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Strategies for managing SoundBanks

The following sections describe the different methods that can be used to create the SoundBanks in your game. In a single game, you can use one or a combination of the different methods. Since every game is different, the method or methods you choose will depend on the specific requirements of your game.

The choices you make when creating your SoundBanks will have a significant impact on the amount of work that will be required to manage the audio and motion assets in the game and will have a direct impact on the performance of your game. It is highly recommended that both the sound designer and programmer review this section carefully so that both are aware of the possibilities that are available. Working together, you can come up with a strategy that meets the specific needs of your game. When deciding on a strategy, take into consideration the memory usage, the I/O access, and the ease of integration in game. In most situations, it is a question of balance between memory usage and ease of integration.

The following methods are described in the following sections:

[Note]Note

Two other methods also exist, which combine the benefits of the existing LoadBank() and PrepareEvent() methods. Using these two methods, entire SoundBanks are prepared, which means you can combine all data and media within the same SoundBank, avoid media duplication in memory, and still load media only when required. For more information on preparing SoundBanks, refer to the section Sound Engine Integration Walkthrough > Integrate Wwise Elements Into Your Game > Integrating Banks > Integration Details - Banks> Loading Banks > Preparing Banks in the Wwise SDK documentation.

[Tip]Tip

When loading a SoundBank with Vorbis-encoded or WEM Opus-encoded media, it is possible to decode the media files into uncompressed PCM files using the PreparationType Preparation_LoadAndDecode. This increases the size of your SoundBanks but reduces the time to access the media when it is called because the wait time for decompression is eliminated.

This strategy can be applied within a scheme of other approaches to optimize the management of your assets.


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