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I want to know if its possible to dig into the sound files of an engine and seperately "turn up" the horn sound, or "turn down" the bell sound on a diesel loco? I have a couple engines with excellent horn sounds, but they're just not mixing in right cause they're too quiet. And the bell in the #4 view is louder than the engine itself in notch-8!! Can this be adjusted? And mixed to the appropiate volume that reflects the real thing?
One method you can try to adjust/mix the various sounds is to place a Volume ( x.x ) statement just above the Trigger(s) statement for the sounds that you are trying to adjust. As far as I know, the number varies anywhere between ( 0.0 ) and ( 1.0 ). I have seen examples of Volume ( 10.0 ), but in my experience, there is no further change in the sound volume above ( 1.0 ).Here is an example using three sound statements from the default GP-38 cab view sound file (gp38cab.sms). Note that I’ve cleaned up the text formatting to make it easier to read.
Stream ( Skip ( **** This stream allows the horn to be played at the same time **** ) Priority ( 6 ) Triggers ( 2 Discrete_Trigger ( 8 StartLoopRelease ( 1 File ("gp_horn1.wav" -1 ) SelectionMethod ( SequentialSelection ) ) ) Discrete_Trigger ( 9 ReleaseLoopReleaseWithJump ( ) ) ) ) Stream ( Skip ( **** This stream allows the bell to be played at the same time **** ) Priority ( 6 ) Triggers ( 2 Discrete_Trigger ( 10 StartLoopRelease ( 1 File ("gp_bell1.wav" -1 ) SelectionMethod ( SequentialSelection ) ) ) Discrete_Trigger ( 11 ReleaseLoopReleaseWithJump ( ) ) ) ) Stream ( Skip ( **** This stream allows the sander to be played at the same time **** ) Priority ( 5 ) Triggers ( 2 Discrete_Trigger ( 4 StartLoopRelease ( 1 File ("gp_sand.wav" -1 ) SelectionMethod ( SequentialSelection ) ) ) Discrete_Trigger ( 5 ReleaseLoopRelease ( ) ) ) )
This is the way Kuju made it, and you will notice that there are no Volume ( x.x ) statements. That means that everything is playing back at full volume, which I believe is ( 1.0 ). If you decided that the sander sound was too loud, you could make it half as loud by adding a volume ( 0.5 ) statement, like this:
Stream ( Skip ( **** This stream allows the sander to be played at the same time **** ) Priority ( 5 ) Volume ( 0.5 ) Triggers ( 2 Discrete_Trigger ( 4 StartLoopRelease ( 1 File ("gp_sand.wav" -1 ) SelectionMethod ( SequentialSelection ) ) ) Discrete_Trigger ( 5 ReleaseLoopRelease ( ) ) ) ) You can place Volume ( x.x ) statements in any streams you need to adjust the volume. Keep in mind that any stream without a Volume ( x.x ) statement will be playing at full volume.There are also some VolumeCurve statements above the lines I’ve used as an example. These VolumeCurve statements are Kuju’s attempt to make the transition between the throttle notches smoother by fading out one power cruise sound while fading in the next one. You can see in the example below where the VolumeCurve will go to (0.0) and come backup for the next throttle notch. You can change any those settings, if you wish, or if you think that the power cruise sound is too loud as a whole, you can place a Volume ( x.x ) statement at the beginning of the Stream (same as you did for the sander sound) to adjust the whole stream.The first number in the CurvePoints lines below is the throttle setting (as a percent) and the number that follow it is the Volume setting. VolumeCurve( Variable2Controlled CurvePoints ( 12 0.000 1.0 0.010 1.0 0.050 0.0 0.150 0.0 0.250 0.85 0.350 0.85 0.450 0.0 0.550 0.0 0.650 1.0 0.750 1.0 0.850 0.0 1.000 0.0 ) Granularity ( 0.05 ) ) ) As always, make a backup of the file before making any changes, just in case you screw up. And the text editing should be done in Wordpad, to preserve the Unicode format.This example is from the gp38cab.sms, which only affects the sound in the #1 cab view. To change the external sounds, you will have to modify the gp38eng.sms file as well.
