Playing Audio

[Firemeboy]

In the cartridge builder there is the option to have audio played when a user enters a zone. How will the program deal with that, say, on the Garmin Colorado? I am assuming on a Pocket PC device, most will be able to play audio, but I'm just wondering what the Garmin will do. Will you need to take along a seperate mp3 player?

[Jeremy]

The Colorado unfortunately only supports beeps. The biggest reason is that as an outdoor device it is near impossible to waterproof a speaker. However, like old games, there are a lot of things you can accomplish with a series of frequency and duration commands.

 

I wrote an application in .net that creates the *.fdl files you can use to run on the Colorado. I'll provide a link to the application (and probably source) before the Colorado devices arrive in stores.

 

If you have a cartridge that requires audio you can use the attribute so people know that before downloading the cartridge. As we add the Wherigo Player to additional devices this will be less of an issue.

[Jeremy]

I went ahead and uploaded the System Beep Recorder application I created to help generate system beeps for the Garmin Colorado. It is designed like a piano. It is pretty basic stuff. I included some xml for various beeps that Garmin uses and some other sounds I created using the recorder.

 

Remember this is an unsupported tool that you use at your own risk. It requires Dot Net 2.0 to run.

 

When you want to save it to a file that the Wherigo Builder recognizes, change the save file type to "system sound files."

[+Bjorn74]

Is there a size limit on audio files?

[Jeremy]

Is there a size limit on audio files?

 

The smaller the audio file the more devices your cartridges will run on. From our experience in creating games with Wherigo you really shouldn't have more than a few seconds of a sound byte when you use them anyway.

 

Driving tours are definitely in the cards though we need to support mp3 before we do that. Compression on mp3, especially with voice, is far superior to WAV files. Video, Flash, MP3, etc are things we want to support in the future but to have versatile cartridges you should assume the minimal functionality in the early days of Wherigo.

[+Bjorn74]

Ah, so MP3 isn't supported anymore. That (knowing about it) helps a lot. Looks like I've got some writing to do. Big presentation on Tuesday.

[Jeremy]

Ah, so MP3 isn't supported anymore. That (knowing about it) helps a lot. Looks like I've got some writing to do. Big presentation on Tuesday.

 

Even earlier versions didn't support MP3 playback. We considered Ogg Vorbis as the codec of choice but decided to focus more on the non-media capabilities in the first version of the Player. Good luck with your presentation (whatever it is ). Supposing it is Wherigo related we have some materials that you may be able to use. Contact me with details.

[+Bjorn74]

Even earlier versions didn't support MP3 playback. ... Contact me with details.

 

I was mistaken, then. PM sent.

[+elmuyloco5]

The Colorado unfortunately only supports beeps. The biggest reason is that as an outdoor device it is near impossible to waterproof a speaker. However, like old games, there are a lot of things you can accomplish with a series of frequency and duration commands.

 

I wrote an application in .net that creates the *.fdl files you can use to run on the Colorado. I'll provide a link to the application (and probably source) before the Colorado devices arrive in stores.

 

If you have a cartridge that requires audio you can use the attribute so people know that before downloading the cartridge. As we add the Wherigo Player to additional devices this will be less of an issue.

 

Just wanted to respond about the waterproof speaker. The Triton has a voice recorder and speaker, yet has the same waterproof rating as the Colorado. Also, there's several MP3 players on the market that are literally made for swimmers to use underwater while training. It's not only possible, it's readily out there. Garmin fell short on this one.

[+NevadaWolf]

Okay, my tour is turning into a monster - but hey, I'm having fun.

 

I found some pre-made (aka, need permission before my public debut) MP3 files for various locations. After converting them into WAV files, I've created a button under each item so the player can chose to have the file play or not.

 

However, once started, I can't figure out how to stop the audio. It's a 90-second blurb, so the option to Stop Audio would be nice, just in case.

 

Course this may be a moot point if my field trial fails again... but now the question is out there for others.

[Ranger Fox]

Okay, my tour is turning into a monster - but hey, I'm having fun.

 

I've created a button under each item so the player can chose to have the file play or not.

