Reduce music/audio file size ?

[ron533]

Hi,

I've been adding some music, in OGG format, to my missions but it makes them too big...

I've tried Audacity in minimum quality but it is still too big.

I've found a software called OGGresizer https://www.skyshape.com/oggresizer-vorbis-compressor.html)

which compressed the ogg files much better than audacity,

but it's a not freeware.

 

What are you using to minimize the audio/music files you create?

 

Thanks

Edited April 1, 2018 by ron533

[feefifofum]

I don't typically include music but as a general tip, summing to mono will immediately cut your file size in half.

[Lithion]

I'm not very familiar with sound formats, but let me tell you something I did with an oversized JPEG once;

 

I converted the jpeg to a .gif, which has fewer colour ranges and the like, so these colours were eliminated. I then converted it back to a .jpeg from the .gif file.

This meant i now had a .jpeg extention which had eliminated ranges of a lower sized .gif format.

 

Is there any way you can apply this to your audio file? I realise this is akin to Feefifofum's answer, but hope it helps.

[Grimes]

Using Audacity I like to sample to mono and use GSM 6.10 codec for wav files.

[ron533]

Using Audacity I like to sample to mono and use GSM 6.10 codec for wav files.

 

 

Tried that.

I took the file I made in Audacity , it was 4.56MB stereo ogg,

compressed further it via OggResizer (while in trial) it went down to 2.7MB still stereo,

 

Took the same 4.56MB file and sampled it in audacity to mono - went out as 3.26MB...

 

I just wanted to reduce the volume level in the compressed OGG file (2.7MB), and via audacity it just blew up again to 4.2 MB.......:doh:

 

I wonder if there's any free service as good as that, since I hardly use it to justify spending money on it... ( I have to save for F-18/Persian Gulf/F-14...etc... :music_whistling: )

 

Thanks for the helpers... still need you... :)

[ron533]

No new suggestions??

[Johnny_Rico]

post a link to file here , see if i can help u

[ron533]

post a link to file here , see if i can help u

 

Thanks so much for your help,

but I am looking to do it on my own here and there when need arises, so I can't bother good people like you for that...

 

For now I'm good after installing it on a new PC and using the 7 days trial period,

but there's a limit to new PC's I can find for that.... :)

 

The "trick" of OGGresizer is reducing the bit rate lower than Audacity does,

as low as 32 kbits, and quality is of course reduced but hardly noticed as a background music while flying...

 

I wonder if you can tweak Audacity's bit rate in OGG to that level, since the minimum quality slider there is at 1, but size is too big...

[ron533]

Just Updating here, to whom it may concern....

 

Well, I've found the free alternative to reduce file sized even further without using OGGResizer,

the Audacity itself, sitting right under my nose..... :doh:

 

There's an option to reduce the Bitrate on the bottom left corner.

 

The Minimum Bitrate you can select is 8000Hz.

I've found that Below 16000Hz the audio quality really deteriorates.

You can also change from Stereo to Mono as previously stated in this thread.

 

The file size does get smaller, though I could not match it OGGresizer performance... I wonder what they have used there.

 

Thanks,

and add more info if you have it.

 

EDIT: Using this online converter gave me best results : https://www.online-convert.com/

 

Ron

Edited April 20, 2018 by ron533
https://www.online-convert.com/

[falken76]

Tried that.

I took the file I made in Audacity , it was 4.56MB stereo ogg,

compressed further it via OggResizer (while in trial) it went down to 2.7MB still stereo,

 

Took the same 4.56MB file and sampled it in audacity to mono - went out as 3.26MB...

 

I just wanted to reduce the volume level in the compressed OGG file (2.7MB), and via audacity it just blew up again to 4.2 MB.......:doh:

 

I wonder if there's any free service as good as that, since I hardly use it to justify spending money on it... ( I have to save for F-18/Persian Gulf/F-14...etc... :music_whistling: )

 

Thanks for the helpers... still need you... :)

 

 

If the program is able to do what you want it to do, why don't you pay for it? Is it an inexpensive program or is it expensive?

 

If you can use different codecs in Audacity, maybe you can find a good one that does better compression.

 

How do you play the music? Do you have a trigger play sound to all? I'm adding music to my missions and as soon as another sound is called up to be played it cuts out the currently playing sound. I want to be able to stack sound so I can have a sound tied into the death of an AI unit and since music is playing I want it to continue playing when it plays the AI death sound. I don't know how to do this.

[feefifofum]

Falken76, is this for a single player or multiplayer mission?

 

For which aircraft?

 

If it's for an FC3 jet, or you are controller the frequencies your user is on and you are using SOUND TO ALL for all other sound effects, the easiest thing to do would be to make it a radio transmission.

 

I've done this a couple of times for things like air raid sirens when I wanted dynamic VOs to play on top of them as events occurred. Play your music or background audio as a radio transmission and use SOUND TO ALL to play your voiceovers.

