Mod The Sims - How to decode sims 3 audio

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- - How to decode sims 3 audio (https://modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=418050)

Latin/Disco/Rap/Rock Songs?

I'm wondering if someone can point me in the right direction. I've been trying to extract all the music from the various radio stations, but have not run across any of the songs from the Latin, Disco, Rap or Rock stations. I've scoured all the FullBuild.package files found in each game's GameData\Shared\Packages folder (plus all the DeltaBuild files for the base game, just in case), but I can't find any of these songs listed (at least, not listed as they were for the other music genres, with the song title easily recognizable).

I'm not sure why I can't seem to find the Latin music, since I was able to find and convert all the other songs from the base game's FullBuild1.package just fine. More confusing to me still is the fact that from what I can see when I open the 70s, 80s and 90s Stuff FullBuild (FullBuild_p17.package) in S3PE, FullBuild_p17.package does not contain any AUD files whatsoever, and I know that is the expansion pack that gave us the Disco/Rap/Rock stations!

Anybody have any idea where I can find these elusive files? (I have all EPs and all SPs except the Katy Perry and Diesel Stuff ones, if that info is helpful.) Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

You can find the music files in the following folder:

C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\GameData\Shared\DeltaPackages\p17

Hope this will help you to extract the wanted files.....(for my prob I still have no idea how to manage the decoding :-( )

Quote: Originally posted by mcemily

Anybody have any idea where I can find these elusive files? (I have all EPs and all SPs except the Katy Perry and Diesel Stuff ones, if that info is helpful.) Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

Quote: Originally posted by LegolasFFM

Thank you so much, LegolasFFM!

I'm a completionist, and it was really bothering me that I didn't have those.

As for the actual decoding process... I am considering writing up a step-by-step tutorial, since I've started to have people PM me asking for my ripped music, which I am hesitant to share based on a fear of being slapped with Copyright/Piracy complaints from EA. (Also, from a practical standpoint, it's over 1GB of music, and that makes it a pain to try to upload/share anywhere anyway.) But if I can decode these files, truly, ANYBODY can, so there should be no reason why those interested in my files couldn't just create their own.

I don't want to make light of the difficulties you and others are having decoding these files when I say "anybody can do this."

It took me several reads of the first six posts on this thread before I had any clue how to proceed. All the info on how to do so is in the first 6 posts. The problem is that there is also a lot of extra information in those posts that end up being unnecessary for the basic task of converting a Sims 3 song to an MP3 file. In the end, if you are only interested in getting the music, all you need is the ealayer3.exe decoding tool (https://bitbucket.org/Zenchreal/eal....7.0-win32.zip), and s3pe (http://sourceforge.net/projects/sim...8.exe/download). My "tutorial" would really just be gathering (and then paring down) those directions in the first 6 posts to help those of us with lower computing skills follow along more easily (probably with a copious amount of screencaps). Here is a step-by-step rundown (using the 70s, 80s & 90s Stuff Pack DeltaBuild you found) of the process I use:

1. Download and install s3pe (http://sourceforge.net/projects/sim...48.exe/download)
2. Download the ealayer codec (https://bitbucket.org/Zenchreal/eal...0.7.0-win32.zip) and extract it to your desktop (for ease of access).
3. Go to "C:\Program Files (x86)\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\GameData\Shared\DeltaPackages\p17" (or wherever you have installed your sims games).
4. Right-click the DeltaBuild_p17.package file and choose "copy."
5. Go to your desktop, and paste DeltaBuild_p17 on the desktop (for ease of access).
6. Open s3pe. Go to "File" and "Open." Select the DeltaBuild_p17.package file on your Desktop.
7. When the package loads, click on the "Tag" column heading. This will sort the list of files by their type, which makes it easier to find the file you want, since all the AUD files will be together.

