.ogg to .umx?

[Homeslice]

I know this might not be the right place to ask this, but anyone have any clue as to how to convert an .ogg file to a .umx file? I'd like to make a UT map one day that uses those UT2003 music files. Just for fun, really, but also to be different. Any ideas, guys?

 

[ValleyFly]

Try using dbPowerAMP. It might take a few steps but this will convert ogg to wav, or a format UT will understand. Then import it into the editor to convert it to UMX.

 

[Homeslice]

Can you tell me a few steps there, and also give me the link to that device?

EDIT: I downloaded it, but I cannot seem to convert .ogg files to .wav or anything like that.

 

[ValleyFly]

Ok, I'll try to explain this:

1- download the dbmusic converter and the ogg codec. If you have a pentium4, there is a codec for that which is way better.
NOTE: after installing - shutdown the PC and wait 10 seconds. Trust me just do it
2- open up the converter and select the OGG file you need to convert. This will bring up a prompt box as to how you want to convert it. Choose WAV format. Your preference on quality and other settings is your option.
3- The Unreal Editor should now be able to import the wav file. From there you should be able to change it into UMX

 

[Homeslice]

Thanks, man. But now I am still stuck. I converted the .ogg to the .wav, and I opened it in UnrealEd and saved it as a umx, but it would not play. What went wrong?

 

[Thunderstrike]

Homeslice, while what you are attempting is a noble effort, I'm afraid it's doomed to failure. Ogg files are a compressed music file format like mp3's. umx files are actually a type of tracker file where the file contains a single sample of each sound and the play info, kind of like a midi file, but with it's own sounds. The two formats cannot be converted between. Now, for your own pleasure, you certainly can convert an ogg file to a wav file. If you go to cnet.com they'll have heaps of audio converters. Then you would import the wav file and convert to a UAX file, not a UMX file. Then play it via ambient sound or level sound, etc.

The key to remember with this is that ogg is a compressed format. umx and wav are not. Depending on complexity of the track, a 4 or 5 Mb ogg file will often blow out to a 40-50Mb wav file, if not more.

 

[Homeslice]

Man....that sucks! I really wanted to use some of these tracks for any future maps I've thought of! I downloaded all that material for NOTHING....

 

[ValleyFly]

Sorry HomeSlice... but I think we both learned something about file conversion. I wouldn't say though that it was all for NOTHING though. My bad on the UMX conversion. dbPowerAmp is a great conversion/ player though.

 

[Homeslice]

Any other pages which can tell me? I don't wanna give up on this!

 

[JohnnySix]

I think you posted this over at UP too. You can get away with a smaller file, but you'll loose a lot of quality.

Your best bet, if you've got the time, inclination, samples, and some musical ability, is to track it anew in something like scream tracker/impulse tracker or the favourite free download ModPlug

They have forums on the site to post any questions regarding the tracker.

It's also probably the easiest way to get an .it or .s3m file prepared for importation into UEd, since you can't simply import .wavs straight into the Ued music browser.

Have a read about, there's a few tutorials lingering around the net on modplug and UT .

 

[markishome359]

Okay, this is an ancient thread, and probably no one cares anymore, but I just did this yesterday. Check out this tutorial. And while (like it says) GoldWave isn't freeware, you can get a demo version that works just fine. Hope this helps, or at least someone searching can run across it.

One thing to note, though. I edited the original sound file so it looped perfectly, without any lead-ins or outs, in GoldWave. But once it gets into UT, it pauses just after it finishes playing, before looping. So you may want to make sure that you have a little bit of a lead on both ends.

 

[Kyouryuu]

Exactly what Thunderstrike said. Trying to convert an OGG to a UMX is like trying to convert an MP3 to a MIDI file. There are really only two options. You can either get the song retracked as a module file (could be difficult), or you could heavily dliute the quality of the song and make an IntelligentTracker file of one track, with that sound as the "instrument." But as it was already said, this can get bloated pretty quickly and isn't recommended.

Kinda sucks, huh? Although the UTX files are infinitely better than MIDI files, it doesn't do anyone any favors that tracking modules are really difficult to find composers for. I suppose if you wanted to commission some music, or ask for an existing track, you could start at the ModArchive (http://www.modarchive.com) which is a giant archive of the stuff.

Good luck!

