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Sound file issues


Katia Clifton
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I've recently started creating my own gestures - with or without animations.  However, when I play the associated sound files (I use Audacity) the sound is quiet and barely heard, at least to my avi's ears.  Would anyone be able to advise on what settings I should use in Audacity or SL when my finished sound file is ready to be uploaded and played in SL?  I want to ensure a vibrant, well heard sound with my gestures.

Thanks in advance for no snarky response.  :)

Kat Clifton

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Sound volume in SL decreases fairly rapidly as you move away from the source, so your uploaded sound has to be painfully loud in Audacity before it seems reasonable in SL.  I generally amplify sounds in Audacity until clipping starts to become an obvious issue.  Even then, I have found that I need to upload a couple of experimental versions on Aditi (to save the L$10 fee) before I'm satisfied with the final product.

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To add to Rolig's advice, Audacity provides a "Normalize" function, which adjusts the volume of the entire clip such that the loudest portion is just below clipping by a settable amount. I always use this before uploading a clip to SL leaving 1dB of headroom (don't ask me why I don't use zero, I don't have a good answer ;-).

In addition, Audacity offers "compression" (not to be confused with the kind of compression done to images and video) that can help improve the "punch" of a clip. Compression preferentially increases the amplitudes of quieter passages in a clip. As the original signal level increases, the amount of gain applied to it decreases. Experiment with the compressor settings to get the effect you wish. Most, or at least much, modern music is run though various compression boxes or algorithms before final mix.

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