~ ArmA 3 Sound Modding 101 ~

[LtShadow 41]

Right, so with the release of Eden (or every stable update) comes new problems. I've started to notice the falloff/fallout distance for the aircraft sounds start fading wayyy to close to the player.  The point in which the game fades the audio from the player is working fine and as intended (for now), however the sound samples muffle from the player at roughly ~400-500 meters.  Is there a new audio classification we need to define in the config to set the falloff distance/muffle point?  It seems like the game has a really strong high-pass or low-pass filter at the moment and is driving me crazy.

 

Also, I noticed when I just started working on the F-22 sounds again that the audio files were near to completely mute unless I cranked them to db30 and above, or at least "30" in the volume parameters.  It seems as though the only sound files that were not mute (completely opposite) were the DistantPlaneOut and the Start-up sound samples.  The config is a direct copy from the current working F-16C sound mod I just released, not too sure what's going on.  The F-16 is now showing signs of volume decrease each time I start the game...  :wacko:

 

Any help would be amazingly helpful and enlightening! 

 

:D

[laxemann 1673]

Right, so with the release of Eden (or every stable update) comes new problems. I've started to notice the falloff/fallout distance for the aircraft sounds start fading wayyy to close to the player.  The point in which the game fades the audio from the player is working fine and as intended (for now), however the sound samples muffle from the player at roughly ~400-500 meters.  Is there a new audio classification we need to define in the config to set the falloff distance/muffle point?  It seems like the game has a really strong high-pass or low-pass filter at the moment and is driving me crazy.

 

Also, I noticed when I just started working on the F-22 sounds again that the audio files were near to completely mute unless I cranked them to db30 and above, or at least "30" in the volume parameters.  It seems as though the only sound files that were not mute (completely opposite) were the DistantPlaneOut and the Start-up sound samples.  The config is a direct copy from the current working F-16C sound mod I just released, not too sure what's going on.  The F-16 is now showing signs of volume decrease each time I start the game...  :wacko:

 

Any help would be amazingly helpful and enlightening! 

 

:D

 

Yup, there indeed is a lowpass filter applied. I didn't look into vehicle configs yet, but the "standard" attenuation config cuts the treble of at a really short distance already.

[xxgetbuck123 945]

Yea that is definitely one thing I've noticed. Vehicle sounds get cut off way too quick, I can't hear my jet beyond at least 3km or so despite having the audible range set to 8km. My other problem is that I still need to figure out what High and Low pass filters actually are haha, google seems to give me some hardcore complex answer.  

[LtShadow 41]

Yup, there indeed is a lowpass filter applied. I didn't look into vehicle configs yet, but the "standard" attenuation config cuts the treble of at a really short distance already.

Thanks Axe, when you get the chance could you do some investigating? I would myself but I wouldn't know what to look for. I tried digging into the air pbo files but couldn't see any extra definition for the Low pass filter in any config (from what I saw).

Buck, the low pass filter removes treble beyond a certain point (muffles) and the high pass filter removes the treble (not sure what word to use for that). Audacity has both filters, mess around with them for fun to get an idea of what they do! :)

Hope we find a work around soon. Thanks all.

[laxemann 1673]

Thanks Axe, when you get the chance could you do some investigating? I would myself but I wouldn't know what to look for. I tried digging into the air pbo files but couldn't see any extra definition for the Low pass filter in any config (from what I saw).

Buck, the low pass filter removes treble beyond a certain point (muffles) and the high pass filter removes the treble (not sure what word to use for that). Audacity has both filters, mess around with them for fun to get an idea of what they do! :)

Hope we find a work around soon. Thanks all.

 

 

In the sounds_f.pbo, there is an entry called cfgSoundGlobals.

It contains:

defaultDistanceFilter = "defaultDistanceFreqAttenuationFilter";

You'd have to change the global attenuation curve in order to change the heli issue - I've done this with the (unreleased) new DynaSound version.

 

 

class cfgDistanceFilters
{
    class DS_defaultDistanceFilter
    {
        type = "lowPassFilter";
        minCutoffFrequency = 150;
        qFactor = 1;
        innerRange = 400;
        range = 2600;
        powerFactor = 32;
    };
};

class cfgSoundGlobals
{
    defaultDistanceFilter = "DS_defaultDistanceFilter";
};

[megagoth1702 251]

Right, so with the release of Eden (or every stable update) comes new problems. I've started to notice the falloff/fallout distance for the aircraft sounds start fading wayyy to close to the player.  The point in which the game fades the audio from the player is working fine and as intended (for now), however the sound samples muffle from the player at roughly ~400-500 meters.  Is there a new audio classification we need to define in the config to set the falloff distance/muffle point?  It seems like the game has a really strong high-pass or low-pass filter at the moment and is driving me crazy.

