I suggest a new feature in the sound editor: the ability to add named markers on the timeline of audio clips. These named markers would serve as broadcast messages. When the sound is played and reaches that point, a broadcast is issued.

This feature would make it a lot easier for everyone to create animations which need to synchronize with sound. I believe this feature would particularly help inexperienced Scratchers.

I suggest the new feature would use the existing broadcast system. So no new code blocks are required. When creating or editing a marker in a sound in the sound editor, a “name” is selected from a list of existing broadcast messages (or a new messages is created, just as with any broadcast handler).

Thank you @CST1229 for making a mockup (posted below). This inspired me to make my own, to illustrate and clarify my suggestion.
Mockup


Update: Based on input on this suggestion I have posted a second, alternative suggestion, here. The added functionality of these two suggestions are basically the same, but this suggestion uses broadcast messages added in the sound editor, whereas the linked post suggests a new hat-block approach.

That would be great!

papipupepappa wrote:

That would be great!

Please state why it'd be great.

DarthVader4Life wrote:

papipupepappa wrote:

That would be great!

Please state why it'd be great.

One would assume for the reasons I give in my original post.

kriblo wrote:

DarthVader4Life wrote:

papipupepappa wrote:

That would be great!

Please state why it'd be great.

One would assume for the reasons I give in my original post.

This doesn't matter. On the forums, one must add to the discussion constructively.

DarthVader4Life wrote:

papipupepappa wrote:

That would be great!

Please state why it'd be great.

It would be great because synchronizing animations with long sounds, such as music, is difficult to achieve in Scratch at present. I have made a number of projects trying to do that with various methods, but most of these methods are difficult for inexperienced Scratchers to understand, so they would definitely benefit from the suggested feature.

I would definitely use this. It would help fix synchronization not just for animations, but for anything with sound.

DarthVader4Life wrote:

kriblo wrote:

DarthVader4Life wrote:

papipupepappa wrote:

That would be great!

Please state why it'd be great.

One would assume for the reasons I give in my original post.

This doesn't matter. On the forums, one must add to the discussion constructively.

Please explain how YOU'VE added to this discussion constructively?

————

I also support this idea, for the reasons Kriblo outlined in his original post.

Mockup:

(Although these are unnamed and only identified by broadcast)

CST1229 wrote:

Mockup:
(Although these are unnamed and only identified by broadcast)

Nice! Yeah, something like that. And I would prefer it to use the same list as any broadcast, just as in your mockup.

Potential block mockups unless i misunderstood:

when [sound v] reaches point [idk v] :: hat :: events
<[sound v] reached point [idk v]? :: events>

This would be nice because I'm too lazy for workarounds.

This is a really creative suggestion!! Definitely support, and the mockup CST1229 looks super good.

hiPeeps124816 wrote:

Potential block mockups unless i misunderstood:

when [sound v] reaches point [idk v] :: hat :: events
<[sound v] reached point [idk v]? :: events>

This would be nice because I'm too lazy for workarounds.

I think it makes more sense to use just the existing broadcast system, so the sound would send broadcasts just like if it were an actual broadcast block. Adding two new blocks (the latter of which has the same – edit: or at least similar – problems as the “broadcast received?” boolean suggestion, btw ) feels overcomplicated, to me, especially since this feature probably wouldn't be used too often.

Oh, another thing: if this uses the broadcast system, there should probably be some way to teach the user that you can use the “when I receive” block to access the broadcast. Lots of inexperienced people using this feature for the first time might not realize it's related to that system, or haven't even used broadcasts at all yet, so I think it would be good to have some way to teach that. Maybe a “add to code” button which switches to the Code panel and places a new “when I receive (that broadcast)” block, front and center (perhaps with an animation to make it super clear)?

Great suggestion.

I would however prefer new blocks for this (in the sound category), instead of broadcasts.

I can imagine it would be confusing for new Scratchers to have broadcasts do two different things.

It also doesn’t really fit with the broadcast block, because it has to do with sound — which there is already a category for.

Nishpish wrote:

Great suggestion.

I would however prefer new blocks for this (in the sound category), instead of broadcasts.

I can imagine it would be confusing for new Scratchers to have broadcasts do two different things.

It also doesn’t really fit with the broadcast block, because it has to do with sound — which there is already a category for.

Thank you for your support. I don't agree that this suggestion would have broadcasts do something inherently different than what they are already doing, and I don't see what new “sound blocks” would do.

Broadcast messages might be set up to start scenes in an animation by adding broadcast handlers in the code editor, and then added in the timeline of a song in the sound editor. Or reversely, different parts of the song might be identified and “named” by adding broadcast messaged in the sound editor, then implemented in the code editor by adding broadcast handlers. An added benefit of this approach is that an event can be triggered by a sound, or using a broadcast block equally.

The only “sound blocks” I can imagine are the blocks proposed by @hiPeeps124816 above. But I don't see the point of those, as it achieves nothing a broadcast message wouldn't.

Besides, I think a solution which doesn't require new blocks has merit in itself, as it's less complicated to implement.

hiPeeps124816 wrote:

Potential block mockups unless i misunderstood:
Oh, another thing: if this uses the broadcast system, there should probably be some way to teach the user that you can use the “when I receive” block to access the broadcast. Lots of inexperienced people using this feature for the first time might not realize it's related to that system, or haven't even used broadcasts at all yet, so I think it would be good to have some way to teach that. Maybe a “add to code” button which switches to the Code panel and places a new “when I receive (that broadcast)” block, front and center (perhaps with an animation to make it super clear)?

Thank you for your support. I think it's a great idea to somehow highlight for the user that the “named markers” added in a sound timeline correspond to broadcast messages, and maybe suggest that the user add a corresponding broadcast handler somewhere in the code.

I would totally use that! I know so many animators who would totally benefit from this while making projects like AMVs and MAP parts! I 100% agree with this idea!

100% Support. It will help animators sync their animations with the music especially when the whole animation is based upon the music itself. It can also be used to make CAPTIONS in scratch! (using the hard way ). Caption can promote viewers from different languages(by translate) and people who don't want to turn on speakers and still understand the animation.(like me). This would be a great addition for the animators of the next generation.

Great Suggestion! I really think this will be extremely helpful because previously when I had to perform any task when a particular part of music is done i actually spent a lot of time counting seconds and performing that task after those seconds and that is very inaccurate and hard to pull off! This will surely make performing tasks in the middle of a music easy

Also this helps animators who have their stuff done automatic in the middle of stuff ..

I might suggest a block to be added in the Sounds category but it might be confusing so I would think it is better to have some option in the Sound Tab just like the Robot, Faster, Slower etc

I really like this suggestions and hope it gets accepted

Support. This would make it way easier than having to use the timer and wait until blocks, and besides, the timer isn't even that accurate, so this would make it much better.

I agree this would be really cool! I think every scratcher needs to have blocks like these because it is so hard to time the song your playing with whatever your making.