 

You can find the option to make a unit transmit a message in the triggered actions tab when the group is selected, then use AI TASK PUSH when you want the message to play. This has been spotty in multiplayer from time to time, but I've had good luck with single player.

[falken76]

Falken76, is this for a single player or multiplayer mission?

 

For which aircraft?

 

If it's for an FC3 jet, or you are controller the frequencies your user is on and you are using SOUND TO ALL for all other sound effects, the easiest thing to do would be to make it a radio transmission.

 

I've done this a couple of times for things like air raid sirens when I wanted dynamic VOs to play on top of them as events occurred. Play your music or background audio as a radio transmission and use SOUND TO ALL to play your voiceovers.

 

You can find the option to make a unit transmit a message in the triggered actions tab when the group is selected, then use AI TASK PUSH when you want the message to play. This has been spotty in multiplayer from time to time, but I've had good luck with single player.

 

 

Awesome, thank you. I am just learning how to use the ME so no real preference on single player or multiplayer. I would like it to work in MP though because I play with friends from time to time and I'd like to make missions for us to play.

 

I use FC3 planes, but I usually make all or most of the planes available for others to use so they wouldn't always be using FC3 planes. Since FC3 is so simplified, I never have to change radio frequencies. Does this mean that non FC3 planes need to be on a certain frequency to hear music and if they want to call out to AWACS they have to change frequency so the music would stop since it's on a different channel? Is it possible to put all transmissions on the same frequency? Or will that just put me right back into the original problem of audio not stacking on top of each other on the same channel?

 

I guess in the mission I could have a playsound to all to change the radio frequency or maybe a message to all with a sound file played to make sure they look up, I miss those messages a lot if I don't hear a sound that reminds me to look.

[falken76]

I just read this in the manual. There's an option called "Easy Communication" under mission options. It states this about the option:

 

Easy Communication. With Easy Communication on, the radios will automatically tune to the selected recipient's frequency. In addition, the radio menu will only display objects present in the mission and highlight those with whom contact is possible. With Easy Communication off, the player has to tune the correct radio set to the correct frequency for the desired contact and select the correct contact out of the full radio contacts menu.

 

Does that just mean it makes all aircraft like FC3? That's already checked in my current mission but it's "enforced" is not checked. I also have labels value checked and enforced is not checked yet the labels are there when I load the mission so I don't know what enforce means unless it kills the ability to override. I.E. If I had it enforced, maybe a user can't use rshift+f10 to turn them off?

 

I just read this in the manual. There's an option called "Easy Communication" under mission options. It states this about the option:

 

Easy Communication. With Easy Communication on, the radios will automatically tune to the selected recipient's frequency. In addition, the radio menu will only display objects present in the mission and highlight those with whom contact is possible. With Easy Communication off, the player has to tune the correct radio set to the correct frequency for the desired contact and select the correct contact out of the full radio contacts menu.

 

Does that just mean it makes all aircraft like FC3? That's already checked in my current mission but it's "enforced" is not checked. I also have labels value checked and enforced is not checked yet the labels are there when I load the mission so I don't know what enforce means unless it kills the ability to override. I.E. If I had it enforced, maybe a user can't use rshift+f10 to turn them off?

 

 

Also, I found this as an option under gameplay

 

Allied Flight Reports. Enables the radio chatter of allied flights on the assigned radio frequencies.

 

I have it checked. Can I assign a default frequency and tune all the aircraft to that frequency by default so when a player starts it will just play music? Combined with Easy communication I think it might work if I can set a default frequency. And if this is possible, where do I assign the frequency?

Edited May 3, 2018 by falken76

[falken76]

I figured out how to set frequencies for the planes. Some planes can't be set on the same frequency and I have to play it on the AM station because it seems I don't have an FM option on most planes. All FC3 planes seem to use freq 124, but the A10C default is on 251. I think the Veggan is on another station. Anyway, if I just make the trigger radio sound to all the different frequencies from within the same trigger it should still work right? Is this going to be a terrible way to have sounds played? I.E. Is my system going to use a lot more ram this way, or is it really just sending a command to the client to play the sound that is downloaded to their local machine? I assume our levels are downloaded when people connect.

[feefifofum]

Easy communication is best avoided because it can break other things such as tanker interactions for non-FC3 aircraft.

 

You can have multiple units transmitting on multiple frequencies. Almost all Russian and US aircraft can get to 124.000 with the exception of the F-5 which only has a UHF radio. You can change the radio presets in the mission editor for every airframe with the ability to use presets. When you select the group, there will be a tab just above the flight plan.

 

If you're planning on doing this in multiplayer I'd recommend playing the non critical sound (such as music) as the radio transmission. If a player doesn't hear it, it won't affect their ability to understand the mission.