Author Topic: [WIP] New sound effects for FFVII  (Read 123081 times)

Armorvil

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[WIP] New sound effects for FFVII
« on: 2010-06-27 20:21:05 »
I'm surprised no one tried to improve the sound effects in FFVII, yet. I took a look today, and it appears it's very easy to do.

Here is a youtube video I just uploaded. Quality is bad, but it should be sufficient. I willingly silenced the music so you'd hear the effects more easily. You can hear Tifa's critical attack at around 3:35.

I don't think this punch sound is perfect for Tifa anyway... ...too loud, maybe. The thing is, it's quite hard to find sound effects on the web. I came accross this website though : http://www.freesound.org . Download is free and there is no copyright enfringement, as far as I know (I read the terms of service). My sfx come out of there. You just need to create an account, and to give them credit if you are to publicly release something.

Here is a little step by step tutorial to replace sound effects :

1- get Ficedula's Cosmo

2- select Tools, then Audio Editor

3- find a sfx you like and want in-game. It must be a .wav file. If it's not, you can always convert it back to .wav with a program like Audacity.

4- go into your Start menu, select Programs, then Accessories, entertainment (?), and click on the recorder (my windows is in French, so I'm not sure how these things are called in English).

5- open your sound into the recorder, and choose File then Properties.

6- Select "Convert Now"

7- in the format, choose "Microsoft ADPCM", and just below : 44100 Khz, 4bits, Mono.

8 - save your sound. You can play it before though, to make sure it can be read after those changes. It looks like very short sounds cannot be read after being changed into an ADPCM with these attributs. You can work around this by editing your file in Audacity and add some silence to increase its length.

9 - apparently, Cosmo doesn't mind if the new sound is larger than the original. Just click on the sound ID you wish to replace, and click on "Replace" (duh...). Now go get the new sound, and TADAH ! It's in-game now :)

---

I'm thinking about replacing most sound-effects with higher quality ones. Wish me luck !  ;D

EDIT:

And here is Bolt ! :D

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Download links

FFVII-SFX_0.02a.rar
FFVII-SFX_0.02b.rar
FFVII-SFX_0.1.rar (too lazy to make a readme file in this one, but this is - for now - the one you want to download)
« Last Edit: 2010-07-18 21:25:21 by Armorvil »

nikfrozty

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Re: Editing the sound effects in FFVII
« Reply #1 on: 2010-06-27 21:55:36 »
Wow man I never knew of this! Now I'll need to have good sound effects, thanks for this man. :)

DLPB_

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Re: Editing the sound effects in FFVII
« Reply #2 on: 2010-06-27 22:06:41 »
Cool!  also that cursor movement sound (the original one)  sounds like it is overclipped and is very annoying.  personally I would like its complete removal.

Guess I can so that now.

[the cosmo i have doesnt seem to work very well...what are you using?]
« Last Edit: 2010-06-27 22:15:02 by seif »

Armorvil

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Re: Editing the sound effects in FFVII
« Reply #3 on: 2010-06-27 22:20:35 »
You're welcome :) I'm using Cosmo v0.95 build 7.

DLPB_

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Re: Editing the sound effects in FFVII
« Reply #4 on: 2010-06-27 22:49:15 »
I have 0.95c here and it doesn't open properly...

is this the same as you are using?  Upload yours for me?

Armorvil

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« Last Edit: 2010-06-27 23:19:08 by Armorvil »

ae2011

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Re: Editing the sound effects in FFVII
« Reply #6 on: 2010-06-27 23:18:12 »
dude, you should totally let me help you on this project. how do you know which sounds are what? weeemus used to have a list of descriptions for the sounds but he said his computer crashed and he lost it.

Armorvil

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Re: Editing the sound effects in FFVII
« Reply #7 on: 2010-06-27 23:29:40 »
I started a list of my own, actually. It's not in text format ; I just named the original sounds as I extracted them. It's highly incomplete and I expect some to be wrong, but here it is.

 
« Last Edit: 2010-06-27 23:37:53 by Armorvil »

ae2011

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Re: Editing the sound effects in FFVII
« Reply #8 on: 2010-06-27 23:38:02 »
thanks, that's awesome. what could i help you with? also, would you be against using some sound effects from more recent FF games?

