Understanding Real-Time Parameter Controls (RTPCs)

Wwise SDK 2023.1.8

You can use Real-time Parameter Controls (RTPCs) to control specific properties of various Wwise objects (sounds, containers, control busses, effects, and so on) based on parameter changes that occur within the game in real time.

Here are some examples of how you can use RTPCs in your games:

In a racing game, you can control the volume and pitch of a car's engine sounds based on the speed of the car and RPM of the engine.
In a ski or snowboard game, the sounds of the skis can change with speed and angle.
In a scene located in an outdoors environment, you can tweak the parameters of an effect based on wind speed.
You can randomly position sounds across multiple speakers. You can use your own random positioning code to drive RTPCs on the left-right and front-rear panning of 3D user-defined sounds, instead of using pre-defined paths created in Wwise.

In addition to the examples listed above, you can use RTPCs whenever you want an audio structure's property to be affected by what happens in a game.

The sound designer defines the names and ranges of game parameters in Wwise Authoring. Sound designers also define RTPC curves. The value of a game parameter represents the X axis of an RTPC curve.

After the sound designer defines the game parameters and RTPC curves in Wwise Authoring, the game only needs to update the value of the various game parameters while the game is being played. The sound engine computes the property's value by evaluating the RTPC curve for the current value of the game parameter.

See Working with RTPCs for more information about RTPCs from the sound designer's point of view.

See Integration Details - RTPCs for an overview of RTPC integration.

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