Banks are the files that contain your game's audio data. They can be generated by the Wwise user with the help of the SoundBank Manager; they can also be defined and generated via automated processes.
There are two types of banks:
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Initialization bank — This special bank contains all the general information of a project, including information on the control bus hierarchy, and information on states, switches, and RTPCs. The Initialization bank is automatically created when Wwise generates the SoundBanks. There is only one Initialization bank per project and it is named "Init.bnk". The Initialization bank must be the first bank loaded when starting a game. If it is not loaded first, other SoundBanks may not load.
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SoundBanks — SoundBanks contain Wwise events and all the objects and audio data required to play them. The Wwise user can create any number of SoundBanks in Wwise and add events, structures and/or media to those banks. SoundBanks can also be created in Wwise by importing a SoundBank definition file. A definition file can be generated automatically by external applications, such as a game level editor. When banks are generated, Wwise packages all the Actor-Mixers, Containers, Sounds, and so on that are used by the events contained within each SoundBank. If some of the Sounds in a SoundBank are Voices, then a different version of the SoundBank is generated for each language supported by the Wwise project.
Your game must load the Initialization bank first, and then SoundBanks can be loaded/unloaded as required. The banks you load will depend on the events that may be triggerred at particular points in the game.
Refer to the Wwise documentation for more information about SoundBanks from the point of view of the sound designer.
Refer to Bank Integration Example for an overview of where Banks fit into the integration of the Wwise sound engine in your game. If you need more detailed information, you can refer to Integration Details - Banks. Refer to Working with SoundBanks in the SoundFrame for information on generating SoundBanks automatically and using SoundBanks with SoundFrame.