Armorvil

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Re: Editing the sound effects in FFVII
« Reply #9 on: 2010-06-27 23:48:41 »
About using sound effects from other FF games... ...Well, yes and no. You see, those are copyrighted sounds so you can't distribute them. So if you manage to find them, we won't be able to turn them into a patch. But truth be told, if my own FFVII had cool sounds, I'd be happy :P

Nah, I think the only way you could help, is if you could find a nice sword-cut sound-effect for Cloud ^^ I've been trying to find one, but it's like looking for a needle in a bundle of straws.
« Last Edit: 2010-06-27 23:51:35 by Armorvil »

jeffdamann

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Re: Editing the sound effects in FFVII
« Reply #10 on: 2010-06-27 23:55:51 »
If you will continue updating this thread with a list of effect sounds you need and possibly how they originally sounded I PROMISE you ill find you 2 decent SFX's myself a day lol.(I messed with rpgmaker a LOT back in the day, and can find ENDLESS rpg sfx)

Armorvil

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Re: Editing the sound effects in FFVII
« Reply #11 on: 2010-06-28 06:59:28 »
Hey, no prob ! I know I also have trouble finding the Fire spells' replacements. There are a lot of fire sounds out there, but very few that feel violent enough - like a flame suddenly appearing out of the ground...

EDIT :

New video, with new sounds. I made a sword slash myself, by combining a "whoosh" sound with a gore one. Sounds ok when you're fighting biological stuff, but chances are it will sound odd against a machine.
« Last Edit: 2010-06-28 12:55:00 by Armorvil »

Krimson Hawk

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Re: Editing the sound effects in FFVII
« Reply #12 on: 2010-06-28 23:27:26 »
Just checked out the vid, really kick ass sounds dude. The timing seems to be a bit off on some of them though, don't know if that's just youtube throwing the audio off a bit though. Other than that great job

Armorvil

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Re: Editing the sound effects in FFVII
« Reply #13 on: 2010-06-29 13:16:43 »
Thanks. The syncing problem is mainly due to my poor videos, but it's true some of those sounds, like Cloud's slash, were a little off. It's fixed anyway, and I created some other sounds.

New video

After making this video, I edited the 'whoosh' limit sound again. It appears that combining the original sound effect with some other sounds is the way to go. The new sound is way better than the one you heard in this video. I used the same procedure with Cloud's slash - I just added a "blade" sound, a swinging one, and an impact one.

Also, I think it's time for a first release.

FFVII-SFX_0.02a.rar

In the rar archive, you will also find a new sound for the crowd in Junon, during the parade. I haven't tested it yet, so if someone could do so and report to me any problem they might encounter, that would be much appreciated.

*First post edited by adding a link to the rar file*

EDIT : reuploaded the file, I forgot Tifa's attack sound -__-
« Last Edit: 2010-06-29 13:36:30 by Armorvil »

Marc

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Re: Editing the sound effects in FFVII
« Reply #14 on: 2010-06-29 13:37:15 »
Nice progress judging from your last video.

A few constructive criticism however :

- The bolt sound effect sounded better to me in your earlier video.  Too much of the original is still howing through in this one.

- Tifa's hit sound is, as you said, too "loud".  I believe it should be toned down somewhat.

Apart from those two, every release is improving.  Cloud's blade is perfect as well as barret's limit and regular attack.

Armorvil

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Re: Editing the sound effects in FFVII
« Reply #15 on: 2010-06-29 14:53:51 »
Quote
- The bolt sound effect sounded better to me in your earlier video.  Too much of the original is still howing through in this one.

Yeah, I know... ...but it's kinda wanted. You see, thunder can only sound a certain way, and since there are many bolt spells in game, I thought I'd just keep the originals and just improve them somehow. I guess the only thing I can do is lower the volume of the original sound / increase the volume of the new one...
Either this, or I'll have to find better electrical sound effects.

Quote
- Tifa's hit sound is, as you said, too "loud".  I believe it should be toned down somewhat.

No prob, I'll lower its volume for the next version.

Thank you for posting.

