How do you make sound effects?

[arsieiuni]

Hey guys... long time no see.

My husband is still working on his project and I have a new question...

How do you make sound effects?

I recorded myself making a few noises that my husband needed sound effects for and saved them as wavs but couldn't get them to play in the game.

Is there a filesize limit for sound effects? Do you need a different format than .wav?

Any help is appreciated! Thanks!

Shei

 

[Brewmeister]

I use Audacity to record, and output them a .ogg files.

I just tried a few different wav files, and they all worked.
There are many 'sub' formats of wav files. RMXP supports MS Standard Uncomressed,
and MS ADPCM formats. (You should have a preferences or options setting in your recording software to set the output format.)

If you don't have any luck, you can upload one of the files, and I'll see if I can get it to work.

Be Well

 

[Kraft]

Your Husband!?!

Wow, I feel young now... (no offence ^_^)

You shouold be able to just import them... they need to be saved either in a .WAV, .MP3, .OGG...  all the major types and they should work...

 

[Brewmeister]

I recorded myself making a few noises that my husband needed...

[Freudian] Wait a minute! What kind of noises are these? :scruff: [/Freudian]

Krafty, wanna feel even younger? I'm coming up on my 25th anniversary next week. :wink:

Arsie, how did you record?  What software?

Be well

 

[arsieiuni]

I recorded myself making a few noises that my husband needed...

[Freudian] Wait a minute! What kind of noises are these? :scruff: [/Freudian]

Krafty, wanna feel even younger? I'm coming up on my 25th anniversary next week. :wink:

Arsie, how did you record?  What software?

Be well

Sadly... you're on the right track. My husband's game has a succubus in it and he needed some sound effects for her seduction skills... Kissing sounds and a couple of "Mm!" or "ooh!" kinda things... pg13 but still ... um.. risque just a touch.

Ahem. Anyway ^0^ For the record, I'm only 23 so having a husband shouldn't make anyone feel TOO old... I was married at 17. (No kids involved at the time, thank you very much. Our daughter is only 10 months old. ^-^) {/off topic}

So I recorded with Audacity (the best audio recording program ever because it's good AND free) and saved as .wav then tried .ogg and neither did it. I opened material base, imported the file (which was already picking up because I'd put it in the proper folder) and tried it and no sound. So I got my husband to export a system sound (system 03) so I could check the filetype and see if there was any major difference (like if my filesize was mega huge compared etc...) and something odd happened. When he exported the system03 file, it turned into an orange dot instead of blue and got out of order from system02 and system04 by joining the custom files on the list. So now he's worried that if he's used system03 in any of his game so far it'll screw up. I told him that it changing to a new position shouldn't cause that because the file is still there and still the same... but why did it vanish from the blue dot basic content??

So anyway... I can't get the imported files to work at all... Any further thoughts? Thanks a ton guys!

Shei

 

[Brewmeister]

I love it!  (I really was just joking)  :wink:

No worries on the 'blue dot', 'orange dot' thing.  the orange dot means it's in the project folder. The blue dot means it's getting it from the RTP. (again, don't worry, the original is still in the RTP, it just looks in the game folder first.)
This is actually kind of handy. If you want to release your game without the users needing the RTP, just make sure all your dots are orange. (i.e.  export all of the RTP resources you use into your game folder before distributing.)

Anyways, back to the point. Can you post all of the sounds?  (big evil grin).  I really only need one, I just want to hear them!!!!
Can you post the least embarrassing sound so I can have a look? I use Audacity too, and the default .wav format should work fine.

And, for the record, don't "Import" your sounds, just have him paste them into the Audio\SE folder. They don't need any kind of conversion if they are the correct file type.  And, I've seen the Import function mess up sound files.

 

[Reives]

The bit rate might also sometimes affect things; make sure it's not set to too high. Some of the MP3s with super bit rate (300-ish) plays one segment every 5 seconds on my comp.

P.S.
@Brew: Nice aim.

