TF2 FAQ

[Budr]

So, some people were asking about playing music in game and someone suggested writing what I said down so I figured maybe we could have a thread on guides for this kind of shizzle (sprays, recording demos, etc). I know Vandam wrote a basic spray guide and I guess there's guides demo recording and playback about so feel free to copy pasta them in or make amendments to previously posted guides.

[Budr]

I don't mean to step on any toes with this as I'm aware that the line from "a bit to fun" to mic-spamming is thin and very subjective so use responsibly.


Playing music over voice-chat:

First step is which player to use. As far as I'm aware, there are two options: Half-Life Sound Selector and Half-Life DJ. There are advantages to both, as outlined below, so it's up to your specific needs which you choose:

HLSS

Pros:

• Easily access and switch between your sound files, ie one button equals one clip
  
• Tried and tested and accepted as standard for years
  

Cons:

• Have to assign each individual sound clip to a specific button, limiting selection and requiring extra effort
  
• Requires manual alteration of config files for each game
  

HLDJ

Pros:

• Unlimited library of tunes
  
• Set up application for all your Steam games automatically and switch between at the touch of a button
  

Cons:

• Fairly new and untested (relative at least to HLSS)
  

I'm not going to bother with setup of the applications as the guides on the respective websites here for HLSS and here for HLDJ are perfectly adequate, as a start point at least.

The other major factor is the processing of audio files into the correct format. In order to be playable in game the clips must be single channel with an 11KHz frequency rate and 16 bit depth. How you convert them is, again, up to taste but, as people have had difficulties, I will post my preferred method.

I use a free wave editor called Wavosaur (which, as an aside, I would recommend as an excellent product for general usage, also). It requires no install so, once downloaded and extracted:

• Open your audio file
  
• Process > Convert to mono - I would recommend selecting a single channel as opposed to mixing
  
• Process > Resample and select a rate of 11025 Hz
  
• Process > Bit depth converter and select a rate of 16 bits
  
• Process > Normalize > -6dB
  

Normalization is non-essential for playback but loud clips have a tendancy to distort and sound even worse (if possible) than they already do once downsampled to 11KHz. I believe the interpolate option on the resample tool filters out the bottom end to remove inaudible, and thus futile, frequencies, so as to make use of more of the sample rate. I leave it ticked but I'm not sure how powerful the engine behind the process is and it tends to feel like a losing battle tweaking the subtleties of an 11KHz clip, either way it's gonna sound like arse.


Probably missed something obvious so amendments are welcome.

[Budr]

Sprays

I'm far from the voice of authority on this matter, so this is just a "what I've blindly stumbled upon" kinda guide. That said:

Still:

Ideally, when working with stills especially, the image should be square, with each side an exponent of two, typically 512, 256, 128 or 64. This is easily attainable by means of whichever image processing utility you prefer: PS, GIMP, Paintlulwat (I personally use IrFanView as it's my standard viewer anyway and possesses the capabilities).

Once squared, you need to get the image into the Valve Texture Format (.vtf). Personally, I simply use the import spray function in CSS, which, unlike TF2, isn't completely borked. There are many programs available to convert to the format. I have previously used VTFEdit with some success, the process simply amounting to importing (File > Import) your image and then saving as a .vtf (there are copius options upon importing an image file, none of which I have ever touched but all of which I assume do very fancy and important and clever things).

Animated:

Again, there are many options available when working with animated images. Vandam started a guide on how to use a program called SprayR, not sure if it was ever finished but I have no experience either way.

The key factor is the 120k filesize limit for sprays. If you can split your .gif into seperate frames, I believe VTFEdit will import multiple images (assuming a uniform resolution and filetype). However, I have no experience of this instance.

My personal preference is a free online converter. The options can be adjusted to strike a balance between clarity of image and smoothness of motion. As stated, a transparent layer will halve the number of available frames but will prevent black areas being shown on images that are non-square or contain any transparent elements. Resolution selection should be based upon the amount of action in the animation, 128x128 will stutter noticably more due to the lack of frames.

Importing:

VTFEdit spits out a .vtf which can be imported directly using TF2 flawlessly. If importing using an alternate Source game, the .vtf and .vmt need to be copied from the game's \materials\vgui\logos(\UI) folders to TF2's. The online converter will present you with an archive containing the files with folder structure intact, ready to be copied over.


Again, I'm not expert on sprays so feel free to add, amend, critique, lambast, etc. Also, I'm tired so apologies for the gradual decline in quality and coherence of my writings.

[Chief]

I've never heard of HLDJ, although is does seem like an easier way.


However, you did forget to mention that the clip/music has to be .wav for HLSS to play the sound right. There's a tutorial on it on HLSS to convert it to specific settings.

Otherwise, this is a good tutorial for beginners on these kind of things.


EDIT: hai thar im a dumbass who cant read stuff

[Eschatos]

For sprays I just use .jpegs.  It accepts them just as happily.

[Surf314]

For sprays I just use .jpegs.  It accepts them just as happily.

Really??????

[Ceceil Felias]

I set up my sprays as Targas, because I don't have to do anything beyond the program I'm already using and the only disadvantage is that I won't have animation available to me (not that I care in the least anyway).

[CaffeinePowered]

I set up my sprays as Targas, because I don't have to do anything beyond the program I'm already using and the only disadvantage is that I won't have animation available to me (not that I care in the least anyway).

Are you implying that you have animated porn of your character....dear god....

[Wedge]

I need to try those other animation spray things, to see if they convert animation timings.  VTFedit only lets you do image sequences afaik, and I don't know of any way to mess with the timings in there.

[Budr]

[quote author=Eschatos link=topic=827.msg21222#msg21222 date=1216001050]
For sprays I just use .jpegs.  It accepts them just as happily.

Really??????
[/quote]

This does seem odd, I've never had any success importing images directly into TF2 and all reports I've read suggest it's a common problem.

As I said at the start, I would appreciate anyone amending/butchering/rewriting anything and I will remove the originals to make way for the updates.

[fyre]

I deleted my HLDJ...

[Eschatos]

[quote author=Eschatos link=topic=827.msg21222#msg21222 date=1216001050]
For sprays I just use .jpegs.  It accepts them just as happily.

Really??????
[/quote]

All I do is go inside the game, hit "Import Spray", and select the pic.  It usually accepts it if it's the right dimensions.  If it doesn't accept it I just save it with a new name and then it works.

[Versus]

.tga always works for me.