Synchronizing to a Sound Track

One of the default tracks for any scene is the sound track. Included in the Sound hierarchy is the metronome track. You can also set up a sound file using the Sound Options dialog box, shown in Figure 33-29. You can open this dialog box by right-clicking the Metronome track and selecting Properties from the pop-up menu.

Figure 33-29: The Sound Options dialog box lets you select a sound to play during the animation.

You can make the sound track appear as a waveform curve under the Track Bar. This helps as you try to synchronize the sound to the movements in the viewports. To see this sound track, right-click the Track Bar and choose Configure Show Sound Track from the pop-up menu.

Using the Sound Options dialog box

You can use the Audio section of the Sound Options dialog box to load a sound or remove an existing sound. The Active option causes the sound file to play when the animation is played. The Choose Sound button can load AVI, WAV, and FLC file types. The dialog box also includes buttons to Remove Sound and Reload Sound.

You can also set up a regular metronome beat with two tones. For a metronome, you can specify the beats per minute and the beats per measure. The first option sets how often the beats occur, and the second option determines how often a different tone is played. This dialog box also contains an Active option for turning the metronome on and off.

Tutorial: Adding sound to an animation

As an example of adding sound to an animation, we work with a hyper pogo stick and synchronize its animation to a sound clip.

To synchronize an animation to a sound clip, follow these steps:

1.Open the Hyper pogo stick with sound.max file from the Chap 33 directory on the CD-ROM.

2.In the Track View–Dope Sheet window, right-click one of the sound tracks and select Properties from the pop-up menu to open the Sound Options dialog box. In this dialog box, click the Choose Sound button. Then locate the boing.wav file from the Chap 33 directory on the CD-ROM, and click OK. Make sure the Active option is selected.

The sound file appears as a waveform in the Track View, as shown in Figure 33-30.

Note	The Open Sound dialog box includes a play button that lets you play the sound before load-
	ing it.

852 Part VII Animation

Figure 33-30: Sounds loaded into the sound track appear as waveforms.

Although it can’t be edited in Max, the sound file can be shifted left or right to change its starting point.

3.Click the Move Keys button (or press the M key), and move the keys to line up with the waveforms in the sound track.

4.Click the Play Animation button, and the sound file plays with the animation.

Figure 33-31 shows the sound track under the Track Bar for this example.

Figure 33-31: To help synchronize sound, the audio track can be made visible under the Track Bar.

Chapter 33 Working with the Track View 853

Summary

Using the Track View, you have access to all the keys, parameters, and objects in a scene in one convenient location. Different features are available in the different layouts. In this chapter, you

Learned the Track View interface elements

Learned about the different Track View layouts, including the Curve Editor, Dope Sheet, and Track Bar

Discovered how to work with keys, times, and ranges

Controlled and adjusted function curves

Selected specific tracks using the Filter dialog box

Assigned controllers

Explored the different out-of-range types

Added notes to a track

Synchronized animation to a sound track

The next chapter starts into an exploration of character animation beginning with the modeling aspect.