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the Sfront MP4-to-C translator. Tools for audio scripting, audio signal
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<H1>MPEG-4 Structured Audio: Developer Tools</H1>
<H3>By <A HREF="http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~lazzaro/index.html">
John Lazzaro</A> and <A HREF="http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~johnw">
John Wawrzynek</A>, <A HREF="http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/">
CS Division</A>, <A HREF="http://www.berkeley.edu/">UC Berkeley.</A></H3>

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<H2><TT>sfront</TT></H2>

<P>
<B>sfront</B> is a translator that converts MP4-SA files into
efficient C programs that generate audio.

<P>
The sfront <A HREF="sfman/index.html">reference manual</A> describes
how to <A HREF="sfman/user/install/index.html">install</A> the
program, and how to use it for <A
HREF="sfman/user/use/index.html">rendering</A>, <A
HREF="sfman/user/rtime/index.html">interactive</A>, and 
<A HREF="sfman/user/rtime/index.html#plug-in">plug-in</A> 
<!-- 
and <A HREF="sfman/user/network/index.html">network</A> 
-->
applications.  It also shows how to add <A
HREF="sfman/devel/cdriver/intro/index.html">control</A> and <A
HREF="sfman/devel/adriver/index.html">audio</A> drivers to sfront.

<P>
Sfront is freely redistributable under the terms of the <A
HREF="copyright/bsd.html">BSD license</A> (without advertising
clause).  The sfront reference manual is freely redistributable under
the terms of the <A HREF="copyright/gfdl.html">GNU Free Documentation
License</A>.

<P>
The webpage you are reading resides on your local hard disk, along
with the sfront reference manual.  <A
HREF="http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~lazzaro/sa">Visit</A> our website
for the latest Structured Audio news, and to
<A
HREF="sfman/user/install/index.html#download">download</A> the latest
sfront version.


<H2>The MP4-SA Book</H2>

<P>
We wrote an <A HREF="book/index.html">book</A> to show how to create
audio content for MPEG 4 Structured Audio. It resides on your
hard disk, and is freely redistributable under the terms of the <A
HREF="copyright/gfdl.html">GNU Free Documentation
License</A>.

<P>
The book includes a <A HREF="book/tut/index.html">tutorial
introduction</A> and sections on the <A
HREF="book/saol/index.html">SAOL language</A>, SASL and MIDI <A
HREF="book/control/index.html">instrument control</A>, and <A
HREF="book/opcodes/index.html">advanced opcodes</A>.

<P>
Book <A HREF="book/append/index.html">appendices</A> list the core
opcodes (<A HREF="book/append/corea/index.html">alphabetically</A> and
by <A HREF="book/append/coref/index.html">functional type</A>), <A
HREF="book/append/stnames/index.html">standard names</A>, <A
HREF="book/append/wave/index.html">wavetable generators</A>, <A
HREF="book/append/lang/index.html">language elements</A> and <A
HREF="book/append/rules/index.html">language semantic rules</A>.

<H2>Additional Resources</H2>

<P>
<A HREF="http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~lazzaro/sa/video/index.html">View</A>
our multimedia presentation on Structured Audio, <A
HREF="http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~lazzaro/sa/pubs/index.html">read</A>
our papers on the topic, and see related work on <A
HREF="http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~lazzaro/nmp/"> Network Musical
Performance</A>.


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<H2>What is MPEG-4 Structured Audio?</H2>

<P>
MPEG-4 Structured Audio (MP4-SA) is an ISO/IEC standard (edited by
Eric Scheirer) that specifies sound not as sampled data, but as a
computer program that generates audio when run. Computer scientists
call this approach Kolmogorov encoding.

<P>
MP4-SA combines a powerful language for computing audio (SAOL,
pronounced "sail") and a musical score language (SASL, pronounced
"sassil") with legacy support for the MIDI format. MP4-SA also defines
an efficient encoding of these elements into a binary file
format (MP4-SA) suitable for transmission and storage.

<P>
MP4-SA is different from standards like the MIDI File Format, because it
includes not only the notes to play, but the method for turning
notes into sound. As a result, MP4-SA is normative -- an MP4-SA file
will sound identical when converted by any compliant decoder. 

<P>
If the instrument models use algorithmic synthesis instead of
wavetables, an MP4-SA file can describe realistic musical performances
without using any audio data -- just score data, mixdown cues, and DSP
algorithms. In this case, the MP4-SA file is about the same size as a
MIDI File, but is a lossless encoding of the audio heard at
mixdown. Just like a WAV file -- but 50 to 1000 times smaller!

<H2>An Example</H2>

<P>
This <A HREF="book/simple/index.html">example</A> shows how to create
audio content in MPEG-4 Structured Audio.  It shows a SAOL and a SASL
program that generates a tone burst sound. Audio output for the
example was created using sfront, a translator that converts MP4-SA
files into efficient C programs that generate audio.

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<P>
<H2><center>Links</center></H2>

<center><A HREF="book/simple/index.html">Introductory Example</A></center><br>

<H3><center>*</center></H3>

<P>
<center><A HREF="sfman/index.html">sfront Reference Manual</A></center><br>

<P>
<H3><center>*</center></H3>

<P>
<H4><center><A HREF="book/index.html">The MP4-SA Book</A></center></H4>

<center><A HREF="book/tut/index.html">Tutorial Introduction</A></center><br>
<center><A HREF="book/saol/index.html">The SAOL Language</A></center><br>
<center><A HREF="book/control/index.html">SASL and MIDI</A></center><br>
<center><A HREF="book/opcodes/index.html">Advanced Opcodes</A></center><br>
<center><A HREF="book/special/index.html">Special Topics</A></center><br>
<center><A HREF="book/append/index.html">Appendices</A></center><br>

<P>
<H3><center>*</center></H3>

<P>
<center><A HREF="http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~lazzaro/sa/sfman/user/install/index.html#download">Download
most recent sfront</center></A>

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<P>
<A HREF="copyright/index.html">Copyright 2000 John Lazzaro and John
Wawrzynek.</A> 

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