Hyperradio Howto Musicpacks
Contents
OVERVIEW
This document describes how to make your own and very personal Musicpack for the Hyperradio and is not meant as a explanation on how-to-rip-my-CDs. There are a lot of programs - and even free cross-platform progs - out there with specific documentation, related to that point. However, making your own Musicpack is very easy. A complete Musicpack with 5 songs can be done within a few minutes! You should be familiar with creating folders and files (that's the basics of OS handling) and you will need two tools to do it:
1. A texteditor (you can use the texteditor that comes with your OS) - for example Notepad, Wordpad or use external tools like Notepad++.
2. A soundeditor - for example Audacity to cut, edit and convert your files to Ogg-vorbis.
That's all you need - eh, except maybe a clue where you could get some audio-files. But that's not a real problem, or is it?
CHAPTER 1 - Building the oxp structure
1. Create a folder in Oolites AddOns folder - for example hyperradioClassicPackA.oxp.
So if Oolite is installed under D:\Oolite171 the AddOns folder is one level deeper. Here it would be:
D:\Oolite171\AddOns\hyperradioClassicPackA.oxp
The following steps will reference only to this oxp and NOT to Oolites internal used folders.
2. Create there a Config folder and a Music folder
D:\Oolite171\AddOns\hyperradioClassicPackA.oxp\Config\ D:\Oolite171\AddOns\hyperradioClassicPackA.oxp\Music\
3. Open the Config folder and create two new files
descriptions.plist script.js
TIP: You could create them as *.txt files and rename them after creation or rename them after adding the content.
4. Open descriptions.plist and add this content:
// HyperRadio - Playlist Music Add-On
{
// DONT USE NAMES LIKE 01.ogg
hyperradio_songlistClassicPackA =
(
"exampleA.ogg",
"exampleB.ogg"
);
}
Save this file.
5. Open script.js and add this content:
this.name = "hyperradioClassicPackA";
this.author = "Your name";
this.copyright = "CC-by-nc-sa-3.0";
this.description = "Classic Pack A";
this.version = "1.00";
hyperradio_stationlist.push("[hyperradio_songlistClassicPackA]");
Save this file.
Now the structure setup is done.
CHAPTER 2 - Audio content
This document doesn't explain how to rip your CDs, but if you already have some music files on your hard disk it explains how to use Audacity to convert them to Ogg-vorbis. There are a lot of other tools out there and the handling might be different from program to program, but the basics are always the same.
1. Copy your music files into the OXPs Music folder. As example I'm using here the file: Artist-Song_Name.mp3.
D:\Oolite171\AddOns\hyperradioClassicPackA.oxp\Music\Artist-Songname.mp3
2. Open Audacity and d&d (drag and drop) this file into Audacity, or open it there.
Audacity imports now this file with it's internal import filter - this can last a few seconds.
But then it should look like ---->
3. Now we have to check the file. On the first look it seems to be necessary to correct this file, because at the end of the track (song) it looks as if the loudness is not zero. So choose the marker tool ----> and mark the last few seconds with the mouse ---->
Then use the zoom ---->. Repeat this steps if necessary.
4. If you have marked the last few milliseconds choose Effect -> Fade Out
Audacity changes now the loudness in the marked area with a fade to zero.
5. Now select Fit Project and select the whole file. This can be done be clicking inside the trackpanel on the left side or by
pressing STRG+A or by Edit -> Select -> All
6. Now we have to correct the general loudness. Choose Effect -> Amplify and move the slider until the New Peak Amplitude (db)
is at -6.9. You can test it with the preview function, and if necessary change the level again. Then press OK.
7. Now it's time to export this file to Ogg-vorbis. File -> Export -> Choose file format OGG Files. Then choose Options to change the
quality factor. Normally a medium factor is a good balance between quality and file size. Press OK and save this file (rename it if
neccesary - Oolite doesn't allow spaces and leading numerics in the filenames) to your Music folder.
8. Repeat steps 1-7 for all music files.
Now the audio work is done.
CHAPTER 3 - Finishing the OXP
Now we have done all necessary setup work and we can finish the oxp.
1. Open descriptions.plist and replace the example entries with your filenames
// HyperRadio - Playlist Music Add-On
{
// DONT USE NAMES LIKE 01.ogg
hyperradio_songlistClassicPackA =
(
"Artist-Song_Name.ogg",
"Artist-Song_Name_II.ogg",
"Artist-Song_Name_III.ogg",
"Artist-Song_Name_IV.ogg",
"Artist-Song_Name_V.ogg"
);
}
Save it and you are ready to test it in Oolite.
And if everything is fine you can delete the no more used musicfiles (mp3, wavs,...).
Have fun...
IMPORTANT NOTES
If you are planning to publish it take care that you are allowed to use the musicfiles. Some examples and more documentation can be found on http://creativecommons.org.
So check it carefully to avoid legal issues!!!
WEBLINKS
Notepad++ - Texteditor for Windows under the GPL Licence.
jEdit - Crossplatform texteditor for Mac OS X, OS/2, Unix, VMS and Windows under GPL 2.0.
Audacity - Crossplatform soundeditor for Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux and other operating systems, distributed under the GNU General Public License (GPL).
HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN MUSICPACK FOR THE HYPERRADIO
