| Word | Description |
| Absolute Property | Properties, such as output routing, positioning, and playback priority, that are usually defined at the top-level parent object and automatically passed down to each of the parent's child objects. You can override the top-level parent properties by defining these properties at a different level within the hierarchy. |
| Actor-Mixer | A hierarchical structure of one or more sounds, motion objects, containers, and/or actor-mixers that can be used to control the properties for all objects below it. |
| ADPCM | Adaptive Differential Pulse Code Modulation (ADPCM) is an audio file conversion encoding method that quantizes the difference between a sound signal and a prediction that has been made of that sound signal. The ADPCM quantization step is adaptive, which results in better audio quality for the compressed signals. This method differs from PCM encoding where the signals are quantized directly. |
| Argument | A collection of similar argument values that have been grouped together to form a particular category or outcome that exists in game. Arguments are used within Dialogue Events to help determine which piece of dialogue to play. |
| Argument Value | A particular alternative within an argument category that exists in a game. Argument values are used in Dialogue Events to determine which piece of dialogue to play. |
| Attenuation | The decrease in volume of a sound, music, or motion fx object, as it moves away from the source emitter. |
| Audio Input | The Audio Input is a sample source plug-in that allows audio content generated by the game to be sent through the Wwise pipeline and processed by the sound engine. |
| Audio Source | A separate abstraction layer between the audio file and the sound object. It is linked to the audio file imported into your project and is where you define the conversion settings for the various game platforms. The audio source remains linked to the audio file that you imported into your project so that you can reference it at any time. |
| Auto-ducking | The action of lowering the volume level of one audio signal in order for another simultaneous audio signal to have more prominence. |
| Bit Depth | The number of bits used to describe each sample within a digital audio file. In PCM audio, the bit depth determines the maximum possible dynamic range of the signal. |
| Bit Rate | The amount of data, specifically bits, transmitted or received per second. The higher the bit rate, the more file data is processed and usually the higher the resolution. |
| Blend Container | A group of one or more sounds, motion objects, and/or containers that are played back simultaneously. The objects within this container can be grouped into blend tracks where properties are mapped to game parameter values using RTPCs. Crossfades can also be applied between the objects within a blend track based on the value of a game parameter. |
| Cache | A hidden project folder that contains all the imported audio files for your project and the converted files for the platforms that you are developing. Stored locally and not under source control, it should be updated regularly with the Originals folder. |
| Cent | A unit of pitch equal to 1/100 of a semitone. An octave consists of 1200 cents. |
| Child Object | An object within a hierarchical structure that lies within a higher level or parent object. |
| Clip | A music object that represents an audio source. Clips are arranged in music tracks. |
| Compressor | An audio effect plug-in that reduces the dynamic range of a signal by weakening any part of the input signal that is above a pre-defined threshold value. |
| Container | A group of one or more objects, including sounds, motion fx objects, and/or containers that are played according to a certain defined behavior. In Wwise, there are several different types of containers, including random, sequence, switch, blend, music switch, and music playlist containers. |
| Cue | A marker appended to music segments to indicate a key point, such as its entry or exit point. |
| dB Scaling | An option to display the graph view Y axis in logarithmic scaling when representing properties that are measured in decibels. |
| dBFS | Decibels full scale. Decibel amplitude levels in digital systems which have a maximum available level, such as PCM encoding. |
| DC Offset | The Direct Current represents the center of a waveform of a sound. The offset represents the percentage away from the 0.0 point where the center of a waveform lies. |
| Default Work Unit | XML files that contain all the information in your project related to the specific element for which they were created. For example, the Default Work Unit.wwu file for Events contains all the information related to events, and the Default Work Unit.wwu file for States contains all the information related to states, and so on. Default work units are created when the project is created. |
| Definition File | Tab-delimited text files that list all the events in a game, classified by SoundBank. Special keywords can also be included to define the types of project elements that will be packaged in the SoundBanks. |
| Delay | An audio effect plug-in that adds echoes by delaying an audio signal for a specified period of time. |
| Depot | A central repository of files on the Perforce source control server. It contains all versions of all files ever submitted to the server. |
| Dialogue Event | A method to trigger audio in game using a set of rules or conditions expressed in arguments and argument values that match the possible conditions in the game. These argument values are arranged into argument paths and then assigned to an object in Wwise. When a dialogue event is called by the game, the game matches its current situation with those defined in the dialogue event and the appropriate piece of dialogue is played. |
