CF Sound Fonts by Novastar & CF OWNERS!! :)

[pipster79]

i tried normalizing, everything sounded good on the pc, but in the saber swings r way to quiet, hum is good all the way through.
the odd sound isnt a click or pop or anything like that, you will hear what it is when you play it, kinda goes loud weird hum for half a second before the poweroff. gonna zip it all up and mail it to you

[Novastar]

No, Pipster... you must first try the "compressor/expander" utility BEFORE normalizing--in this case.

Sometimes, "normalizing" a sound form will not work ideally, because ONE small portion of the sound "hits the top" (+1dB) and the rest of the waveform is well out of that range... such as +0.4dB or whatever.

So... using the compressor/expander properly will effectively "cut down" overly high portions of the waveforms, now allowing you to "normalize" again... which should be better overall.

It's very difficult to explain. I've had to do this sort of thing by hand and with tools. By hand is best when working with vocals--ala BOP I, II, III...

For those having Pipster's problem... read help files or study up on "compressor/expander" functions/tools.

EDIT: It's fine if you want to mail it though! I'll see what I can help with... but I'd prefer to help YOU to figure out what needs to be done rather than to do it for you...

[pipster79]

just sent it to you, have a listen and let meknow what you think, and if you can point me in the right direcion. thanks

oh and ill look into that compres/expander. any good places to read about that?

[Novastar]

As you probably know, I e-mailed you on this separately.

Good sound tools that will explain different tools/algorithms, are Goldwave, Audacity (freeware/trial stuff) and naturally expensive audio software, lol.

You can also adjust volume levels by hand instead of going the compressor/expander way, but... you have to know what you're doing, and it's slower going.

For people in general who are mixing stuff for CF:

1. Keep your original sound files separate... with NO mixing.
2. Save them as high-quality .wav files... you do not need them in stereo, but... whatever you like.
3. In general, clashes and swings are best "topping" out at 1dB and the overall waveform being around that volume level.
4. In general, the hum sound should be at least 5 seconds or longer, and "top out" at something like 0.6dB or 0.7dB. The loop should be SEAMLESS. If you can "tell" it's looping... abandon it, fix it, or do SOMEthing... it will help a ton.

When mixing the hum sound into swings and clashes--you MAY need to slightly reduce the hum volume in order to essentially give more "weight" to the swing or clash. Not always... but... it can help. A reduction of -10% hum volume is fine, but... not much more than that. I recommend avoiding volume changes on the hum noise if they can be avoided.

When mixing the hum sound into the poweron/off sounds... try finding the right time to "fade in" and "fade out" the hum, and at what gradation (how quickly the fade is). This is different for every on/off sound.

One of the easiest sounds to make "perfect" is the transition from any sound (except poweroff) into the hum sound. What you want to do is use the last XX seconds of the hum sound (mixed with the clash/swing/lockup/etc.) that seamlessly loops back into the beginning of the hum sound. This means that if a clash, swing, poweron or other sound COMPLETELY FINISHES playing... you will *always* have a seamless transition to the hum.

No guarantee can be made (as I mentioned earlier) regarding how "interruptive" the sounds are for one another. But, DUH... this is the FUN of CF! And besides, usually when a clash interrupts another sound--you will hardly ever notice a pop or click... since the sound will essentially "cover" or mask the crossing error.

Lots involved in good sound design for CF... especially with that hum sound. Believe me... you want a NICE loop for that. Sloppy ones produce sloppy-sounding transitions.

[Kamurah]

A bit to add here if I may...

In a previous life, I was a recording mastering engineer (I offer that as a caveat so anyone reading won't immediately think I'm off my rocker ).

The tiny speakers we have in these sabers are not designed for full spectrum reproduction (20hz - 20khz) (duh)...and are basically band limited from the 200-300hz (lower) to 4-6k (upper) with a 'sweet spot' at about the 900hz-2k range.

This is actually ok because most of the clashes, blasts, and saber swings are heavy in 1-2k info; however, I would caution anyone that is trying to get any kind of deep bassy growl for a hum is going to have problems. In fact, I would recommend when getting your hum sounds together, make sure you include some higher frequency info mixed into the hum to make sure it will register on the speakers.

A good example of this is Novastar's 'Blackstar' font. The hum actually has a lot more low frequency info than what is heard on the speaker...and what you do hear (primarily) is the upper frequency info that is blended in.

Any prospective soundfont makers, I highly recommend using a good spectrum analyzer for your fonts, and also a nice 4 or 5 band eq to sculpt out the best notches for these speakers.

