How to save sound files in .wav format

I just worked this method out and decided to write it down so I would remember a month from now if I need to -- and figured that maybe others would find it useful too, so here it is.

How to save sound files in .WAV file in standard PCM format (16-bit/44.1 kHz)

-find sound files on the web. Note that they need to be less than 10 seconds long (http://secondlife.com/knowledgebase/article.php?id=142)

-rightclick sound file link and "save target as" to a file on your computer where you can find it easily with a name you remember too

-use an audio converter program (such as Audioconverter Studio, which is available for free 30 trial at http://www.maniactools.com/soft/converter/index.shtml) to convert the
file format to .WAV file. Select 44.1 kHz and 16 bit from the choices presented to you.

-If you log into SL, you will now see your sound file listed when you select to file>upload sound and navigate to the correct folder.

-try to upload the file. You may get an error message "File does not seem to be a supported sample rate (must be 44.1 k" and if so use audio converter such as http://www.voxengo.com/product/r8brain/ to convert file to 16 bit/44.1 kHz (if you find, as I did, that Audioconverter Studio doesn't seem to do this even when you ask it to).

-now your files should upload and work just fine.

This method worked for me today, 8/3/2006

Thanks for sharing, but...


You forgot the most important step, which is to make sure the sound is free to use. Just because it's on the web doesn't mean you can use it for whatever you want. Just as with images, sounds that are free to use will be labeled as such. If it doesn't say it, don't use it.

A much more responsible first step would be "Record your sound, or obtain a sound with unlimited use rights."


I'm wondering why you'd suggest using AudioConverter, and then turn around and point out that it's unreliable. If r8brain is working better for you, why not use that right from the start?


Anyway, I'm not sure why these sound threads keep ending up on the animation forum. Mods, is it perhaps time to add a seperate audio forum? These questions are rare, of course, but maybe that's just because there's currently no good place to put them.

In the mean time, those interested in the subject may wish to check out this thread from yesterday, which includes a couple additional software recommendations, as well as instructions for how to use MS Sound Recorder (which comes standard with Windows) to convert your audio files if you don't have anything better to use.

I've found the open source program Audacity, to be the best/costeffective sound editor.. you can download it at
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Tas

@Poppet: Thanks Poppet! This is exactly the simple step by step I was looking for the other day. Cool !

...because r8tbrain doesn't convert one file type to another. It just changes the kHz rating.

Thanks! I will check it out. I love sourceforge.

The problem of recording your own sounds, as is discussed in that thread, is very different from the one I was trying to solve.

Currently SL only supports upload of audio files in .WAV format, yet many sound files freely available on the internet (e.g. Audubon Society, government agencies etc.) are available only in other file formats such as mp3 or winamp format. The variety of sudio file types is truly bewildering.

Indeed, .WAV is the least common type of file you will find these days.

The method I gave allows you to take an audio file in nearly any format and convert it to a .WAV file format, with the proper kHz rating, for upload to SL.

Ah, I didn't realize that. Thanks for clearing that up. Makes sense now.


Actually, it's not different at all, but I can see how that might not be clear if you're new to audio. Whether your source material be somethig you've recorded yourself or a pre-existing file you obtained from elsewhere, you still need to output in the format SL will accept in order to use it inworld. So, once you get past the "plug in your microphone and press record" stage or the "go to website and click to download stage", the process from that point on is exactly the same. Sorry that wasn't clearly explained in the other thread.


Yes, there are a lot of audio formats available, and I can see how it's possible to think WAV is the least common if your emphasis is on "find" and your resource is the web.

The WAV vs. Web-formats question is akin to the TGA vs. JPEG questions that come up on the texturing forum all the time. Most laypeople people think JPEG must be the world's greatest and most popular image format since that's what they see used for the vast majority of images on the internet. In truth, JPEG is a very low quality format, visualy speaking, but it is ideally suited for web use since its file size is small, and the goal on the web is to transmit files as quickly as possible, not necessarily with regard for how good they look.

For audio on the web, the same concept applies. Web sounds tend to be relatively low quality, and stored in compressed file formats, so that they can transmit quickly.

A competant digital artist will never work in JPEG or any other lossy format for pre-production, and will never submit his or her work for production as such (unless it's for the web), and similarly, a competant digital sound engineer won't work in any of the various compressed formats either. He or she will always work in a raw, uncompressed, high-fidelity format until it's time for distrubution. After that, the format of choice depends entirely on the distrubution medium/method. If the medium is a CD, then the source files are outputted to CDA format; if it's the web, then a format with a smaller file size will be chosen, such as MP3, which is compressed, or maybe still a WAV, but with a low sample rate and bit depth.

Second Life uses its own compression for all the files you upload (JPEG2000 for images, and I'm not sure what for sounds), so for best results, it wants you to use high quality, uncompressed source material. True, it accepts JPEG's, so the analogy isn't a perfect one, but I think you get the point.

In any case, WAV is a good choice because they're so easy to create, and for computers to understand. Every computer on the planet can do it. WAV is the standard format for storing audio information on PC's, and has been for a very long time. On the Mac, AIFF would be more standard, but I'm pretty sure Mac's can still use WAV just as easily, while PC's don't naturally use AIFF.

PCM, 44.1KHz sampling, and 16-bit, are pretty much industry standards for digital audio, regardless of file extension, so it makes sense to go with those. Any sound you pull off a CD, for examle, will already be at that sample rate and bit depth, and will use PCM encoding (Pulse Code Modulation). It's really only on the web that you'll find much different, and since most web sounds are not intended for re-use (which is what I was getting at earlier), there really wouldn't be much point in SL going out of its way to accept them.



Yes, and again, it was good of you to share your knowledge. The other thread I linked had similar information, as well as links to several good audio programs (like Audacity, which Tasman mentioned here), but maybe it wasn't clear enough.

Sorry if I assumed too much knowledge. I've got a lot of experience writing imaging tutorials, but while I am certainly no stranger to audio work, I've really never written any turorials in that area.

My method is not elegant, but right now it works, and sometimes that's what you need: step by step instructions to do something you want to do. : )

Holy cow!! Audacity is GREAT!!!!

I have great success with Switch Sound File Converter its not free, but I've had the trial for months and its still going and hasn't told me to pay yet .

Wav/MP3/WMA/M4a/Ogg/au.

Highly reccomended.

It is, and it also has pretty much one-click exporting.

1. Open file with Audacity
2. Go to File menu and select "Export as WAV" - or "Export selection as WAV" if you only want a bit of it.

Certainly with my setup it exports directly in the right format for SL.