| Dithering | The noise added to a signal prior to quantization which reduces the distortion and noise modulation resulting from the quantization process. Although there is a slight increase in the noise level, spectrally shaped dither can minimize the apparent increase. The noise is less objectionable than the distortion, and allows low-level signals to be heard more clearly. |
| Dry Signal | Output that consists entirely of the original, unprocessed signal. |
| Echo Density | The amount of echoes per second produced by the reverberation algorithm. |
| Effect Chain | A series of effects that have been applied to an object or bus in a specific order. |
| Effect Instance | A customized set of effect properties that can be saved and applied to other objects or busses. Effect instance properties can also be shared across objects. |
| Empty Event | An event that doesn't contain any actions or objects. |
| Environmental Effect | An effect that alters the property set of the sounds generated by a game object depending on the position of that object in a game's geometry. |
| Event (Action Event) | A method to trigger audio in game using an action or series of actions, such as play, mute, and pause, that have been applied to one or more Wwise objects. |
| Expander | The Wwise Expander plug-in effect expands the dynamic range of a signal by weakening any part of the input signal that is below a pre-defined threshold value. When the signal is soft and below the threshold, the Expander begins to reduce the signal's gain. When the signal is at or louder than the threshold value, no gain reduction is applied to the signal. |
| File Manager | A dialog box that displays information about project files and original imported source files, as well as manages many source control plug-in functions, where applicable. |
| Folder | High level structure in the Actor-Mixer and Interactive Music hierarchies, used to manage other structures of actor-mixers, containers, and so on. |
| Frequency | The number of cycles per unit of time. |
| Game Object | Entity in a game to which elements such as an interface, a trigger, or a sound can be attached. |
| Game Sync | A group of Wwise elements that includes States, Switches, RTPCs, Triggers, and Arguments which are called by conditions in the game and modify the audio and motion accordingly. |
| Game Unit | The basic unit of length used in calculating game geometry. For example, a stealth FPS might use meters as a game unit, while a space conquest game might use light-years. |
| Harmonics | Multiples of the fundamental frequency. For example, if the frequency is 50 Hz, the second harmonic is 100 Hz, the third harmonic is 150 Hz, and so on. |
| Headroom | The level difference (in dB) between normal operating level and clipping level in an amplifier or audio device. |
| Imported Folder | The hidden project .cache folder containing copies of audio files imported into the project that have undergone a special import conversion process. |
| Indicator | A specific icon in the Wwise interface that indicates the status of a particular property value. For example, the link indicator shows whether a property value is linked across platforms. |
| Inharmonicity | A fractional offset between the pitch of a partial and the pitch of the true harmonic (a whole number multiple of the fundamental frequency). |
| Initialization Bank | A special type of bank that contains all the general information of a project, including information on the bus hierarchy, and information on states, switches, and RTPCs. There is only one Initialization bank per project and it is named “Init.bnk” by default. The Initialization bank must be the first bank loaded when starting a game. If it is not loaded first, the Soundbanks may refuse to load. |
| Input Range | The complete range of values that can be entered for a property—as opposed to Slider Range. |
| Integrity Report | Report generated in Wwise that displays errors or issues in a project along with suggested fixes. |
| Interactive Music | A music composition and arrangement method to create musical scores that are both modular and responsive to in-game actions. |
| Invalid Events | Events that have been deleted from your project, but are still included in a SoundBank. |
| Latency | Time delays inherent in internal processing or generation of audio signals within a computer. |
| Layout | A series of views grouped together to facilitate the work involved for a particular task or job. |
| LFE | Low Frequency Effect. The name of an audio channel specifically intended for deep, low-pitched sounds ranging from 10-120 Hz. This signal is normally sent to the low frequency effect channel. |
| Limiting | An extreme form of compression where the input/output relationship becomes very flat (10:1 or higher). This places a hard limit on the signal level. |
| Listener | A virtual microphone or sensor in the game that helps assign sounds to particular speakers or motion to particular motors to simulate a 3D environment. |
| Look-ahead Time | In streaming, this refers to the time reserved for the sound engine to seek the streaming data. |
| Low Pass Filter | A recursive filter that attenuates frequencies higher than the cut-off frequency. |
| Master-Mixer Hierarchy | A bus or series of busses at the top of your project hierarchy that allow you to re-group many different sound, music, and motion structures according to the main categories within a game. For example, you can group all the music structures under one audio bus, all the sound effects under another audio bus, and so on. |
| Modal Density | Modes are the peaks in the frequency domain representation of an audio signal. Increasing the modal density improves the realism of the reverberation when simulating most acoustic spaces. Decreased modal density can cause ringing sounds. |
| Motion FX Object | A representation in Wwise of the individual motion assets that you have created for your project. Each motion fx object contains one or more sources, which defines the actual motion that will be generated in-game. |