NOTE: In this particular Stuff Pack, you'll see that each AUD file has two instances (for example, you'll see the file "spring_break" is followed immediately by another "spring_break"). This is actually how you know if the AUD file(s) in question are music, or sound effects. All the music files show up as double entries like this. One is a .snr and one is a .sns file. You will need to export both of them, though you'll only interact directly with the .sns files.
NOTE TWO: In other EPs/SPs, there will be sound effect or ambient noise AUD files listed as well, so it can be a little more work sorting out the music files. One thing to remember is that sound effects and ambient noises only have ONE instance of the file name (for example from Seasons, there is only one instance of "vo_hotdog_loopbC_cb12"). Another key difference is that music files are listed simply as the song's title (such as "spring_break"), whereas the other sound files have descriptive names (such as "vo_hotdog_loopbC_cb12"). Now back to the decoding process...

8. Once you have identified a music file (2 identical instances of the file right beside each other), right-click on the first instance, and select "export," and then "to file."
9. It will ask you where you'd like to save the file. Save it in the ealayer folder on your desktop.
10. Repeat steps 8 & 9 with the second instance of the music file.
11. Open the ealayer folder on your desktop. You'll see it contains several files. The only files you actually have to worry about are ealayer3.exe and the .sns file you just saved there.
12. Left-click the .sns file, and drag it over the ealayer3.exe file. There will be a black command window that will flash briefly, then an MP3 file will generate.
13. Delete the .snr and .sns file, and rename the MP3 (if you like) to something more sensible.

Once you get the hang of the process, all it really takes is a bit of time... and the occasional piece of advice on the right folder to search for the necessary DeltaBuild file.

Now, if you are interested in decoding/converting the other sounds... the ones that require the ffmpeg codec... well, I am of no further use to you! I couldn't figure out how to successfully decode any of the audio files that required the ffmpeg.exe converter. The .wav files that were created through that process were full of static and were unusable. So, no Gypsy Wagon music for me.

Fortunately, however, all of the music I was most interested in (which includes the songs found on the sims' radio stations, music from Build/Buy/CAS/Map, and also music played during the loading process and flybys over China/Egypt/France) were all in the format that used the much more user-friendly ealayer3.exe to convert them.

As for the instructions for replacing the existing music/sounds in the game with your own custom music/sounds, well... I know my limits, and know not to try to dabble in such sorcery!

Possibly stupid question....

Quote: Originally posted by jonwil

Sims 3 audio comes in .snr and .sns files.
Go to http://www.cncmods.net/files/sims.zip and download this then you will have some things that can decode these files (depending on which codec the files use).
Also you will need a hex editor to verify which compression type the files use (in case any of them use compression types other than the 2 specific types I have managed to identify)
If you dont have a hex editor, you can download this one
http://www.handshake.de/user/chmaas...nload/xvi32.zip

Steps:
1.Use the resource tools to extract the audio you want.
2.Open the .snr file in a hex editor and look at the first byte. If the first byte is 04, that means its using the EA XAS ADPCM codec. If the first byte is 05, that means its using EALayer3 codec. If its using anything else, that means its an unknown codec.

Put the .snr and .sns files for the sound you want in a folder along with the contents of sims.zip. If the first byte is 04 (XAS ADPCM) you decode it via ffmpeg.exe. Open a command window, navigate to the folder containing the the files and type ffmpeg -f ea_cdata -i <snr file> <wav file>
This will convert the .snr file to a .wav file.
If you have a file of type 05 (EALayer3) you decode it via ealayer3.exe. Open a command window, navigate to the folder containing the the files and type ealayer3 -mc <snr file> and it will decode the .snr file to a .wav file. If there is a .sns file, you pass that instead of the .snr file.

If anyone finds a file with an codec other than 04 and 05 or if they see a file with a codec type of 04 and a matching .sns file (i.e. the .snr file is only 8 bytes), I want to know.

Please post here if you find such files (or any file that fails to convert). Or if there is anything about my instructions that are confusing or hard to follow.

The source code for ffmpeg.exe can be found at www.ffmpeg.org
The source code for ealayer3.exe can be found at http://bitbucket.org/Zenchreal/ealayer3
Both tools seem to be under a fairly liberal license so it should not be hard if someone wanted to re-use the code to add support for the audio to the resource extractor directly.

I've found pretty much this same solution everywhere I've looked. There's just one problem: no one is mentioning where Fullbuild1 IS. I don't see it anywhere in my Sims 3 files at all, and when I search my entire laptop it turns up (very quickly) zero results for the phrase "fullbuild1".

