This is a read-only archive of the old Scratch 1.x Forums.
Try searching the current Scratch discussion forums.

#1 2007-09-04 09:08:45

SonicPops
Scratcher
Registered: 2007-06-10
Posts: 100+

Set sound volume to___

I have this feature where you can set a music's volume to whatever you want. It would be helpful if you were advertising about something and it has background music in it and your voice, too. You could make the background sound a bit quieter, and then you would make background music so you voice stands out!


To Andresmh: I think you won't like the idea....there is something wrong, isn't there?

<when green flag clicked>
<change{ music sound }by( 50 )
[/blocks]

Last edited by SonicPops (2007-09-04 09:09:06)


smile  Go Crank. Inc!  smile
Not much to say  wink

Offline

 

#2 2007-09-04 10:00:09

EdnaC
Scratcher
Registered: 2007-08-28
Posts: 100+

Re: Set sound volume to___

That's a control I've looked for and was surprised not to find, I'd like to see it.  The issue for the developers would be to implement this in a way that is consistent with the other controls. There are controls for "Looks" that are applied or cleared for all costumes and the sound control could work that way.  (I'd be happy with that)
But,  a Sprite could potentially play several sounds at the same time, and if you wanted them each to be adjustable in volume, the control would have to be something like:

"Set Volume of (drop down list of Sprite's sounds) to (Percentage)"

Now the issue is how the user will keep track of where the volume is set for each sound, and how to reset?  One possible way to do this without setting the volume or adding even more controls would be more choices in the pull down lists of the existing controls:

(Pull Down)
--Pop
--Pop @ 50%
--Bang
--Bang @ 50%
--MusicTrack
--MusicTrack @ 50%


Now the issue is: How many volume choices to include???  It gets messy unless you just want to apply the volume adjustment to all sounds.  (anybody else have ideas on how to manage sound volume?)

Another Sound Idea; I think it would be nice to have a sound control that was something like:

"Loop Sound (drop down list) While <some test is true>"

Volume and Looping can be done externally to Scratch if  you have the software, but having it built in for those of us who haven't "fiddled with" sound files would be real nice.  Making Scratch feature-rich and still keeping it easy is a real challenge.

-Mr Ed

Last edited by EdnaC (2007-09-04 10:04:53)

Offline

 

#3 2007-09-04 20:21:15

kevin_karplus
Scratcher
Registered: 2007-04-27
Posts: 1000+

Re: Set sound volume to___

Having
play <sound> at <volume>%
would not require lengthening the list of sounds and would allow fine control of volume (particularly important for notes, which have very different loudnesses as you change instruments).

The looping can already be done with a simple block:

repeat until <not <test>>
    play sound and wait

The only problem with this is that the test is only done at the end of each repetition.


An alternative is to use two loops:

forever
   play sound and wait

forever if <not <test>>
   stop all sounds
   wait  until <test>

The second approach can stop sounds in mid-play, but stops *all* sounds, not just the loop you want to control.

Offline

 

#4 2007-09-05 00:01:20

andresmh
Scratch Team at MIT
Registered: 2007-03-05
Posts: 1000+

Re: Set sound volume to___

SonicPops: I do like the idea. Thanks for suggesting it and starting an interesting discussion!  smile


Andres Monroy-Hernandez | Scratch Team at the MIT Media Lab
on identi.ca and  twitter

Offline

 

#5 2007-09-05 11:47:16

SonicPops
Scratcher
Registered: 2007-06-10
Posts: 100+

Re: Set sound volume to___

big_smile


smile  Go Crank. Inc!  smile
Not much to say  wink

Offline

 

#6 2007-09-05 14:04:00

EdnaC
Scratcher
Registered: 2007-08-28
Posts: 100+

Re: Set sound volume to___

Andres,
I'd be quite happy with simple control that Kevin describes.  I haven't done much with sounds (searched for a while for a whoosh/hiss to accompany the jets in my project and finally gave up), but I think this would be a really nice thing to have.

Kevin,
Thanks for your input.  Is the "Stop Sounds" a new control that you are proposing?  If it worked for just the Sprite that called it (like Hide does) we'd really have something.  One plane gets shot down, its (gentle background) sound stops, then a (louder) explosion happens.

Offline

 

Board footer