Version
Wwise uses audio codecs to compress and decompress audio files. Typically, you need to compress audio files so that they fit within a project's memory budget. However, codecs require CPU resources, and in general the codecs that produce the highest quality audio also use the most CPU. When deciding which codecs to use, you will have to balance CPU usage, memory usage, storage space, and audio quality.
If you need to support multiple platforms, you can use different codecs for different platforms through Conversion Settings ShareSets. For more information, refer to Creating Audio Conversion Settings ShareSets.
Wwise supports the following codecs:
PCM is not an audio codec, but rather an uncompressed file format. It provides high-quality sound and uses minimal CPU processing power, but requires a lot of storage space.
To minimize CPU usage, use this format for short, repetitive sounds or high-fidelity audio.
Vorbis is a very popular codec that provides good quality audio for a modest amount of CPU resources, and in Wwise it is optimized for interactive media and gaming platforms.
To minimize CPU usage, avoid this format for audio files that repeat frequently because some CPU power is required to decompress the files whenever they play. Vorbis works well with most other types of sound, however.
Opus provides similar quality audio to Vorbis with greater file compression. However, it requires more CPU resources than Vorbis. It can be useful for long, non-repeating audio sources such as dialog or ambiences. Refer to the platform-specific sections in the Wwise SDK for more details on decoding Opus files.
ADPCM provides good compression and uses minimal CPU power at the cost of quality. Use it with mobile platforms to minimize CPU usage and runtime memory.
Questions? Problems? Need more info? Contact us, and we can help!
Visit our Support pageRegister your project and we'll help you get started with no strings attached!
Get started with Wwise