| Music Playlist Container | A group of one or more music objects and/or containers that are played back in a random or sequential order. |
| Music Segment | A multi-track music object that is the basic unit of the Interactive Music hierarchy. |
| Music Switch Container | A group of one or more music objects and/or containers that are played back according to the switch or state that is called. |
| Music Track | A music object that contains arrangements of individual music clips that are displayed in waveform so that you can visually align them in a music segment. |
| Nested Object | An object that lies within another object - see also Child Object. |
| Noise Gate | An effect created in the Expander effect plug-in that removes sounds from the output signal almost completely. A noise gate is created by setting a high expander ratio (over 10:1) that closes the gate for sounds whose gain has been reduced to this extent. |
| Nyquist Frequency | The highest audio frequency that can be accurately sampled, equivalent to one-half of the sampling rate. The Nyquist sampling theorem showed that the sampling rate must be at least twice the highest frequency present in the sample in order to accurately reconstruct the original signal. |
| Obstruction | A condition that occurs when an object in the game, such as a pillar, partially blocks the space between a sound object and a listener. |
| Occlusion | A condition that occurs when an object in the game, such as a wall, completely blocks the space between a sound object and a listener. |
| Originals Folder | The folder containing untouched copies of the audio files imported into the project. This folder is usually stored under source control. |
| Orphan Files | Audio files no longer associated with a sound, motion fx, or music object. These files are not automatically deleted when you delete a sound object. To delete these files, clear the cache folder. |
| Output Buffer Latency | Latency introduced during audio playback determined by the number of output buffers used by Wwise. |
| Parametric EQ | An audio effect plug-in that allows you to apply a variety of filters to shape the spectrum of your sound. |
| Parent Object | An object within a hierarchical structure that contains child objects. |
| Passband | The band of frequencies that passes through a filter with essentially no attenuation. |
| PCM | Pulse code modulation. A method for encoding audio files where distinct binary representations or pulse codes are chosen, and these are quantized by measuring values between two encoded points, selecting the value associated with the nearest point. |
| PCM Frame | A PCM frame is composed of samples for all channels at a given time. Each frame represents 1/sample frequency seconds. |
| Peak Limiter | An audio effect that controls the dynamic range of audio signals. It does this by weakening parts of the audio signal that briefly exceed a pre-defined threshold value as calculated with peak-based detection. |
| Physical Voice | The physical environment of the game where audio or motion are played and processed by the sound engine. When volume levels become very low, sounds and motion objects can move into a virtual environment where they are managed and monitored by the sound engine, but no processing is performed. |
| Point Source | A source that emits sound or motion as if from a single point. |
| Post-exit | The segment area after the exit cue that can be used for transitions in interactive music. |
| Pre-entry | The segment area before the entry cue that can used for transitions in interactive music. |
| Prefetch Time | In streaming, this refers to a small buffer that covers the latency time required to fetch the rest of the file data. |
| Preset | A customized set of properties for objects, effects, and sound/motion propagation that can be saved and re-used at any time. |
| Quantization | The process whereby a range of values of an audio file are divided into sub ranges, each of which is represented by an assigned value. |
| Query | A specific set of search criteria used to find a particular object or project element. |
| Random Container | A group of one or more sounds, motion fx objects, and/or containers that are played back in a random order. |
| Randomizer | An special effect in Wwise that is applied to a property value that allows you to define a range of possible values that can be used randomly each time an object is played. |
| Recursive Filter | A filter that uses previously-calculated output values in addition to the current input values to calculate the latest output. Also known as feedback filters. |
| Relative Property | Properties, such as volume and pitch, that can be defined at each level within your project hierarchy. These property values are cumulative, which means that a parent’s property values are added to those of the child. |
| Reverb | An audio effect plug-in that simulates the acoustics of a particular room or space. |
| Reverb Lite | An audio effect plug-in that quickly simulates the acoustics of a particular room or space. The Wwise Reverb Lite plug-in is less flexible than the Wwise Reverb plug-in (it does not simulate early reflections), but it is easier to use and comes at a lower cost in terms of CPU and memory usage. |
| Ripple (in passband) | The difference between the maximum and minimum attenuation within a passband. |
| RMS Power | Root Mean Square. This is a measure of a signal’s average amplitude that provides in most cases a better approximation of a signal’s power than using peak amplitude. This value is obtained by summing the square of the samples over a given time window and taking the square root of the result. |
| RTPC | Real Time Parameter Controls. An interactive method used to drive the audio or motion in game by mapping game parameter values to properties in Wwise. RTPCs can also be used to drive switch changes by mapping game parameters to switch groups. |
| Sample Rate | The frequency at which an audio signal is sampled per second during conversion to a digital signal or during a digital conversion. |
