BFD Converter

A utility for converting Toontrack sounds into BFD format

Programming: Graphics: Manual:

Paul Chana Alex Volmer Paul Chana / Mayur Maha

With special thanks to Toontrack Music www.toontrack.com

2006 FXpansion Audio UK Ltd www.fxpansion.com

Installation
Installation of the converter is identical on both Mac and Windows systems. Simply extract the downloaded .zip file to the desktop or any other temporary location. This process will result in a folder named BFD Converter. Copy this folder to any location you choose: for example /Applications on Mac or C:\Program Files on Windows.

Using BFD Converter

The converter allows you to convert Toontracks Drumkit From Hell Superior (DFHS) and Custom & Vintage (C&V) sound libraries to use within FXpansions BFD software. Currently supported are all three kit types from DFHS (Drummer, Percussionist and Cocktail) as well as all the kits within C&V. To launch the converter on Windows, navigate to the installation folder you created earlier and double-click the BFD Converter Win application. On Mac, navigate to the installation folder and double-click the BFD Converter Mac application. Important:  When you launch the application, enter your serial number as shown in the screenshot below. You will not be able to run the conversion process before you do so.
DFHS Path: click to navigate to Toontrack sounds (step 1) BFD Path: click to navigate to BFD path (step 2) Do It!: click to start the conversion process (step 5) Progress indicator bar Disk usage indicator: required / available disk-space Conversion Type:  click to choose the conversion type from a drop-down menu (step 4) Convert from:  click to specify the Toontrack library type from a drop-down menu (step 3)

Log window:  continuously updated during the conversion process

Serial Number: click here to enter your serial. You cannot run the conversion process before doing this!

 A guide to the conversion process 1.  Choose the DFHS Path: this is the folder which contains the Toontrack library you want to convert. For instance, if you want to convert DFHS Drummer, choose C:\Superior\Drummer (this is just an example - the location of the Drummer folder can vary). 2.  By default, the BFD Path is set to the Data path specified in the BFD Options panel. However, if you wish to write to another folder (if you dont have enough space on your existing BFD drive, for example), you can browse for another folder.  To use the sounds from this other folder in BFD, you will need to set up a second Data path to this location in the BFD Options panel, using the Data Path 2 setting. Please see the BFD documentation for further details on how to do this. 3. S  pecify the library to convert using the Convert from setting. This must match the library contained within the DFHS Path you selected in step 1.  If this does not match the library contained within the specified DFHS Path, the sounds will not be converted properly! 4.  Choose the Conversion Type. This tells BFD Converter whether to convert all the contained sounds, or only individual Kit-Piece types, like the kick drums or the hihats.   Please note that this option is not applicable when converting the Percussionist sounds. These must be converted in their entirety. 5.  Click the Do It! button and put the kettle on! The conversion process can take a very long time (a full C&V conversion on a G5 Mac takes around 1 hour or more). 6.  Once the progress bar has reached 100% and the log window displays the message < -- Job Complete -- >, the process has finished. You can now use the converted sounds within BFD!

Kit-Piece and Hit type translation

There are several significant differences between the drum mapping system used in BFD and that in the Toontrack products. This means that an exact translation is not possible. However, we have tried to ensure that converted Kit-Pieces are logically mapped. In most cases, the Toontrack sounds are mapped to the corresponding KitPiece type in BFD (such as snare snare). However, in certain cases (most notably in the DFHS Percussionist library), some sounds are mapped to KitPieces which contain the maximum number of Hit types (articulations), even though this mapping may seem illogical. A good example of this is the conga, which is mapped to the snare Kit-Piece type. In some cases, the Toontrack sounds provide more articulations than the BFD system can support. When BFD Converter encounters this, these extra articulations are placed in sub-folders with the same name as the Toontrack articulation (for example, Crescendo). To use these sounds, you need to rename their folders to names recognised by BFD, such as Hit, Flam, Drag etc. A full list of all DFHS Percussionist remappings is provided below. Unsupported articulation folders that require renaming to use within BFD are shown in red: DFHS Percussionist remapping

Shaker o ShakerOnBeat o ShakerOffBeat o Beat o Shakings Tambourine o OpenHit o MutedHit o Crescendo o OnBeat o OffBeat

