############################################################# # # # wavsilence: A program to split a WAV file up into smaller #
# pieces by detecting silence. # # # # Copyright 2003 Daniel Smith (dsmith@danplanet.com) # # http://danplanet.com/wav/ # # #
#############################################################
# $Id: README,v 1.1 2003/08/08 14:46:23 dsmith Exp $
/------\
| GOAL |
\------/
The goal of the program is to take a large WAV file with gaps of silence and create smaller WAV files, containing the data between the gaps. The original use was to split up the chapters of large audio book files.
/---------\
| INSTALL |
\---------/
Unpack the archive:
% tar xzf wavsilence-0.X.tar.gz
Get into the directory it created:
% cd wavsilence-0.X
Make the binaries:
% make
That's it. Copy the binaries where you want them.
/-------\
| USAGE |
\-------/
The usage information, as displayed by 'wavsilence -h':
| wavsilence v0.40 - Dan Smith (dsmith@danplanet.com)
| Usage: wavsilence <options>
| Options:
| -g <gap> Minimum gap (in seconds) to be considered silence
| -t <threshold> Volume (in % of Max) to be considered silence
| -v Verbose mode (specify multiple times to increase verbosity) | -I Print input WAV information | -e <cmd> Execute <cmd> when each piece is finished, with the filename | as the last argument | -r Remove the WAV file after <cmd> (only valid with -e) | -p Display progress and statistics during operation | -i <file> Read from <file> instead of stdin | -n <name> Name output files <name>N | -l <file> Log summary information in <file> | -b <num> Buffer input by <num> samples (1 is default; try 16) | -P <cmd> Pipe output of each segment to <cmd>
| -m <seconds> Minimum track length (in seconds) | -M <minutes> Minimum track length (in minutes)
| -s Skip silence (remove the silence between pieces) | -c <num> Counter-start. With this option you can set the initial | value of the file-number-counter. | -h Display this message
| Operation:
| WAV file is read via stdin, split at points of silence into files
| named "piece-N.wav" (unless user specified)
An example invocation is:
% ./wavsilence -g 2 -t 4 -b 64 -l log.txt -p -i bigfile.wav
This will search for gaps of >=2s where the volume is <=4% of max. 64 samples will be read at a time (to increase performance). Progress will be displayed during execution and a summary will be left in the 'log.txt' file when finished.
Minimum track length can be specified in minutes, seconds, or both. For example, the following command will not split tracks shorter than 2 minutes and 31 seconds:
% ./wavsilence -i input.wav -M 2 -m 31
Normally the splitted tracks start with the silence-gap. If you don't like this behaviour, then use the "-s"-option which skips the silence between the tracks.
With the option "-c <num>" you can specify the counter-start. With this option you can set the initial value of the file-number-counter, which defaults to 0. For example if the first piece should start with number 5 then use '-c 5'.
/-------------\
| PERFORMANCE |
\-------------/
Increasing the sample buffer can really increase the throughput of the program. On a dual 933MHz P3 with 256MB RAM and an ATA100 IDE disk, a sample buffer of 64 provides optimal performance (~6MB/s). I'd like to hear about performance others are getting.
Enabling the progress display (the -p option) may reduce performance if you have a fast system.
When piping output to a command (the -P option), the throughput is limited to the speed at which the command you're running can take data. If you have the space, it would be faster to let the program create the pieces in separate files (the default behavior) and then use the "-e" option to exec a program on each file when it's done.
/---------\
| CHANGES |
\---------/
Version 0.44 (Stephan Loescher: 06-Jul-2004)
- Added option "-c" to specify the initial counter for the pieces.
Version 0.43 (Stephan Loescher: 06-Jun-2004)
- Added option "-s" to skip the silence-gap, for the pieces not to start with silence
Version 0.42 (Tom Blough: 30-May-2004)
- Added flexible file naming
- Minimum track length override
Version 0.41 (David Rosal: 15-April-2004)
- Code cleanup
Version 0.4 (Dan Smith: 19-Feb-2004)
- Added ability to mandate a minimum track length
- Code cleanup
Version 0.3 (Dan Smith: 8-Aug-2003)
- Added ability to pipe data to another program
- Added ability to exec a command when each piece is finished
- Added ability to change the names of the piece files
- Fixed segmentation fault if no log file is used (oops)
Version 0.2 (Dan Smith: 7-Aug-2003)
Initial Release
/---------\
| CONTACT |
\---------/
Comments, complaints, suggestions, and all other feedback is welcome. Please send email to dsmith-AT-danplanet.com.