Generating SoundBanks for a project

You can generate SoundBanks for each game platform and language that you intend to create. SoundBanks can be generated at any point in the development process so that you can test how they integrate into the various game platforms. For added convenience, Wwise also allows you to generate the SoundBanks for all platforms and all languages simultaneously.

When a SoundBank is generated, it can include any of the following information:

Event information
Sound, music, motion, actor-mixer, and container information
Sound, music, or motion data for in-memory media
Prefetch data for streamed media files with zero-latency
References to streamed media files

The information contained in the SoundBanks is project exclusive, which means that a SoundBank can only be used with other SoundBanks generated from the same project.

If your SoundBanks contain Events or object structures that have been deleted from your project, you will still be able to generate. These invalid project elements are ignored by Wwise during the generation process and will not cause errors or take up additional space. We recommend you remove these invalid Events and object structures from your SoundBanks to maintain the integrity of your project.

	Note
	When an Event or object structure within a SoundBank becomes invalid, the corresponding icon is removed and the word "Missing" appears after its name on the Add tab of the SoundBank Editor.

Before generating your SoundBanks, you need to set a series of options to determine whether content and header files are generated, whether SoundBank names can be used, the location where your SoundBanks are saved, whether streamed files need to be copied to the SoundBank directory, among other things. These SoundBank settings are configured at two separate levels within Wwise:

Project level - To configure default settings for your project. These settings are configured in the Project Settings dialog. For more information on configuring SoundBank settings at the project level, refer to Defining the SoundBank settings for your project.
User level - To configure custom user settings that override the project settings. User settings are configured in the SoundBank User Settings dialog. For more information on configuring custom user settings, refer to Configuring user SoundBank general settings.

To generate the SoundBanks for your project:

Switch to the SoundBank layout by doing one of the following:
- From the menu bar, click Layouts > SoundBank.
- Press F7.
Alternatively, you can open a floating view of the SoundBank Manager from any other layout by clicking Views > SoundBank Manager or by using the shortcut key (Shift+B).

In the SoundBank Manager, select the SoundBanks that you want to generate.

	Note
	If Enable Auto-Defined SoundBanks is selected in the Project Settings, you will not have the option to select individual SoundBanks. This is because Wwise automatically defines SoundBanks for Events not included in any user-defined SoundBank. Generating all SoundBanks at the same time ensures this can be accurately assessed.

	Tip
	In the User-Defined SoundBanks, Platforms, and Languages panes, you can select multiple items using Shift+click, Ctrl+click, or Ctrl+A. Subsequently, toggling the check box of any of the selected items applies the same state to all selected items.

From the Platforms list, select the platforms for which you want to generate SoundBanks.
From the Languages list, select the languages for which you want to generate SoundBanks.
To begin generating the SoundBanks, click Generate Checked.
The Generating SoundBanks dialog opens where you can view the progress of the SoundBank generation process. When the SoundBanks are generated, the Generating SoundBanks - Completed dialog opens.
Note
SoundBanks that were previously generated and have not changed will not be regenerated. In this case, "Up to date" appears in the Created column of the Results panel.
Review the messages in the dialog to ensure that all SoundBanks have been generated successfully. This includes reviewing the entries in the Log pane. The log contains a complete list of errors, warnings, and other information pertinent to the generation process. In most cases, these messages include resolution steps. You can also view the log in the SoundBank Generation Tab of the Logs view.
To customize the log, see Managing messages that appear in the logs.
Close the Generating SoundBanks - Completed dialog.
The SoundBank files are located in the folder that you specified, and can now be integrated into your game.

Monitoring the details of SoundBanks

Since it is crucial to respect the memory limitations of each platform, it is important that you can manage and troubleshoot each of the SoundBanks in your project. You need to determine which SoundBanks are over their maximum size, which language files are missing, the total size of the generated SoundBank, among other important information that is required to manage your SoundBanks effectively.

Wwise displays these details in the Details tab of the SoundBank Editor.

If your SoundBank contains Sound Voice objects, the information on the Details tab is organized by language. Wwise also displays some information in red to help you quickly identify potential problems.

	Note
	All memory information in the SoundBank Manager and SoundBank Editor is displayed in bytes.

To monitor the details of a SoundBank:

In the SoundBank Manager, double-click the SoundBank whose details you want to review.
The related information is displayed on the Details tab of the SoundBank Editor.
Review the contents of the Details tab for information about the following:
- Types - The types of objects included in the SoundBank, such as SFX, Voice, music, and motion.
- Languages - The language of the corresponding SoundBank.
- SFX - The amount of memory occupied by the Sound SFX objects.
- Music - The amount of memory occupied by the music objects.
- Voice - The amount of memory occupied by the Sound Voice objects for a particular language.
- Data Size - The total amount of memory occupied by the SFX, Voice, and motion objects for a particular language.
- Free Space - The amount of space remaining in the SoundBank. This value is only displayed when a maximum size is specified.
- Missing Files - The number of media files missing from a particular language.
- Files Replaced - The number of missing Sound Voice audio files that are currently replaced by the audio files of the Reference Language.
- Memory Size - The amount of space occupied by the SoundBank data that is to be loaded into memory.
- Prefetch Size - The amount of space occupied by the prefetch data of the streamed media files. This information is loaded into memory with the SoundBank to ensure that the streamed media files play back without delays.
- File Size - The total size of the generated SoundBank file.

Using scripts to generate SoundBanks

If you plan to generate your SoundBanks on a regular basis, you can create a script to automate the generation process. To accomplish this, you can use the Wwise SDK to generate SoundBanks from the command line. For a full description of this functionality, refer to the section Wwise SDK > Going Further > Generating SoundBanks from the Command Line in the Wwise SDK documentation.

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