Sound presets

[Oscarito]

Do you know some tutorial about IL-2 sound presets files?
Case is that since 4.12v we have the option to customize in game sounds but I have no idea about how to do that.
I want to make external sounds more audible from inside cockpit but whatever the parameter I change (try & error...) in acoustics presets files, sounds seems to remain unchanged.
I have some complete sets of .wav sound samples plus presets files from available sound mod packs but don't know how to deal with them...

[flyer138]

Hi, I have been on research on those Preset-files as well. This is what I have found so far. However, I do not remember the original source. Here it is:


Preset files
------------

EAXRoom <-- now seems to be the size of the "room" for this sound-source property set, that
"corrects" the size given by the surrounding environment.
This may effect the other properties.

new properties

[common]

mode relobj pos <-- in the case of a motor.* named file this is always this value
it means that all settings depend on the relative position of/to the object in the surrounding environment.

type mixer <-- again in the case of this file "type" (engine sound defintion) this value is always the same
alltough possible values are:
mixer - sounds are mixed
normal - may be other sounds are muted/ or can mute this sound - sounds are not mixed ?

infinite 1 <-- determines if the sounds are infinite or not
possible values are:
0 = sound is played once
1 = sound is repeated if wave file reached his end


mutable 1 <-- this explains it self ?
possible values are:
0 = not mutable
1 = mutable

[spl] <- sound property level/ speaker level or something like that, general volume setting
107Note that this property is a basic volume settings and effects all other properties that deal with the volume.

if set to 70 or less the sound of the engine if very low, down to being audible
if set above 100 (what is possible) you may get crackling effects (issues).


value range : 0.0 to 100 and more, up to ?
Default value : 70.0
Value units : dB ?


[spl]
107 0 * 0 2
80 0 * 8

explanation:

[spl] <-- again section start for level property
107 0 * 0 2 <-- this is how it works:
first number is the volume level
second number i don´t know yet, (it is also possible to let this away)
all values following after "*" are setting the number of the environment this level is valid for.
possible value for the environment are :
0 = outside the plane
2 = open cockpit or open gunner position
8 = inside the plane (closed cockpit or closed gunner position )
80 0 * 8
example:
[spl]
107 0 * 0 2 <-- so this means, all sounds related to this environent will have this basic volume level of 107
80 0 * 8 <-- all sounds related to the inside enviroment will set to the level of 80
If this is the level settings of an motor preset, the engine sound of your own engine will be less loud, if your are in the cockpit.
If you are outside it will be louder.
If there are other planes with the same motor(-preset) they will occur louder in both environment (cockpit and outside).


[samples] <-- in this section all .wav files this sound source property preset uses should be enumerated

Merlin_XX_Starter.wav <-- sound of engine starter
Allison_1000.wav <-- in ideal case this .wav file contains the sound of an Allision engine at 1000 rpm (rounds per minute)
Allison_1500.wav <-- 1500 rpm
Allison_2000.wav <-- and so on
Allison_2700.wav
Allison_2701.wav
xAllison_1000.wav <-- x in the filename indicates that the .wav file contains an external sound.

that is not a must be, but a good structure for the overview.

xAllison_1001.wav
xAllison_1500.wav
xAllison_2000.wav
xAllison_2700.wav
xAllison_2701.wav
dmg_86_0m.wav <-- sound if engine is damaged

each of this file should have a definition area in the file (see below)



[sample.Allison_2700.wav] <-- section start for the the definition of this .wav file

infinite 1 <-- see above
env 8 <-- this property determines the environment in wich this sound is audible (could be more than one, for combination)

possible values are:
0 = outside (you are in the landscape)
2 = open gunner positon (you are inside and outside)
8 = inside the plane (cockpit, gunner)


Please note that the soundfile related to this section, should ideally contain a sound according to the environment set here.

controls rpm <-- this property defines which engine/game parameter(s) control this sound.

In this case the rounds per minute of the engine determines how the sound is altered.
the value of the property controls could be more than one.

possible values are:
speed,angle, dist, env,rpm, damage, diving, flatter,brake, gear, start, load, motorld, propld, door, relspeed, mostage, bombspeed, bombtime
massa or/and mod

the control property occurs always together with a boundary control section like this one below
the structure is always like that:
if you have this : controls _nameOfControl
you should have this too: [sample.nameofwavfile._nameOfcontrol]


[sample.Allison_2700.wav.rpm] <-- start of boundary control rpm

minlo 1400 <-- (lower bound) if rpm of the engine is below minlo the sound is not audible,
if the rpm are above minlo the volume is increased until minhi is reached

minhi 2400 <-- if rpm is equal or above minhi, volume stays at the current level, only the pitch of the sound is increased

maxlo 6000 <-- if rpm is above maxlo volume is decreased downto maxhi, only the pitch of the sound is increased
maxhi 6500 <-- (upper bound) if rpm is above maxhi this sound is inaudible.

value 6.0 <-- the value property is a linear multiplier to volumelevel, if below 1 original level is decreased
if above 1 original level is increased
value range : 0 .. 10 ?

pmin -1.0 <-- mostly set to -1.0 this is the start pitch if throttle is on idle position

pmax 2700 <-- this is the parameter the original sound is recorded at. In this case the sound is (should be) from an engine running with 2700 rpm.
If your engine in the game is at a higher or lower state than pmax, the pitch of the sound will be increased/decreased by taking pmax as a base.

imagine you have sound of an engine running at 2700 rpm, with pmax value originally set to 2700.
if you set pmax below 2700 the pitch of the sound gets higher, if you set it above the pitch gets lower.

Often there multiple boundary section according to the number of .wav files.

If you have a look at the example file above, you can see that the max values of a boundary section often overlapps the min values of the next.
by this you create a "full range" sound of the engine. (you hear a mixture of the wav files according to the controls)
if they won´t overlapp each other you will get an sound with volume "holes".
an other example for control settings:

[sample.dmg_86_0m.wav] <-- section start for property settings of dmg_86_0m.wav
infinite 1
controls rpm damage <-- this sound is controlled by rpm and a damage factor
[sample.dmg_86_0m.wav.rpm] <-- start of boundary control of rpm
minlo 500
minhi 2000
maxlo 4000
maxhi 6000
value 2.0
pmin 0.4
pmax 2.2
the resulting effect is: mainly pitch of damage sound is increased according to rpm of engine.

[sample.dmg_86_0m.wav.damage] <-- start of boundary control of damage
minlo 0.1
minhi 0.6
maxlo 1.0
maxhi 2.0
value 2.0
pmin 1.0
pmax 1.0
the resulting effect is: mainly volume of damage sound is increased according to damage of the engine.

you noticed the difference in the range of the values ?

The range of the properties values minlo, minhi, maxlo and maxhi depend on the range of the values used in programm code.
So if you really want to set them you have to know, what range il2 sets for this values.
Or you have a look to an existing .prs file, that´s the easier way.

[emit] <-- sound emitter section start ( pop and bangs made by engine cylinders on low running engine )
start <-- name of emit definiton section
[emit.start] <-- start of emit definiton section
speed 5
srand 0.15 <-- don´t know exactly maybe values to randomize speed, pitch
vrand 0.1
prand 0.06
spl 85 <-- volume level of emitted sound
num 3 <-- number of files used by the emit section, see below
sample0 an2_cyl_00.wav <- files containing sound for emitter section
sample1 an2_cyl_01.wav
sample2 an2_cyl_02.wav