help / info: VRML & SOUND

MP3 and WAV sound support in VRML

status 3/20/2000
VRML, a definition VRML 3D-Browser check for, download, their sound skills EAI, JSAI, VR	3D browser sound skills SOUND support in VRML technical info for method I - MP3 Versions methods II, III - WAV versions mail

VRML

Virtual Reality Modeling Language

currently version 2.0 or VRML97 originating from SGI's proposal "MOVING WORLDS" (competition winner), started with version VRML1.0 in 1994. VRML97 was ISO standarded in 1998.

The successor of VRML97 is X3D (see X3D at www.web3D.org/news or X3D at About.com) and was/is heavily discussed during the last 1.5 years in 'www-vrml@vrml.org' mailing list. Now X3D is within its final workout phase and will hopefully be released this year.

VRML is a scene description language which describes 3D environments over the net. When you access a page containing a VRML world, the file (extention ".wrl") is downloaded into your web browser and displayed within your 3D-browser plugin (e.g. Cosmoplayer).

Most prominent highlights of VRML2.0 are a broad multimedia support including controls for sound and video, a high degree of (programmable, see below, EAI)) user interactivity, the possibility to bind external program code, the implementation of object movements and of course its platform independence.

You know HTML as a file format that defines the layout and content of a 2D page with links to more information. VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language) is a file format that defines the layout and content of a 3D worlds with links to more information, i.e. a whole bunch of the important multimedia network formats (jpg, gif, png, wav, mid, mpeg). Unlike HTML, however, VRML worlds are inherently interactive and you are able to build up Multi-User-Communities (MU Environment).

VRML is scalable, object-oriented and cross-platform, ranging from PCs to high-end workstations and VRML is bandwidth efficient too. Most of the time when VRML files are large (see my Xtended vrml files in 'Space Odyssey'), it's because of motion capture data such as sound or video or texture files (images).
Improvements are on the way, ng-(next generation) VRML -> X3D and will comprise most of the new uptodate multimedia formats such as streaming audio/video and support for XML.

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VRML - Browser

or 3D browser or 3D player is the means to view and move within the 3D VRML worlds.

sometimes you'll find this 3D-VRML Browser allready installed as a plugin coming with your net browser. This is case with:
some Netscape Communicators 4.0x -4.7 versions which integrate Cosmoplayer 2.x
or
the MS InternerExplorer 5.0. coming with WorldView 2.1
I have built up a browser plugin check page which looks for your client system configuration by means of javascript. The resulting report will show Your 3D browser player and some other 2d plugins for the most commonly used browsers such as Netscape, IExplorer and Opera: PlayerCheck
in most cases you'll have to download and install this 3D VRML browser as a plugin within your currently used internet browser. Here is my download page: PlayerList
A similar overview on VRML Browsers and the MediaPlayer can be found within the starting page my new 3D gimmick at Sun's Ecclipse
different 3D browsers usually display some slightly different 3D output. This is normal because all of them have different 3D engines working in the background.
The most prominent effects are seen on the 3D light settings, transparency-, color- and sound reproduction.
On the other side, you'll find option menues with each 3D browser. They allows you to adapt the 3D output to your hard- and software configuration e.g. for the graphics renderer (DirectX or OpenGL) or the use of 3D hardware support.

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VRML -Browsers and their Sound Skills

CosmoPlayer 2.1 is the most adequate VRML Player for use with MP3 and WAV Sounds. This browser is most close to VRML 2.0 ISO norm and has had more than 20.000.000 downloads worldwide.
For the time being, worlds here are optimised for the CosmoPlayer and you'll have the maximum Sound and Audio gain.
Blaxxun (blacksun) Contact4.3 and GLView 4.3 will display most of my 3D features. However, these (similar) 3D engines show up with somewhat different light setting and texturing methods. GLView is a standallone browser. Contact is THE multiuser 3d-player plugin No. 1.
Unfortunately Contact has only partial MP3 sound support, i.e. one MP3 sound per world and only on use of the Intel RSX 3D driver, (s. Contact's option menu).
On the other hand, multiple WAV sounds are neatly played back as 3D audio.

