Audio File Limits

[K und D]

I'm intending to create an adventure Wherigo that relies heavily on audio files.

My plan is to have several longer audio files playing at different locations. Obviously this would be for iPhone and similar devices, not Garmin devices.

Are there any known restrictions or limits (technicaly or otherwise) in the number, size, and length of audio files that can be handled? I'm thinking maybe 20 audio files with a length of maybe 15 - 30 seconds each.

Would something like this be feasible?

[+redsox_mark]

I'm not sure of the limits - other than it is best not to make the cartridges too big.

 

I have one which has 15 audio clips, they average around 10 seconds, the longest is 23 seconds, and it runs fine on iPhone and various Android phones (no issues yet).

 

I think more than the length you want to control the filesize. I used mp3 files and I don't remember the quality setting I used, but my largest audio file is 267Kb. (The total cartridge size is approx 3 Mb).

Edited July 5, 2012 by redsox_mark

[K und D]

Great news, thank you for your input! I'll go on and run some tests, then.

[+j-annie]

Great news, thank you for your input! I'll go on and run some tests, then.

Will it work even with Mp4 audio?

[+redsox_mark]

Great news, thank you for your input! I'll go on and run some tests, then.

Will it work even with Mp4 audio?

 

According to This thread

"As far as I know, only WAV and MP3 are supported"

 

(And the Fox should know!).

[K und D]

I think more than the length you want to control the filesize.

 

BTW, any specific reason for being careful with file size? Just curious.

[Ranger Fox]

I haven't finished with what I was trying to test, but I might as well contribute. I was trying to create a jukebox with several MP3s just so I could test the limits of what would be accepted. (This leads me to wonder, though, if Groundspeak keeps on their servers all previous versions of your cartridge.)

 

Anyway, the main reason you should be careful about file size, to my knowledge, is the download time required. If Groundspeak were to continue Wherigo development, it is a given you can expect them to develop an API for the third-party Wherigo Players. Because of this, the main way cartridges will be downloaded would be via cell phone. You should be mindful of your cartridge's size because it's conceivable people would download your cartridge close to its posted coordinates and not via their Wi-Fi connection at home. Or they could have, but you came out with a new version between then and when the person plays it (and the Wherigo Player might be configured to download updates before playing the cartridge). People have a limit on both their phone's data and patience. Either of these could cause them to abort the download.

 

Let's say your cartridge ends up being 30MB. It might take you up to three minutes to upload an update to your cartridge. Downloading on a 3G connection in the US, where 4G is still not widely available, might take 6-10 minutes, depending upon cell signal quality. If this play-through was premeditated, chances are the person will wait. If this is spontaneous and s/he has things to do, the person might give up right there.

 

As for my experiment, I'm trying to see if a larger cartridge will take longer to load at first, or look through to find the sound clip when the code requests to play it. While the Wherigo Player does load all code into memory when the cartridge is loaded, it only loads pointers to the media. However, whether the entire cartridge must exist in RAM when loading or not is a technical question for the third-party developers because it depends on what they're doing.