 

[Homeslice]

Well, I guess I didn't get to tell any of you here that I managed to make one .ogg file to a .umx file! Though, the file size turned out big. Too bad I couldn't post it here, otherwise I'd let everyone try it out. Though, I kinda forgot how I did it, but when I can make a new one, I'll tell everyone how I did so.

 

[Thunderstrike]

Grumpy old man ahoy!

I'd be interested to hear the file size you achieved and the concessions to quality you had to make to get it to that size. It certainly is plausible to do as Kyouryuu suggested and use the .wav file as a voice in a tracker program, but size is still the issue, even in mono at 8kHz it will be big.

However, to throw cat amongst the pidgeons once again, there is also the issue of copyright which you will need to consider. Custom oggs shouldn't be too much drama as long as you can contact the original artist for permission, however if you're thinking of converting stock UT2003 ogg files, I'd recommend against it. What's that, you say? You have perfectly legal copies of both UT2003 and UT? Still no go. You see, technically by distributing a map with such a converted .umx file, you are allowing people who never purchased UT2003 to play music they have no legal right to. Therefore, despite best intentions legally you would be looked upon as no better than mp3 pirates.

There are heaps of great custom tracker files out there with author contact details that you could use for custom content, HS. Why go through this whole palaver when I'm sure you could find plenty of fitting custom music tracks without the drama?

Just food for thought...

 

[Kyouryuu]

I don't know. I mean, I've spent a while at Mod Archive looking for songs that fit the Unreal "mood," but I often come up short. A lot of tracker modules, and I can't really blame the composers, aren't written as background music because they are expected to be heard and paid attention to. So they often steal the focus away from the level or the gameplay itself. It's true of a lot of music, not just tracker modules. And yet "ambient" music is usually too ambient. Ideally, you need a module that has a decent techno-industrial melody, but is content with staying in the background and loops rather seamlessly. That's just my opinion though - maybe throbbing trance beats work for others.

 

[Homeslice]

Well crap. Looks like I did something wrong. That is too bad, because I had that perfect conversion for a map I was currently making. :-(

 

[Homeslice]

Can someone find out who are the original composers of all the UT2003 tracks? I wanna try to not only credit them (I was gonna anyway), but I wanna email the one who did the track I converted and ask him if it's ok and if I can get his consent. I would never try to claim this as my own.

Besides, look what KaMi did in SiberiaN23 (in terms of the texturing that is) - used a lot of UT2003 textures, and anyone who doesn't have that game can get a taste of that in this map.

 

[Thunderstrike]

Ok, HS, seeing as how you've failed to name the song you converted...

If the song was one of:
Intro Movie, Merc's Entrance, Jug's Entrance, Stage Music,
Hide n Seek, Ending Sequence, Slaughter, SkyScraper,
Infernal Realm, Ghosts of Anubis, Menu Music (yeah, right!), Tomb of Horus, Sniper Time, Pharaohs Revenge, Infiltrate, Wasteland, From Below, Hell, DM1, Collision Course, Assault or Chemical Burn then Kevin Riepl is your man (now you know what that "KR" is at the start of those tracks!). Visit www.kevinriepl.com. Otherwise, you need to contact Starsky Partridge at Digital Extremes. Sorry, I don't have a direct contact for Starsky. Incidentally, composer information is included in the credits in your UT2003 manual! Page 23, to be precise!

My guess would be that although these are the composers, you will need permission from Epic (for KR) or Digital Extremes to use the tunes legally, as they hold the copyright. I did have a contact for legal queries with DE as I was dealing with her over the DM-Gestalt issue, but unfortunately I lost that contact when my HD fried. Sorry.

Good luck in your endeavours! Meanwhile, if you let us know which track it was you were converting, I could have a scout for a similar feel tracker file. There is a lot of average to dross music, but there are a few gems such as the custom track I'm using for my CTF-Toias.

 

[Homeslice]

Sorry I didn't name the track. It was Level3 I converted. Any thoughts there? What is the Level 3 track called?

 

[Thunderstrike]

HS, any chance of emailing me a link to a beta of the map you're working on?

I'd love to have a look around and I also have a pretty hefty load of tracker files with a few with a possibly similar feel and I'd like to try them out with your level to suss out whether I'm on the right track (intentional pun! ). There are also a few different feel tracks which seem good, but I don't know whether they would fit your level.

Just a thought...