# Importing Sounds

When you decide that you want to add sound to your movie, you must first prepare this sound outside Toon Boom Studio. Then in Toon Boom Studio, you must add a Sound element, which organizes sound files in your animation.

A sound will play in the movie until it reaches the end of the file or a stop frame you create in the Sound Element Editor. If the sound extends into multiple scenes it will keep playing.

You can import as many sound files as you like, just be sure to consider the constraints of your audience if you will be delivering your movies over the Internet - the more sounds you add, the larger the file size of your final movie.

Toon Boom Studio import, exports and plays sounds using QuickTime®. Toon Boom Studio only supports the sound formats recognized by QuickTime®, with one exception: Flash ADPCM format, which we support natively.

To import sound to your scene:

1. Select Element > Add > Sound. An empty sound element appears in the Exposure Sheet window and Timeline window.

2. In the Exposure Sheet window, [Control]-click the cell at the frame number where you want the sound to start playing and select Import Sound > From file from the pop-up menu. The Open dialog box opens.

3. Select the sound file you want to use in your scene and click Open.

If the sound file doesn’t already exist in your animation, Toon Boom Studio copies the file from its present location to the Sound folder in your animation set folder.

The sound file now appears in the cell you selected. The entire name of the file appears in the cell, so you should try to keep the file name short so you can see it easily in the cell.

| You can also import sounds in the Sound Element Editor. Select the sound element and select Element > Edit Sound. The Sound Element Editor opens. Click Import. The file browser opens. Select the sound you want to import and click Open.

See Also
Editing Sounds
Renaming Elements
Lip Synching