go

wav2png

Command line version of wav2png to renders a WAV file as a PNG image, with options to draw a grid, custom colouring and anti-aliasing. The command line version currently supports the following WAV encodings:

• 16-bit signed PCM
• 32-bit floating point PCM
• EXTENSIBLE 32-bit floating point PCM

An online version implemented by compiling this library to WASM can be found here (the online verson supports any audio format supported by the browser).

The command line version includes two utilities:

• wav2png, which renders a WAV file to a single PNG image
• wav2mp4, which renders a WAV file to a set of PNG frames that can be used with ffmpeg to create an MP4 rendering of the WAV file

Raison d'être

wav2png was initially created as a Go utility library to render an audio file as an anti-aliased waveform for a WASM project - it just seemed like a good idea to add a standalone command line version.

Installation

Platform specific executables can be downloaded from the releases page. Installation is straightforward - download and extract the archive for your platform and place the executables in a directory in your PATH.

Building from source

Assuming you have Go and make installed:

git clone https://github.com/transcriptaze/wav2png.git
cd wav2png/go
make build

If you prefer not to use make:

git clone https://github.com/transcriptaze/wav2png.git
cd wav2png/go
mkdir bin
go build -o bin ./...

Dependencies

NONE

wav2png

Command line:

wav2png [--debug] [options] [--out <path>] <wav>

  <wav>         WAV file to render.

  --out <path>  File path for PNG file - if <path> is a directory, the WAV file name is
                used. Defaults to the WAV file base path.

  --debug       Displays occasionally useful diagnostic information.

Options:
  --settings <file>      JSON file with the default settings for the height, width, etc. Defaults to 
                         .settings.json if not specified, falling back to internal default values if 
                         .settings.json does not exist.

  --width <pixels>       Width (in pixels) of the PNG image. Valid values are in the range 32 to 8192, 
                         defaults to 645px.

  --height <pixels>      Height (in pixels) of the PNG image. Valid values are in the range 32 to 8192, 
                         defaults to 395px.
  
  --padding <pixels>     Padding (in pixels) between the border of the PNG and the extent of the rendered
                         waveform. Valid values are -16 to +32, defaults to 2px.

  --palette <palette>    Palette used to colour the waveform. May be the name of one of the internal colour
                         palettes or a user provided PNG file. Defaults to 'ice'
  
  --fill <fillspec>      Fill specification for the background colour, in the form type:colour 
                         e.g. solid:#0000ffff. Currently the only fill type supported is 'solid', defaults
                         to solid:#000000ff.

  --grid <gridspec>      Grid specification for an optional rectilinear grid, in the form 
                         type:colour:size:overlay, e.g.
                         - none
                         - square:#008000ff:~64
                         - rectangle:#008000ff:~64x48:overlay
                         
                         The size may preceded by a 'fit':
                         - ~  approximate
                         - =  exact
                         - ≥  at least
                         - ≤  at most
                         - >  greater than
                         - <  less than

                         If gridspec includes :overlay, the grid is rendered 'in front' of the waveform.

                         The default gridspec is 'square:#008000ff:~64'

  --antialias <kernel>   The antialising kernel applied to soften the rendered PNG. Valid values are:
                         - none        no antialiasing
                         - horizontal  blurs horizontal edges
                         - vertical    blurs vertical edges
                         - soft        blurs both horizontal and vertical edges

                         The default kernel is 'vertical'.

  --scale <scale>        A vertical scaling factor to size the height of the rendered waveform. The valid 
                         range is 0.2 to 5.0, defaults to 1.0.

  --mix  <mixspec>       Specifies how to combine channels from a stereo WAV file. Valid values are:
                         - 'L'    Renders the left channel only
                         - 'R'    Renders the right channel only
                         - 'L+R'  Combines the left and right channels
                         
                         Defaults to 'L+R'.

  --start <time>         The start time of the segment of audio to render, in Go time format (e.g. 10s or
                         1m5s). Defaults to 0s.

  --end <time>           The end time of the segment of audio to render, in Go time format (e.g. 10s or
                         1m5s). Defaults to the end of the audio.


Example:

wav2png --debug                                        \
          --settings 'settings.json'                     \
          --height 390                                   \
          --width 641                                    \
          --padding 0                                    \
          --palette 'amber.png'                          \
          --fill 'solid:#0000ffff'                       \
          --grid 'rectangular:#800000ff:~32x128:overlay' \
          --antialias 'soft'                             \
          --scale 0.5                                    \
          --start 0.5s                                   \
          --end 1.5s                                     \
          --mix 'L+R'                                    \
          --out example.png                              \
          example.wav

wav2mp4

Command line:

wav2mp4 [--debug] [options] [--out <path>] --window <duration> --fps <frame rate> --cursor <cursor spec> <wav>

  <wav>                  WAV file to render.

