Working with cues

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Working with cues

A cue represents a specific point along the timeline. Cues are essentially used as sync points that can help align Music Segments for the various shifts that take place in interactive music such as State changes, playing Stingers, and transitions. These alignments must take into account the tempo and sample accuracy concerns as well as contextual considerations. All segments have entry cues and exit cues, but they may also have custom cues or Event cues.

The entry cue defines where the first beat of the first bar starts and where to snap with the exit cue of a previous segment. The entry and exit cues cannot be removed from the clip, but can be edited.

The segment area before the entry cue is called the pre-entry and the area beyond the exit cue is called the post-exit. These portions of the segment can be played, but this is dependent on the transition settings. For more information about transitions, refer to Working with transitions.

In addition to the entry and exit cues, you can add any number of custom cues to help sync your music with what is happening in the game. You can even directly add Event cues to your Music Segments, conveniently effecting further changes in the design of the game's synchronization with music.

	Note
	There may be a noticeable lack of synchronization between the sound played by an Event Cue and the Music Segment. This is generally most pronounced during playback in Wwise authoring, but may also be perceptible in game at runtime. If precise synchronization is required, a Stinger should be used instead of an Event Cue. Refer to Using Stingers for details.

Adding custom cues

You can add a custom cue to any location along the timeline to be used for state changes, transitions or Stinger insertions.

To add a cue to a track:

In the Music Segment Editor, right-click the timeline ruler where you want to add a custom cue.
From the shortcut menu, select Add Custom Cue.
A new custom cue is added in the location you selected on the timeline.
Drag the cue to the desired location.
Continue to add custom cues as needed.

Removing cues

You can remove custom cues at any time. Entry and Exit cues, however, cannot be deleted.

To remove a custom cue:

Along the track timeline, right-click the custom cue that you want to remove.
From the shortcut menu, select Delete.
The cue is removed from the track.

Naming cues

You can add a descriptive name to a cue. This might be useful when you want to refer to a special cue that you have created for a Stinger, for example.

To describe a custom cue:

Along the track timeline, right-click the custom cue that you want to describe.
In the shortcut menu, select Rename….
The Rename Cue dialog opens.
Enter a name that best represents the cue.
Click OK.

Moving custom cues

You can move custom cues to any location along the timeline. You can drag the cue to the desired location, or for greater precision, you can edit the cue time.

To drag a cue:

Select and drag the cue left or right along the timeline.
Tip
To enable snapping as you drag, refer to Snapping to increments in the Music Editor.

To edit the cue time:

On the timeline, right-click the custom cue that you want to edit.
From the shortcut menu, select Show in Multi Editor.
The Multi Editor opens.
In the Multi Editor, enter the desired time in the Cue Time (Ms) text box, or drag the slider.
Close the Multi Editor.

Using entry and exit cues

You can move the entry and exit cues to different locations on the timeline and in so doing extend or decrease the pre-entry and post-exit areas in your segments.

To drag entry and exit cues for a segment within a selected clip:

Select and drag the cue left or right along the segment.

To edit the cue time:

On the timeline, right-click the entry or exit cue that you want to edit.
From the shortcut menu, select Show in Multi Editor.
The Multi Editor opens.
In the Multi Editor, enter the desired time in the Cue Time (Ms) text box, or drag the slider.
Close the Multi Editor.

To move entry and exit cues for a segment to the ends of a selected clip:

Right-click the clip where you want to define the entry and exit cue locations.
From the shortcut menu, select Move Entry/Exit Cues to Selection.
The Entry and Exit cues are positioned at the beginning and end of the selected clip.

	Tip
	When moving the entry cue, the whole segment will move with the entry cue (including clips and other cues). When holding the CTRL key and dragging the entry cue, only the entry cue will move.

Using Event cues

You can add Action Events, not Dialogue Events, anywhere on the Music Segment timeline. When the Music Segment plays, the added Events are automatically triggered when the Play Cursor reaches the point on the timeline where the Event is added. You can drag an Event from the Project Explorer's Events tab, use the shortcut menu, or copy and paste Event cues already in the timeline.

Note

There may be a noticeable lack of synchronization between the sound played by an Event Cue and the Music Segment. This is generally most pronounced during playback in Wwise authoring, but may also be perceptible in game at runtime. If precise synchronization is required, a Stinger should be used instead of an Event Cue. Refer to Using Stingers for details.

Additionally, a triggered Event could play a sound that continues to play even after the end of the Music Segment has been reached.

	Dragged Events auto-fit for optimal spacing.
	Icon indicates the action type of the Event.
	Here the cursor is dragging an Event into the timeline. If the Event is valid, this is confirmed by an arrow, as shown. Otherwise a prohibition symbol appears.

To drag an Event into a Music Segment:

Go to the Designer layout (Layouts > Designer, F5).
From the Project Explorer's Interactive Music Hierarchy, select or create a Music Segment with at least one child Music Track, then double-click it.
The Music Segment Editor loads with the Music Segment.
From the Project Explorer's Events tab, select or create an Event, then click and drag it into the Music Segment Editor timeline.
If the Event is valid, an arrow indicator will appear in the timeline. If it is invalid, such as the circular reference case of dragging in an Event that would call this Music Segment, a no symbol indicator will appear in the timeline.
Assuming a valid Event, release your click at the appropriate timeline position.
The Event cue appears like a small flag within the Music Track.

To add an an Event cue to a Music Segment with the shortcut menu:

Go to the Designer layout (Layouts > Designer, F5).
From the Project Explorer's Interactive Music Hierarchy, select or create a Music Segment with at least one child Music Track, then double-click it.
The Music Segment Editor loads with the Music Segment.
In the Music Segment Editor, right-click the Music Track where you want to add an Event cue.
The shortcut menu appears.
From the shortcut menu, select Add Music Event Cue….
The Project Explorer Browser is prompted with the Events tab content.

Select the desired Post Event.

A new Event cue is added to the location you selected on the timeline.

Note

If the type of Post Event you wanted was not available in the Browser, you can create one. You don't have to go back to the Events tab to do so, you can prompt the shortcut menu from an Event cue and click Set Post Event Target. This will prompt a submenu from which you can choose another existing Event or create a new one. After that, the Event cue will be updated to be associated with the new Post Event Target.

	Tip
	You cannot add Events from the shortcut menu while the Music Segment is playing, even if it's paused. Be sure to stop the Music Segment first.

To copy and paste an Event cue:

Select an Event cue in the Music Track.
Press Ctrl+C to copy it.
Right-click the Music Track timeline where you want to add the copied Event cue.
Press Ctrl+V to paste it.
A new Event cue is added to the location you selected on the timeline.

Like any other Music Segment cue, you are free to drag the Event cue where you want on the timeline. If it happens to overlap with another Event cue, Wwise will automatically adjust their spacing to fit optimally. If there are more than four overlapping Event cues, their labels will disappear to allow Wwise to resize them to fit.

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