Percussion Hit Alt Hit2 Shakings Percussion Hit Alt Crescendo OnBeat OffBeat

 Wood Blocks o Block1 o Block2 o Block3 Triangle o OpenHit o MutedHit Cricket o Strokes o Crescendo Bell o Strokes o Crescendo SoftShell o Strokes o Crescendo Guiro o GuiroR o GuiroLong Cymbals o Hit o Crescendo

Percussion Hit Alt Alt2 Percussion Hit Alt Percussion Hit Alt Percussion Hit Alt Percussion Hit Alt Percussion Hit Alt Cymbal Hit Alt

 Udu o Open Tone High o Open Tone Low o Mute Slap o Flam o Ghost Note L o Crescendo Open o Crescendo Slap o Ghost Note R o Open Slap Bongo o Left Open o Right Open o Left Heel o Right Heel o Flam o Crescendo Cajon o Slap Mid L o Slap Norm L o BasTone L o SideStick L o BrushHit L o Brushed R o Flam o Ghost Stroke L o Ghost Stroke R o BasTone R o Slap Norm R o Slap Mid R o SideStick R o BrushHit R o Brushed L o Crescendo 

Snare Hit Rim Drag Flam SS Crescendo Open Crescendo Slap Ghost Note R Open Slap Snare Hit Drag Rim SS Flam Crescendo Snare Hit Rim Drag SS Hit Hit Flam Ghost Stroke L Ghost Stroke R DragAlt RimAlt HitAlt SSAlt HitAlt RimAlt Crescendo

 Timbale o Open Tone R o RimShot o Flam o SideStroke o Rough o Open Tone L

Snare Hit Rim Flam SS Drag HitAlt

Conga Snare o Left Open Hit Rim o BasTone Left o Left Close Slap SS o Flam Slap Flam o Flam open Drag o Right Open HitAlt LeftMute o Left Mute o Right Mute RightMute o BasTone Right Rim Alt o Left Open Slap Left Open Slap o Right Open Slap Right Open Slap SSAlt o Right Close Slap Left Heel o Left Heel Right Heel o Right Heel o Open Crescendo Open Crescendo o Slap Crescendo Slap Crescendo o Bend FX Bend FX

Mic channel translation

As well as with Hit types (articulations), there are also differences in the mic channel structures between Toontracks sounds and those of BFD. This is because the Toontrack format does not share all the mic channel types possessed by BFD libraries. We have tried to maintain a logical structure to the channel conversion: the methods used are described below. When there is no directly corresponding channel, but a suitable substitute exists, the substitute is remapped. Remapped channels are shown in green. When there is no directly corresponding channel, and no suitable substitute exists, it is left empty in the converted sounds. These cases are shown in red. DFHS Cocktail This library contains a mono direct channel, with the other channels implemented as below:

Toontrack Name Overhead N/A N/A

DFHS Drummer

BFD Name Overhead PZM Room

This library contains a mono direct channel, with the other channels implemented as below:

Toontrack Name Overhead N/A Ambience

Custom & Vintage

BFD Name Overhead PZM Room

This library contains a mono direct channel, with the other channels implemented as below:

Toontrack Name Overhead MonoRoom Ambience 

BFD Name Overhead PZM Room

 DFHS Percussionist Pieces mapped to snares These contain two microphones mapped to Snare Bottom and Snare Top, with the other channels implemented as below:

Toontrack Name N/A N/A Ambience

BFD Name Overhead PZM Room

Note that congas have a third microphone and this is mapped to the Kick In bleed channel. Pieces mapped to percussion These all have a mono direct channel, with the other channels implemented as below:

Toontrack Name N/A N/A Ambience

Pieces mapped to cymbals

BFD Name Overhead PZM Room

Note that the original Percussionist cymbal sounds do not contain any direct channel information: only overhead microphones were used. We have retained this mapping because it is stereo (direct channels in BFD are mono only), and thus the converted sounds only have a single stereo channel of audio data coming through the overhead channel for any cymbal.

Toontrack Name Overhead N/A N/A

BFD Name Overhead PZM Room