20 réponses à ce sujet

[DahliaLynn]

I've placed the following sound switch in the CS editor

fxa_sum_fad_p_dur_n

The sound appears not to have a cessation point. (As all "dur" sounds don't which makes sense since they are set to loop)  Is there anyone who knows what I need to do to stop it from playing at any given point? Is there a switch that I can insert that will apply to looped sounds?

Modifié par DahliaLynn, 14 février 2011 - 06:18 .

[Beerfish]

Put your fingers in your ears and go "Na na na na na na!" In a loud voice. (I'll plop one down in a cutscene this eve and see if I can figure anything out.)

[DahliaLynn]

Lol, thanks Bf

[Beerfish]

Okay I found a cludge method that was able to stop the sound. (Well not really stop it but to make it so you can't hear it.)

I placed the sound, hilighted the sound in the time line and added a keyframe. I then moved along the time line to where I wanted to stop the sound and I changed it's x,y,z location to be very far away (I set them all to -100). The sound ceased at that point.

Modifié par Beerfish, 15 février 2011 - 01:27 .

[DahliaLynn]

Ah, ok. Though I didn't think this particular sound was sensitive to camera proximity, ...it *is* a workaround ..though I'm totally sure they have some kind of "off" switch for it ..unless they have it designed without added functions when used in a cutscene :S

I fear the sound will continue to play past the cutscene. (Has happened in other instances all the way to the game start screen) Technically that means the sound although now at a barely audible level, will actually be looped in the game engine throughout the game until it reaches some cessation command at some point.

But thank you so much for helping out! I'll try this for now

Modifié par DahliaLynn, 15 février 2011 - 01:55 .

[Beerfish]

I wasn't sure if this was for in game use or only for a machinima type of thing. Yeah in game that is not a very good solution.

[DahliaLynn]

My apologies, I should have been clearer on the final intent of the scene. If I'm able to find the in-game solution I'll post it here. Still if anyone knows...(perhaps I should try the audio forums?) would appreciate a bit more insight on how this works.

Modifié par DahliaLynn, 16 février 2011 - 10:01 .

[Sunjammer]

Remind me when I get home this evening and I can look for a scripting solution if you like.

If your cutscene is in a conversation then we can use the Conversation End event. If not then we might be able to use the EVENT_TYPE_GAMEMODE_CHANGE event (and perhaps a plot flag or two). Then it is just a question of whether we can get a reference to the sound you are using and stop it playing.

However it is odd that there is no way to change it from within the cutscene itself. Presumably this is because BioWare created any sounds they required to fit the cutscene. Is this an option for you? If not is there any way to change the volume (other than using FMOD or Beerfish's work around)? Is it possible to switch the sound event within the cutscene to something silent? What happens if you change the sound on the same track?

Sorry for the somewhat random list of questions - I'm AFT (away from toolset) at the moment.

[DahliaLynn]

AFT, I'll be stealing that from you if you don't mind  

To be honest, I can only tell you what I know on a most basic level, from the time long ago when I temporarily delved into FMOD territory in combination with the Cutscene Editor.

To clarify my observations I'm going to explain what I know, and what I'm missing:

When I learned a bit about FMOD, I found the three settings important to me were looped and one shot, and sound parameters.

From how I understood it, sounds in general can be layered, pitched, panned combined and for this particular example, can be set to play until there is another like sound to replace it.

These sounds and properties were primarily designed for gameplay mechanics i.e. entering an area within an area, combat, change in plot, etc.

The sound emitters available in the Toolset as far as I know can be used in various creative ways when placed within an area. (reverb cones, radius size, volumes, fade out levels, etc.

BUT, although these can be used within the Cutscene Editor, the lack of the ability to actually manipulate them (the curve editor for example is useless even though there are parameters) it seems to me that the sound emitters usable in the CS editor are there more for convenience, since many of the Cutscenes in DA:O included externally mixed soundtracks.
I noticed that there are a several categories of sounds that can be used.

The ones I'm currently interested in contain the following suffixes:

Imp (impact?) -One Shot ) -shows as a time-sized bar in the timeline
Dur (duration?) - Looped -shows as a very small dash -will continue to play passed the cutscene
Cess (cessation?)--shows as a time-sized bar in the timeline
Where it seems they play exactly what they imply.

Even a one shot, if longer than the cutscene itself will continue to play past the cutscene time and segue into gameplay until it ends. Playing a "cess" sound will *not* stop its associated "dur" sound.

I've also noticed there are sound files with the name swt which implies a switch.

My belief is, that if I could find the "turn off" switch designated for this particular looped sound, (that would perhaps cancel the sound out when applied to gameplay?) I would place it and case closed. I just don't know what that switch is, or if it even exists as a usable sound "emitter"

With regards to your suggestion of placing another event in the timeline, sound emitters are treated as VFX or placeables. They can be linked to actors and such, but I cannot place another instance on the same track unfortunately.

