Some of you may experience the pronunciation audio getting cut off prematurely during the flash mode playback sessions when playback is set to autoforward (which it is by default). This is especially so for those using Windows XP and with slower computers.
The reason for this is that when playback is set to autoforward, then your computer needs to play back the audio files in the speed that is specified. If you are hearing audio getting cut off, that means that your computer processing power cannot keep up with the speed.
You can try to remedy or get around this problem in the following ways:
1. UPDATE YOUR COMPUTER'S CODECIt may be that the codecs which are used by your computer to process audio files are not very efficient.
Firstly, check if your system has this codec pack called "ffdshow" already installed (Little Reader may have installed it automatically for you). To check, go to your Control Panel and select "Programs" or "Add/Remove Programs".
If Your System Does Not Have FFDSHOW Installed:Try downloading and installing the FFDSHOW codec pack (very commonly used and widely known) to see if it helps:
http://d2.brillkids.com/upload/files/support/ffdshow-codec-pack.exeDuring setup, there will be a page called "Select Additional Tasks", and you will see "Decode the following video formats with ffdshow" and "Decode the following audio formats with ffdshow". PLEASE CHECK BOTH BOXES.
After finishing installation, no need to do anything else. Just reboot Windows and give it a try (or may not need to reboot Windows, but at least restart LR).
If Your System ALREADY HAS FFDSHOW Installed:Try UNINSTALLING it. It may be that it is causing a conflict with another codec that your system already has.
2. DOWNLOAD LATEST BUILD (1.6.340 OR ABOVE)This build includes changes that may help media playback in general. Please download it and see if it makes a difference.
You may also want to try if getting the latest version of your curriculum content files will help (the files from your account page will always be the latest versions available).
3. ADJUST AUTOFORWARD DELAY / SPEEDBy default, the Little Reader courses are set with an autoforward delay of 0.2 seconds. This means that it will wait 0.2 seconds after the end of the last slide's completion before playing back the next slide. You can find this setting by clicking on the round cog-wheel settings icon that is next to the Autoforward button on the Play Panel. This will bring up the settings options, and you can adjust the delay setting to a longer delay, like 0.4 seconds, 0.6, etc. Adjust the delay longer until playback is fine.
NOTE: You may want to use the "Override" function to set a different delay speed for all lessons instead of editing each lesson individually. Turn Override (on your Play Panel) to ON, and click the settings button next to it, look for the delay setting, turn that setting ON, and change the setting. If wanting to apply this only to flash lessons, then turn Override ON for flash lessons and then OFF again for multisensory.4. TURN OFF AUTOFORWARDProbably the best way is to simply turn off autoforward, and do the forwarding manually by clicking through the slides with your mouse button. You can therefore control the speed of autoforward, and you can make sure that the audio plays back fully before going on to the next slide.
NOTE: See above tip regarding Override.5. DISABLE OPTIONAL SPEAKER EFFECTSYou might have some filters and post effects for audio - such settings could affect audio playback. One way to work around this problem is by disabling optional speaker effects (that are collectively known as "enhancements").
To disable your speaker enhancements:
- From your START Menu, open your Control Panel (switch to Classic View)
- Go to "Sounds and Audio Devices"
- In the Volume tab, find the "Speaker Settings" section and click on the "Advanced" button
- In the "Advanced Audio Properties" window that opens, go to the Effects (or Enhancements) tab and select the "Disable all enhancements" check box
NOTE: The Effects tab is displayed only if you have a USB device installed and selected as the default device under Sound playback and Sound recording on the Audio tab in "Sounds and Audio Devices." Likewise, if you don't see an Enhancements tab, that means those features are not available for your speakers.
If disabling audio enhancements solves the problem, this typically indicates that you need to update your computer's audio driver (see suggestion on updating your audio drivers below).6. UPDATE YOUR COMPUTER'S AUDIO DRIVERSSometimes, the problem lies in faulty or outdated audio drivers that your computer uses to play back audio. You should first find out what audio chipset you are using, and you can typically access this information from right-clicking on your Sound/Volume icon in your System Tray. Many computers nowadays seem to be bundled with the Realtek audio chipset -- in which case, you can download the latest drivers from here:
http://www.realtek.com/downloads/7. INVEST IN BETTER COMPUTER / COMPUTER PARTSIf you've been wanting to upgrade your computer, then perhaps this is a good time to do it! Make sure you have at least 1Gb (which is the bare minimum), and if possible, 3-4Gb of RAM.
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