Why does it seem like I'm the only one having a problem finding it? Is something wrong with my game?

Good lord...there has to be an easier way to do this. lo Sadly...I'm sure there isn't....yet.

This is a lot of work for the few files I wanted. I just wanted a few simlish sayings to put on my phone... like having my text alerts say "Sul sul!" or something. Plus a lot of the links people posted are no longer working so I'd have to search for the tools myself as well. Anyone want to just send me a few mp3 files? lol

Quote: Originally posted by Nysha

Sadly no - we can decode, but not encode.

TS3 can also play MP3s, as demonstrated by the custom music feature, but any attempts to make it do so outside of the custom music channel would be way over my head. It does seem to play the mp3s directly, rather than converting them to EALayer/XAS.

Code:

uint mSoundHandle = 0;
string song= ""; // this would be a string 
// call StopSound() 
if(mSoundHandle  != 0) { Audio.StopSound(mSoundHandle); mSoundHandle=0;}
// call Audio.StartSoundMP3
mSoundHandle = Audio.StartSoundMP3(song);

One could use this to play specific mp3s (possibly to play songs in the custom music folder)
NOTE: you would not be able to include the mp3 files as resources in a package file, they would probably be placed in the custom music folder

you can look at some code here: My StereoMod
NOTE: that it is an unfinished script mod -- because it is difficult, if not impossible, to make it work seamlessly with a stereo object.

Whenever I try to decode an .snr file with ealayer3, it says the file format could not be read (or something along the lines of that), and when I try to decode using ffmpeg, it says it "couldn't open the file". I can decode .sns files, though. Can anyone help?
Edit: I have ANOTHER question on this topic. I can't find the music that plays while loading a save game. Does anyone know what it's called?

Greetings! Thank you for the "for dummies" tutorial posted above. Does anyone know where I might find the pop, and geek rock music genres? I have searched through almost all folders and I'm still lost at this point. Thanks to all!

Quote: Originally posted by Amichan619

The geek rock music genre is found in C:/<Wherever you have University Life installed>/Gamedata/Shared/Packages/FullBuild_p18.
The Pop genre is kind of scattered all over the different EP files, but if you're looking for just the base game pop music, it's under C:/<Wherever you have The Sims 3 installed>/Gamedata/Shared/Packages/FullBuild1.

I recently rediscovered this topic after a few years and thought I'd attempt this again. So far I have been successful at converting both types of files, using the two different programs mentioned in the first post. If anyone needs help getting a particular sound file (for use as a ringtone, etc.) pm me and I can try to convert it for you.

I only usually lurk around forums like this, and I've just been thinking, wouldn't one be able to create a custom voice mod with the ability to have the game play our sounds?

Quote: Originally posted by Retarded_Pig

I only usually lurk around forums like this, and I've just been thinking, wouldn't one be able to create a custom voice mod with the ability to have the game play our sounds?

For a lot of us interested in audio, that would be kind of the holy grail. Unfortunately, that direction is the hard one. We can get the game's sounds out to .mp3 files with the tools described in this thread. But to make a speech or sound effect "object" that the game will pick up and use, the way it uses other CC objects -- there's no way yet found.

Please help me with making my own radio station. I did everything what's written here but i don't know how to make new stations wit new music.

so i tested your mod @blakegriplingph and it works perfectly what keeps me puzzled though is why you didnt make 1 mod for all base game music or seperate mods that replace different songs your mod has never given me any hiccups nor did it fight with other core mods that i had installed

I would like to put the sims 1 and sims 2 music into my sims3 game, not as a replacement, but as an addition, but I want them to go into their proper categories. Since EA seems to use the same encoding for their music in the sims games, could I just extract the files and plonk them in?

Quote: Originally posted by pinkladybug81

If you want to do that, an easier thing would be to find some videos of sims on youtube, find one with the sound you want, use the youtube to mp3 website to download the sound from the videos, and use audacity to trim it.