3D-developers: DEEPMATRIX is a new ressource for realtime 3D and (2d) MP3.
ParallelGraphics Cortona v2.1 browser reproduces all of the used VRML stuff here, but supports only one MP3 or WAV sound without 3d spatilization per 3D world. Just the first sound encountered in a 3D worlds will be played.
WorldView 2.1 (Platinum) seems to be the least adequate 3d Browser for my 3d worlds. This player does not support MP3 at all and will not display features using transparency and fish-eye perspectives.

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EAI - External Authoring Interface

it' a long way to define, here' s short one:

it could be any program or API (application program interface or EXTERNAL program) that wants to interact with INTERNAL VRML features (3D-scene nodes & parameters). It allows you to control most of the 3D-TIME & SPACE & VIEW & INTERACTION &.. -VRML commands.

EAI programmers usually apply JAVA or the JSAI - JavaScript Authoring Interface for this purpose.

Have a look at the X3D consortium site for EAI specification

VR - Virtual Reality

... go on surfin, you'll realize !

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SOUND Support in 3D VRML WORLDS

see too above: browser sound skills

my method I - MP3 Versions

Independant of other streaming audio formats - say RealAudio - one of the most promising sound formats is MP3: high quality, very small AND you can save MP3 to your hard disk.
This sound format now works with VRML 2.0 (see: MP3 Sound and VRML - About.Com ) and reduces SOUND file sizes by 10:1 to 15:1.

Visitors of my VRML - MP3 worlds ideally have installed COSMOPLAYER 2.x and the MEDIAPLAYER 6.x With the Mediaplayer integrated into your system, my MP3-method I. of SPACE ODYSSEY is the best choice.

new:
Cortona Player 2.1 partially supports MP3 Sound too, but only one single sound file in one world. SPACEODYSSEY is a multiple sound world and therefore it's MP3 version can only be run with COSMOPLAYER. Nethertheless you can try the smaller (one Sound) MP3 example files with Cortona Player

Blaxxun's Contact too partially supports 1 MP3 Sound if you have Intel's RSX 3D Sound driver active.
- unfortuneately MP3 Sound Quality isn't that good with these two player above -

Internet Explorer users: WorldView2.1 - does not work with MP3

MEDIAPLAYER 6.x

The MediaPlayer does the MP3-job very well compared to the use and playing of WAV files: much better sound quality, smaller file sizes

The 'mpfull.exe' v6.4 file for Win95, Win98, and NT 4.0 (march/99) is about 3.24 MB and supports all net browsers. A smaller version of about 2.07 MB can be downloaded for MS Internet Explorer 4.0 and 5.0x.
MediaPlayer6.x is further available for W3.x, Macintosh and Alpha CPUs.
new: The Mediaplayer is now part of the Internet Explorer 5.0 and WIN98

INSTALLATION is simple. Close all other programs before, espec. your browser but don't forget to bookmark these pages before.
The old "mplayer.exe" and "amovie.exe" are desabled, all or most of the important sound and movie formats are then processed by the MediaPlayer. This is also true for most of the sound and video plugins used in MSIE and NETSCAPE- browsers!
Even Netscape users (!!) may then directly go on to load my MP3-versions of SPACE ODYSSEY and of course all the MP3 demos of my link-page.

my sound file extensions
I partially termed the MP3 sound file extensions within the VRML files to 'soundname_nnd.wav'
'nn' is the sample rate in kHz, 'd' is for double speed version (to account for better MP3 processing on older systems)

TEST - '.mp3' extension in 3D here:
orion_mp3_ext.wrl (sound: 14 sec loop from Portishead)
Here, the embedded sound file is given the '.mp3' extension.
The same VRML-file with the other sound files is presented in 'VRML/Sound samples' but with sound file extension '.wav' there. This version should work anyway if the Cosmo-/Mediaplayer combination is installed.
System Requirements
A pentium system (or comparable) with 100 MHz/16-32 MB represents a minimum particularly when you use an older graphics card without 3D-support.

