[JAVA][Beginning Java 8 Games Development]

Chapter 15 ■ Implementing Game Audio Assets: Using the JavaFX AudioClip Class Audio Sequencing Engine
Next, let’s use the File ➤ Export work process. If you want to see this on a menu, this menu sequence can be seen
in Figure 15-1, and is shown on the File menu, above Export Selection option. In the Export File dialog, which can
be seen in Figure 15-7, you can save the new version of the file using a different file name, so that you have both the
original uncompressed data in the left.wav file and the new compressed (stereo) data in the leftstereo.wav file. Name
this file leftstereo, and click on the Save button, to save it as an uncompressed 16-bit PCM WAV file, as shown on the
left side of Figure 15-7.
Figure 15-7. Use the File ➤ Export dialog, name the file leftstereo, Save the file, then use File ➤ Open to check its file size
The next thing that we will want to do is use the same work process shown back in Figure 15-3, and use the
File ➤ Open menu sequence, to open the Select one or more audio files dialog, shown on the right side of Figure 15-7,
which will allow us to mouse-over the leftstereo.wav file and see that the size is 28.0 KB, which is four times less data
than the original 112 KB source file size, just as we expected!
Therefore, we’ve reduced our memory requirements for this audio file that states the word “left” from one-ninth
of a megabyte (112 KB), to one-thirty-sixth of a megabyte (28KB). This means that you can have 36 audio assets of this
size, and still be using only one single megabyte of system memory! When I created the other five audio assets, this
one turned out to be the largest, and the smallest (up and s, as you may have guessed) were less than 4KB each!
The last stage of our digital audio optimization work process is the conversion of this data from a stereo file to a
mono file. We will do this because we don’t need two copies of the same spoken word for our game audio assets. This
is also true for most game audio special effects, such as laser blasts and explosions; mono audio works just fine in
these types of audio sound effect situations. This is especially true because the JavaFX AudioClip class and its pan and
balance capabilities will also allow us to simulate stereo effects, using mono digital audio assets, if we want to.
This will also reduce our data footprint by another 100%, giving us a 14KB audio file. We could fit 72 digital mono
audio assets of this size into one megabyte of system memory, so using mono (monaural) audio assets instead of
stereo digital audio assets is a great thing to do whenever you can, which is why we are going to cover this next.
Stereo Versus Mono Audio: Reducing Your Memory Footprint Another 100%
The last stage of our digital audio optimization work process is the conversion of our digital audio data from using a
stereo audio asset into a monaural audio asset. We will do this because we don’t need two copies of the same spoken
word for our game audio asset in this case. This is also true for most game-related digital audio special effects, such as
laser blasts and explosions. Monaural audio will work just as well as stereo audio in these types of audio sound effect
situations. This is especially true because the JavaFX AudioClip class gives developers audio panning and balance
capabilities. These will allow developers to simulate stereo effects using mono audio assets. Audacity has an ability to
combine stereo audio asset (two tracks, one left and one right) data into one mono audio asset that sounds the same.
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