SwiffRec
Reviewed: Geetesh Bajaj
December 6th 2003
Introduction
Download and Installation
Using SwiffRec
Inserting Voice SWFs in PowerPoint
Introduction
SwiffRec is a great free tool from the same people who provide Powerbullets, another amazing program that's also freeware. SwiffRec does just one thing - it allows you to record your voice or take an existing sound file and convert it to Flash.
It's amazing how difficult this task was before SwiffRec arrived. A simple one-screen interface allows you to accomplish recording, input, conversion and output in a few minutes.
Download and Installation
You can download a copy of SwiffRec from here...
A quick installation creates a program group in Windows' Start menu. Click the SwiffRec icon to start using the program.
If you are going to record your voice using SwiffRec, you'll need a microphone attached and working on your system. Other than that, you'll need a sound card, but that's something almost everyobody has nowadays.
Using SwiffRec
SwiffRec is a single screen application that shows you how it can be used through a simple interface that consists of arrows to set up a step-by-step logical sequence for you. (see screenshot)
Here's how you would typically use SwiffRec:
- Choose a recording quality - if you need to insert your audio
Flash SWFs in PowerPoint, you might want to choose the High quality.
Alternatively, you can use Medium or Low as required. Some experimentation
will allow you to strike the right balance between quality and
bandwidth.
- Keep your microphone ready, press the Record Start button and
start narrating. Once you're done, click the Record End button.
Alternatively, just drag an existing WAV file into the SwiffRec
interface. The Test Recording button allows you to hear your
recording before proceeding to the next step.
- The Create SWF and Preview SWF buttons allow to create and
hear the sound or narration that's been output to the Flash SWF
format.
- Click the Open Output Folder button to view all the files that SwiffRec creates - this includes the actual WAV files, SWF files and a container HTML file that embeds the SWF.
Inserting Voice SWFs in PowerPoint
Inserting voice SWFs in PowerPoint works exactly in the same way as inserting regular Flash SWFs - you'll find more info on the PowerPoint - Flash pages on this site - make sure you see all the options since the amount of detail spans nearly 4 pages!