Its helped me decoding .snr files. You saved me from a big headache

:lovestruc
Thanks a LOT

I know this is an old post, but hopefully someone will see this and maybe help. I'm trying to convert 2 .snr files from the Into The Future EP into .mp3 format. They are, "almanac_time_loop01" and "almanac_time_loop02". There is also an "almanac_time_loop" AUDT file, but I'm not sure if that's relevant. I'm not new to extracting and converting Sims 3 music to .mp3, as I've extracted pretty much every song from every EP I own, but it's been a long time since I'd done so. I have the 2 files I want to convert in the same folder as "ealayer3.exe" and "libmpg123.dll". But when I drag and drop them onto "ealayer3.exe", no .mp3 files generate. The command window briefly pops up and goes away, then nothing else happens. I don't think I'm doing anything wrong, but I wouldn't doubt it if I did. Are those two files just unable to be converted for some reason? Has anyone else successfully converted those files? I really like the one loop--it's so catchy! So if anyone could be of help, I would greatly appreciate it! Thanks in advance!

Does this still work?

Resurrecting an old post yet again- anyone have any luck with these programs? I'm running into the same issue where even if I drag the files onto the program icons, a command screen flashes briefly and nothing happens.

I'm looking to extract these two .snr files from World Adventures, and then replace them with two new sounds.

I couldn't help thinking how awesome it would be if someone replaced the Oasis Landing loading music with this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYvZ4HI-_cc

@tizerist:

As originally posted by Wojtek here: http://modthesims.info/showthread.p...d=1#post5020035

Quote: Originally posted by Wojtek

A list of programs you have to have in order to succeed. Click on the name of the program to be redirected to the download page, where you can obtain the program.
1. s3pe - Package editor
2. Audacity - Sound editor (you may have to download a plugin to be able to export MP3 files)
3. EALayer3 - Sound decoder (download the 3-0.6.2 version)
4. cmd.exe – Windows Command Prompt (find it via the Windows search tool)
5. HxD - Hex Editor

In this tutorial you'll learn how to replace the files in a .SNR format. These are sound files containing short sounds, which are encoded using the EA XAS ADPCM codec). They're used in the Sims 3 and stored in a big FullBuild1.package file.

Part 1. Working with ѕ3рe

Step 1.1 Download and install ѕ3pe if you haven't already.

Step 1.2 Configure ѕ3рe
1.2.1 - You'll find the FullBuild file, depending on your system and where you installed the game in: […]/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3/GameData/Shared/Packages.

Quote: Originally posted by Wojtek

OR

If you want to edit the sounds from an Expansion Pack, you just open the appropriate folder of the Expansion Pack you want to take the file from, for example FullBuild_p21 from the Sims 3 Into the Future EP:

Quote: Originally posted by Wojtek

1.2.2 – Open the FullBuild file you want to export the .snr file from (either the Fullbuild from the base game or an expansion pack).
1.2.3 – Tick the 'Sort' and Display 'Names' and 'Tags' at the bottom. Now you can see the names and tags
1.2.4 – Click 'Name' (in the upper-left corner, below 'File') to put the names in the alphabetical order.

Quote: Originally posted by Wojtek

Step 1.3 Find and extract the desired .snr file (skip this step if you have the file already)
1.3.1 – You can either do it by looking at the names of the files on the list, which is time-consuming, or click the Tool/Search or Ctrl+E and type the key word between quotation marks. To narrow down the search results to .SNR files, tick the 'enable filter' and choose '_AUD 0x01A527DB', which tells the search engine that you're looking for .snr files only, and hit Enter for the search to begin. It may take a while to load a full list of files which contain the key word you typed. Double click each line after the search has finished and the program highlights the file for you. You can either close the window, if you've found what you've been looking for, or search further if you haven't.

Quote: Originally posted by Wojtek

1.3.2 – SNS and .SNR files have the _AUD tag and you have to make sure that the file you want to export is a .SNR. Once you have found the file, double click it.
1.3.3 – A windows will pop up with the resource details (TGI) of the file. The .snr files belong to 0x01A527DB Type, the one you chose when narrowing down the search results.
1.3.4 – Close the resource details window, right-click the file you selected earlier, click Export/To file...
1.3.5 – The extension of the file is .snr. Save it somewhere you can find it easily later.

Quote: Originally posted by Wojtek

Part 2. Working with Audacity

Step 2.1 Prepare the audio file
2.1.1 – Find the file you want to replace the game's default.snr file with.
2.1.2 - Your sound should be in the MP3 format and last less than 1 minute.

