NWN Complete OST (not just the cd tracks) High quality

[Legacy_Tarot Redhand]

               @Malagant I presume my explanation of 3 days ago was too simplified for you to realise that I said essentially the same thing (just in a very much less technical manner) as what you just did in your post of four hours ago. Thanks for your confirmation of the nature of BMU files though.

TR
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Tarot Redhand, 25 mai 2013 - 08:33 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_s e n]

               you can just change the file extension from bmu to mp3, no software needed
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Dark_Ansem]

               mmmm that way the extra information is kept..
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Malagant]

               @Tarot... Yes and no. Your example of watching a 480i (standard) TV/DVD on an HD set had no relation to what Plush and Ansem were getting into with higher bitrates and sound editing programs (or any aspect of compression). Your example fell more in line with playing a mp3 on an expensive stereo system vs through computer speakers or a car stereo, which is kind of a false analogy in the context of what was being discussed since there is only a change in the equipment as opposed to file content (even though you certainly were accurate).

They really are two different things. It had nothing to do with the dynamics of compression or, specifically, re-compression or why running the files through a sound editing program would do no good. Shrinking a dual-layer DVD9 to a single layer DVD5 (which would be second compression) then seeking to encode that DVD5 to an avi/mp4/mkv (a third compression) would have been a better example. It explains why encoding straight from the DVD9 to a media file nets better results than encoding from the DVD5 at the same encoding settings.

I just wanted to offer a bit of perspective within context to help understand more accurately why it wouldn't work, certainly not usurp your efforts.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Malagant, 25 mai 2013 - 08:09 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_PLUSH HYENA of DOOM]

               This is in no way an argument, but I will just restress that I did point out that running them through a sound editing program would not raise the quality, merely that I used such a program to get the files from source to disc.

Just to assure everyone I'm not entirely cretinous.

Sen: Have you actually TRIED just changing the extension of MP3 files and sticking them in the ambient music folder? Or vice versa? I'd be interested on that point.
I recall trying something similar myself long ago and finding that it utterly failed to work. (Presumably why a passing genius created the MP3 to BMU utility in the first place). And - assuming it wasn't a technical flaw in the recorder somewhere along the way - I did try putting renamed BMUs direct to a CD with no actual format change and it definintely didn't work.

Tarot:- A sudden thought occurs to me... Are you actually suggesting that HDTV is in any way an "improvement" upon anything? What little I've seen of it is merely farcical.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par PLUSH HYENA of DOOM, 26 mai 2013 - 01:46 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Empyre65]

               MP3s have varying bit rates (and other formating differences, I think), so I would guess that not just any MP3 would work in NWN if renamed to BMU, but I have renamed BMU files to MP3 and they play just fine in Windows Media Player. In fact, I just now minimized by browser and tried it, and it works. If you're burning it to a CD, don't you have to convert it to redbook audio, the CD standard format?
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Malagant]

               Plush, my explanation was more for what Ansem was looking at than what you were referencing. Unless all the music gets released in lossless, and seeing as how he apparently wants a consistent quality across all the tracks, then the native 128k direct from the game files is the best he can get right now. I didn't mean to disparage how you went about transferring the tracks; I just wanted to relay an understanding of why a re-encode of the game files would actually yield a poorer quality no matter what bitrate was used if they were converted (not just had the extension changed, which is not technically a conversion).

Empyre, mp3 have varying bit rates if you encode them with a VBR. Otherwise you can encode them at a constant bitrate (CBR) of your choosing (as online music stores unfortunately frequently do). For the game to recognize the music, the standard NWN recognizes is the 128k CBR @ 44kHz Stereo I referenced in my first post. A VBR wont play well with the engine and I don't believe it will recognize any other bitrate or kHz.

I really wasn't trying to offend anyone, I just wanted to give Ansem a clearer understanding of why his initial question of "how [he] could really upscale bitrate and khz of existing tracks" wasn't possible.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Dark_Ansem]

               at least I made an interesting thread '>
on a side note, is the nwn/nwn2 music 16bit or 32 bit?
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Dark_Ansem, 26 mai 2013 - 07:49 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_s e n]

               thats 16 bit constant bitrate at 128

plush: i never had the need to try that but i always knew this thing since the times i started cooking things for nwn. maybe in the very early times windows players had issues reading that, if it is true there is some small difference in the format like you say, but now it works well. you dont even have to rename it, just assign the bmu extension to the player and enjoy
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Empyre65]

               By varying bit rates, I meant that not all MP3s are the same. I didn't know that the bit rate could vary within an MP3 file. Cool! I like learning new things.
I guess that the MP3 to BMU converter makes sure that the format is the one NWN uses.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Dark_Ansem]

               all tracks are at 128. what if I convert them to another format with a higher bitrate? what happens then?
               
               

               
            

[Legacy__six]

               Then you get essentially 16 bit tracks with a higher filesize.

Here's an analogy to illustrate. Lets say I have a set of data that goes
ABCDEFGHIJK

If I sample that at half the frequency I get:
A C E G I K

If I then double the bit rate of -that-, since the only data I have to work with is the ACEGIK values, I might end up with this...
AACCEEGGIIKK
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Dark_Ansem]

               as long as I do not cause a drop in quality!
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Empyre65]

               The point is that increasing the bit rate will not increase the quality, but it will increase the file size, uselessly.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Malagant]

               Edit: The TV thing was uninportant.

Anyway, as Six said... encoding to a "better" file format when your base is already compressed does no good. It's like when people take some mp3s and encode them as FLAC so that the downloader is deceived into thinking they are getting a lossless file. They're not; they are getting a highly compressed file that hasn't lost anything more.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Malagant, 28 mai 2013 - 11:34 .