DemoShield and .wav files

["Michael C. Magras" <mcm -at- WORKGROUP -dot- COM>]

I am using DemoShield 5.3 to develop an online tutorial that includes
two or three dozen .wav files.  These .wav files are voice recordings
that I made using Sound Recorder and Cool Edit. When users run this
tutorial, the .wav files don't always behave as they should. I was
wondering if anyone out there is familiar with DemoShield, or .wav files
in general, and has run across any of the three problems described
below.

1. A DemoShield tutorial developer can specify the exact point in a
scene at which a .wav file should begin playing. The files in my
tutorial usually obey my settings, but occasionally they start two or
three seconds later than they should. Consequently, the file is cut off
before its ending and often delays the start of the .wav file that
immediately follows. The frustrating part of this problem is that these
delays don't occur every time you run the tutorial. A file that starts
too late during one run may start at the right time the next, and
*another* may start late instead. There seems to be no consistent
pattern here.

2. Another randomly occuring problem is a Max Headroom-like stutter that
infiltrates these files. The files occasionally hesitate or burp when
played back, so that sections of words are clipped off, or the beginning
of a word plays twice, creating the stutter effect. Again, this does not
occur consistently. You could play my tutorial five times and hear these
static blips at five completely different sets of intervals.

3. The final problem is that .wav files tend to slow down when certain
visual effects occur on screen while the sounds are playing. Unlike the
first two problems, this one occurs consistently. Whenever there is
movement on the screen -- a graphic moving into the picture from
off-screen, a text object that washes into place from left to right --
the .wav file slows noticeably. I called DemoShield's customer support
for guidance on this problem earlier in the week. The well-meaning
gentleman I spoke with gave me two suggestions. The first was to
decrease the sampling rate at which I record the files. The second was
to change the visuals; if an effect slows down your .wav file, he said,
don't use that effect. Neither of these options is acceptable to me.

I'd appreciate any suggestions you might have on any of these topics.
Thank you for your help.

Michael C. Magras, Senior Technical Writer
Workgroup Technology Corporation
91 Hartwell Avenue
Lexington, MA 02421