Version
menu_open

What Media Files are Supported?

When looking at what type of media files are supported in Wwise, you need to look at the following:

[Note] Note

Trying to import files that are not supported by Wwise will result in non-recoverable errors that are displayed in the Import Conflict Manager. For information on how you can deal with non-recoverable errors, refer to Managing Non-Recoverable Errors.

PCM audio file formats

Files in the Waveform audio format (WAV) and the ambisonics audio format (AMB) can be imported into Wwise. By reading the file header, Wwise can apply the appropriate channel configuration.

Channel configuration

Wwise can import media files with multiple audio channels.

The following table lists each of the source channel configurations supported by Wwise and the default configuration used by Wwise.

[Note] Note

Wwise follows the Microsoft standard for channel ordering. The ordering in the file is different from the display ordering in Wwise. The table below shows the ordering in Wwise.

Channel Names - Short and Full

Recommended Angles

L

Left

22°-30°

R

Right

22°-30°

C

Center

SL

Surround Left

90°-110°

SR

Surround Right

90°-110°

BL

Back Left

135°-150°

BR

Back Right

135°-150°

LFE

Low-Frequency Effects

N/A

Channels

Channel Configurations Used by Wwise

0.1

LFE

1.0

C

1.1

C + LFE

2.0

L + R

2.1

L + R + LFE

3.0

L + R + C

3.1

L + R + C + LFE

4.0

L + R + SL + SR

4.1

L + R + SL + SR + LFE

5.0

L + R + C + SL + SR

5.1

L + R + C + SL + SR + LFE

6.0

L + R + BL + BR + SL + SR

6.1

L + R + BL + BR + SL + SR + LFE

7.0

L + R + C + BL + BR + SL + SR

7.1

L + R + C + BL + BR + SL + SR + LFE

7.1.2

L + R + C + BL + BR + SL + SR + HFL + HFR + LFE

7.1.4

L + R + C + BL + BR + SL + SR + HFL + HFR + HBL + HBR + LFE

9.1

L + R + C + SL + SR + HFL + HFR + HBL + HBR + LFE

10.1

L + R + C + SL + SR + T + HFL + HFR + HBL + HBR + LFE

11.1

L + R + C + SL + SR + T + HFL + HFC + HFR + HBL + HBR + LFE

13.1

L + R + C + BL + BR + SL + SR+ T + HFL + HFC + HFR + HBL + HBR + LFE

If you have a specific multichannel configuration that you want Wwise to preserve on import, you must define it in the WAVEFORMATEXTENSIBLE format chunk in the WAV header. If the channels defined in the channel mask of the WAVEFORMATEXTENSIBLE are not supported by Wwise, they will be changed automatically to supported values. For example, if a configuration defines a Left channel but no Right channel, the Left channel (0x01) is changed to the Center channel (0x04), and if a configuration defines Side (Surround) channels but no Rear (Back) channels, the Side channels (0x100 and 0x200) are changed to Rear channels (0x10 and 0x20).

You can combine individual mono and stereo audio files into a single multi-channel file using the Wwise Multi-Channel Creator application. This standalone utility is installed as part of the Wwise package and can be found in the same directory as the Wwise application. The Multi-Channel Creator allows you to create files with any multi-channel configuration so that they can be imported into your Wwise projects. You can also use this tool to flag specific mono files as the 0.1 component so they can be imported into Wwise as the independent LFE channel. For more information on creating multi-channel files with the Multi-Channel Creator, refer to Using the Multi-Channel Creator in the Wwise Tools part of the Help documentation.

Sample rate

Wwise can import media files with sample rates up to and including 96 kHz.

Bit depth

Wwise can import media files with the following bit depths:

  • 16-bit

  • 24-bit

[Note] Note

Wwise can also import 32-bit float PCM files; however, the maximum conversion format is only 24 bits. Additionally, when played in the Transport Control, files are converted to 16 bits.


Was this page helpful?

Need Support?

Questions? Problems? Need more info? Contact us, and we can help!

Visit our Support page

Tell us about your project. We're here to help.

Register your project and we'll help you get started with no strings attached!

Get started with Wwise