Step 2.2 Download and install Audacity if you haven't already

Step 2.3 Set the file up in Audacity
2.3.1 - Open Audacity and import the file there.
2.3.2 (optional) - If you're familiar with the program, you can adjust the file to your liking before exporting the final version.
2.3.3 - Make sure the project sampling (Hz) is set to 44100 and its sample format is 32-bit float (Stereo). You can edit it by clicking on the arrow, which is encircled in the picture.

Quote: Originally posted by Wojtek

Step 2.4 Once your file is ready, export it as an MP3.
2.4.1 - Make sure you've installed the LAME codec for Audacity.
2.4.2 - File/Export sound... OR Ctrl+Shift+E
2.4.3 – Type the name of the file, click 'Save as a type', choose 'MP3 files' from the list and click 'Options'.

Quote: Originally posted by Wojtek

2.4.4 – Set up the Bit Rate Mode to: Variable, Quality to: 3,155-195 kps, Variable Speed to: Standard and Channel Mode to: Joint Stereo.
2.4.5 - Now your file is ready for export. Click OK, ignore the Metadata box and save the file somewhere you can find it easily. You can replace the “old” MP3 file if you want to.

Quote: Originally posted by Wojtek

Part 3. Working with EALayer3

Step 3.1 Download and open ealayer3-0.6.2-win32.zip, extract the 'ealayer3-0.6.2-win32' folder and save it somewhere you can find it easily.
3.1.1 – Find cmd.exe (via Windows search tool) and copy it to 'ealayer3-0.6.2-win32' folder.
3.1.2 – Copy the MP3 file you exported from Audacity earlier and paste it in the 'ealayer3-0.6.2-win32' folder.
3.1.3 – Create a .txt file and paste the following code:

Code:

ealayer3 -E NAMEOFYOURMP3FILE.mp3 -o NAMEOFYOURMP3FILE.sns

3.1.4 – Replace the NAMEOFYOURMP3FILE with the name of your MP3 file. Copy the whole line
3.1.5 – Open cmd.exe and paste the line (right click/Paste NOT Ctrl+v), hit Enter and after a while a new .sns file (NAMEOFYOURMP3FILE.sns) is generated and placed in the folder where you keep cmd.exe, your MP3 file and EALayer3.exe.
3.1.6 – Repeat steps 3.1.3-3.1.5 but in this case you don't want a .sns file, but a .snr one.

Code:

ealayer3 -E NAMEOFYOURMP3FILE.mp3 -o NAMEOFYOURMP3FILE.snr

3.1.7 – Now you should have two files (.sns and .snr). They're identical in size and the only thing which makes them different is the extension.
3.1.8 – Now you need to change the name of those two files. Let's start with the .snr file. Find the original .snr file you exported from s3pe. Copy its name and paste it into the newly generated .snr file. It should look moreless like this:
S3_01A527DB_001407EC_NAMEOFTHEFILEINS3PE%%+_AUD.snr
See the 01A527DB? It indicates that it's recognized/categorized by the game as a .SNR file and _AUD type.
3.1.9 – Now change the name of the .sns file. Copy the name of the .snr file, be it the original or the one generated by EALayer3 (they're the same) and paste it into the .sns file. Now it looks exactly like the .snr file, but there's one thing you have to change in the filename.
S3_01A527DB_001407EC_NAMEOFTHEFILEINS3PE%%+_AUD.sns
Replace 01A527DB with 01EEF63A. Now it should look like this:
S3_01EEF63A _001407EC_NAMEOFTHEFILEINS3PE%%+_AUD.sns
Why change it? It's a .sns file not a .snr and that's why the game has to recognize/categorize it as such.

Part 4. Working with HxD

Step 4.1 Download and install HxD if you haven't already

Step 4.2 Opening and configuring HxD.
4.2.1 – Click Additional/Options... and in the View panel tick/check the options as I did (you can see it in the picture below)

Quote: Originally posted by Wojtek

Step 4.3 Editing the .snr file
4.3.1 – Open your .snr file in HxD and change the Offset to (h).
4.3.2 – Select and copy the first eight bytes (16 digits organized into 4 chunks). Right-click + Select all OR Ctrl+A and hit Delete. Paste the eight bytes you copied before. You deleted the sound data and left the header only.
4.3.3 – Replace the values at addresses 00-03 with 0504 AC44. At address 04 you see a number. Replace the whichever number you have there with 40. You're creating a pure header which is going to link the .snr file to the .sns file.

