Databending in Audacity - glitch art tutorial

Glitch art tutorial on databending in Audacity using images. in this example I used a bitmap image.
Download Audacity: www.audacityte...
Installing additional plugins: www.audacitytea...
Note this glitch art tutorial is on windows, however the same databending process can be achieved on other platforms.
If you require importing .raw into image editing software (such as photoshop) use the following formula to calculate the image dimesnions (credit for formula: Rob Mac):
1:1 Width/Height:
√(Byte file size ÷ 3)
ie: 3000 byte file
3000 ÷ 3 = 1000
√1000 = 100
100 x 100 RGB Image.
4:3 Width/Height:
[√(Byte file size ÷ 3) x (4/3)]
[√(Byte file size ÷ 3) x (3/4)]
Background music is by Vaeprism.
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[@giuseppepettinati9627]

After seeing this video I felt Fitter happier More productive Comfortable Not drinking too much Regular exercise at the gym (3 days a week) Getting on better with your associate employee contemporaries At ease Eating well (no more microwave dinners and saturated fats) A patient, better driver A safer car (baby smiling in back seat) Sleeping well (no bad dreams) No paranoia Careful to all animals (never washing spiders down the plughole) Keep in contact with old friends (enjoy a drink now and then) Will frequently check credit at (moral) bank (hole in the wall) Favours for favours Fond but not in love Charity standing orders On Sundays ring road supermarket (No killing moths or putting boiling water on the ants) Car wash (also on Sundays) No longer afraid of the dark or midday shadows Nothing so ridiculously teenage and desperate Nothing so childish At a better pace Slower and more calculated No chance of escape Now self-employed Concerned (but powerless) An empowered and informed member of society (pragmatism not idealism) Will not cry in public Less chance of illness Tyres that grip in the wet (shot of baby strapped in back seat) A good memory Still cries at a good film Still kisses with saliva No longer empty and frantic Like a cat Tied to a stick That's driven into Frozen winter shit (the ability to laugh at weakness) Calm Fitter, healthier and more productive A pig In a cage On antibiotics

[@lrnc1137]

radiohead enjoyers

[@sowish]

was not expecting a radiohead refernce in the comment section

[@windows10person30]

o-o-o-o-o-open

[@nostalgeek2872]

I've tried the PCM modes (instead A & U laws) and these works sucessfully ! About the image format, i take the *.*pnm, in binary instead of ASCII for size file reasons.

[@Vaeprism]

NIce! Thanks for sharing!

[@abortifacient1]

Great video! I always used to do this with Goldwave.

[@Vaeprism]

Thanks! Was not aware of the possibilities of Goldwave and it seems it may perhaps be a simpler process. Will look in to that.

[@Red_Rebel]

This is freaking lit to be a able to create this on an audio editing software

[@versalgraphics]

Hey I just tried databending a bitmap image but I can't seem to open/view it in any software. I followed all the instructions in the video, made sure to not touch the header and last seconds of the file. Imported as U-Law aswell as exported as U-Law but still wont show me the image. What did I do wrong?

[@Vaeprism]

Did you name your image with the file extension for bitmap ['.bmp'] when saving? How many edits/fx did you apply to the file? To be sure you are able to get results, perhaps select a small part of the audio and apply something simple like one 'reverse' and see if that works. Alternatively, save as a raw file [same process in the video, just name the file extension '.raw'] and then open in photoshop or irfanview [i recommend downloading and installing irfanview regardless as it has a good success rate of opening many files. It may be also of use to you in future and it is free: www.irfanview.com/] and then saving the raw file as an image file. To get the correct dimensions, I suggest using this formula: Calculating .RAW file size (RGB): 1:1 Width/Height: √(Byte file size ÷ 3) ie: 3000 byte file 3000 ÷ 3 = 1000 √1000 = 100 100 x 100 RGB Image. 4:3 Width/Height: [√(Byte file size ÷ 3) x (4/3)] [√(Byte file size ÷ 3) x (3/4)] Let me know if that helps.

[@gillycyndergillywolf6838]

Are there's any versions of Irfanview I was wondering if there's any copy's of them out there or not also I like the video didn't know you can make glitchy beautiful stuff out of it!

[@Vaeprism]

Irfanview is one of the more reliable viewers, particularly with databent files. Not entirely sure what question you are asking in terms of versions, however it is available here: www.irfanview.com/ Thanks for your comment.