Oh, and I just made two new sounds : one for Jessie's explosion, and the other one for the fire sound (that you can also hear when Nibelheim is burning). Video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3K1Q2pxaGUo

Krimson Hawk

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Re: Editing the sound effects in FFVII
« Reply #16 on: 2010-06-29 19:25:14 »
Quote
- The bolt sound effect sounded better to me in your earlier video.  Too much of the original is still howing through in this one.

Yeah, I know... ...but it's kinda wanted. You see, thunder can only sound a certain way, and since there are many bolt spells in game, I thought I'd just keep the originals and just improve them somehow. I guess the only thing I can do is lower the volume of the original sound / increase the volume of the new one...
Either this, or I'll have to find better electrical sound effects.

Just throwing an idea out there, mentioning better electrical sounds made me think of that high pitch noise bolt 3 makes and I was never really impressed with that. If that could be edited to sound more like real crackling and thunder it might sound more realistic.
As for Tifa's attacks, they sound more detailed. Barret's gun fire sounds very good but the timing still seems off.

hotdog963al

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Re: Editing the sound effects in FFVII
« Reply #17 on: 2010-06-29 21:21:40 »
Are these sounds really "better"? I can't help but feel some are being changed just for the sake of it...

I guess it's an optional mod at the end of the day though right? :)

Armorvil

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Re: Editing the sound effects in FFVII
« Reply #18 on: 2010-06-29 21:49:25 »
Are these sounds really "better"? I can't help but feel some are being changed just for the sake of it...

I guess it's an optional mod at the end of the day though right? :)

Yes, they're the best sounds out there, period. And no, this is no optional mod - everyone has to install it or I'm gonna hunt them down and slit their throats :)
« Last Edit: 2010-07-01 12:23:32 by Armorvil »

hotdog963al

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Re: Editing the sound effects in FFVII
« Reply #19 on: 2010-06-29 22:09:44 »
Yes, they're the best sounds out there, period. And no, this is no optional mod - everyone has to install it or I'm gonna hunt them and slit their throats :)
Shit man, that sounds pretty full on!

Armorvil

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Re: Editing the sound effects in FFVII
« Reply #20 on: 2010-06-30 11:49:18 »
Of course !

Reminder to self : change Tifa's critical attack sound.

By the way, sound effect #376 sounds like a woman screaming, but I can't remember where this is played, in-game. Anyone know ? I think I remember it being played in the hotel at Gold Saucer, but can you hear it anywhere else ?
« Last Edit: 2010-06-30 12:09:09 by Armorvil »

nikfrozty

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Re: Editing the sound effects in FFVII
« Reply #21 on: 2010-06-30 13:48:12 »
Of course !

Reminder to self : change Tifa's critical attack sound.

By the way, sound effect #376 sounds like a woman screaming, but I can't remember where this is played, in-game. Anyone know ? I think I remember it being played in the hotel at Gold Saucer, but can you hear it anywhere else ?
I've been playing ff7 for a long time and I only hear that scream in the hotel too when the doll or something tied is falls to scare Cloud.

Armorvil

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Re: Editing the sound effects in FFVII
« Reply #22 on: 2010-06-30 14:28:29 »
Ha, that's what I thought - thank you Nikfrozty. Which one of these screams do you think would be best to replace it ? This one, this one, this one, this one (it is pretty funny, 3 women are screaming), this one (which also made me laugh), or this one ?

I have trouble deciding.
« Last Edit: 2010-06-30 14:34:09 by Armorvil »

nfitc1

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Re: Editing the sound effects in FFVII
« Reply #23 on: 2010-06-30 18:55:29 »
Ha, that's what I thought - thank you Nikfrozty. Which one of these screams do you think would be best to replace it ? This one, this one, this one, this one (it is pretty funny, 3 women are screaming), this one (which also made me laugh), or this one ?

I have trouble deciding.


I like this one. :P

I mean: http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=66949

Armorvil

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Re: Editing the sound effects in FFVII
« Reply #24 on: 2010-06-30 20:23:29 »
Yeah, nice choice. It's true that this is the most faithful one to the original scream :)
(By the way, now that you're here NFITC1, you might want to check out this thread. I talk about an issue I forgot to mention regarding Proud Clod and battle flags ;) )
« Last Edit: 2010-06-30 20:27:41 by Armorvil »