 

Also, I noticed when I just started working on the F-22 sounds again that the audio files were near to completely mute unless I cranked them to db30 and above, or at least "30" in the volume parameters.  It seems as though the only sound files that were not mute (completely opposite) were the DistantPlaneOut and the Start-up sound samples.  The config is a direct copy from the current working F-16C sound mod I just released, not too sure what's going on.  The F-16 is now showing signs of volume decrease each time I start the game...  :wacko:

 

Any help would be amazingly helpful and enlightening! 

 

:D

Post your config!

 

Lax already explained the rest about the filters. You can build your own. Be aware though that you change the audio system for the whole game this way. It would be nice to just be able to add a custom distanceFreqAttenuationFilter to a specific vehicle but I am not sure this is possible at the moment.

 

For experimentation's sake: try lowering the powerFactor value, default is 2, try that.

 

Low/High pass filters:

 

[LtShadow 41]

 

In the sounds_f.pbo, there is an entry called cfgSoundGlobals.

It contains:

defaultDistanceFilter = "defaultDistanceFreqAttenuationFilter";

You'd have to change the global attenuation curve in order to change the heli issue - I've done this with the (unreleased) new DynaSound version.

 

 

class cfgDistanceFilters
{
    class DS_defaultDistanceFilter
    {
        type = "lowPassFilter";
        minCutoffFrequency = 150;
        qFactor = 1;
        innerRange = 400;
        range = 2600;
        powerFactor = 32;
    };
};

class cfgSoundGlobals
{
    defaultDistanceFilter = "DS_defaultDistanceFilter";
};

 

Awesome, yeah hopefully there is soon a way to independently define the effects per object in the scene - that would be great.  Could you shed some light on how exactly I would implement that into my sound mods and what each line does so I know which values to change and mess with?

 

 

Post your config!

 

Lax already explained the rest about the filters. You can build your own. Be aware though that you change the audio system for the whole game this way. It would be nice to just be able to add a custom distanceFreqAttenuationFilter to a specific vehicle but I am not sure this is possible at the moment.

 

For experimentation's sake: try lowering the powerFactor value, default is 2, try that.

 

Low/High pass filters:

 

 

Alright, here's a pastebin of the F-22's config I'm working on...  http://pastebin.com/ghGyVxuu

 

Forgive the mess, I'm just trying to figure out why the things are happening the way they are.  :P

[xxgetbuck123 945]

Post your config!

 

Lax already explained the rest about the filters. You can build your own. Be aware though that you change the audio system for the whole game this way. It would be nice to just be able to add a custom distanceFreqAttenuationFilter to a specific vehicle but I am not sure this is possible at the moment.

 

For experimentation's sake: try lowering the powerFactor value, default is 2, try that.

 

Low/High pass filters:

 

 

That video thankyou! 

[megagoth1702 251]

Hey, sorry for not being there for a while because ... Stuff. :)

 

Alright, here's a pastebin of the F-22's config I'm working on...  http://pastebin.com/ghGyVxuu
 
Forgive the mess, I'm just trying to figure out why the things are happening the way they are.   :P

Alright. Finally took a look at your config. Let's try things.

I see volume/gain values like 40, 60 and I get the thought that the person doing this has no idea what he is actually doing in an attempt to get the sound louder so some basics first, no offense. :) Just making sure.

The first value after the sound path is the sound GAIN. It's a multiplier for the sound's samples, simple as that. What's not so simple is that the value can be given in dB values or plain numbers. Both are not the same! volume = 2; is not the same as volume = db+2. To calculate these values I used to use this website. But since Arma3 supports dB values natively in mostly all places (except for soundShaders in Eden update, but it works in DEV Branch) I don't bother calculating anymore because any sane person that works with audio prefers dB anyway.

volume = db6 is the same as volume = db+6. If you want something quieter, use db-X. db0 means 0dBFS, play the sound's samples at the same gain as it is in the sound file.

