We'll begin by importing a single audio file into a new Wwise project with the intention of using it as a looping ambient background. There are a few things to keep in mind about the process of bringing content into the project.
At a very basic level, Wwise distinguishes between the following two types of assets:
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Original assets imported into Wwise.
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Versions of these assets created for the various game platforms.
Wwise stores these two types of assets in different locations within the project folder, so they can be managed independently. Any imported assets are stored in the Originals project folder by default. Since these assets are usually shared by several people on your team, this folder can be located anywhere on your network and can easily be managed by your source control system.
The import process includes the following operations:
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The original media (WAV) files are validated by Wwise before being copied into the project's Originals folder.
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Audio sources are created for the media files.
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Sound or music objects that contain audio sources are created in Wwise and are displayed in their respective hierarchies on the Audio tab of the Project Explorer.
Importing files into the Actor-Mixer Hierarchy using the Audio File Importer allows you to import individual files or groups of files by folder. You can import through the Project menu, or by right-clicking the work unit or container where you want the audio files.
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Importing audio files from the Project menu
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The Audio File Importer showing a single file to be imported as a Sound SFX
Alternatively, you can drag and drop audio files from folders directly into the Wwise hierarchy.
In the following example we'll import an ambient sound file for use as the basis of our ambient sound system. This file can be found in the project folder: /Originals/SFX/Ambient_Background/ambient_forest_day_background_loop.wav.
Imported sound file
![[Note]](/images/2015.1.9_5624/?source=WwiseProjectAdventure&id=note.png) |
Designer Note |
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Sound, music, or motion FX objects associated with sources that are not converted for the current platform appear blue in the Audio tab of the Project Explorer. Once a sound source has been converted to the target platform format, the text appears white. If a sound object has been created with no valid source, the text will appear red. |
The imported file is added to a sound object, which includes a reference to the imported media file(s). When you load a sound object into the Property Editor, its sources are displayed in the Contents Editor.
Sound SFX object showing the source audio file location
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Designer Note |
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A sound object can contain multiple sources including alternate versions, silence, plug-ins and different language versions for localization. |
A sound object can be auditioned by using the Transport Control. After double-clicking the ambient_forest_day_background_loop sound object, click the play icon to play the object loaded in the Transport Control. Alternatively, pressing the spacebar plays and stops the sound object.
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Transport Control showing the play icon