I'm hoping to

a: Try and avoid leaving the Cutscene editor (scripting) in order to perform this task.
b: Try to figure out if there is a "cancellation" emitter in existence, just in case using sound emitters in the CS editor isn't just an added convenience.

The only other solution would most likely be to reference the sound in the script that plays the Cutscene, and ...ceasing it with either a command, or applying a "silence" if that exists. *or* create an external soundtrack, mixed externally and imported through FMOD as a oneshot mix which translates as a custom sound emitter playing a stereo (in this case) mix.

Modifié par DahliaLynn, 16 février 2011 - 11:13 .

[Beerfish]

Just throwing this out there as I was poking around with that sound. It appears that you can possibly manipiulate some settings with the curve editor. I highlighted the sound on the track and when I clicked on the curve editor some check boxes popped up (distance, time, and 3 undefined)



I'm not saavy enough with the curve editor to mess around with these and know what the heck I'm doing but it might be worth a look for Dahlia (being the curve editor pro she is)

[DahliaLynn]

So, what's been keeping me from going to sleep? Beerfish got be back to trying the curve editor

Although I've given up on editing sound parameters in the curve editor, and I previously noticed the two time and distance params, since I knew I couldn't edit them. Apparently, that may not be 100% true.
After going back and trying again, I noticed that I can indeed set these particular parameters manually in the object inspector when selecting the sound event on the timeline. It will allow me to set an infinite amount both negative and positive.

I can also insert *one* key position only for each parameter(w/timeline cursor over the event) and set it between 0 and -100. So far, I haven't been able to come to any conclusive results, since they keep varying as I replay the sound. (it either plays or it doesn't, but this proves to be inconsistent so far)

Only thing I can do now is keep tinkering with various combinations hoping to get some sort of consistent result. I'll also look up the time and distance parameters in the FMOD tutorial sites to see what these may affect.
Thanks BF and Sunjammer, I'll be going back to the drawing board and keep owwwn tryin.

Edit: @Sunjammer: the reason why I'm trying to leave scripting as a last resort is mainly because I probably would have to have something unique written for *every* duration loop sound I choose. And there are quite a few of them. So with every new cutscene I create, that would mean a lot of sound specific scripting which seems like a lot of unecessary work, especially if I can find an alternate method.

Modifié par DahliaLynn, 17 février 2011 - 03:20 .

[John Epler]

There's a Stop Sound event we use in DA2 for this purpose - unfortunately, we switched our audio system so it no longer really applies.



I'm going to get the DA:O toolset installed at home and I'll let you know what I find. Never did a ton of audio work in the original toolset but hey, at least I can pretend I'm being helpful

[Eshme]

*wipes eyes* ..



its its Bioware in the Modding forums!

[DahliaLynn]

Thanks John, much appreciated! I still haven't tackled that one yet, and a "stop switch" would calm my woes!

[John Epler]

Eshme wrote...

*wipes eyes* ..

its its Bioware in the Modding forums!

I read them quite a bit! I just tend not to post anything unless I have something to post. Too many broken promises when I swore I'd get some guides up here. I've learned that life and work can get out of hand and one should never say 'HEY GUYS I'VE GOT THIS THING ABOUT TO COME YOUR WAY' unless you do, in fact, have that thing ready.

[DahliaLynn]

bumping this, still hoping someone has found an answer :S

[Beerfish]

Just tossing this out there, in the sounds spreadsheet there are ones called switches I think. There are also 'ducking' ones which supposedly are used to reduce sound in certain situations. I have no idea how one uses these things but you might be able to do some experimenting. Perhaps find where they are used in the official campaign and see if you can deduce their function?

[DahliaLynn]

Switches you say? *runs off to unwrap shiny new sound excel sheet* I'll check!

[John Epler]

Hey guys. So, some less-than-great news, unfortunately. Got this from the Technical Audio Lead today -

'If I recall correctly, looping sounds in FMOD need to be stopped via code, not content 

This was another reason we switched to Wwise. Wish I could be more help, but unless they get programming support they won’t be able to stop that bad boy!'

Thought I'd pass it along, as the bearer of bad news.

[Cuvieronius]

Thank you John, not good news... but good to know the limitations. I can probably work around this with my own problem now that I know.

[DahliaLynn]

JohnEpler wrote...

Hey guys. So, some less-than-great news, unfortunately. Got this from the Technical Audio Lead today -

'If I recall correctly, looping sounds in FMOD need to be stopped via code, not content 

This was another reason we switched to Wwise. Wish I could be more help, but unless they get programming support they won’t be able to stop that bad boy!'

Thought I'd pass it along, as the bearer of bad news.

No this isn't bad news necessarily. It will save me time amd headache trying to research if it is even possible...when now *know* I can't stop it with a switch, it simply means I can employ alternate methods to use the sounds if at all (recording them and setting them to one shot for example)

Thank you for finding this out. once again, you've saved me a big headache.

Edit: *OR* what sunjammer posted above !

Modifié par DahliaLynn, 01 avril 2011 - 06:29 .