 

In the digital world of audio - Arma's db0 is 0dB FULL SCALE (dBFS) which is the LOUDEST signal a digital system can produce, all values are 1111111111111111, hard clipping, distortion, destruction. Bad. This means that if we push the gain of our sounds further than db0 (by using values like db+6 for example) we are "ramming" it against the ceiling for louder, but distorted sound. Luckily in Arma3 there is a so called "limiter" that, if it detects sounds that go over 0dBFS, LOWERS the OVERALL output gain that goes to the speakers so that distortion is kept to a minimum. This has a side effect of all other sounds becoming quieter except for the loudest sound in the scene. This might be desirable in some scenarios BUT limiters are compicated devices and many limiters have different ways of working. We don't know exactly how Arma 3's limiter works (attack, release times etc.) so I suggest staying clear of it by using the exact same values that Bohemia Interactive uses in their configs as a maximum reference unless you exactly know what you're doing. They already push it a bit with values like 1.77 (+5dB) but it's not as big of an issue as a value of 60 (600% = db+15). +6dB is TWICE the gain so you can imagine that dB+15 is quite a jump.

 

Okay. :)

 

The major culprit here are the curves for the distance filter (muffles sound over distance) and the volume drop off (makes sound quieter over distance). The curves are too steep for general gameplay which is why people will tend to "boost" their volume values which results in crazy loud sounds at close distance. 

 

If you are "just" doing small modifications not based on sound (for example weapons, vehicles etc) I would not touch the filter curve. But if you absolutely have to, copy Laxe's values into your vehicles config:

class cfgDistanceFilters
{
    class DS_defaultDistanceFilter
    {
        type = "lowPassFilter";
        minCutoffFrequency = 150;
        qFactor = 1;
        innerRange = 400;
        range = 2600;
        powerFactor = 32;
    };
};

class cfgSoundGlobals
{
    defaultDistanceFilter = "DS_defaultDistanceFilter";
};

Don't copy it into the class cfgVehicles block, put it "outside" if you know what I mean... All configurations within arma happen inside "class cfgXXXX" blocks. The code above belongs OUTSIDE of these.

 

But what you can and SHOULD tweak are the distance values of your sounds. Since the curve that modifies the volume dropoff over distance is SCALED based on your distance values, you should be able to get better results by multiplying your distance values 2x and go on from there. A value of 500 is waaay to small, since the volume drop off curve is very steep.

 

So yeah, get your volume values back to normal levels (!!!! no offense but I really don't like to see sounds being smashed against the limiter like that :P), extend distance a LOT and see what happens, if you absolutely have to, use Laxemann's code from above.

 

And report back with your results! :)

[tpM 478]

Hey guys,

Could someone enlighten me on how these environment tags work in the "volume" part of a sound? For example: volume = "2*(1-interior/1.4)*forest/3";

[megagoth1702 251]

Hey guys,

Could someone enlighten me on how these environment tags work in the "volume" part of a sound? For example: volume = "2*(1-interior/1.4)*forest/3";

Yep.

 

forest, meadows, trees, sea and interior are environmental variables (called controllers by the BIS guys) that go from 0 to 1 depending on where you are on the map. The forest value does not jump quickly from 0 to 1 as soon as you enter a forest, rather it detects you being close to a forest and scales the value up until you are "in". Unfortunately I do not know of a way to display these values in real time so I always end up testing.

 

Interior controller becomes 1 when there is a surface texture called "int_X" below the player.

 

Good:

You can have different sounds at different volmes.

 

Bad:

I can not see a way to guarantee a final value of "1". So if you are in an environment where meadows and forest are both at 0.5 it means both sounds are played at -6dB gain but if you combine them they together do not produce the same level as a single tail played at 0db gain.

 

I am pretty sure you can use these expressions in any soundShader.

[LtShadow 41]

Alright Mega, thanks for all that about the volumes! I know what I'm doing but was getting frustrated that the normal and default values weren't working so I went a little crazy. What's weird is, with those values, they are almost listening volume.... That's what I don't get. Those values on my F16 and ear rape would be sure to follow. Haha. I'm not sure why the audio levels are not matching up properly.

As for the distance filter, I'll give it a shot when I get back from holiday. I'm in Florida and didn't bring my main rig with me. ;)

Anyways, when I get the chance I will be sure to report back once I get home and settled in.

Thanks again!

[Immunoglic 0]

http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=24467

 

in this link . you can see this old (very old ) mod , which add to the MX and Kaybar 7.62 ! ... what's the problem ?! simple ! .. This mod does not work well , because as expected the sound of the gun , the old sound !! the first ov vanilla first sound ( I think) rifle mx ... this is the prblm ! when using this mod , see the weapon to shoot, but no sound !! ..im seriously desperate , because im looking for a mod that has the ability to get out of shell casings from the rifle MX !!!!!! , And this is the only , ONLY mod to allow this .. any ideas : ' (?? (sorry for bad english ) ... please !! T_T

[tpM 478]

Hi,

I have a bit of trouble.

