Record my own sound files

WinFlash Educator has the capability of directly recording microphone input into a file that is automatically associated with the Question or Answer being edited. A direct record audio file can also be created for the study file's Introduction if you are using one. You must, of course, have a properly installed sound card and a microphone plugged into its MIC IN input.

To be sure that your system is properly set up, first start up the Windows Sound Recorder applet and verify that you can record and play back sound files using this applet. In Windows XP it is in Start|Programs|Accessories|Entertainment, in Vista in Start|Programs|Accessories and in Windows '9x in Start|Programs|Accessories. Assuming that your system checks out using Sound Recorder, you're ready to easily add your own sounds to your WinFlash files - here's how:

1. Open the WinFlash editor to the Q&A pair for which you want to record a Question and/or Answer sound file.

Note: Since the text of the pair is not visible while doing the recording operation, it can be helpful print out the file in table format before beginning a multiple-recording session to both keep your place and to refresh your memory as to what you wish to record.

2. Select the Associated Files tab.

3. Click on the Record/Overwrite button in the Question or Answer area, depending on which part of the Q&A pair you want to record a sound file for.

4. Choose whether to record in .wav or .mp3 format. Mp3's will take up less space on your drive for a given quality level (below) while the Wav's sound slightly better at a given quality level than the Mp3's.

5. Set the desired recording quality. Experiment with this a bit to decide what level is appropriate for your application.

6. Click the Start Recording button (or hit the 'S' key) and begin speaking (or recording the desired sound).

6. Click Stop Recording (or hit the 'S' key again) when you've completed capturing the audio you wish associated with the Q or A.

7. Click the related Play button in the editor to hear the file that you've recorded. Don't like it? No problem, simply record 'over' the file until you like what you hear!

Note: Internally-recorded sound files saved as .wav's are placed in the source file's directory with the name <sourcefilename>Qnn.wav or <sourcefilename>Ann.wav (Mp3's use the .mp3 extension). E.g. a sound file recorded for the Answer to pair 12 in a deck named spanishstudy.flu would be spanishstudyA12.wav. Remember you can't count on the file name STAYING that... If you insert a pair between 4 and 5, WinFlash will rename the above file spanishstudyA13.wav. And, of course, if you're creating composite files it'll become <newfilename>A<newpairnumber>.wav.

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