Working with objects in the Interactive Music Hierarchy

Warning: you were redirected to the latest documentation corresponding to your major release ( 2023.1.8.8601 ). Should you wish to access your specific version's documentation, please download the offline documentation from the Audiokinetic Launcher and check the Offline Documentation option in Wwise Authoring.

Working with objects in the Interactive Music Hierarchy

The Interactive Music Hierarchy gives you the flexibility to organize the music objects in your project as you see fit to produce a full musical score. You have access to shortcut menus and the standard Windows shortcuts for renaming, cutting, copying, and pasting objects.

Adding music objects

Your starting place for creating your hierarchy is the Work Unit. If you are working alone you can begin creating your hierarchy directly from the Default Work Unit; otherwise, you will start by creating Work Units and then add your music objects to the Work Units. For more information about Work Units and source control, refer to Working with a team.

To actually build the music structure, you can do either of the following:

Set up your project structure and then import your audio files into the structure.
Import your audio files and organize them into a project structure that you create afterward.
For more information on importing audio files and how they create new objects in the Interactive Music Hierarchy, refer to Managing media files in your project.

To create a child object using the Project Explorer toolbar:

In the Audio tab of the Project Explorer, select the Work Unit under which you want to create a music object.
A series of icons become active in the Project Explorer toolbar.
From the list, click the icon that represents the object that you want to add.
The object is added to the Interactive Music Hierarchy under the selected Work Unit.
Replace the default name with one that best represents the object.
Note
The following characters may not be used when naming music objects in Wwise: ‘:<>%*?”/\|.’
You can now start adding other music objects to the hierarchy. Take the time up-front to understand the relationships between objects so that you can organize them accordingly. This will save you a great deal of time later on in the project.

To create a child object in the Interactive Music Hierarchy:

In the Interactive Music Hierarchy section of the Audio tab of the Project Explorer, right-click the Work Unit in which you want to create your music object.
From the shortcut menu, select New Child.
The sub-menu is displayed with a list of objects that you can add.
At this level of the hierarchy, you can add any one of the following objects:
- Work Unit
- Virtual Folder
- Music Switch Container
- Music Playlist Container
- Music Segment
From the list, select the object that you want to add.
The object is added to the Interactive Music Hierarchy.
Replace the default name with one that best represents the music object.
Note
The following characters may not be used when naming objects in Wwise: ‘:<>*?”%/\|.’
You can now start adding other objects. Take the time up-front to understand the relationships between objects so that you can organize them accordingly. This will save you a great deal of time later on in the project.

	Tip
	Within the Project Explorer, you can quickly create parent or child objects using predefined keyboard shortcuts. By default, for example, press Shift+Alt+F to create a parent folder. Click Keyboard Shortcuts… from the Project menu to open the Keyboard Shortcuts view to look up these and other shortcuts for your project.

Adding parent music objects

After you have added the first object to your Work Unit, you can begin adding more objects to the Interactive Music Hierarchy, and create parent-child relationships between them. A parent object contains other objects, and after you create one, you can move existing objects under this new parent. The benefit of creating parent-child relationships is that you can change properties and define behaviors for the parent that will affect the child objects below it. For more information about properties in the Interactive Music Hierarchy, refer to About properties in the Interactive Music Hierarchy.

To create a parent object using the Project Explorer toolbar:

In the Interactive Music Hierarchy section on the Audio tab of the Project Explorer, select the music object to which you want to add a parent.
Press the Shift key to display the icons for the music objects that can be added as a parent of the selected object.
From the list, click the icon that represents the music object that you want to add.
The object is added to the Interactive Music Hierarchy as the parent of the selected object.
Replace the default name with one that best represents the music object.
Note
The following characters may not be used when naming objects in Wwise: ‘:<>*?”%/\|.’

To create a parent object:

In the Interactive Music Hierarchy section on the Audio tab of the Project Explorer, right-click the object with which you want to create a parent relationship.
From the shortcut menu, select New Parent.
A sub-menu opens with a list of objects that you can add.
Depending on the selected object's level in the hierarchy, you have the option of adding the following as new parent objects:
- Work Unit
- Virtual Folder
- Music Switch Container
- Music Playlist Container
- Music Segment
From the list, click the object that you want to add.
The new parent object is added to the Interactive Music Hierarchy with a default name, based on its object type.
Type the name that best represents the music object.

	Note
	The following characters may not be used when naming objects in Wwise: ‘:<>*?”%/\\|.’

	Tip
	Within the Project Explorer, you can quickly create parent or child objects using predefined keyboard shortcuts. By default, for example, press Shift+Alt+F to create a parent folder. Click Keyboard Shortcuts… from the Project menu to open the Keyboard Shortcuts view to look up these and other shortcuts for your project.

Moving music objects

Action	Results
Moving a music object	If you change an object's location in the hierarchy, the object will be affected by its new parent's properties and behaviors.
Moving a music object	If you move an object that is associated with an event, the object remains associated with the Event.

Copying and pasting music objects

Action	Results
Copying a music object	If you copy and paste a music object in a new location, it will be affected by its new parent's properties and behaviors. Its child objects will be copied as well.
Copying a music object	If you copy a music object that is associated with an event, the new object will not be associated with the Event.

Cutting or deleting music objects

Action	Results
Cutting or deleting a music object	If you cut or delete a music object, its child objects will be deleted as well.
	The associated converted audio file is not deleted. Converted audio files that are not associated with an object are called orphan files. To delete these orphan files you need to clear your audio cache. For more information about how to delete orphan audio files, refer to Clearing your cache.
	If you delete or cut an object associated with an event, this will result in a missing object in the Event.

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.

Get started with Wwise

Wwise Help