# Event and Streamed Sounds

You can set up your sounds to be either streamed or event sounds when they are exported to the Macromedia® Flash format.

There are two major distinctions between event and stream sounds in the Macromedia® Flash file:

- Downloading

- Event sounds are downloaded by the Macromedia® Flash player before they play.
- Event sounds are reusable. Once downloaded, the Macromedia® Flash player can play the sound repeatedly without downloading it again. This is not possible with streamed sound.
- Streamed sound plays as it arrives.
- Streamed sound samples are broken into small bits and inserted between the video frame. This allows the Macromedia® Flash player to start to play before receiving the full sound track which is helpful for a long sound track (like background music).

- Synchronization

- Streamed sounds are kept synchronized with the video by the Macromedia® Flash player. The player drops frames if necessary, for example, if the video renderer is too slow and falls behind the sound track.
- Event sounds are not synchronized with video. After a while, an event sound may fall out of sync with the video.

Because streamed sounds are more likely to be synchronized with the images in your animation, lip sync sounds should be set to stream. If you set more than one sound to stream, they will be mixed together and exported as one, streamed sound.

To stream the sounds in an element:

1. Select the Sound element and select Element > Edit Sound. The Sound Element Editor opens.

2. Select the Streamed checkbox. This toggles on and off the streaming sound option. If the option is not selected, the sound is set as an event sound.

See Also
Editing Sounds