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Preparing sounds for ZEQ2-Lite

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Eagle The Purpose View user's profile Send private message

Reply with quote Monday, July 27, 2015

Hello everyone !

Today, I decided that for the first time, I was going to do something a bit useful for the project and the community !

For REAL ??!


No, 'was just kidding ! Bye !

Hem.. So, today, we will see how to prepare sounds for ZEQ2-Lite.

/!\ I won't explain the basics of the programs referenced in this tutorial, just the minimum to make sounds from some audio sources and most importantly, make them work in ZEQ2-Lite without any problems ! /!\

Let's get started !



1. Downloading the sounds source(s).

Firstly, we will need sounds, obviously.. Our best friend Google will most of the time be of a good help.

There is two kinds of audio sources we can find:

- Audio files (ogg, wav, mp3 etc....)

- Videos (mp4, avi, mkv etc....)

I don't care, I already have my sounds, but they are playing really slowly.. What do I do ?? :'(


And mine aren't playing at all!! HAALP D'x



Relax, I'll talk about that a bit later, be patient and don't worry, you will be able to make your content work with the help of this tutorial.

In the case you already have your audio files under the format of ogg or wav, which are the only formats, as far as I know, that can be read by ZEQ2-Lite, you can jump to the 3rd and final step right now you lucky !

For those who are starting from a video, you will have to download it. With youtube mp3 or if it's another website, with the download helper plugin (no download link since it can be illegal in some cases, sorry).

Done ? Congrats, you just passed the first step !



2. Converting videos/audio files to ogg/wav formats with Format Factory

If your audio source isn't already an ogg/wav audio file, you will have to convert it to one of these formats (preferably ogg for a perfect weight/quality balance).

It's the time for Format Factory to join the party !

Format Factory is a multifunctional multimedia converter. We will be able to convert our lacking in identifiable function (in their actual state) files in some usable and editable ones.

I think we can skip the installation part, huh ?.. Still be careful about some toolbars options that could be a hidden in some steps of the installer. Safety first !

Now, when you have executed the program. Just drag and drop your file in the window, select the format you want it to be converted in (ogg or wav) and press start. Yes! As simple as that !

/!\ Be careful about the file destination (where it will be exported) /!\

I recommend to configure the program first, to make it more comfortable and easy to use.

Have you found your audio file yet ? Congrats, you can go to the 3rd and final step now !!



3. Editing audio files and make them ready to be used in ZEQ2-Lite with Audacity

Ahh, finally the most interesting part of the tutorial.

In this last step, we will make our sounds and most importantly, make them compatible with ZEQ2-Lite.

Isn't the file format enough to be played in ZEQ2-Lite ?



Well, not really. You have a high probability of failing the import in ZEQ2-Lite just with what we did so far, it can lead to the issues reported in the 1st step. But again, we will see that in a very court period, just be a bit more patient, okay ?

Now, we will meet our little audio editing program named Audacity.

Let's just skip the installation part again..

Once it is installed, we will drag your audio file in the executable and let's begin the serious things.

As I said at the beginning, I will spare you the details.

So you normally have two streams of audio, which tells it is in stereo.

What if I only have one ?



It's perfect !

ZEQ2-Lite can't read stereo audios. If you keep it like that, the sound just won't play in game.

To make it mono, go in the tab "Track", and click "Stereo track to mono".

First problem fixed !

Next thing, is to set the sample format to 16bits without which your sounds will play in a weird way..

Click the little black arrow at the left of the screen, nearby the file's name, then go at "set sample format" and select 16bits.

Second problem fixed. Very Happy

Now I'm not really sure about this, but I think that few frequencies are accepted by ZEQ2-Lite, but just to be sure, we are going to set it to 44100Hz (100% working, I use it every time ).

Just go in Track --> Resample, and select 44100Hz.


NOOOOO, I failed to click the right thing!! D:



No worries, you can undo your errors with ctrl + z.

Your sound is now well set for ZEQ2-Lite, BUT it is not yet exported.

Most of the time, you will want only a part of the whole sound, just select in the stream the range of audio you want and go to File-->Export selected audio, put the name you want and if, for example, the audio was already in ogg, put ogg as the export format, same if it was a wav (wav to wav) (to avoid unnecessary conversions, decreasing the quality).

You now have the sound you wanted, and it should be normally working in ZEQ2-Lite.

Don't hesitate to post if you have a question (I will try to answer, as most as I can..), and make some awesome sounds !!!

Shenku RiO Incarnate View user's profile Send private message

Reply with quote Monday, July 27, 2015

Shouldn't this be in the Learning Forum, since that's what it's there for...?

Eagle The Purpose View user's profile Send private message

Reply with quote Monday, July 27, 2015

Only moderators can post there. Posting it here is kind of like a "wait for admin approval". Very Happy

Edit: Thanks for moving it. Smile

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