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| Thread: A very serious problem for all who want to import custom MP3! |  This thread is pages long: 1 2 · NEXT» |
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Artas1984
Adventuring Hero
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posted September 15, 2011 05:39 PM |
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A very serious problem for all who want to import custom MP3!
I am replacing the MP3 music of towns with custom themes. I made sure that the replaced files are of the same properties - 44 kHz, 128 kbps constant rate, 2 channel, and yet when the music starts to play, i hear some high squeezing pitch and repeats of "peep" "peep" "peep" BS.
Over the 10+ years the fans have moded the game with custom MP3, i am sure there must be a solution to this problem - perhaps there is a program that can play the custom MP3 for the game, instead of whatever unfunctional tool Heroes 3 uses to play it. I mean when i play the MP3 in any player, the song sounds fine, but in the game it's horrible..
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Salamandre
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Wog refugee
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posted September 15, 2011 05:44 PM |
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I have a program called Audacity, and I always process the mp3 in and save with a compatible rate for Heroes. I think it is free tool, just experiment until you get the right settings. If does not work, upload one of your mp3 tracks, will look into.
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Era II mods and utilities
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Artas1984
Adventuring Hero
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posted September 15, 2011 05:54 PM |
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Quote:
I have a program called Audacity, and I always process the mp3 in and save with a compatible rate for Heroes. I think it is free tool, just experiment until you get the right settings. If does not work, upload one of your mp3 tracks, will look into.
Actually Salamandre, i use Audacity to make custom MP3..
I import a bunch of songs there, split them where i want, use fade effect in sections and merge them into one big song, then export...
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Cepheus
Honorable
Legendary Hero
Far-flung Keeper
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posted September 15, 2011 06:02 PM |
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I've succeeded in importing custom music with no problem whatsoever (also using Audacity).
If you upload your track I can try and find out what's wrong.
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"Those who forget their history are inevitably doomed to repeat it." —Proverb, Might and Magic VIII
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Artas1984
Adventuring Hero
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posted September 15, 2011 06:15 PM |
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Quote:
I've succeeded in importing custom music with no problem whatsoever (also using Audacity).
If you upload your track I can try and find out what's wrong.
Great. Here is a sample:
http://artas1984.b4net.lt/music/
The song is in the folder. It is called "StrongHold". Download it to desktop by using "save linked content as"...
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Salamandre
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Wog refugee
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posted September 15, 2011 07:27 PM |
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I can't say exactly why you get those noises, it may be because the file is 5 times larger than regular. I used mp3 audio EDITOR, re-saved you file and Uploaded it. I can't hear any noise on the new, you might check it yourself.
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Era II mods and utilities
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Artas1984
Adventuring Hero
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posted September 15, 2011 07:42 PM |
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You can't hear any noise on your edited file? Well i can and here is how it sounds:
http://artas1984.b4net.lt/videos/
Download "sample.avi" and check it out - this is what i hear.
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Salamandre
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Wog refugee
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posted September 15, 2011 07:45 PM |
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Artas1984
Adventuring Hero
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posted September 15, 2011 08:01 PM |
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Quote:
Then try to get mp3 files not larger than 4 Mo, I see only this as possible problem.
No that is not the problem - i merged just 2 songs into one and exported it. The file was below 3 Mb and it had the same glitches.
On a technical note - what program Heroes 3 uses to play MP3? It must have some inside player right?
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Salamandre
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Wog refugee
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posted September 15, 2011 08:03 PM |
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No idea, it is hardcoded. Then probably the tool you use for merging files is corrupted. I see no reason for a similar mp3 files to not work.
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Era II mods and utilities
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Cepheus
Honorable
Legendary Hero
Far-flung Keeper
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posted September 15, 2011 08:11 PM |
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Yeah, I expected what you described to be the complete playback failure issue some imported MP3s get (just loud static noise instead of the song), and therefore an easily-mended encoding issue. But your particular problem is most likely due to H3's internal software. I will try some things to fix your file as best I can, but one way or the other, it's guaranteed that the music will end up at a lower quality than you wish.
