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What is a sound object?

Sound objects are the foundation upon which your Actor-Mixer Hierarchy is built. They represent the individual audio assets that you have created for your project. Sound objects can be either Sound Voices, used for dialogue, or Sound SFXs, used for all other sounds within the Actor-Mixer Hierarchy.

Each sound object contains a source, which defines the actual audio content that will be played in game. In Wwise, there are two different types of sources: an audio source and a plug-in source.

The most common type of source is the audio source. The audio source creates a separate layer between the imported audio file and the sound object. It is linked to the audio file imported into your project.

To add power and flexibility, and to accommodate multi-language and multi-platform development, Wwise allows sound objects to contain more than one source. The audio sources can link to different audio files, useful for trying out different possible sounds or in the case where you are using different language versions that represent the same sound.

[Note]Note

Only the selected audio sources will be included in the generated SoundBank.

Audio sources can also link to one audio file in the case where you are using different sample rates and other Conversion Settings for each platform.

Converting between sound object types

There are two types of sound objects, namely Sound SFX and Sound Voice objects. It can sometimes be necessary to convert from one variety to the other, such as after a large audio file import operation where the files were mistakenly imported as the wrong type.

Audio source files for each type of sound object are stored in a specific folder, namely Voices and SFX. To convert from one sound object type to another, Wwise ensures to also move any associated source files between the different source folders. In the case of Sound Voice objects, however, Wwise will only move the reference language files.

[Caution]Caution

The following operation cannot be undone. (Although, if the conversion is successful, you will be able to try to convert them back.) Be sure to have an up-to-date backup of your project in case you encounter problems during conversion.

To convert from one sound object type to another:

  1. Within the Actor-Mixer Hierarchy, select the Sound SFX or Sound Voice objects you wish to convert.

  2. Right-click to open the shortcut menu.

  3. Click Convert to Sound SFX… / Convert to Sound Voice….

    The Source Control Operation - Convert to Sound SFX/Voice modal window appears, listing the sound object details such as the destination folder and the audio source path.

  4. Click Continue to confirm the conversion to the other type of sound object.

    The operation runs and the Process Log displays if the move was successful.


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