Edit: @Kraft below: You forgot your "^_^"  :tongue:

 

[Kraft]

if that still doesnt work, if you want to upload one of them that doesnt work here, I could test it and possibly fix it (I do a lot with music and sounds... so I might be able to do it)

~Kraft

 

[arsieiuni]

Well they're not THAT embarrassing or I wouldn't be making them to go into a game! Hehe... >.< Just PG 13 like I said. XD

Here's the files:
http://www.mediafire.com/?wypm11ky2nc (Kiss)
http://www.mediafire.com/?jttadsxjyof (Mmm!)
http://www.mediafire.com/?nmgwdxnzdkh (Ooh!)
http://www.mediafire.com/?wymkx3ocxaq (Come With Me...)
(Btw, Sorry but these are NOT to be used in any project, personal or commercial, as they are being used in a potentially commercial game already. These are copyright to me and all rights are reserved. Let me know when you get done with them fellows. I want to remove them from the mediafire account as soon as we don't need them anymore. ^-^)


Yeah they're not so good but I have too deep a voice for it so I had to play with the "change pitch" feature to make them sound more feminine...  And He's planning on putting some of the mystical sounding rtp sound effects with them at the same time to kinda offset the "home made" quality of my recordings. ^-^

But yeah... they didn't work for him. Just played /no sound/ and in fact, the file he exported then imported back from RTP stopped playing too. So I'm gonna have him move them out of the folder, delete them from the system then put them back in the folder and see if it works...  without importing that is...

Thanks and please don't be too hard on me with the sound effects. ^-^ hehe... This is my first time creating them.

 

[arsieiuni]

Okay we did what you said, didn't import... now I have a new problem. The system03 file got eaten ^-^ Does anyone have a copy they can upload for me???  It just broke when we imported it... >.<

But thanks for the help! My sound effects are now working properly. ^-^

 

[Brewmeister]

The System03 file should still be in the RTP.  Delete the System03 file that you imported to your project, and it should show back up as a 'blue ball'. Then you can 'Export' it to your project again, or just copy it from C:\Program Files\Common Files\Enterbrain\RGSS\Standard\Audio\SE into your project SE folder.

A deep female voice can be very 'sultry'. (as long as it's not a gravelly smokers voice.)  :scruff:

The "ohh" & "mmm" sound pretty clean. the 'kiss' & 'come with me' have a lot of background noise.
Try using the Low-Pass Filter (you'll have to experiment a bit).  Or, re-record them, and make the recording much longer than the sound effect, to catch more background noise by itself, and use the "Noise Removel" plug-in.  It needs to sample the noise to remove it from the sound effect. Then just trim the 'dead air' when you're done.

Be Well

 

[arsieiuni]

I wanted the "Come with me" to be a little airy... but I agree that it has more background noise than I wanted. I was also trying to give it a vaguely ethereal sound with echo and other such but couldn't find a good filter for it... it wanted to echo it once when the whole thing was done, not give it an overlapped sound with nifty ... otherworldly effects or anything.

Thanks again so much ! ^-^
And I changed the pitch partially too so it wouldn't just be my voice in the game... I think I'll save my sexy sultry noises for my husband. Hehe... ^-^

Take care guys!
Shei

 

[Dann Woolf]

Wait, when you say "making sound effects", do you mean recording them or actually making sound effects?

 

[Brewmeister]

Dann, read the thread....

Shei,

I thought the vocal sounded good. Just the noise was distracting. Use 'Reverb' and 'highpass filter' to make it 'airy'.
The key is starting with a noise free, dry sound. (dry = no effects). If you can get the microphone in the bathroom,
it's best 'acoustical' room in most houses. I play my guitar in there all the time.  :scruff:
If it's a 'stand' microphone, also try holding it instead of setting it on the desk. The desk transmits the noise from the computer, and reverberates any noise it picks up from the room. Or set it on a mouse pad, or something soft.
It's also a good idea to experiment with different distances from the mic to the sound source. Each microphone is different in it's sensitivity & frequency response. Some work better right up close, others need to be at least 6" away.

I think I'll save my sexy sultry noises for my husband. Hehe...

Lucky dude!  :scruff:

Happy Gamemaking

 

[arsieiuni]

Thanks so much for the help Brewmeister! I will keep messing with the sounds and see if I can get them better. I really appreciate the info!

They're recorded, Dann. I was making them with my voice. ^-^

Best of luck to everyone out there! Thanks again!