[MX04] help an esl teacher capture and play back student voices

[ESLTeacher]

Hi all,

I have used this forum in the past and it has been an enormous help. Thank you all very much. I am again hoping that someone out there can help me solve this issue.

I need to record and play back students' voices. The students will use this to improve their English pronunciation. I know I can use the Microphone class (?) to capture the audio, but I can't seem to work out how to save the audio captured in the movie clip and play it back to the student. I also need this to be client-side. If this is not possible in Flash MX or Flash 8, is there any other way I can do this? Thanks again for your help. Any and all suggestions will be gratefully received.

ESLTeacher

[RockSpyder]

Start->All Programs->Accessiores->Entertainment->Sound Recorder
or if you dont have windows just download something similar, I dont see the point in making something thats already been made

[ESLTeacher]

Thanks RockSpyder,

However, what I need is a bit more complicated than what I can do with windows Sound Recorder. I need something similar to what is used in a language lab. First the students hear a model conversation (Speaker A then Speaker B, etc). Next, the student will take the place of Speaker B. Finally, the student should be able to play back the entire conversation with the model voice and the student's voice together. Unfortunately, I don't think this is possible using window's Sound Recorder. I need something that I can manipulate to do this type of recording and playback. Any suggestions?

Thanks again for your help.

[RockSpyder]

sorry, i guess i misunderstood what youwanted. And i dont know anything about sound recording, sorry

[ESLTeacher]

sorry, i guess i misunderstood what youwanted. And i dont know anything about sound recording, sorry

No problem. Thanks for taking the time to reply.

[Jujumon]

hi there,

Im guessing you would need a recording program that will record student's voice and convert it to usable Flash file (mp3). Then import it to Flash.

In Flash, have whe whole model coversation on one layer. And place student voice clip at the same frame when speaker B speaks, but at a different layer. You should be able to hear all conversations together.

Im curious though, you can just use some audio program to do this. I dont see the reason why it needs to be Flash. Unless of course you have some sort of visuals (people talking perhaps?) for the students to see as well. other than that, id recommend just using some sort of audio program to do the job.

goodluck

[ESLTeacher]

hi there,

Im guessing you would need a recording program that will record student's voice and convert it to usable Flash file (mp3). Then import it to Flash.

In Flash, have whe whole model coversation on one layer. And place student voice clip at the same frame when speaker B speaks, but at a different layer. You should be able to hear all conversations together.

Im curious though, you can just use some audio program to do this. I dont see the reason why it needs to be Flash. Unless of course you have some sort of visuals (people talking perhaps?) for the students to see as well. other than that, id recommend just using some sort of audio program to do the job.

goodluck

Hi Jujumon,

Thanks for your reply. Yes, that is exactly what I need. However, I don't know how to import the mp3 file in to flash (the swf file will be embedded in a php page and on the net).

As for the reason why I need it in Flash, I plan on having visuals along with the audio files. However, I would use another program if I could embed it in a web page and do what I want to do.

Anyway, thanks again for your help. It is much appreciated.

[jamesloacher]

To be honest I think you would need FlashMediaServer for this. FlashCommunicationServer MX sells for around $4500.00 and the newer MediaServer2(Well let's not even talk about the price of that) heh. But Yes I believe you need one of the two.

[Jujumon]

if youre talking about doing it over the net. that's beyond me. Id suggest you look over at the scripting/backend; design/architectual; or communication server forum. i wish i could help you more though.

goodluck

[jamesloacher]

Also If it is an option you could look into macromedia(adobe) director. It has a bunch of Audio Xtras available online. Many of them free, which can probalby do what your looking for. But then you have to learn a new language as well. Lingo.

[ESLTeacher]

Thank you both for your help. I'll have a look at macromedia(adobe) director and see if I can do it there. I'll also have a look at the other forums that Jujumon suggested.

Thanks again.

[designforce]

I too develop materials used for ESL, didn't realize there was anyone else on the list who did.

As you have already gathered, you will have to use something like Director. If you go that route, you may want to check out Audio Xtra. I think it will provide you what you are looking for.

Here is the link: http://xtras.tabuleiro.com/products/audio/whatis.htm

Check out the sample, and yes you can do it online.

Quote form site: Audio Xtra is the ideal tool for language-learning applications. Students can compare their recording to that of a native speaker. With wave-plotting students can do a visual as well as an audio comparison.

And no, I am not a sales person for this, however I have been involved in projects where this was used and they have been quite successful. This far surpasses the simple record and playback found in most language apps. Perhaps someday they will be able to create a flash version.

JMHO

Hope this helps.

Good luck.

[ESLTeacher]

I too develop materials used for ESL, didn't realize there was anyone else on the list who did.

As you have already gathered, you will have to use something like Director. If you go that route, you may want to check out Audio Xtra. I think it will provide you what you are looking for.

Here is the link: http://xtras.tabuleiro.com/products/audio/whatis.htm

Check out the sample, and yes you can do it online.

Quote form site: Audio Xtra is the ideal tool for language-learning applications. Students can compare their recording to that of a native speaker. With wave-plotting students can do a visual as well as an audio comparison.

And no, I am not a sales person for this, however I have been involved in projects where this was used and they have been quite successful. This far surpasses the simple record and playback found in most language apps. Perhaps someday they will be able to create a flash version.

JMHO

Hope this helps.

Good luck.

Hi JMHO,

Good to know that there is another ESL educational developer out there. And thanks for the info on Audio Xtra. I have been trying to install it on my Director MX v 10.1 but am having very poor luck. Director is new to me - I use Flash MX mostly along with php, javaScript and various other programs. I followed the direction in the zip file for installing Audio Xtra, but nothing seem sto be happening.

Any hints on getting the Audio Xtra to work? Again, it would be much appreciated.

Cheers,

ESLTeacher

[designforce]

If you are having trouble getting the demo to run, you might want to check the edit you made to the xtrainfo.txt file, as per the instructions. I assume you have verified that the Xtra is in the right folder.....

That's all I can think to do.

I hope you get it working.

Good luck.