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"Those who forget their history are inevitably doomed to repeat it." —Proverb, Might and Magic VIII
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Warmonger
Promising
Legendary Hero
fallen artist
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posted September 15, 2011 08:13 PM |
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Salamandre
Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Wog refugee
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posted September 15, 2011 08:20 PM |
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Artas1984
Adventuring Hero
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posted September 15, 2011 09:22 PM |
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Quote:
No idea, it is hardcoded. Then probably the tool you use for merging files is corrupted. I see no reason for a similar mp3 files to not work.
I use audacity - certainly not corrupted. The problem is in Heroes 3. For example if a paste an unmoded sound file, i get the same issue.
Quote:
Yeah, I expected what you described to be the complete playback failure issue some imported MP3s get (just loud static noise instead of the song), and therefore an easily-mended encoding issue. But your particular problem is most likely due to H3's internal software. I will try some things to fix your file as best I can, but one way or the other, it's guaranteed that the music will end up at a lower quality than you wish.
Most important - if you succeed in anything, you have to show how, so then i can continue to "patch" the rest of songs myself...
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Shyranis
Promising
Supreme Hero
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posted September 15, 2011 10:29 PM |
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What happens if you rename the the fortress town or tower town theme to stronghold? does it still produce the same issue?
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Artas1984
Adventuring Hero
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posted September 16, 2011 12:04 PM |
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Quote:
What happens if you rename the the fortress town or tower town theme to stronghold? does it still produce the same issue?
Of course not.
So - anybody know what program does the game use to play the music? I mean there must be some sort of inside player?
Perhaps you know a person who can answer this or even better - a person who can make a custom tool and release it as a mod.
Since now on, it's a request.
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Artas1984
Adventuring Hero
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posted September 16, 2011 04:52 PM |
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It looks like i found the problem: the input file and the output file must have the same compression ratio.
The soundtrack i used had 320 kbps rate and after processing it in audacity i exported it to 128 kbps rate, because Heroes 3 default MP3 are 128 kbps. So the output file does not have to be the same as default MP3, but it must have unchanged compression ratio.
I am not sure about all files, but so far it worked.
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eddebaby
Tavern Dweller
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posted September 16, 2011 08:26 PM |
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Quote:
So - anybody know what program does the game use to play the music? I mean there must be some sort of inside player?
The game uses an MP3 decoder library: "MP3DEC.ASI". I believe baratorch is working on using a newer version of the library in his HD mod - but I'm not sure if it would give a different result here. It's still in development though.
Quote:
So the output file does not have to be the same as default MP3, but it must have unchanged compression ratio.
I was just messing around with this and nothing worked until I set the bitrate to 320kbps instead of 128. Before that any MP3 I put through audacity (or anything else using LAME) gave the audio glitches - even the original tracks from the game.
I converted from a FLAC in my testing so maybe compression can be changed but must be high enough? 192kbps seem to work ok for me too. 160kbps still has the problems. 192kbps doesn't seem to work for your track, but I have tested and 320kbps works (even though it was only 128 originally!).
Maybe a different MP3 encoding library would work at 128kbps? The New Interface Mod features a custom MP3 for the main menu and it is fine (until you put it through audacity that is...)
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Artas1984
Adventuring Hero
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posted September 16, 2011 09:39 PM |
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Forget everything.. I was wrong about my compression rate theory..
I inserted a random 320 kbps unmoded song and it sounded with glitches..
Now i am really pissed off! I am on my way to make a really big mod for Heroes 3, and one of the features was to have the themes from the greatest movie soundtracks. Looks like it ain't happening until the problem is solved..
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eddebaby
Tavern Dweller
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posted September 17, 2011 01:37 AM |
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Why not try converting to 128kbps then back to 320kbps with audacity - it seemed to work for the file you uploaded. Very weird behaviour.
Unfortunately the file size is substantially increased.
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