[@exnihilodub]

hi man. I import my bmp image as a U-Law raw file. Then I export it (without touching any part) as a u-law bmp. Neither gimp or irfanview can open the image. any ideas? EDIT: oh, and the error is: can't read file header. But I didn't touch any part of the file let alone the header part!

[@Vaeprism]

Perhaps the file itself is the problem? If you have not even edited it, perhaps try another file and also experiment with file types [jpeg,png etc]. Irfanview generally has a good success rate.

[@RoboBro2002]

Thanks for the video, Ive been doing this for a while but I had a certain set of rules in my head that apparently aren't neccesary. I can choose any endianess? And do you know if it's possible to databend a video?

[@Vaeprism]

Tbh I am not entirely sure the role Little/Big Endians/No Endianess plays in the process. I have had it explained but cannot recall. Leave it with me and I will respond as soon as I find out it's specific use. It is indeed possible to databend a video. Best to use an uncompressed one. I have also combined two video files in audacity, they must be aligned and the ends trimmed to match, remove the header of one and mix down to one track before exporting. Also, alternatively you can databend videos in a hex editor too.

[@Vaeprism]

Ok. So far as I have been able to find, the differences are negligible. Little Endians seem to be most common, though I suspect it does not matter much.The effect it had on files was described to me as 'When you use 16, 24 and 32 bits integer it defines an order of bytes. For other types it has no meaning.'

[@Masuta-9999]

can't view the video file on VLC or windows player. I avoided editing the beginning and it still refuses to play and says corrupted.

[@Vaeprism]

Firstly, was the file imported and exported the same? I would also recommend using an uncompressed avi. On rare occasion I do run into this problem and the file seems broken. I cannot view it on win media player or vlc yet sometimes can view the file using media player classic for some reason unknown to me. Are you able to view it in classic? What generally works for me then, is to 'bake' the file, which is to say re saving it. I try various means to do so, usually via FFmpeg or sometimes using Windows movie maker, Avidemux, Virtual Dub. Failing that I will just screenshot it.

[@Masuta-9999]

@@Vaeprism ok, I used an uncompressed avi and opened it in classic since it was still not working any other way, and now i can see images, but the video wont play. I can scroll through the video and see that it did technically work but i wish it would actually play instead of playing one frame in beginning then pausing.

[@Vaeprism]

Perhaps it needs to be 'baked' to playback correctly. You have a few options to rescue a video in this regard... Converting to MP4: Avidemux [ v2.5.6 reccomended: sourceforge.net/projects/avidemux/files/avidemux/2.5.6/ ] *Open your video in Avidemux [ click 'No' to any prompts ]. *Export your video in MP4 format [ File>Save>Save Video. Name your video file, making sure to include '.mp4' at the end ] VLC *Navigate to Convert/Save in VLC's menu. [ Media>Convert/Save ] *Click "Add' and select your video, click the arrow ▼ to open a drop down menu and select "Convert." *In the 'profile' drop down menu, select the ...(MP4) option *Set destination file for saving the converted video. *Click "Start." FFMpeg [ ffmpeg.org/ ][ installing on Windows: kzbin.info/www/bejne/baOwn2qirrB4ntE ] *Use this code once in the command prompt [replace 'example' with the name of your file]: ffmpeg -i example.avi -vcodec libx264 -acodec copy example_baked.mp4 If you have access to Adobe Media Encoder you may have luck converting it into another format too.

[@mauvemoth569]

what version of audacity because both of the versions ive used dont seem to have exporting as any image type as an option

[@Vaeprism]

I am using V 2.2.2.0

[@vahrkalla4201]

Hey friend! I'm thinking of making a horror game that has audio glitched and warped similarly to how your audio sounds in this video. Do you have a tutorial on how to achieve this effect, or could you please point me in the right direction? Many thanks x

[@Vaeprism]

text to speech, manually cut and pasted.

[@JohnPaulBuce]

max headroom

[@loren9607]

What fun!!!

[@The_Furryous07Gamer]

it doesn't let me change the extension, it always saves as .raw and i don't know what to do

[@Vaeprism]

You couldn't edit the name when you were saving it (as in the video)? Was the initial file .raw? It should be whatever image/filetype your using (ie: .bmp). You may also just be able to rename it to the original file name after saving it as .raw? Another option is opening the .raw file in photoshop and applying the following formula to calculate the correct dimensions of the image (credit for formula: Rob Mac):

[@Vaeprism]

Calculating .RAW file size (RGB): 1:1 Width/Height: √(Byte file size ÷ 3) ie: 3000 byte file 3000 ÷ 3 = 1000 √1000 = 100 100 x 100 RGB Image. 4:3 Width/Height: [√(Byte file size ÷ 3) x (4/3)] [√(Byte file size ÷ 3) x (3/4)]

[@jonhille]

When i convert a png to a bmp, what type of bmp should i use? does it make a difference? what if I have a partially transparent png?