 

I've created a sound config for a new weapon based on BI's values, but certain sounds simply don't play. There are no errors, no missing files, they simply just never appear. I'm almost sure that this has to do something with the soundShadersLimit / limitation params, but had no luck finding the exact cause. Only two sounds playing: the shot sound and the "meadows" reverb, even though I have trees, forests and everything else configured and nearby... I've tried erasing these limitations, raising and lowering them, but only the same two sounds get triggered, and I'm out of ideas.

[megagoth1702 251]

Hi,

I have a bit of trouble.

 

I've created a sound config for a new weapon based on BI's values, but certain sounds simply don't play. There are no errors, no missing files, they simply just never appear. I'm almost sure that this has to do something with the soundShadersLimit / limitation params, but had no luck finding the exact cause. Only two sounds playing: the shot sound and the "meadows" reverb, even though I have trees, forests and everything else configured and nearby... I've tried erasing these limitations, raising and lowering them, but only the same two sounds get triggered, and I'm out of ideas.

I need to look at your config. :)

[tpM 478]

It's me again. :D

 

My problem now is that doesn't seem to matter how insane values I define in a rangeCurve, further away the samples still play at a very low volume. The higher volume I give to them, the more they become distorted, but their volume stays the same - very low.

 

I would like to keep their original volume and only loose higher frequencies with distance - any ideas what and where to define or add to achieve this?

 

currently, it looks like this (i mixed in the original sample for comparison)
 

range = 1700;

rangeCurve[] = {{0, 0}, {70, 0}, {100, 3}, {1700, 4}};

I've spent the last two hours tweaking these values, but the sounds stayed at the same volume - they only got distorted and compressed more.

[megagoth1702 251]

It's me again.  :D

 

My problem now is that doesn't seem to matter how insane values I define in a rangeCurve, further away the samples still play at a very low volume. The higher volume I give to them, the more they become distorted, but their volume stays the same - very low.

 

I would like to keep their original volume and only loose higher frequencies with distance - any ideas what and where to define or add to achieve this?

 

currently, it looks like this (i mixed in the original sample for comparison)

 

range = 1700;

rangeCurve[] = {{0, 0}, {70, 0}, {100, 3}, {1700, 4}};

I've spent the last two hours tweaking these values, but the sounds stayed at the same volume - they only got distorted and compressed more.

Well that's because the SoundSet volumeCurve is the one defining the final amplitude of the sounds within a soundSet.

 

Why do you want the sounds to keep their volume? It would create an abrupt stop in sound at their maximum distance. Like a 0 or 1 situation. You walk 1 meter and you hear a sound, you walk another one away and you don't hear it at all. That is not desirable. is it?

I guess you are still using Bohemia's volume curves. I actually put them all into a document and visualized them, which helps really understand that most sounds have lost MOST of their amplitude after 50% of distance. If it helps check this video, watch in fullscreen and you'll be able to see the curves with their names. I suggest either using a different curve or extending the sound distance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-4in8tqFC0

 

The only solution for using different volumeCurves & distanceFilters for different sounds is using a different soundSet with a different volumeCurve and assign that Set to your asset but keep in mind that every SoundSet is one voice in the audio system and if you want to keep your sounds performance smooth & sexy you want to keep soundSet amount at a minimum. I would not go beyond 3 soundSets per weapon. I personally only use two, like Bohemia.

 

Also I am against using values higher than 1 in rangeCurve if the same effect can be achieved by using the system properly. If proper use however does not get the result, feel free haha. :D

[tpM 478]

^Oh, thanks man, I owe you two beers now. :D

[xxgetbuck123 945]

G'day everyone

 

Ok, got myself a fine little issue. My jet sounds don't work any more since the 1.60 update. I haven't changed any config, sound file or mod file structure however they just don't work any more. Maybe one of you fine gentlemen could have a look at my config perhaps, cause I can't find anything wrong it and neither can Mikeros pack PBO. 

 

Cheers, btw the Audio on Tanoa is fuckin brilliant! 

[hnchmc 125]

G'day everyone

 

Ok, got myself a fine little issue. My jet sounds don't work any more since the 1.60 update. I haven't changed any config, sound file or mod file structure however they just don't work any more. Maybe one of you fine gentlemen could have a look at my config perhaps, cause I can't find anything wrong it and neither can Mikeros pack PBO. 

 

Cheers, btw the Audio on Tanoa is fuckin brilliant! 

