Hi

Can any one help me how i can convert MPEG to MIDI.
I have a piece of music in Mpeg format.
I'd like to bring it in to Houdini so that i can drive my animation with that music. In order to do that I believe i have to convert it to MIDI file to import it to Houdini. Can any one help me ?
Thanks in advance.

Steve

To get animation curves out of audio material a .wav file is doing just fine. You can use filter to get the different frequencies, but a clean midi is another thing. I notice you make a lot with audio. Why don't have a look at http://www.andrew-lowell-productions.com/andrew-lowell-productions/resources.html [andrew-lowell-productions.com] ? It's all covered there.

Thanks.

But, I need to import my music with Mpeg format to houdini to start working.
How can i import my music. Can you help me.
I do have the Andrew's ebook already and have studied it or still studying.
Please help me. Thanks again

Steve

Can't you just convert it into a low frequency .mp3 file and load it with the File CHOP? Start off with something small like only a few seconds worth of audio for testing.

How can i convert it to mp3 file from Mpeg ?
Thank you very much.

Steve

There is no such thing as an “Mpeg” audio file. What is your file's extension? Just use some audio processing programs?

In the file info :

It shows as follows:

Kind : MPEG audio file
Format : MPEG-1, Layer 3
Size : 962.5 Kb
Bit Rate : 128 kbps
Sample Rate : 44.100 khz
Channels : Joint Stereo
ID3 Tag : v2.3
Encoded with : LAME3.97

Can you please help me further ?
Thank you very much.

Steve

You already have an .mp3 file then. The problem is probably that it's too big to fit into memory fully decompressed. Use some sort of audio editing program to trim down its length.

yeah, I think workflow wise it's important to keep a good separation between file i/o and conversion, and the artist's workflow, scenes etc.

So, there's much more efficient ways to convert all the input files outside of Houdini. First find the best solution for converting your files into .wav or image sequences, then pipe them into CHOPs 8)

Memory is an issue with CHOPs since it has to contain the entire file in memory, remember the unload feature.

As for converting a file into MIDI this will always only be an approximation, because in audio data the start of a note, exact frequency of a tone, things like that are “wishy washy” and not exact. But, probably a triggering system would be a good first step if it's absolutely necessary to convert to MIDI. If you're just looking for a peice of information from the data, like frequencies .. MIDI conversion might not be necessary.

Hello, Andrew :

Thank you very much for your help!
It's nice to hear from you. I Remember you got a new apt.
I noticed that you are in Sidney now.

First find the best solution for converting your files into .wav or image sequences, then pipe them into CHOPs

That' what i am trying to do now and do not know how and what solution would be the best to convert to midi or wav.
Can you help me please.

Thanks so much again and wish you the best in Sidney.

Young

I don't exactly know what would be best for your needs, I was just suggesting something “outside” of Houdini. Houdini is great at fx / animation / synthesis etc, but it's not a file i/o program per say.

So, there's probably lots of hacky free programs you can use, you could also maybe use a video or sound editing program for this. Not sure what will work with your codecs etc

Hi, Andrew,

Thanks so much again.
How do you usually convert music file to import to houdini?
Can i use adobe Sound Booth ?
Can you suggest any free program source ?
Thanks

Young

I think Adobe Audition is a great program for that stuff, and can also batch. Of course it's around $500. For the free stuff just do a google search whatever to whatever and see what you get 8)

Thanks million, Andrew.

I wonder if i can ask a favor.
Can you convert the file i posted to wav or midi format for me so that i can import it to chop ?
I can send the file if you can.
And, let me know how you'd charge.
Or, if you can do further with the the music file using chop for me that will be much better. Would you please let me know.

Young

by the way, i could manage convert a music file bought from itune to MPEG usng a program (do not remember) i got from google long ago after i bought you ebook.