If you have the capability to patch in one of the speakers to your computer, it will help out immensely when mixing.

Cheers

[Novastar]

Kamurah is definitely correct here... bass is generally associated with larger speakers that can push out (and in) "larger" soundwaves... which are essentially longer peaks and troughs in the soundform, and... you get the "thump, thump" stuff.

28mm speakers and so forth... uh--no way. They ain't playin' any of that. Why? They physically cannot create such a large wave... too small! Sometimes it doesn't even matter the quality... you just can't get "uber" bass from a 28mm.

As Kamurah noticed (thanks, man! it means a lot that someone checked it out!!) I actually took this into consideration with the Blackstar font, and did my best to emphasize the sound range that would be "more likely to be heard" in the kinds of speakers I know that MOST saber geekers would use... and I sort of leave the bass alone since it doesn't matter and won't play...

HOWEVER... *I* personally have some 36mm and 45mm speakers that fit in the Flange III sabers that can actually produce some of the bass sounds in a limited fashion. The 45mm speaker was the best for bass--in fact, it almost produces all of the soundwaves your ears can hear. Problem is... it died a while ago, and I need to replace it!! D'OH!! So anyway, I left the bass in on my fonts (to cater to NICE speakers)... but... checked to make sure the sound was still "good" WITHOUT the uber-bass rumble.

There are numerous ways to "simulate" what your sound will "read" like, but... a simple and easy way--is to temporarily use an equalizer and "cut out" certain portions of frequencies. Namely... the BASS-like ones. For example, 60Hz to 200Hz is a good start. Remove 'em. Listen to it. Does it REALLY jack the sound up? Your sound needs more work.

It wasn't easy, but there is only so much I can do. I don't have a bunch of sound tools, nor was I ever a sound engineer in a previous, present or future life!!! So, certainly there must be people out there who can do more... only question is... who will?

Oh... another way is... heck--just sacrifice an "example" saber speaker, hook it up to a mini or whatever jack... plug THAT into your computer's headphone jack or whatever... and there. No changes needed--THAT is what it will sound like. Problem is... who wants to waste a good speaker? I prefer to just drop the frequencies and then hit "undo", heheh.

Anyhow. Yeah. A lot of golddarn work.

[pipster79]

Thought i would let everyone know how my sound font is comming.
Totaly scrapped origonal font i was working on, and started from scratch. I've been working on it now for a lil over an hour, and nearly done. Only have 2 files to change/fix up, the power on needs to be a bit louder and the power off is way to short. Going to rework the poweron and probably use a different poweroff.
I'm really pleased so far with this sound font. Have tried it in my saber and other then those 2 sounds it sounds great I'm especialy pleased with the hum i have selected, its one i have wanted to hear in a sound font for some time, but no one has used it yet.
Anyhow... I should have the font done some time tonight, in the next hour hopefuly.
Oh by the way, its in 8bit format since i'm using v1.2 but it can be easily converted to 16 bit for those who have newer versions

note to those who want to make saber fonts. Cool Edit Pro v2, is a great utility, makes font making very easy , only thing i dont like about it, is that it doesnt have crossfade for mixing. so for mixing hum with poweron and poweroff i use sound forge 9.0c. the rest is made with Cool Edit

[pipster79]

ok, the main font is now done just realized that i should make a blaster, force and blade lockup for those who use these features. Shouldnt take me long...i already have the blade lockup and blaster sounds i want, just need to pick a force sound, and i dont want to use the sound from the game, way over used and i never liked that sound. May use the force push from episode 1 if i can find it

[Novastar]

Great to hear, Pip... looking forward to hearing more with this font.

As to crossfading... well, Goldwave allows it also, but... technically, crossfading is simply manipulating the volume of both clips in order to get the result you want.

When I mix the hum sound with poweron and poweroff, I find that sometimes the result I want will SOLELY come from manually adjusting the volume levels (volume shaping). Sometimes I'll use a sharp "spike" upward or downward... sometimes a swift curve... sometimes something else that is a bit more customized.

The point is--every poweron and poweroff sound is different, so... manually adjusting the mixes is often a good idea to get ideal results.

[pipster79]

im really pleased with the way this one has turned out. Took a bit of tweaking here and there, some trial and error, some testing and retesting. But its pretty much just the way i want it now
I'll send you a copy of the font once i finish the lockup, force and blaster if u want novastar. Always good to here what someone else thinks of ones work