnyc]

I tried LAME and iTunes and both added silence to the MP3 problem. Whatever Flash CS3 does on export does not add silence.

[bugmenot]

Thanks for posting your solution - I was facing the exact same issue and your method works great. Much appreciated!

[skeetm0n]

very clever solution... but it still a hack and not very clean. there should be a nicer way to do this.

[CyanBlue]

Maybe this page will help you create a seamless MP3 loop...
http://www.compuphase.com/mp3/mp3loops.htm

[madhattter]

Can anyone who has used chrisnyc's solution tell me how this impacts the filesize?

In other words, is the sound.swf approximately the size of the original wav, or does it get compressed? If it gets compressed, how does that compare to the size of the mp3 that you would have otherwise used?

Thanks a ton.
Ken

[drkstr]

I thought Flash encoded WAV to MP3 during the publish process. I think chrisnyc basically just ended up using Flash as a media encoder, and tossed a bit of unneeded bytecode on top. More efficient to just get a better encoder, I would think.