The KarVCD
Home Page
This is a very easy to use Windows program that
lets you build karaoke VCDs that you can play on your VCD compatible CD or DVD
player. KarVCD is a collection of tools that include all that you need to
convert your MIDI or KAR files to WAVE, build AVI files from those and encode
AVI files to MPEG. It includes also an MP3 converter that allows you to obtain
compact sound files that you can mail to your friends, post on Usenet or put on
a Web page. Welcome to the KarVCD home page.
KarVCD is a
release of Future Algorithms.
KarVCD
includes the following tools:
¨
MIDI
Converter – To
convert MIDI or KAR files to WAVE using its embedded SoundFont based softsynth.
¨
Player – To play MIDI, KAR and WAVE files.
It shows the lyrics in a KAR file, in synchronisation with the music.
¨
Recorder – To records sounds to a WAVE file.
This can be used to record yourself singing while playing back another file. If
this is a KAR file, it will show the lyrics in a window. This tool can also be
used to convert a MIDI or KAR file to WAVE using an external synthesizer.
¨
Audio
Mixer – To mix two
or more WAVE files together to a single WAVE file while applying sound effects.
¨
AVI
Maker – To combine
audio and video information into an AVI file.
¨
MP3
Converter – To
convert WAVE files to MP3 and vice-versa.
¨
MPEG
Converter – To
convert AVI files to MPEG.
If you want
a simpler tool that does just the conversion from MIDI/KAR to WAVE, you can try
our other product MidiSyn.
For a more
professional approach in converting MIDI/KAR files to WAVE, you should try MidiKare. MidiKare
has the same Sound Font based softsynth that MidiSyn has but it also allows you
to use any standard MIDI synthesizer, soft or hardware based, internal or
external. Besides, it includes a series of tools that can be very useful in
this kind of work: A file player, a recorder, an audio mixer and an MP3
converter.
Karaoke is
a form of entertainment in which a live person sings a song with a pre-recorded
accompaniment. The word "karaoke" is Japanese for "empty
orchestra". This great form of entertainment originated in Japan and is
spread throughout the world. A typical place to see karaoke is a bar,
restaurant, or a club where people come to have fun by singing pop songs.
KarVCD will help you create your own Karaoke CDs so you can have as much fun in
your own home.
To create a
karaoke VCD you need to get the MPEG file with the movie that contains the
sound and the associated lyrics. The MPEG file is usually obtained by encoding
an AVI file. To get the AVI file you use the AVI Maker tool included in KarVCD.
This program can extract the lyrics contained in a KAR file and combine them
with a WAVE file into an AVI file. To convert the AVI file to MPEG you use the
MPEG encoder tool also included in KarVCD.
Once you
get the MPEG file, you can then use the software that came bundled with your
CD-Writer to create the VCD. It is not enough to create a data CD with the MPEG
file, your CD-burning software must be able to create the special format
required by the VCD standard; not all CD-burning programs can do that.
For
a step-by-step view of the operations involved in building a karaoke VCD using
the KarVCD tools, take a look at the KarVCD tutorial.
To
convert your MIDI or KAR files to WAVE you can use any Windows standard
synthesizer, internal or external, or use the SoundFont based softsynth
embedded in KarVCD. If you don’t know what is a SoundFont, you might want to
take a look at the SoundFont
tutorial.
If
you want to have an idea of the sound quality that you can obtain by using the
embedded softsynth please listen to: travels.mp3 (2.64 Mb).
If this site is down, try this alternative site.
If you are
interested in a more detailed technical explanation of how the embedded
softsynth works please refer to the KarVCD technical page.
With
KarVCD you can add your voice to the resulting WAVE file. If you are using KAR
files, which contain embedded lyrics in addition to the instruments sounds,
KarVCD will show you the lyrics playing synchronously with the music,
highlighting each word at the appropriate moment while you record yourself
singing.
You
can also record yourself playing an instrument and add that to the final WAVE
file. You can do that while the MIDI or KAR file is playing. If the instrument
that you want to play is already in the MIDI or KAR file, you can mute it while
the file is playing so that it does not appear in the WAVE file after the
conversion.
