How do you COnvert WAV to ACM?

[Jiggaman391@yahoo.com]

How do you convert .WAV files to .ACM files? Does acm to wav have a wav to acm?

[Idobek]

Yes, I got it in the same package acm2wav came in. There is also snd2acm which does what you seek, there is a link in Seifer's audio tutorial.

[Jiggaman391@yahoo.com]

Thanks, I'll go look!

[Avenger]

You can also use dltcep

[Smoketest]

Heh, when I first toyed with editing existing game WAVs, such as Tashia's romance music (to adjust volume), all that was available was some information on the IESDP website. I had 'fun' tracking down the various files due to some broken links, and also had to correct the data given at IESDP, but I did get things working and successfully edited several sounds.

 

What I am posting below is a conversion of the HTML document from the IESDP data, corrected in a few places. I mostly updated the hex dump (IESDP shows e777 at offset 0x1A but my tests always showed fd7f) and the list of instructions for how to use the tools.

 

Now there is DLTCEP, as noted, which does this stuff for you. Still, if you're curious as to how it could be done without using today's tools, the following nostalgic info might be interesting. (The page is still available on the IESDP, under IE File Formats > WAVC - Version 1.)

 

WAVC file format

 

Applies to:  BG1, BG1:TSC, BG2, BG2:ToB, PST, IWD, IWD:HoW, IWD:TL, IWD2

 

General Description

 

WAVC files contain sounds used within the game. Unlike ACM files, they can be placed into the override folder and into BIF files. All WAVC files are 22050 Hz, 16 bits and mono.

Since the game only recognizes files with WAV extensions, they must be renamed to *.WAV before being used in the game.

 

Detailed Description

 

Wavc is the sound file format used in IE games. Actually it is an acm file with the following additional header attached.

 

Hex Dump:

0000x00 5756 4643 5631 2E30 xxxx xxxx yyyy yyyy

0000x10 1C00 0000 0100 1000 2256 FD7F 9728 0301

 

The above information can be decoded as follows:

 

Offset Size (Data Type) Description

----------------------------------------------------

0000x00 8 (ASCIIZ)File identifier WAVCV1.0

0000x08 4 (dword) Uncompressed size of file ( xxxx xxxx ) value

0000x0a 4 (dword) Compressed size of file ( yyyy yyyy ) value

0000x10 12 (bytes) Constant in all wavc files

0000x1c 4 (bytes) This is the header of a normal acm file ( 9728 0301 )

 

To create and edit WAVC files, the following programs are required:

snd2acm.exe

acm2wav.exe

wav editor

 

This program is useful for quick testing of a new WAVC file:

wavc.exe

 

The process for creating a WAVC file is as follows:

 

1. To edit a WAVC sound, first run the sound through ACM2WAV.EXE to generate a PCM encoded WAV file that can be edited with any WAV editor.

2. For new WAV sounds created in a WAV editor, increase the speed 100%.

3. After editing, save the file and record the uncompressed file size by looking at the WAV file's properties (the size in brackets).

4. Compress the file into ACM format using SND2ACM with the -WAV option.

5. Record the new compressed file size using the same method in step 3.

6. Open the ACM file with a hex editor and insert the data from the header shown above. You only need to insert 28 bytes total. The original ACM header must begin at offset 0x1E.

7. Place the uncompressed file size into the location specified as xxxx xxxx. Bytes are from lowest to highest significance.

9. Place the compressed file size into the location specified as yyyy yyyy. Bytes are from lowest to highest significance.

10. Save the file as a .WAV file.

11. You can test the file by converting it using WAVC.EXE and playing it back using Media Player. If it sounds

right, then you've succeeded.

12. Place the hex-edited WAV file into your override folder.

13. Your new/edited sound is ready for use in the game.

[Domi]

ARRGH! I can't find wavc.exe _AGAIN_!!!! Will anyone once and for ALL will EVAR host all three bloody exe files that are needed for ISC??? Or at least give the working links to them? Gods, I just HATE hunting for them, it's the second time I have to do it. Will it be *that* difficult to include it with ISC?

 

Anyway, finally found one WORKING link:

 

http://www.resonant.org/games/baldursgate/

[Domi]

Also, for everyone who would try to use ISC on Windows XP, the program is looking for an outdated file not included with the Windows anymore. The solution is to register the file manually:

 

http://www.ascentive.com/support/new/suppo...me=COMDLG32.OCX