Is it possible to capture/record positional audio into an ambisonic file?

Question

Hello,

We would like to make an ambisonic audio file based on the positional audio that plays within our game - is this possible? We are trying to record a 360° video of our VR game, and some such video formats allow using ambisonic audio channels in order to playback pre-recorded positional audio.

If this is not currently possible, is this on the roadmap? And if not, would it be possible to write a plugin that would capture the mixed positional audio sources and then input them into some third party or custom virtual ambisonic library?

Thanks,
-Duncan

Answer 1

Hi Duncan,

Sure, it is possible! Just route your sounds over to a bus with an ambisonic configuration (General Settings > Channel configuration), and place a recorder effect on it. Ensure that you select "WAV" and untick the "Downmix to stereo" option. See https://www.audiokinetic.com/library/?source=Help&id=wwise_recorder_plug_in_effect for more details on the Wwise Recorder plug-in.

The recorded file will contain ambisonic channels in FuMa ordering, and should be readable by wave viewers capable of interpreting .amb files (per the embedded "00000001-0721-11d3-8644-C8C1CA000000" GUID - see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambisonic_data_exchange_formats). You can even reimport it in Wwise.

You may thus create cinematic 360 audio for VR using Wwise!

Regards,

Xavier.

Comments

Just adding to this old post, that it is indeed possible. I didn't believe it at first as the Recorder plugin documentation states:

"The Wwise Recorder plug-in effect allows designers to record to an AMB, WAV, or WEM file the sound played within the Wwise authoring tool."

But by defining a name like "Recording.wav" into the Game Output Path, it does record while the game (or eg. Unity Editor) is running, and sounds come through the Recorder plugin!

Perhaps AudioKinetic should update their documentation to be more precise on this matter?

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You are right, Egil, the documentation of the Recorder plugin was inaccurate. It has been fixed with 2017.2.

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Hi Xavier. I would like to record an ambisonic audio file, which can be used in fx. youtube, where the user can interact with the video. This meaning that it should be the whole auditory scene, and not as heard through the ears of the protagonist. Is this possible? Also will it be a problem if the auditory scene recorded contains an ambix ambisonic file? Finally I would like a personal ambisonic IR on some of the audio sources. Can I use Wwise Convolution to solve this issue? Best Jens