optimize/remove delay on .mp3 files

[SoftWarewolf]

I am bothered by the fact that all mp3 encoders add a short delay in the beginning. The fusion generated .mp3 files from .wav sounds have about 75ms delay, and the mp3 files i export with audacity have about 50ms delay.
Should i replace all the wav files in my game with audacity exported .mp3 files, or is there a faster way replacing the encoder in fusion? or even better, actually a method that will reduce the delay further? (preferably 0 delay) or maybe it would be possible to create a play sound extension that actually start playing sounds by skipping the first 50 or 75ms?

[Danny]

That delay is unavoidable, for the time being anyhow.

There are two work-around's, lowering the sample rate and filesize pre-MMF2 load so yes I would recommend exporting as MP3 from Audacity first, try a lower sample rate such as 22000khz first from source then to 96kbps mp3 stereo. I think it's 96 anyway, it could be lower, try the lowest one without compromising too much on quality as you still want it to sound good.

Second option is to manually loop the sample in the background at a volume of 0 or 1, then when you wish to play that sample it's already loaded into memory which will save on the transfer.

AFAIK, this issue is not just limited to MMF2 Runtime, so it's pointless pointing the finger at the MMF2 Runtime as this apparently is happening for authors too.

Let me know your results. I can try my best to assist.

[SoftWarewolf]

When i export from audacity in a lower quality the delay gets increased, not shorter..
I tried playing with the "set position" event in mmf, but it doesn't seem to have any effect on the exported .swf, so it's not supported? i imagine there could be a work-around using it.

I think all the sounds are preloaded, there is a preload option in mmf, and i think flash supports it, so the play with 0 volume trick shouldn't have anything to say.. except maybe it would be possible to use lets say 10 channels all playing the sound at different intervals with 0 volume, and then set the volume to 100 on the channel which started playing roughly 50-75ms ago :P i am going to try and do that for fun, but i doubt it's feasible to use in any actual game situation.

[SoftWarewolf]

it actually didn't work.. there is still a delay between "set channel volume" and the actual volume change.. so the sample begins later.. but it still takes time to hear it.. :/

[Rik]

I've noticed my games now have a huge audio delay? Around a whole second between action and sound effect. Now they haven't been recompiled since they used to run with a much much more forgiveable delay, so I'm wondering if the browser or pluggin are to blame?

game for reference (but happening to all of them):
http://hotpengu.in/polyko.html

Even non MMF authored games seem to have some delay now (though not as severe).

[Rik]

I've noticed my games now have a huge audio delay? Around a whole second between action and sound effect. Now they haven't been recompiled since they used to run with a much much more forgiveable delay, so I'm wondering if the browser or pluggin are to blame?

game for reference (but happening to all of them):
http://hotpengu.in/polyko.html

Even non MMF authored games seem to have some delay now (though not as severe).

Just realised Firefox runs it fine with no noticable delay at all (which is using the latest version of flash). My chrome browser is running 11,3,31,227 which apparently isn't the latest - not sure why it hasn't auto updated, there's no manual option. Weird though, getting the same problem on OSX aswell as Windows builds.

[nivram]

Rik. Re-download Chrome. Your favs, settings and extensions will not be deleted.

Marv

[Rik]

Okay 'solved' my issue after some digging around.

Anyone on chrome... If you go to chrome://plugins/ click the + on the right hand side, and disable pepperflash (should be at the top) which is Chrome's built in version of the flash player (apparently pretty buggy and slow). Suddenly flash runs much nicer and no (extra) delays to audio!

Shame you can't expect end users to fiddle around like that. Hopefully pepperflash will be fixed in the next chrome update.

Hope that helps someone else.

[SoftWarewolf]

ah, i didn't have that plugin. I tested the game, it's the same sound delay. It's not THAT long, but clearly noticeable still.

[happygreenfrog]

I've read some about pepperflash, and it's supposed to be more secure than normal flash. However, it's experimental, so it's buggy.