Using Director > Sound, Video, and Synchronization > Synchronizing media |  |

Synchronizing media

To pause the playback head until a specified cue point in a sound or digital video is reached, you can use the Wait for Cue Point option in the Tempo dialog box. You can also use this function to wait for the end of the sound or digital video, even if it has no cue points. Cue points can also be used to trigger events that will be interpreted by Lingo. See Synchronizing media with Lingo.

For example, you can use cue points to make text appear in time with narration. First, use a program such as Peak LE 2 to place cue points in the sound file that correspond to the times when you want the text to appear on stage. In Director, use the Tempo dialog box to pause the playback head at the frame where the corresponding text appears until the voice-over reaches the proper cue point.

In Windows, use Sound Forge 4.0 or later or Cool Edit 96 or later to define cue points (called markers or regions within these programs). (See the Readme Windows Sound Loop-Cue.txt file in the Director application folder for instructions on doing this.)

On the Macintosh, use Sound Edit 16 2.07 or later, or Peak LE 2 or later, to define cue points in AIFF and Shockwave Audio sounds, and in QuickTime digital videos.

Note: You can insert cue points into QuickTime files only on the Macintosh; however, the cue points can be used on both platforms.

AVI digital video does not support cue points.

To use cue points:

1 | Place cue points in a sound file or (on the Macintosh only) in a QuickTime file.
| Use an audio editing program to define cue points in both sounds and digital videos.
2 | Import the sound or digital video into Director.

Note: Digital video is always linked, whether you choose the Standard Import option or the Link to External File option in the Import dialog box.

3 | Place the sound or digital video in a channel in the Score and extend it through all the frames in which you want it to play.
4 | Double-click the frame in the tempo channel where you want the playback head to wait for a cue point.
5 | In the Tempo dialog box, choose Wait for Cue Point.
6 | Select the sound or digital video from the Channel pop-up menu.
7 | Choose the cue point to wait for from the Cue pop-up menu.
| Select the End or Next cue point or any named or numbered cue point in the sound or digital video. Director recognizes the end of a sound regardless of whether you've defined cue points ahead of time.

When the movie plays, the playback head pauses at the frame until the cue point passes.