---------------------------- MID2XM v1.0 beta by Stefano Maini - documentation Updated Jan 25, 1998 ---------------------------- *** IMPORTANT WARNINGS *** 1) The author is not responsible for any damage and/or data loss caused by this product. Please read carefully the documentation before using it. 2) The files stored in this package are all FREEWARE. It means that you may distribute,copy,modify,delete whatever you want. The author is not responsible for any damage and/or data loss caused by modified versions. 3) This package was checked with the author's best antivirus program. The author apologize for any bugs and/or bad writing sentences found in the original version of the package. 4) I am Italian, don't expect good English language in this doc ! *** USER'S INFORMATIONS *** 1) WHAT IS 'MID2XM' ? MID2XM is a utility that converts MIDI-format files (*.MID) in Fast Tracker 2 format modules (*.XM). Useful when you want to play your MIDI songs better than FM chips do (if you don't have a wavetable in your soundcard). GOOD features: + Very small code + Doesn't need extra memory + Doesn't need extra samples or GUS patches during conversion + Easy to use + Optimized XM channels utilization + Optimized instruments allocation + Extended module output (with volume column, note-off, 32 voices) + Dynamic tempo change + Full octave and volume range BAD features: - Slow processing - Produces very big XM files (doesn't compress patterns) - Midi format 2 not supported - STMPTE timing system not supported - Volume-pitch change unsupported - Panning usupported (no stereo output) 2) WHAT MUST I HAVE ? - A MS-DOS 6.0 platform - The utility works well on a 80x386 processor or better. - A copy of Fast Tracker 2 to make your converted song working. 3) HOW THE CONVERSION WORKS ? Type at the dos prompt the following command line: MID2XM Where: (the arguments must be IN ORDER, don't forget any parameter!) Is the name of your source MIDI file. You MUST specify complete path. Include the .MID extension. No Jolly characters allowed (only 1 file per time!) Is the name of your destination XM file. You MUST specify complete path. Include the .XM extension. Is the quantization factor. It means that you can skip notes that are too short, reducing also the lenght of your XM pattern list. must be an integer number between 0 and 4. Refer to this scheme: Skip less than... 0 1/4 note 1 1/8 note 2 1/16 note 3 1/32 note 4 1/64 note is the number of the MIDI channel reserved to drums. Usually is 10, but some MIDIs use 16. After the conversion, you will see some informations about channel utilization and song lenght: keep it in mind! Launch Fast Tracker 2 and load your converted XM : - Reduce your number of channels accordingly to the value returned by MID2XM. - Load your best samples/instruments into the respective slots (Where the MIDI instruments name are stored!) - Tune up your samples, check volume and play it !!! - Save your fresh XM to disk. (You will notice that MID2XM stores pattern in uncompressed format. saving it again in FT2 -with pattern compression- will save some disk space) That's it! Hope you'll have fun with it. *** TROUBLESHOOTING *** 1) The utility don't save changes. - Your disk is full. Always keep 1MB free on your HD (not only for this utility!) 2) My converted XM is -NO GOOD- Sorry, this utility is a beta release. There are a lot of bugs to fix... If you are sincerely interested about this program (yeah, I mean you really NEED it, you really WANT to make it WORK) send me an e-mail with your comments about improvements and bug-finding. Stefano Maini http:\\mainet@iol.it ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^