I looked into the .eng file of of the NALW CNW C42-8 and the only reference to any sound is this line:Sound ( "..\\..\\Common.Snd\\GE_FDL\\alias\\CNW_GEeng.sms" ) ) In the same .eng file for the default gp38 the only sound line is this:Sound ( "GP38Eng.sms" ) ) I dont see a way of adjusting any specific sounds, and nothing that is reletive to what you were descibing. What can I do with this?I want to adjust the C42-8 external horn sound to be louder, and the bell to be quieter, and possibly to boost the engine sound to be more intense at higher notch levels.
First, let me suggest that you take this matter up with NALW. The folks at NALW have demonstrated extreme sensitivity toward their work, and would probably not appreciate me giving advise about modifiying their sound packages.That having been said, I will offer this: if their sound package is similar to the Kuju MSTS designed files, then you should be able to find the CNW_GEeng.sms file in the Common.snd folder (Microsoft Games/Train Simulator/Common.Snd/GE_FDL/alias/CNW_GEeng.sms). If you open (in Wordpad) the file, there should be lines similar to the default gp38eng.sms, and you should be able to add the Volume statement(s). Any modifications that you do will affect all locomotive that alias this file.I will send you my e-mail address by private message, and we can continue this topic off-line.
Actually we don't care what modifications you make for your own personal use. Where we get protective is when you try to publish them with out talking to us 1st. BTW the GE FDL sounds use frequency shifting instead of multiple sound samples to synthesize different throttle settings. In fact there are only 2 discrete prime mover sounds... A base FDL sound from a dash 7 and a Chug sound to synthesize the sound when the prime mover is under load. Every thing else is done with frequency and volume changes.Chuck Schneider (Virtual) CEO North American (Virtual) Locomotive Works
Mr. Schneider,Thank you for the information on NALW’s position on mods, as well as the insight as to how the prime mover sounds are handled. I assume that the frequency shifting applies to the prime mover only, and the horn, bell, sander, etc., are handled in the traditional loop method.I answered Zdierkes’s post because it had appeared in a couple of Forums, and he/she did not appear to be getting pertinent information. As you are probably aware, it should be a simple matter to adjust the volume of a particular stream by placing a Volume ( x.x ) statement in the stream statement ands adjusting the ( x.x ) to suit.I do not have a copy of the CNW C42-8 on my computer. Nothing personal, it’s just a tad too modern for me (railroad-wise, I’m stuck in the 1960’s). You however, are obviously familiar with the locomotive in question. So I would ask you , if you have the time, to follow up on Zdierkes’s request for assistance. I understand that you travel a lot, and you may be responding from a remote location. If you are unavailable to answer the question(s), I will gladly assist, but as previously stated, I do not have the files to refer to.
To help you in your quest, the lines you are quoting are only the pointers to the required soundsets. The C42-8 sound line is a full director to where the sms file is located, and the gp38 line tells the sim that the sms file is in the engines sound folder. The sms files contain the references for the sim to play the right sound at the right time. As has already been mentioned, you can deal with the horn and bell by adjusting them using the windows sound recorder. The engine sounds would need to be addressed from within the sms file using the sound curve lines. I would suggest that if you are going to experiment with these to make a back up copy of the files first, in case things go wrong.mervyn@madasafish.com
Rather then go into the .eng files I found sound volume adjusting very easy by copying the whistle/horn or bell .wav file to my desktop (or elsewhere) and opening that up in the sound recorder that comes with most Windows OS.The sound recorder gives the option of making it louder or lower in incruments of 25%. Play it back and stop and save when your happy. Before moving this new copy back to the train sound folder save the original somewhere just in case you need it in future.Rich
