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Conversion Settings Editor

After you have imported files into Wwise, these files need to be converted for each active platform in your project. Since many of the audio sources will use the same Conversion Settings, you can use ShareSets to manage the Conversion Settings within your project. Within each ShareSet, you can define a variety of different Conversion Settings, including number of channels, audio format, quality, and sample rate. By defining these settings, you can optimize the final sound for each platform. After the ShareSets are created and the Conversion Settings are defined, you can apply them to the various objects in your project.

Some of the properties that you define will have an important impact on the quality, performance, memory, and CPU usage in your project. For more information on these issues, refer to Strategies for Conversion Settings.

The Conversion Settings Editor also displays information about the original and converted audio sources for each platform. Using this information, you can easily compare the two files and find the best Conversion Settings for each platform within your project.

Interface Element

Description

Opens a search field where standard alphanumeric entries filter out unmatching elements from the view. Learn more in Using Tables.

Click the Close icon to the left of the search icon to close the search field and remove the filter.

[Note] Note

The searches do not include elements in collapsed nodes of the List View, Query Editor, MIDI Keymap Editor, and Reference View.

Click the Configure Columns... shortcut (right-click) option from the column header band.

The Configure Columns Dialog opens. Specify which columns to display and their order.

Name

The name of the conversion setting instance.

Shared by

A list of objects that currently subscribe to the selected Conversion Settings ShareSet.

This field is called “Used by” when editing a custom instance of the Conversion Settings.

Notes

Additional information about the conversion.
 

Platform

The list of platforms within your project.

The Conversion Settings are set for each platform within your project.

Channels

The number of distinct audio channels that you want to include in the converted source.

The following options are available:

  • As Input - Preserves the same number of audio channels as the original media file.

  • Mono - All channels are mixed into one, except the LFE channel, which is dropped.

  • Mono drop - All channels are dropped except the first one.

  • Stereo - All channels are mixed into front left and front right, except the LFE channel, which is dropped.

  • Stereo drop - All channels are dropped except the channels that are defined as Left and Right.

  • For more information on how Wwise handles the down conversion of audio channels, refer to Creating Audio Conversion Settings ShareSets.

L-R Mix

The power level of the signal that is passed through the left and right speakers, where <C> represents an equal distribution of power through both speakers.

The L-R Mix control only applies when converting mono sounds to stereo and vice versa. For all other conversions, the mix is determined by Wwise. For more information on how Wwise handles the L-R mix, refer to About Audio Channels.

Sample Rate

The number of times per second a digital audio signal is sampled, defined in Hertz (Hz).

You can select any one of the following options:

  • As Input - Converts the file using the same sample rate as the original file. If the sample rate is not available for a particular platform or audio format, then the closest sample rate available will be used.

  • Auto (Low/Medium/High) - Converts the file using a sample rate selected by Wwise after performing an FFT analysis of the file. The difference between the low, medium, and high quality settings is the cutoff threshold value that identifies the frequency used to determine the best sample rate at which to convert your file. You can tweak the quality level of each setting by defining their threshold values in the Project Settings dialog box.

  • 300 to 48,000 - Converts the file using a specific sample rate. The sample rate range can vary for each platform and format.

Min Sample Rate

Only applied when Sample Rate is set to either As Input or Auto. Defines the minimum sample rate for the converted file.

Max Sample Rate

Only applied when Sample Rate is set to either As Input or Auto. Defines the maximum sample rate for the converted file.

Format

The audio format into which the source will be converted for each platform. These include:

Not all audio formats support multi-channel files. If the original file is, for example, a multi-channel file and you are converting to XMA, you should select one of the following options from the Channels list: Mono, Mono drop, Stereo, or Stereo drop. If you select the As Input option, Wwise will force a downmix to either stereo or mono.

[Note] Note

Opus is not currently available for use when developing with the Mac version of Wwise.

Quality

The quality setting of the compressed file.

Some audio formats, such as Vorbis, have a quality setting. A higher quality setting translates into:

  • More disk space being required; and

  • Better audio quality.

Adv.

Special settings defined for some audio formats. Click Edit to define the settings for these formats.

Options

Sample rate conversion quality

Determines the method used to convert the sample rate. You can select either of the following methods:

  • Normal - Produces a good quality conversion that is three to six times faster than the “High” option.

  • High - Produces the best quality conversion.

If the original content contains high frequencies and you are converting to sample rates below 24 kHz, it is recommended that you use the “High” option.

Insert Filename Marker

Determines whether a marker with the name of the file is created at the beginning of the file.

This can be useful to bind an action to a particular file in the sound engine, for example when lip-syncing.

The marker only contains the filename and not the file's path and extension.

Remove DC Offset

Removes the DC offset in the converted audio files.

In most cases, it is good practice to remove the DC offset. There are cases, however, where the DC offset may not need to be removed, including:

  • Sounds that will be added to sample accurate containers

  • Sounds that are normalized to 0 dB.

  • Looping sounds, which are sample accurate. In fact, we recommend not removing the DC offset for looping sounds. The remove mechanism is a high-pass filter, so there is no guarantee that it will modify the first and last sample of the loop in the same way because it does not know they will play contiguously. This could create a discontinuity in the signal, which is audible as a click.

If you clear the Remove DC Offset check box, the DC offset will remain in the converted file. This option is enabled by default.

Apply Dither

Applies dithering to the bit rate conversion of the audio source.

Dither is the noise added to a signal prior to quantization in order to reduce the distortion and noise modulation that results from the quantization process. Dithering is only applied when the resolution changes, for example, from 16 bits to 8.

If you deselect this option, dithering will not be applied. This option is enabled by default.

Allow channel upmix

If this option is selected and the Channels list is set to Stereo or Stereo drop, mono source files will be upmixed to that stereo configuration during the conversion. If this option is not selected, mono source files are converted but, regardless of the Channels setting, not upmixed.

Audio Sources

Show

Determines what information is displayed in the Audio Source column. You can select one of the following options:

  • Name - Displays only the audio source name.

  • Path - Displays the complete path, including the audio source name.

Opens the Audio File Conversion dialog box for the audio sources using this Conversion Setting. It is also possible to convert audio sources using the shortcut menu in the audio source list.

Copies the conversion results for the selected platform to the Windows clipboard so you can paste them into another application.
 

Click the Configure Columns... shortcut (right-click) option from the column header band.

The Configure Columns Dialog opens. Specify which columns to display and their order.

Audio Source

The name of the audio source. When the Show option is set to Path, the full path is displayed along with the name of the audio source.

Language

The language of the audio source.

Orig. Chan.

The channel configuration of the original source.

Conv. Chan.

The channel configuration of the converted source.

Original SR

The sample rate of the original source.

Converted SR

The actual sample rate used to convert the audio source.

Original Size

The size of the original source.

Converted Size

The size of the converted source.

Size Ratio

The ratio between the size of the original source and that of the converted source.

Duration

The length in seconds of the converted source.

Bandwidth

The maximum amount of data that can be transmitted in a given amount of time.

Units: KB/s (kilobytes per second)

If you place the mouse pointer over a value in the bandwidth column, a tooltip appears displaying the bandwidth in terms of kilobits/second (kbps).

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