Sausalito, CA. Java™, the cross-platform programming language developed by Sun Microsystems, has been the biggest buzz in the web developer community for about a year. But until now, the the interest has focused on putting Java to work on animation, user interface, and transaction-processing applications.
Audio has been left out in the cold, mostly because there have been no convenient tools for accessing Java’s audio capabilities. And perhaps also because support for audio in Java is somewhat limited: for example, it currently supports nothing but 8 kHz mono sound files.
Bay area start-up InWorld VR Inc. has just started shipping a package of Java tools that could turn things around in a hurry. InWorld’s “Automatic Audio” is a bundle of sixteen pre-built Java audio applets (small programs that download and run automatically on any Java-enabled browser, such as the current versions of Netscape Navigator™ and Internet Explorer™).
“I’m a composer and a sound designer, not a programmer,” says InWorld Sound Designer Frank Still. “If I can get Java sounds onto a web page with our product, any audio engineer or professional will be able to do it too.” The proof that Still can cut it is found on InWorld’s demo pages.
The Automatic Audio package allows the web audio developer to embed sounds on a web page that will play automatically when the page is accessed, loop in the background, play when the user clicks on a graphic or hot spot on the page, or when she moves the mouse over a graphic. Some of the applets also combine audio with simple animation: for example, moving the mouse over a page element might cause an animation to run, accompanied by sound.
The development process is straightforward. Create a digital sound file using any familiar tool, such as a workstation or a PC with a sound card. Convert the file to 8-bit, 8 kHz mono in “.au” format (the generic Unix/Sun audio standard). Then put define a few parameters calling the InWorld applet and the sound file in the HTML code of your web page.
From a professional audio standpoint, the major limitation for InWorld’s technology is the low standard of audio supported. “That’s a problem with Java, we can’t do anything about it right now,” explains Still. “But Sun has said that they will add a range of audio formats to Java by the end of this year. We’ll be upgrading our applets as fast as Java lets us. But with careful design, you can get pretty decent results from 8-bit 8 kHz right now.”
The major advantage of Java applets over other technologies for implementing sound and music on web pages, such as streaming audio (RealAudio™, StreamWorks™) and MIDI players (Crescendo™, MIDPlug™) is that the user doesn’t have to obtain and install additional software. “If the user has a Java-enabled browser, they’ll get the audio, it’s as simple as that,” says Still. “Of course you still have bandwidth concerns, you have to keep the audio files as small as possible. But our applets are very low overhead, the code is really compact.”
Interest in the product has been running about 50/50 so far between skilled audio developers and general web practitioners who just want to get some sound effects onto a web page. For those who don’t have a way to create their own audio, InWorld will be marketing packs of sound clips and effects, with the first due for delivery next week.
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