Converting Audio File Formats in Apple Music

MP3 files sometimes have timing issues and can skip or hang up, especially on large files. It is always better to use WAV files or AIFF files.

If you have an MP3 file that you want to use for a show, you'll want to convert it to a WAV file.

Here's how you do this using Apple Music:

1. Launch Apple Music. Make sure your Apple Music import settings are set to wav by going to the Music menu > Preferences > Files > Import Settings > select create using WAV Encoder.
   
2. Back in your music list, highlight your desired sound file and go to File > Convert > Create WAV Version.
   
3. Drag the new version from your music list to your desktop or show folder.
   

Note: If you purchased the file online, it may be restricted and you may not be able to change the format.

Research Images and Video Footage

Resolution

When you're looking for images for a design collage or for research, you want to make sure the resolution of the images you find at least 1000 pixels in one direction. Most of the time this will ensure that it is high enough to project, print, or use later in your 3D model.

Usage Rights

When designing for a theatre company it is important to pay attention to the usage rights for images you might use in your final design. You'll do well to familiarize yourself with Creative Commons licenses.

Google Images

Under the tools menu in a Google image search there are features that allow you to filter for high resolution (large) images, and by usage rights (Creative Commons licenses).

Stock Images

Another good way to find high quality images (and this is usually my preference) is to search royalty free stock photo websites.

Here are some sites I use most.

Pixabay, Flickr and stock.xchng have good amateur stock photos, and are free and easy.

Lost and Taken texture gallery and texture lovers are good for textures and are also free.

You can find great images on sites like istockphoto, which has good images that you buy for $12-33.

Storyblocks.com Has photos and video as well as music and effects. Requires a low cost subscription but has lots of good material.

For specific period images you can search the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Online Catalog or the Life database hosted by google images.

Video Footage

You can find great stock video footage at istockphoto and Getty images, but you can expect to pay somewhere around $50-$100 for a clip.

Storyblocks.com Has photos and video as well as music and effects. Requires a low cost subscription but has lots of good material.

Royalty Free Sounds

There are lots of resources out there for free sounds and music. Below are a few that students have found helpful. Some require you to set up an account in order to download their files.

Sound Effects:

• BBC Sound Effectsarchive has a great collection of all their sounds
• Findsounds.com You can specify settings 44.1K, 16-bit. Once you find a sound you like, you'll need to "right click" (control+click on a mac) on the link and select "Download Linked File As..." in order to save it to your show folder.
• Soundbible.com 
• Freesound.org You will need to register for an account.
• Storyblocks.com Requires a low cost subscription but has lots of good material, including music and effects as well as photos and video.

Music:

• Freeplaymusic.com has a wide variety of free underscore and instrumental music. They also have songs with words, which are mostly not helpful. In order to weed those out, go to the Browse Catalog link at the top and select Freeplay Music from the left. You might also find it helpful to search by style or feeling or tempo. You will need to set up an account in order to download.
• Bensound.com Has free as well as paid licensed music.
• Storyblocks.com Has music and effects, as well as photos and video. Requires a low cost subscription but has lots of good material.

If you're designing for an on-campus production, check with me and I can also give you access to our sound effects library.

Research Audio Recordings

Public Domain Sherpa has a great collection of audio archives.

The Library of Congress has improved their search feature so now you can enter a topic in the search bar and then select a format (audio recordings) in the menu on the left side of the screen.

This college library system has an excellent collection of American popular music from all time periods.

Color Tools

Here are two super cool web tools for playing with color.

This site allows you to do a color search using Flickr images. Pick a color or combination of colors and it brings up tons of Flickr images based on your selections.

This site creates a color palette out of one of your images. You upload an image from your computer and this site turns it into a series of color swatches.