Quote: Originally posted by Wojtek

4.3.4 – Your .snr file is ready. Save the changes (Ctrl+S or File/Save)

Step 4.4 Editing the .sns file
4.4.1 The easy part of working with HxD is gone. Now it's time to edit the .sns file. Open the .sns file with HxD
4.4.2 – At addresses 06-07 you see the 0480 value. Replace it with 002F.
4.4.3 – Look at addresses 02-03. In our case we've got 0153. Press Ctrl+G and type in 0153 and press OK. It redirects you to the address. You usually find 0000 starting at the address you've been sent to.

Quote: Originally posted by Wojtek

4.4.4 – Download the MTS_Flyby_1211063_Tutorial_templates.rar and save the file on your Desktop. Open the archive and extract CodeBlock(C4).sns to your Desktop. Open the file with HxD.
4.4.5 – In HxD copy the whole code (Ctrl+A + Ctrl+C) and paste it (Ctrl+V) in where you were sent in step 4.4.3.
4.4.6 – The position of the cursor after pasting the code indicates the new address. You can see it as the Offset in the lower-left corner. In this case it's 217. Now replace the addresses 02-03 with the new address. The address has to have 4 digits, so we add 0 in front of the address, so it's 0217.
4.4.7 – Save the changes (Ctrl+S)

Quote: Originally posted by Wojtek

Part 5. Working with ѕ3рe

Step 5.1 Packing the .snr and .sns files with ѕ3рe
5.1.1 – Open ѕ3рe, File/New OR Ctrl+N. Right-click just anywhere, Import/from file... Choose the .snr and .sns files you edited with HxD and hit 'Open'. A window pops up. It's a good idea to select 'Replace duplicates' and check 'Compress', 'Use resource name' and 'Rename if present'. Click OK. Now your files are imported into a package. Now you can save your ready package (File/Save OR Ctrl+S). Give it your name or initials and a descriptive name of your package. Save your package into My Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3/Mods/Packages/subfolders if you use any and click Save.

Quote: Originally posted by Wojtek

Part 6. Testing the sound in-game.

6.1 Now you can test your new sound in-game.
6.1.1 – Launch the game and load one of your saves or start a new game in any of the towns available.
6.1.2 – Depending on which sound you replaced, you have to figure out in which situations the sound is played. You have to somehow trigger the situation or wait for the sound to be played. It's up to you. For example, if you replaced the sound played when the Weather Stone appears, the best idea is to start a new game, choose the active family and wait for the Weather Stone to appear. If you replaced, for instance, a sound played during an interaction with an object, you have to order your sim to perform the interaction with the object in order to hear the sound and check whether it worked or not.

I tried to do my best to explain it in a comprehensible manner. If something needs further explanation or correction, just let me know. You need more pictures or examples? Let me know. I fulfilled @jje1000's request and replaced one of the two train sounds in France. I attached the .rar file with the ready package. Download it here. @jje1000, now you can test it in-game and tell me whether it worked or not. Then follow my tutorial and try to do the same with file 2.

I would like to say THANK YOU to @Flyby for his tutorial. This is where I learned it all and my tutorial is basen on this one.

I'm having trouble saving the snr file as a wav file. I'm not sure if I'm suppose to copy "ffmpeg -f ea_cdata -i <snr file> <wav file>" but I did and it won't save. I'm confused as to what I'm suppose to type here.

I looked through thread but didn't see anyone mention it. Unless I'm missed it. If so, I'm sorry.

So this is probably way beyond my comprehension, but I did re-read the first post and I see the "ffmpeg" link. SO I went there and found "ffmpeg -i input.flac -id3v2_version 3 out.mp3" and used that to save to file and it worked but I couldn't open it in Windows Media Player. I'm just going to have to really take my time and read this over again. My brain already hurts from getting this far.

Have we learned how to encode yet? i need to replace the ingame radio soundtrack lol