| Sequence Container | A group of one or more sounds, motion fx objects, and/or containers that are played back according to a specific playlist. |
| ShareSet | A set of properties that can be shared between objects to define attributes such as effects or attenuation. |
| Silence Source | A plug-in source of a specified duration that contains no sound or motion. |
| Slider Range | The default range of values that can be entered for a property using the slider—as opposed to Input Range. |
| Sound Object | A representation in Wwise of the individual audio assets that you have created for your project. Each sound object contains one or more sources, which defines the actual audio content that will be played in-game. |
| Sound SFX | A sound object within the Actor-Mixer hierarchy that contains sounds, music, and ambiences. |
| Sound Voice | A sound object within the Actor-Mixer hierarchy that contains game voice over or dialogue. |
| SoundBank | A group of event data, sound, music, and motion structure data, and/or media files that will be loaded into the game’s platform memory at a particular point in a game. |
| Soundcaster | A view in Wwise that provides transport controls, auditioning, and real-time mixing in game or in Wwise, for objects or events that can be inserted and removed as needed. |
| Soundcaster Session | A saved project element that contains the Wwise objects and events used in a specific simulation created in the Soundcaster. |
| SoundFrame | A unique plug-in interface that enables external applications to seamlessly communicate with Wwise. Examples of some of the tools that can be built with SoundFrame are WwiseMax and CarSim. |
| Source Plug-in | An audio or motion source that is created by a plug-in coming from outside of Wwise. |
| Spatialization | A function in Wwise that determines the actual location or position of the sound or music object within the 3D environment of the game. |
| State | A global offset or adjustment to the game audio or motion properties that relates to changes in the physical and environmental conditions in the game. |
| Stinger | A brief musical phrase that is superimposed and mixed over the currently playing music. |
| Switch | A switch represents the alternatives that exist for a particular element in game, and is used to help manage the corresponding sounds or motion objects for these alternatives. For example, if a character is running on a concrete surface and then moves onto grass, the sound of the footsteps in a switch container should change to match the change of surface. |
| Switch Container | A series of switches or states, each of which contains a group of sounds, motion fx objects, or containers, that correspond to particular changes in the environment of the game. For example, a switch container for a character’s footsteps might contain switches for grass, concrete, wood and any other surface that a character can walk on in the game. |
| Tab-delimited File | A special kind of plain text file where the information is arranged into columns separated by tabs. |
| Transition | In Interactive Music, a transition is meant to be a smooth bridge between a source and destination music segment. |
| Transition Time | Time period used to transition from one state to another within the same state group. During the transition, an interpolation of the two state properties occurs. |
| Trigger | A game sync that responds to a spontaneous occurrence in the game and launches a stinger. |
| Virtual Voice | A virtual environment where sounds and motion are managed and monitored by the sound engine, but no processing is performed. Objects move into the virtual voice when their volume levels fall below the volume threshold. |
| Voice | A separate or discrete playback instance, either audio or motion. |
| Voice Starvation | A type of error message that is displayed in the Capture Log when the sound engine cannot provide audio data to the platform hardware buffer in a timely manner. This type of problem occurs when there is excessive use of the host CPU. For example, when the platform CPU is trying to mix too many sources or is using too many audio effects simultaneously. |
| Volume Threshold | A certain volume level below which the behavior of sound, music, and motion objects can be specifically determined. For example, voices that fall below the volume threshold can either continue to play, be killed, or sent to the virtual voice list. These behaviors are defined on the Advanced Settings tab of the object’s Property Editor. |
| Vorbis | A perceptual encoding method that permits encoding of audio files at various bit rates while maintaining a very good perceived sound quality. The balance between data compression efficiency and perceived sound quality is controlled using the Quality Factor setting or by specifying the maximum, minimum, and average bitrates per channel. |
| Watch | An individual process you can use to monitor the game objects and listeners in your game. |
| Wet Signal | Output that consists entirely of the processed signal. |
| Work Unit | A distinct XML file that contains information related to a particular section or element within your project. |
| Workgroup | A group of people working concurrently on the same Wwise project. |
| World Builder | An application used to create the virtual environment of your game. |
| Wwise Object | Elements in Wwise, such as the Sounds, Motion FX, Containers, and Actor-Mixers, that are used to contain, group, and define sounds, voices, motion, and music within the project hierarchy. |
| XMA | A hardware supported perceptual coding audio compression method for the Xbox 360. XMA is a console-optimized version of Windows Media Audio Pro. Compression is variable, content dependent, and the quality setting can be controlled by the “Compression Quality” slider. The most recent version, XMA 2.0, contains a new block size parameter for creating a seek table that facilitates seeking XMA data. |