CPU /Graphics Benches:

Pentium 100, 2MB S3-graphics, W95, 80MB RAM, Netscape3.02-4.05, Cosmoplayer2.1:
==> frame rates of 0.7 - 5 fps on a 600*800 screen

AMD 300 K6 2, 8MB G200 MGA-graphics, W95, 64MB RAM, Netscape3.02-4.05 /Cosmoplayer2.1
==> frame rates of 5- 50 fps on a 600*800 screen

AMD Duron 700, 32MB GeForce MX (T&L), W98, DX8, Nvidia Det 5.32, 128MB RAM, Netscape3.02-4.75 /Cosmoplayer2.1
==> frame rates of 30 - >100 fps independant of screen size

(fps - 'frames per second')

TIPs:
==> diminish your 3D window size to considerably push up fps rates.

==> use the right mouse context menue "Open (the 3D files) in a New Window",
for the 3D links (.wrl- files) and you'll be able to use a resizable or full screen window
Have a look at my illustrated VRML and MP3 Links for more MP3 infos and demos

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methods II, III - A.: WAV versions

most of the WAV files in the SPACE ODYSSEY project are in '22 kHz, 16 bit, mono' format to ensure their "in-vrml-scene quality". I think sound quality is essential to all VRML worlds and I 'll continue to take great care in finding and arranging appropiate soundtracks.

check out the difference here with one example in 3 qualities:
ai_greeting22.wav (163 KB, 22kHz, 8 bit)
ai_greeting11.wav (82 KB, 11 kHz, 8 bit)
ai_greeting8.wav (60 KB, 8 kHz, 8 bit)

try this "ai_greeting22.mp3", it is MP3 file format. Compare sound quality and file size to the WAV files. Of all these examples, these ones obviously have the best sound quality!.
ai_greeting22.mp3 (23 KB, 22kHz, 24 kbps)
(same file with extension 'wav':)
ai_greeting22_mp3.wav (23 KB, 22kHz, 24 kbps)
for some of the original WAV files I used had low quality (11 kHz, 8 bit, mono), I had to expand them to 22 kHz and 16 bit. This is a factor 4* in file size !!!. Luckily this expansion resulted in high compression ratios when I zipped these files for method III: 'project09.zip'.

MIDI and MOD formated files have the smallest file size. Unfortunately current 3D VRML browsers including my preferred CosmoPlayer2.1 are not supporting it, i.e. max. one MIDI file at the same time. Two Midi's or more disturb the scenery as much as close helicopter on a sunday morning's listening to J.S. Bach's violin
suites ...
God may save MIDI or alternately provide 2Mbit/s cabling to everybody.

The use of STEREO files is not necessary because the 3D browsers do this job well while creating spatial 3D sound from the mono files.

method III - B: MP3 ->WAV - zipped version

I used MP3-Format here to vigorously reduce the sound file sizes and to save your download time. Method III b) (zipped) of SPACE ODYSSEY is recommended to users who don't have MS MediaPlayer installed but a version of WINAMP 1.7ff, which is one of the most commonly used MP3 players.

as a drawback from the small file size you've got to reformat/ decode the MP3-files back to WAV format in order to use them in the SPACE ODYSSEY scene. (I didn't find a way to engage WinAmp for use in a VRML world)
decoding is done easily with the standard MP3 player WinAmp 1.7 ff. Download the (W95/NT) shareware program from www.winamp.com or from my directory here (v 1.90, shareware info included)
a help text is included or can be read here
download a complete zipped 3D file including MP3 encoded sounds (status 5/1998) project09_mp3.zip - 0.479 MB.

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koening@chemie.fu-berlin.de

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