NMC Campus Observer

Using objects with built in sounds?

NMC Virtual Worlds : Jul 28, 2009 05:13am

We promised some handy tips when we started this, so as i was working on sounds today and had to correct an SEP (Somebody Elses Problem) it seemed appropriate to blog about it…

Whether you’re making your own objects with sound effects or just laying out bought ones – such as waves or rain clouds, make sure ONLY ONE of them actually has the sound activated. Why ? Because when you have 2 or more identical sounds being played independently of each other they never quite sychronise perfectly and will play slightly out of phase, a problem exacerbated by SL’s own spatial audio effect. In the recording studio this creates an effect known as phasing, flanging or depending on the degree to which they’re out of step chorusing… cool, if you’re space rockers Hawkwind, but in your build, it will result in your sound effects sounding as if you’re listening to them down a tube, in a bathroom or at a 60’s psychadelic rock gig! This phenomenon is most obvious with continuous sounds, such as ambient or environmental effects… obviously for the odd animal noise there is less chance of sounds overlapping or this phenomenon being noticible.

An example of this in action was the paper mill I built for Yale… I could have used the same industrial noise for each machine, but the result would have been horrible, so each piece of equipment had it’s own distinct sound file, so there was no chance of it interfering with the others. It also had the benefit of changing the soundscape as you walked across the shop floor of course. The problem I corrected today was silencing all but one of the waves set out by a client on a build we’re working on now, from a headache inducing noise, the waves are once again restful and calming!

I hope this was of some help, and I hope to bring you more tips and tricks on a more regular basis in the future.

Originally published at NMC Virtual Worlds

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