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About this lesson
This lesson will show you how to insert an audio file onto our Keynote canvas.
Exercise files
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Inserting and Manipulating Audio Clips .key645.7 KB Inserting and Manipulating Audio Clips .key
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Quick reference
Topic
This lesson will show you how to insert an audio file onto our Keynote canvas.
When to use
We’ll walk through how to add audio files to help communicate ideas presented in a Keynote slide deck.
Instructions
There are two ways to insert an audio clip in Keynote:
- by clicking the Media button on the toolbar
- by dragging and dropping an audio file from our computer
To preview an audio file, we simply click on the “Play” button located on the slide.
Selecting the audio clip will adjust our formatting pane allowing us to:
- replace the audio clip with another clip
- preview the audio file
- adjust the volume
- trim our audio clip
- set repeat properties
Some audio clips are louder than others. We can adjust an individual audio clip’s volume:
- select the audio clip
- adjust the volume on the formatting pane
To edit an audio clip:
- select the audio clip
- adjust the in and out trim points on the formatting pane in the “Trim” section
Note: trimming an audio clip is non-destructive to the original audio file.
To use two sections of a single audio clip:
- copy the audio clip so that we have two copies on our slide
- adjust the trim settings for each of the audio clips independently
- 00:05 In previous lessons we talked about how to use objects like charts, tables, and
- 00:09 text boxes to tailor your slides to your specific needs.
- 00:13 In this lesson we will be walking you through how to add and
- 00:15 manipulate audio files on your slide deck to help communicate your ideas.
- 00:21 There are two ways to add an audio clip to a slide.
- 00:24 The first way is through the Media button located on the toolbar.
- 00:28 This option will allow us to add audio that exists in our iTunes library.
- 00:32 We simply browse for the track that we're looking for, and select it.
- 00:36 This will insert it onto our canvas.
- 00:39 The second option would be to drag and drop from anywhere on our computer, or
- 00:42 a shared resource like a file server right onto our slide.
- 00:47 Both options are valid, and both options will result in an audio file on our slide.
- 00:52 Once we have inserted an audio clip onto our slide,
- 00:55 you will notice the small control for that clip.
- 00:58 Clicking Play will allow us to sample that audio without having
- 01:01 to play the slideshow.
- 01:02 Now that we have the clip on our slide,
- 01:05 let's take a look at some of the options for manipulating this clip.
- 01:09 When we select the audio clip, the formatting pane on the right will adjust
- 01:12 accordingly, showing us options that are specific to audio.
- 01:16 At the top of this pane,
- 01:18 we have the option to replace this clip with another audio clip.
- 01:22 Where this may be useful is when we record an audio track of our own
- 01:25 using a tool like GarageBand, and insert that onto our slide.
- 01:30 If we make a change to that clip later in GarageBand,
- 01:33 we simply replace the existing clip with the new clip,
- 01:36 by clicking the Replace button and navigating to the new file.
- 01:41 Just below the Replace button you will find three controls for
- 01:44 playing back the audio, play, rewind, and fast-forward.
- 01:48 These should be pretty self-explanatory.
- 01:51 Below the play controls, we will find a volume control.
- 01:54 Occasionally you may run into an audio file that is either too quiet or
- 01:58 too loud relative to other audio files in your slide deck.
- 02:02 When this happens you find yourself reaching for the system volume and
- 02:05 adjusting.
- 02:07 When presenting however, you typically don't have that as an option.
- 02:11 So what this allows you to do is normalize the volume for
- 02:13 each audio clip independently.
- 02:16 Let's say for example, that we have three audio clips in our slide deck.
- 02:19 Two of them have normal audio levels, but one is much louder.
- 02:24 We would adjust our presentation audio system so
- 02:26 that the two audio clips sound good, then use the Volume control here to adjust
- 02:31 the volume of the louder clip to match the other two clips.
- 02:34 We have just normalized our audio clips.
- 02:38 Below the Volume slider we have options to edit the audio clip.
- 02:42 You won't be able to remove hissing and pops using this tool, other audio
- 02:46 editing tools are great for that, but you will be able to crop your audio clip.
- 02:50 In this example, we have an audio clip that is ten minutes in length, but
- 02:54 we only want to play a portion of that from the middle of the clip.
- 02:57 To do this, we will drag the left side of the slider,
- 03:00 called the start point, inward to where we want to begin the audio playback.
- 03:05 Next, we will drag the right side of the slider,
- 03:07 called the endpoint, inward to where we want to end the audio playback.
- 03:12 What we are left with is a part of the audio clip.
- 03:15 This type of editing is non-destructive to the original file,
- 03:18 meaning we can change these start and endpoints any time we want.
- 03:22 It will not remove the excess permanently.
- 03:26 In some cases, we may want to play a portion of an audio clip and
- 03:29 then a later part of that same clip.
- 03:32 This would require two start points and two end points.
- 03:36 Since we can't have more than one of each for a single audio clip,
- 03:39 we would need to take a slightly different creative approach to this.
- 03:43 We would add the same clip to our slide two times.
- 03:45 The first clip would contain the first section that we want to play,
- 03:49 while the second clip would contain the second section that we want to play.
- 03:53 Now that we have edited our audio clip, we can choose to repeat that clip.
- 03:57 We have two options for repeating, Loop and Loop Back and Forth.
- 04:01 With standard looping,
- 04:02 the clip would repeat itself beginning from the start point each time.
- 04:06 With a back and forth repeat, the clip would play beginning to end,
- 04:10 then play end to beginning, then beginning to end, then, well you get the idea.
- 04:16 This may not be used in too many places.
- 04:19 The one place where I have seen it used is in creating audio backgrounds for a slide.
- 04:24 Rather than looping, and
- 04:25 exposing your audience to a contrasting harshness when the clip loops, a back and
- 04:29 forth loop would create a seemingly seamless audio loop.
- 04:33 Our last option is this checkbox.
- 04:35 If this box is checked,
- 04:36 the audio clip will play automatically as soon as the slide is on display.
- 04:41 If the box is unchecked, the clip will play when you click on
- 04:43 the advance button on your keyboard or presentation remote.
- 04:48 Working with audio can be a lot of fun, and
- 04:50 can add a powerful punch to your slides when used properly.
- 04:54 Take some time right now to practice inserting audio clips to your slide deck.
- 04:58 Be sure to try the editing, and looping features when you do this.
- 05:02 The more you explore, the more ideas that will come to you,
- 05:05 to make amazing slide decks.
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