[@Vaeprism]

bmp is an uncompressed format, and I generally seem to have better results with uncompressed files. PNG is also technically a lossless format, yet may differ in results. tbh I haven't experimented with transparent png files. Sometimes things like that can make a difference. in this case I am unsure. Much of my knowledge comes from experimentation, so there are gaps in my understanding. I would try to experiment with as many variations as possible and find some means of baking (resaving) the results such as ffmpeg.

[@djakkdjakkd]

Shiftey

[@loren9607]

"Saviour files"

[@Vaeprism]

control shifty ;)

[@egerttischler1874]

Not working on win 10... Did everything correctly with different images...

[@Vaeprism]

Bitmap and tiff files seem to work the best for me. There are many variables to how a file may break and not work. Sometimes we even have to screenshot art because it cant save. Sometimes a file just doesn't work and you may need to try another. perhaps the header has been edited and broke the file. Or maybe the version of the software is too current. Various software like irfanview may have better luck to view the databent file than a standard windows photo viewer. I often use many types of media players and viewers. Also I have a lot of luck with ffmpeg baking images (resaving). Its hard to determine an exact cause from the aforementioned, but also as its not an exact science. There is also some trial and error and finding the cause of a broken file is not always easy.

[@GGiovana08]

Hi! Great tutorial! But I have macbook and it just won't open the file after I export it. You know the reason?

[@Vaeprism]

Unfortunately I have little experience with mac (as this was completed on windows). That being said, here are some possibilities: - May be that the process broke the file and you may need to start again and be more conservative. - You may have affected the header, also breaking the file. - You may need to try a different file type or another file altogether. - The file may need to be baked (re-saved). For this process I would use Irfanview on windows, as it has a better chance than most viewers to display an image etc. I am not sure what alternatives there are for mac, if preview doesn't do the job. You may have to research and test results. Another alternative is to use ffmpeg. I also often use that to bake files with good results. It is difficult to know and preempt, as is the nature of glitch art, sometimes data breaks and some data/files just wont play ball so to speak. It may be the way a file was encoded etc. I have a variety of applications for opening and saving images and videos for these reasons, so I can try multiple avenues of re-saving if need be.

[@nostalgeek2872]

Hello ! I'm looking for the Audio Cassette EQ curve. Do you know it ? Thanks.

[@Vaeprism]

Not particulalrly familiar with it, perhaps some digging through available curves may help you : wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/EQCurvesDownload#Available_Curves

[@loren9607]

Dedddaaiils

[@kubagrotowski]

was this video databent aswell?

[@Vaeprism]

p̸o̵s̵s̴i̶b̶l̴y̸

[@thogggg]

Is this possible to do with videos as well?

[@Vaeprism]

Yes it is. Even more important to avoid the header area and uncompressed video (.avi) will achieve the best results. As a similar experiment, you can merge two video files. import two videos, cut the start from one of them (the header) and then merge the two files (mix and render) and then export.

[@GirlCOsk8er]

kan you make a video on how to mosh video lik on ur channel C;

[@Vaeprism]

Yes I can. Give me some time to put something together and I will upload as soon as I can.

[@Datadrilo]

You can´t do this on windows 10

[@Vaeprism]

Although this video uses Win 7, I was able to achieve the same results on a laptop running Windows 10.

[@Vaeprism]

@ED ED Is there a specific part of the above process you are stuck on are unable to proceed?

[@theprosaicraconteur]

soryry just piggybacking, I seem to have trouble exporting

[@Vaeprism]

Are you using same encoding to export? Ie: importing raw file as U Law and exporting as U Law? The export process is achieved via: File>Export>Export Audio. Check encoding is correct and the header is set to raw. Or perhaps the file has been broken during editing, avoid touching the first second of the file. Does this help? If not can you be more specific to your process/platform or any other factors not mentioned?

[@jadeblades]

@@Vaeprism audacity seems to only allow me to export in audio forms. any way to export it in an image form? (windows 10)