You
can apply several sound effects to the WAVE files that you record with your
voice or the playing of one or more instruments. The sound effects available
include Reverberation, Chorus, Compression, Echo, Phaser and Flanger. For an
overview of the sound effects available in KarVCD you might want to take a look
at the Sound
Effects tutorial.
You
can mix the WAVE files resulting from the MIDI or KAR conversion with the WAVE
files resulting from your own recordings with the audio mixer included in
KarVCD. This allows you to align the several files to mix and to add sound
effects to the final mix.
If you want
to have a better idea of how KarVCD works, take a look at the Main Help page.
If you want
to know more about sound file formats, the types of conversions between audio
files or manipulation of CD-Audio formats please refer to the Audio File Processing
page.
How to buy KarVCD
KarVCD is
shareware. The registration fee of US$ 75.00 (including p&p) will get you
an installation CD with everything you need to use KarVCD (including the
default SoundFont), plus a set of alternative SoundFonts for you to experiment
with, together with some examples and a bunch of MIDI and KAR files. To take a
look at pictures of the KarVCD CD click here.
To order KarVCD, please go to the KarVCD order page.
Upon registration, you will receive by mail the KarVCD installation CD.
If you
already know the program and you just want to know what is new in this version
you can take a look at the KarVCD history.
Download trial version
There is a
trial version of KarVCD that is identical to the registered version except that
it will only generate one minute of sound/video.
To get the
trial version of KarVCD including the executable, auxiliary files and
documentation, go to:
At the
download page you will also find instructions for installing and uninstalling
the program on your system.
CAUTION The trial version does not include a
SoundFont. The reason for this is to save bandwidth and download time (these
files are usually very big), especially when you already have some of them. If
this is not the case, to be able to use the softsynth embedded in KarVCD, you
need to get at least one SoundFont compatible with the MIDI or KAR files that
you want to convert.
First of
all you should look in your hard disk for SoundFont files. Go to the Windows
Explorer, right-click over a folder name and choose Find. Then:
o
In the Named
field type: *.sf2
o
In the Look in
field select: Local hard drives
o
Hit the Find
Now button
If
this process can successfully locate some files, use the biggest one. If not,
you have to download one from the Internet. If you are comfortable with the use
of SoundFonts, you can go to one of these sites:
If, on the
contrary, you are not sure what to get, go to one of these sites:
o
Site 1
o
Site 2
And download
the GMCSFont. Then activate KarVCD, go to Options
and set that as the default Sound Bank.
If you
already know the program and you just want to know what is new in this version
you can take a look at the KarVCD history.
Compatibility Issues
To create a
karaoke VCD, your CD-burning software must be able to handle the VCD format; it
is not enough to create a data CD with an MPEG file. Not all CD-burning
programs can handle the VCD format.
Some VCD
implementations, especially in stand-alone CD and DVD players are relatively
new and because of that they had not enough time to sort out some compatibility
issues. For simplicity reasons, the encoder provided with KarVCD is based on a
rigid interpretation of the VCD standard trying to spare the user the need to
understand the enormous amount of parameters associated with the standard. It
may happen that some VCD player does not work correctly with some files encoded
with it. If that is the case you have other free alternatives, for instance:
¨
AVI2VCD – Available at http://www.mnsi.net/~jschlic1.
¨
TMPGEnc – Available at http://www.tmpgenc.net/.
The last
one is particularly recommended, as it is very fast and lets you manually
change many parameters.
Also, some
CD-burning programs, for instance WinOnCD, include their own MPEG encoder.
Some of the
KarVCD functionality is dependent on your sound card capabilities: Some sound
cards let you record the sound that they produce when playing a MIDI/KAR file.
This feature can be used as an alternative to the KarVCD MIDI converter, as another
way of converting MIDI/KAR files to WAVE, using your sound card synthesizer. In
this way you can also use any other Windows defined synthesizer, internal or
external, soft- or hardware based.
The ability
to playback a WAVE file while recording another depends on your sound card
hardware. This is referred to as “full-duplex” in the list of features. The
majority of modern sound cards have this capability.
Feedback
Comments, suggestions and bug reports are welcome and should be sent to fadevelop@clix.pt
This page last modified 2003-07-29 - Copyright
© 2000-2003 ACE