Has bnsf50 vanished from Trainz?

joshmeister

Proud Railfurz Member
Has he departed from the community, does anyone know? I'm sure everyone here has used his wonderful grade crossings before but I was needing to talk to him about some issues I found with them, but it seems that he's not really around any more. For anyone that might be able to assist in this minor issue, I'd greatly appreciate it.


My one issue has always been that with his grade crossings, some for some reason used the wrong bell sound...(IE some of his crossings that have Ebells on them have a mechanical bell sound, and visa versa.)

Finally I started changing this today (While also adding recordings of the e bell and mechanical bell that I personally own.)

Everything now sounds amazing except for one new issue. I'm not sure if he maybe set these crossings up this way so people wouldn't do this, but, now that every thing is using updated (And correct) sounds, there is a noticeable "Pop" sound that is synced with the flashing of the crossing lights. I've never come across a problem like this before and feel a little stuck on how I could fix this issue, and I'm generally really good with sound issues and even making my own sounds, BTW, the issue I don't think is with my recordings since there isn't any popping sounds in the actual recording. Honestly, I'm stumped on this one, and sound files are usually pretty simple to work with.
 
According to his profile he was last logged into the forum in May 2016 :( . His profile also states that he would be 70 by now, so either he moved on to other interests (grand children, other hobbies) or (I fear) moved on to a different world.
 
The pop and click issue is easy to fix if you can edit the asset. The problem you'll run into is with the built-in and ones used with DLC routes.

Using Audacity you need to remove the gain from the audio and reset it to zero.

If you want the sound to be louder, adjust the amplitude (volume) instead.

The increase in gain, instead of amplitude, caused the problem by offsetting the starting point above zero. The sound loop goes from zero to sound, and with the sound starting above zero, we get a pop every it plays.

I suggest making a list of the the grade crossing that popping issue, and maybe the CRG can take a look at these at some point. For built-ins, that will be up to N3V to repair.

I know this doesn't fix the wrong bell issue, but it will fix the sound popping problem. Maybe you could supply the audio files for those assets that need the correct bell when the time comes to repair these should the team look at them.

For Clem I'll keep thinking he's retired. It's much nicer that way.
 
Hey John, I am using Goldwave to make my sound sets and its always worked pretty good for me. Also, none of the assets I am working with are built in, they are all the Grade Crossings that bnsf50 uploaded to the DLS. I'll open up one if the files and mess with the gain and see if that fixes it.
 
Apparently reducing the gain did not work, still has a "Pop" each time the flasher changes sides. Not through Goldwave anyway, I have no idea how to use Audacity lol.
 
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I miss Clem, too. I think his wife helped him out occasionally, too. I wish he was still active.

Cheers,,

Dave Snow
 
Have to ask this, was it making popping sounds before changing the sound files?

From what I can tell, no, but then again the increase in gain may have amplified the start of the sound as though there's an old record player that's starting and stopping so it's more noticeable. The fix I posted is one that our dear friend Frogpipe came up with ages ago, but I can't find the link for as usual in the forums.
 
Possibly the sound is length critical to correspond with the animation / flashing lights, most of his stuff is scripted which is probably where you will find the answer.

So having a look.
From one of his scripts which indicates the length is critical.

Code:
 html = html + "<font color=#FFFFFF size=5><br>";
               html = html + "<a href=live://property/interval_i >Interval for flashers <font size=4>in seconds (0.40 to 1.50): <font color=#00FF00 font size=5>" + interval+ "</a><br>";
               html = html + "<font color=#00FFFF size=3>The higher the setting of Interval, the slower the lights will flash. Valid values are 0.40 to 1.50<br>";
               html = html + "Note: The bell sound file may need to be modified (made shorter or longer) if interval is changed significantly. Bell sound plays once for each phase of the flashers<br><br>";

Over to script experts.....
 
A quick look with Audacity would tell you if the WAV file starts with a noticeable "peak" in amplitude. If it does, Just use the mouse to highlight the pop (ONLY) and press the Del key. It will go away. Then save the file. You shouldn't hear the pop any more. If the pop is NOT in the file, then it could be the script calling for sound and the sound taking slightly longer to appear.

Bill
 
The clipping sound is most likely due to the fact that his stuff normally repeats the wav file after a set time vs the completion of the sound file. If you need bells that will work well, check out my crossings on JR and borrow the sound files.
 
Hi as a sound person I have to stretch that you have to use a very very very very short fade in and fade out on the beginning and end of the sound file. In Soundforge (a professional sound program) this was called a ' exponential fade in and inverse exponential fade out). It only has to be a few milliseconds and also the sound file has to be of the same length as the script. Also with HiBaller said. Look for 'peaks' in the sound file and try to remove that. Experiment with that and always keep the original sound file.
 
Joshmeister. in Audacity just select the Effect menu, Normalize, and then check the box that says "Remove any DC offset (center on 0,0 vertically). That will remove any pop.
 
Ok, so I think I fixed the issue the best I could, I trimmed down the sound length and even added loop points just to make sure, the bottom video shows my improvements.

I think these sound so much better now with these new sound files.

 
Joshmeister. in Audacity just select the Effect menu, Normalize, and then check the box that says "Remove any DC offset (center on 0,0 vertically). That will remove any pop.
Removing the DC Offset is the one that always worked for me. Be sure that you try that before any of the other fixes, as it will affect the rest of the sound file the least.

--Lamont
 
Clem passed away several years ago. RIP. His wife and trainz partner, Linda, was answering email last year. Together they were bnsf50.

Linda's email to me said, in part,

"I will tell you the same as I have told others that want to update. You are more than welcome to do as many of the items that we put on the Trainz download pages that you want. My only request is that you give Clem credit for the original work.

Thank you for contacting us and asking for permission to do this."

I would suggest a credit to "Linda and Clem - bnsf50" would be appropriate.
 
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Me too, but I would like to find out myself to confirm to know its okay to do so. If its okay, I would like to get some better bell sounds and then upload them to the DLS so others could enjoy the updated content - with credit:)
 
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