[X3D-Public] X3D for Web Authors Examples Archive, plus audio test scene of different sound formats

[Michalis Kamburelis]

cbullard at hiwaay.net wrote:
> The URL below is an example of a midi-based production (the orchestra)
> with wav file overdubs (voice and guitar) (A youtube video but the
> process is the same) which is then rendered out as an mp4.  This is just
> to refute the idea that midi is an "old format" not in much use.

I stand corrected. From all the responses I have to admit that I judged 
MIDI way too harshly. I was basing it on my experience with game 
engines, but it looks like MIDI is very well alive and useful in other 
areas.

>
> Supporting midi doesn't cost much I would think.

MIDI is still a little costly in terms of programming work, IMHO. With 
other formats, you decompress them and feed them to the audio library 
(OpenAL, DirectSound etc.). This is a relatively easy task with a 
plethora of multimedia libs available. Reading WAV, OggVorbis, MP3 (if 
you ignore legal issues), FLAC and many others through a single API is 
doable.

With MIDI, you need a specialized MIDI library, with instrument data, 
like TiMidity++.

> The bad news is wav files while preferred for production aren't pushed
> much.  MP3s are.  Ogg doesn't exist outside the small groups that use
> it.  MP3s are.

My experience is different here... Sure, MP3 is still widely popular, 
but patent issues make it problematic to support (see e.g. the MDN link 
from previous mail 
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/HTML/Supported_media_formats ). 
But OggVorbis is now popular too, with many game engines supporting (and 
advising it, to avoid MP3 legal troubles).

Best regards,
Michalis