[Sounds] Sound Modification

Livings · Post by **Livings** » 2008-03-31 22:47

I talked to one of the [R-Dev] teams on the server(I don't remember which one) about a sound mod I was going to release for Vanilla Battlfield 2. I released a sound mod for it in the past, and the public wanted me to make another. I promised them I did, but been caught up in work and its been like 6-10 months now sense then. And I recently started catching up with it. It's taking a while because other people requested sounds for other games, and I'm been working on a new method of sound editing to better demonstrate quality sounds with a more war/battlefield feel.

YouTube - Battlefield 2 Sound Demo 1

This video shows a sound example of what I've been up to. I'm not satisfied with the echoes, yet, but I am satisfied with the shots. The video quality isn't very good, the sounds are much richer ingame. All the sounds are real-recorded. I recorded them on gun-ranges, with friends.
I'm working on this sound mod, while working on sound mods for other games, for other request so it's taking awhile.
I'm planning on changing Jet, Helicopter, Explosion, Gun, and Vehicle sounds; and a more richer version of the Supersonic bullet crack displayed on other games/mods.

Dr_Tubesteak · Post by **Dr_Tubesteak** » 2008-04-01 05:26

I like it, almost makes me want to put on ear defenders before I play .

Are these mono sounds or stereo?

Also any chance of hearing the sounds from a distance?

Regarding other sounds, I personally would like to see are more sharper sounds for explosions like the grenades and C4.

Mora · Post by **Mora** » 2008-04-01 06:46

I don't want to complain but everything sounds a little the same.

Post by **Mosquill** » 2008-04-01 10:47

Don't want to complain either, but I hear a sound delay. 100-200ms I think. Maybe it's just poor quality, I don't know. And most of the guns (especially SVD) sound kinda dull.

Livings · Post by **Livings** » 2008-04-01 11:47

To Dr_Tubesteak, they're Stereo for First Person POV; Mono for Third Person POV. Vanilla Battlefield 2 doesn't originally have "Distant" gunshots; but I did record distant gunshots. I don't know how to mod it in; it would work for PR. I'll add the grenade and c4 explosions; but I always like to add the guns first; though I will preform your request.

To Mora, many to most guns sound very similar or almost exact. A gun that shoots the same exact round as another weapon is gonna sound exact to very similar. Though in all, all guns make that same "boom", some heavier, others lighter, some unique.

To Mosquill, I don't know; I don't see the sound delay, it may be because of the video. The quality didn't come out good. Fraps likes to randomly determine things. It's just the echo on the SVD. I'm not satisfied with the echoes, I'm going to change them. I don't like making the echoes so strong, because different locations present different things. And I like to express the sounds of the bang other then the echoes, because it demonstrates more of the feel of "War".

DeltaFart · Post by **DeltaFart** » 2008-04-01 12:56

I'll watch this when I get back home, should be cool though

MrD · Post by **MrD** » 2008-04-01 16:23

Youtube hammers the sound quality down in frequency and channel. You might be best uploading the video to rapidshare or similar to share it about the community, then you can up it in pure form (rar it up as best as possible to save bandwidth)

Mora · Post by **Mora** » 2008-04-01 16:51

This can also help YouTube - Battlefield 2 Sound Demo 1 -&fmt=18

Dr_Tubesteak · Post by **Dr_Tubesteak** » 2008-04-02 05:24

PR already has "distant" sounds incorporated in the latest build. Check in the objects/objects_server and look under:

effects\weapons\muzzleflashes\emitters\

If you open up the e_Muzz_M4 for example, and open e_muzz_m4.tweak they've applied it too ObjectTemplate.activeSafe Sound S_e_muzz_m4_Start.

It works quite nicely. Now they just need to add it to the rockets, pkm etc!

Livings · Post by **Livings** » 2008-04-03 01:09

I'm having some trouble with the "Material" folder. With all the impact explosions. Like C4, Handgrenades, Arillery, Tank-Shells...
The folder won't override, when I add it to the mod folder with the gun sounds. I don't know if the Project Reality team had the same problem? Which is why they didn't change the explosion sounds?
Any help?

Post by **Jaymz** » 2008-04-03 03:46

Livings, it was me that you spoke to. I remember

The way we coded the distant sounds is kind of tricky to get right. We used the muzzle flash effects and attached the distant sounds to them, then it took two releases to get the crossover distance right(Improved it in 0.75), but that's just touching the surface of the sea of problems we ran into. Worked out in the end though

With regards to these sounds, it's impossible to judge the quality because of how you recorded the in game footage and the fact that it's youtub'd. Youtube converts all audio to a 64kbps Mono file so it's the last place you ever want to show off audio work. I used it to show off the 0.7 distant sounds in the Dev Journal but I was only showing the fact that we coded them and had them working.