 

Yeah, I can see how this can get complicated really quickly. When developing anything, I found good ol' pencil and paper helps to keep things simple.

 

I wanted to say from a player's perspective, I appreciate your consideration in giving players a choice to hear an audio file or not.

 

I would like to suggest coming out with a "lite" version of your cartridge with the audio files stripped. I will send a suggestion to Nate regarding two versions, with and without media, of a cartridge. WAV files, by definition of its lossless nature, are very large and would not be a good thing to download to the Colorado or similar devices if you can't even hear them. Better to save bandwidth and confusion on future players' part.

[+Audion64]

So, the original question wasn't really answered, and I'm getting ready to publish a cartridge so I need to know.

 

I have some sound bites that play when the user enters certain zones. Obviously this will only work on a PPC device and not the Colorado. So on the Colorado I'd like to use the 'Play Alert Sound' command instead of the soundfile so that the user is still alerted that important information has appeared on the screen.

 

Do I have to implement this in the programming somehow or is there a way to publish a Colorado specific GWZ AND a PPC specific GWZ but have them BOTH linked to the same WIG cache page?

[+twolpert]

I have some sound bites that play when the user enters certain zones. Obviously this will only work on a PPC device and not the Colorado. So on the Colorado I'd like to use the 'Play Alert Sound' command instead of the soundfile so that the user is still alerted that important information has appeared on the screen.

I don't think it's necessary to get this complicated. Use Jeremy's sound generator (referenced earlier in this thread) to produce an appropriate "beep tone" for the Colorado. Include both a PPC and Colorado sound file as resources for each piece of sound media in your cartridge. Play the sound media normally. The cartridge compiler will take care of including the proper resource for each platform for which the cartridge is published.

 

Alternatively, you can use Env.Device to check to see which platform you're running on. Based on that, you can choose to play or not play the sound. However, I don't think you need to go that far.

[+Audion64]

For some reason I get no sound playback with Jeremy's sound generator on my main computer. Luckily it does work on my wife's laptop.

 

Anyway, let me make sure I'm doing this right. If I create a "sound.wav" and a "sound.fdl" and then within the cartridge create a media of "MySound" and Add each of those files to the MySound attributes. Then when I tell it to 'Play zmediaMySound' it will automatically play the proper sound format for whichever device it currently executing the cartridge?

 

I can test on a PDA and within the Emulator but I have no Colorado to test run on.

[+twolpert]

That is the way it's supposed to work. I believe that the demo cartridge uses this technique. Look for references to zmediaALERT in the source.

[+Captain Gore-tex]

Just a couple of quick questions:

 

Using the FDL generator I can't hear what is being produced, is this correct? and

 

Once created as an FDL I want to add it as a WAV for other devices, when I change the file type and try to play it again it doesnt sound on the lap top showing it as an unknown codec, am I on the right track?

 

Thanks

[+spstanley]

I went ahead and uploaded the System Beep Recorder application I created to help generate system beeps for the Garmin Colorado. It is designed like a piano. It is pretty basic stuff. I included some xml for various beeps that Garmin uses and some other sounds I created using the recorder.

 

Remember this is an unsupported tool that you use at your own risk. It requires Dot Net 2.0 to run.

 

When you want to save it to a file that the Wherigo Builder recognizes, change the save file type to "system sound files."

Hi,

 

I'm interested in supporting the FDL data when present on a non-Garmin device. May I have the file format?

[+Danatisy]

I went ahead and uploaded the System Beep Recorder application I created to help generate system beeps for the Garmin Colorado. It is designed like a piano. It is pretty basic stuff. I included some xml for various beeps that Garmin uses and some other sounds I created using the recorder.

 

Remember this is an unsupported tool that you use at your own risk. It requires Dot Net 2.0 to run.

 

When you want to save it to a file that the Wherigo Builder recognizes, change the save file type to "system sound files."

 

Works fine creating System Beep Sound, but Urwigo application shuts itself down when it encounters the Script "PlaySound" wich is in *.FDL format.

 

Any idea what is the cause?