  --out <path>           File path for MP4 file - if <path> is a directory, the WAV file name is
                         used and defaults to the WAV file base path. wav2mp4 generates a set of ffmpeg
                         frames files in the 'frames' subdirectory of the out file directory. 

  --window <duration>    The interval allotted to a single frame, in Go time format e.g. --window 1s.
                         The window interval must be less than the duration of the MP4.

  --fps <frame rate>     Frame rate for the MP4 in frames per second e.g. --fps 30

  --cursor <cursorspec>  Cursor to indicate for the current play position. A cursor is specified by the 
                         image source and dynamic:

                         --cursor <image>:<dynamic>

                         where image may be:
                         - none
                         - red  (internal 'red' cursor)
                         - blue (internal 'blue' cursor)
                         - a PNG file with a custom cursor image

                         The cursor 'dynamic' defaults to 'sweep' if not specified, but may be one of
                         the following:
                         - sweep  Moves linearly from left to right over the duration of the MP4
                         - left   Fixed on left side
                         - right  Fixed on right side
                         - center Fixed in center of frame
                         - ease   Migrates from the left to center of the frame, before moving to the
                                  right side to finish
                         - erf    Moves 'sigmoidally' from left to right over the duration of the MP4, 
                                  with the sigmoid defined by the inverse error function

  --debug                Displays occasionally useful diagnostic information.

Options:
  --settings <file>      JSON file with the default settings for the height, width, etc. Defaults to 
                         .settings.json if not specified, falling back to internal default values if 
                         .settings.json does not exist.

  --width <pixels>       Width (in pixels) of the PNG image. Valid values are in the range 32 to 8192, 
                         defaults to 645px.

  --height <pixels>      Height (in pixels) of the PNG image. Valid values are in the range 32 to 8192, 
                         defaults to 395px.
  
  --padding <pixels>     Padding (in pixels) between the border of the PNG and the extent of the 
                         rendered waveform. Valid values are -16 to +32, defaults to 2px.

  --palette <palette>    Palette used to colour the waveform. May be the name of one of the internal 
                         colour palettes or a user provided PNG file. Defaults to 'ice'
  
  --fill <fillspec>      Fill specification for the background colour, in the form type:colour 
                         e.g. solid:#0000ffff. Currently the only fill type supported is 'solid', 
                         defaults to solid:#000000ff.

  --grid <gridspec>      Grid specification for an optional rectilinear grid, in the form 
                         type:colour:size:overlay, e.g.
                         - none
                         - square:#008000ff:~64
                         - rectangle:#008000ff:~64x48:overlay
                         
                         The size may preceded by a 'fit':
                         - ~  approximate
                         - =  exact
                         - ≥  at least
                         - ≤  at most
                         - >  greater than
                         - <  less than

                         If gridspec includes :overlay, the grid is rendered 'in front' of the 
                         waveform.

                         The default gridspec is 'square:#008000ff:~64'

  --antialias <kernel>   The antialising kernel applied to soften the rendered PNG. Valid values are:
                         - none        no antialiasing
                         - horizontal  blurs horizontal edges
                         - vertical    blurs vertical edges
                         - soft        blurs both horizontal and vertical edges

                         The default kernel is 'vertical'.

  --scale <scale>        A vertical scaling factor to size the height of the rendered waveform. The 
                         valid range is 0.2 to 5.0, defaults to 1.0.

  --mix  <mixspec>       Specifies how to combine channels from a stereo WAV file. Valid values are:
                         - 'L'    Renders the left channel only
                         - 'R'    Renders the right channel only
                         - 'L+R'  Combines the left and right channels
                         
                         Defaults to 'L+R'.

  --start <time>         The start time of the segment of audio to render, in Go time format (e.g. 10s
                         or 1m5s). Defaults to 0s.

  --end <time>           The end time of the segment of audio to render, in Go time format (e.g. 10s
                         or 1m5s). Defaults to the end of the audio.


Example:

  wav2mp4 --debug --window 1s --fps 30 --cursor red:sweep --out ./example/chirp.mp4 ./samples/chirp.wav
  cd ./example/frames
  ffmpeg -framerate 30 -i frame-%05d.png -c:v libx264 -pix_fmt yuv420p -crf 23 -y out.mp4
  ffmpeg -i out.mp4    -i ./samples/chirp.wav -c:v copy -c:a aac -y ../chirp.mp4