So, did you record the weapons? If so, what gear did you use?

Mora · Post by **Mora** » 2008-04-03 13:38

Actually in the &fmt=18 mode the audio quality is 44.1KHz 128 kbps Stereo

Livings · Post by **Livings** » 2008-04-03 15:07

[R-Dev]Jaymz, I recorded the sounds using a various of microphones, that I own, and from a friend. My friend likes to record music and rap demos, because he wants a future in that category. I used MAudio and Sony Preamps. Everything varies... Not all mics pic up the actual sound; some get very distorted, some pic up the actual sound just not the loudness of it, others pick up a very loud sound, but not something you'd want to hear; and lots of mics have different quality levels. I recorded them at different gun ranges, environment locations, distances; so I can look at them from there, and determine which would be best for the source I'm adding it to. Its a expensive process, so if you don't have a decent income it'll take some time.
I think it's best to record them in an outside location, with a more open-range. And I recommend Studio microphones; That are used for recording music...etc...

For my questions; do you guys know how to override the "material" folder, with the impact sounds?

Dr_Tubesteak · Post by **Dr_Tubesteak** » 2008-04-03 23:41

You should be able to do it quite easily. What I do is open the compressed file with a program like WINRAR or in my case 7-zip.

Then I just drag and drop the files that I want into the applicable folder. It should work.

If not drag the folder out, and confirm that it's not set to read-only by checking the properties. If it is, uncheck add the files and then drag them back in.

[R-Dev]Jaymz I assume that more distant sounds are being added to the other effects?

Inspired by what's been done I've been playing around with adding distant sounds to the PKM, sniper, rockets and 25mm.

Livings · Post by **Livings** » 2008-04-04 02:52

Dr_Tubesteak, I do that. But, it doesn't override the system... When you add the impact folder into the .rar or .zip; and replace the in-sounds with your own, nothing overrides. It's the same sounds from Battlefield 2.
I'm thinking Project Reality team had the same problem, because they didn't change the explosions.

Post by **Jaymz** » 2008-04-04 03:14

Livings wrote: And I recommend Studio microphones; That are used for recording music...etc...

Don't worry mate, I've exchanged e-mails with Charles Maynes in the past

. Don't know if you know of him or not but he's considered the world renowned expert on military field recording (the COD games and the film Black Hawk Down are some of his credits). In terms of myself, I'll be graduating from a recording arts degree in a month. So some gear purchasing is definitely on the list

Livings wrote:I'm thinking Project Reality team had the same problem, because they didn't change the explosions.

Actually we did, I gave them an outdoor-style delay which they don't have in vBF2. Makes them sound more ambient. They're in the common_client zip.

Dr_Tubesteak wrote:[R-Dev]Jaymz I assume that more distant sounds are being added to the other effects?

Each calibre has it's own distant sound. 5.56, 7.62, 50cal, 9mm.

Dr_Tubesteak · Post by **Dr_Tubesteak** » 2008-04-04 04:51

I noticed that. Are you working on adding additional sounds to the autocannons, sniper rifles, rockets etc?

Living I'll check mine out to see if I can add in a different sound.

Edit: Works for me. Just a simple drag and drop and it overwrote the PR files.

Livings · Post by **Livings** » 2008-04-09 06:40

I looked in the PR Common_Client and I saw you guys did change the explosions; sorry for doubting I guess. Didn't sound like it, ingame. I did notice the slight difference in the explosions.

I figured out the problem with the material folder and stuff.
I had to make another folder called "Common_sounds.zip"
And put this line in the Clientarchives, "fileManager.mountArchive mods/Common_sound.zip Common"

Got to have the Objects and Common sounds/folders seperate or it doesn't work properly. It works fine now. I'll try to test the explosions out some more and get some videos up demonstrating. I'll also get a USMC gun video up. Hopefully better quality then the MEC version.

Livings · Post by **Livings** » 2008-04-12 09:25

YouTube - Battlefield 2 Sound Demo 2

Another short demonstration video. Sorry about the quality again. It's explained in the video description.
I am now satisfied with the Echoes; about the Gun Bangs; idk yet... I was satisfied, but I think they don't fit for Battlefield 2. I think I may have to use the other recordings from a different mic.

And, I don't know the results on this sound mod yet; because I got request from Darkest Hour mod team from Red Orchestra for the sounds for their mod. And I've been sick lately, while slowly working on those.
But I'll try to get more videos with explosions and stuff when I get the chance.

Post by **marcoelnk** » 2008-04-12 09:57

really nice !
i especially like the M16 although i cant say if any these sounds are better than the the current ones...I like them all