 

Same thing here. NightIntruder I believe said that audio that is 44Khz is no longer supported, instead we must downgrade to 22Khz. Is this true? Anyone have any ideas? Would be greatly appreciated  :)

[xxgetbuck123 945]

Same thing here. NightIntruder I believe said that audio that is 44Khz is no longer supported, instead we must downgrade to 22Khz. Is this true? Anyone have any ideas? Would be greatly appreciated  :)

 

Managed to fix it, used the BI Addon Builder rather than Mikeros tools and it worked, all of the sounds and I dont even know what Khz they are haha.

 

Edit: Question towards Mega and Lax, how can I use Sound Shaders and Sets effectively for jets? I've been looking at some examples and the Wiki however I'm still a tad confused at what they actually do and whether they can bring anything to the table when it comes to jets. 

[megagoth1702 251]

Hey guys,

 

try using wav instead of wss for now. So just use "path\to\sound.wav" and test. OGG also works and is very good on memory. The only problem is a tiny tiny delay before playback which is a problem for guns but not for vehicles.

 

I hope you guys are using Mikero's tools (get the latest versions) to generate WSS files... There are some ANCIENT wav-wss converters that I don't trust at all.

 

@soundShaders for jets: The new configuration method only works for weapons, sonic cracks and explosions. No need to think about it for vehicles.

[xxgetbuck123 945]

G'day once again 

 

With all your might and knowledge on sounds in Arma, is there a way to drop the dropoff rate of sounds on aircraft/or any vehicle for that matter? The video below (21sec) will explain it perfectly with an annotation. 

 

 

As you can tell from the video, the sound goes from that classic jet roar to the deep growl in the space of a second or so. It's annoying me a bit since realistically it shouldn't drop off so suddenly, it should be a gradual decline in sound. I'm wanting to carry that classic jet roar on for a bit longer and further away from the player but I'm not sure how do such thing. Any help would be great! 

 

EDIT: Also when it comes to the 'playSound' parameter, do I set it out like this...? Or however a mod directory is set out. 

playSound "mod\file\file\sound" 

Cheers lads

[hnchmc 125]

Thanks megagoth1702! Will give that a try when I can!

[megagoth1702 251]

So. You have created an awesome weapon sound and want to hear how it sounds in full auto, like it's fired by other human players? Especially at distances? How the HELL do you get this stupid AI to fire a nice, long burst?
 
Well, you do it like this. Thanks to kju and jokoho482 I now have this little script that forces the AI to fire every X seconds.
 
What you need:
-find out the reloadTime parameter of the weapon you are modding, this says how much time passes until another bullet is fired when the trigger is held down
-a HOSTILE unit named "AI_Shooter"

 

Put this code into a file in your mission folder, name that file "let_ai_shoot.sqf". In your mission create two repeatable radio triggers (alpha and bravo). You are going to use the first trigger to start the AI's firing, the 2nd trigger to stop it.

letAiShoot = true;

[] spawn
{
while {letAiShoot} do
{
	//how many bullets should the AI fire? in this case its 10
	_burstLength = 10;
	//what is the reloadTime of the weapon? find it in the weapon'S firemodes
	_reloadTime = 0.056;

	for "_i" from 0 to _burstLength do
	{
		_currentWeapon = currentWeapon AI_Shooter;
		_weaponModes = getArray (configFile/"CfgWeapons"/_currentWeapon/"modes");

		_desiredWeapon = _weaponModes select 0;

		AI_Shooter forceWeaponFire [_currentWeapon,_desiredWeapon];

		// reloadTime here
		sleep _reloadTime;

		AI_Shooter setWeaponReloadingTime [AI_Shooter,_currentWeapon,0];
		AI_Shooter setVehicleAmmo 1;
	};

	//how many seconds to wait until next burst?
	sleep 2;
};
};

//if you don't want the AI to aim at the player, just comment out this following block by using /* at the start and */ at the end of the block
[] spawn
{
	while {letAiShoot} do
	{
		AI_Shooter reveal [player,4];
		AI_Shooter commandTarget player;
		AI_Shooter doTarget player;
		AI_Shooter lookAt (getPos player);
		AI_Shooter doWatch (getPos player);
		sleep 0.05;
	};
};

In the alpha trigger you put: bamBamBam = [] execVM "let_ai_shoot.sqf"

In the bravo trigger you put: letAiShoot = 0;

 

Sometimes the default AI "shooting frequency" takes over, in that case you can just hide behind a wall or something since the AI won't shoot you if it can't see you BUT my forceWeaponFire command forces it to shoot anyway.

 

Here is what it looks like in action.

 

Enjoy.