58 About Finding Audio Content on the Web

Before You Begin

46 About Movie Maker Audio

See Also

94 Download the Movie Maker Creativity Fun Pack

The Internet is full of audio content from all over the world that you can listen to, download, edit, and redistribute ”although you cannot do all those things with all online audio files. Given the publicity in recent years about MP3 file sharing, you surely know many audio files are copyrighted for specific use. Rarely do you ever actually own an audio file that you download. Instead of owning the file, usually you only own a license to use it in some way. Be sure to read the fine print on the site where you download to discern what you are allowed to do with the file.

Several sites offer royalty-free audio content. Such content is great for soundtrack music that you can add to the opening of your videos , to place as a low-volume score during some scenes, and to end your movie while you roll credits ( see 78 Add End Credits ).

KEY TERM

Royalty-free ” A label that indicates you can own a license to use a file any way you want, or that you are free to use the file in a specific, predefined way.

A search on the Internet for "royalty-free audio" will turn up sites that offer downloadable audio content as well as video content available on CD-ROM and DVD that you can order. Generally, you will pay a higher one-time fee if you plan to distribute your video professionally than if you purchase audio content for home and private use.

More and more audio files will begin appearing on the Web with digital rights management (DRM) features included. Depending on who offers the file, and the rights the owner allows you to have based on how you acquired it (bought or copied ), the DRM features will determine what you can do with them. If Movie Maker refuses to import an audio file you downloaded from the Internet, even though that file plays perfectly in Windows Media Player, the file probably has DRM controls that prevent you from editing or using the audio inside another video.

If you have newsgroup access, you can often find audio files uploaded for others to see and use categorized by subject. Search through newsgroups that have multimedia or sounds or music in their name for possible videos you can download and use. Use Outlook Express, bundled with Windows, to access newsgroups after you learn from your Internet service provider (ISP) how to set up newsgroup access.

KEY TERM

Newsgroups ” Electronic bulletin boards , categorized by name and function, where users upload and download messages and files.

Sites such as ClipJingles.com offer royalty-free audio content that you pay for once and use in your videos.