I’m setting up effect chains to use as presets for attenuation in our game where we automate gain and eq effects with the built in distance parameter. We wanted to move from the normal distance parameter to the distance (normalized) parameter to be able to change our min/max distances in one single place rather than in each automation curve. This means we need to use the min/max setting in the spatializer and enable Override.
We’re also using the built in Direction parameter in this setup and it seems that when the Direction parameter is used the Override feature in the spatializer stops working.
Why is this happening and is there a workaround to this?
I’m afraid I haven’t been able to reproduce this issue. When I test here, the presence of a distance built-in parameter has no impact on whether the min & max distance override of a spatializer effect works.
I must be missing some important detail of how your event is set up. Could you describe in more depth how the distance built-in parameter and spatializer effect are used in your event, and what you mean by “the Override feature in the spatializer stops working?”
I’m not sure if it’s related, but you didn’t mention the reason why you’re using the spatializer effect’s min & max distance override in your post. Why do you want the spatializer effect to use a different min and max distance to the distance built-in parameter in the same event?
Thanks for the quick response. The issue is when using the Direction built-in parameter, not the Distance parameter. So as soon as I reference the Direction parameter in the event it automatically starts using the event min/max range instead of the one in the spatializer.
So what I’m after is to use the built-in Distance (Normalized) together with the Direction parameters to automate my effects. The spatializer min/max override setting is needed to be On so I can have the min/max settings within the effect chain instead of per event.
I’m afraid I still haven’t been able to reproduce this issue. When I test here with a spatializer effect with min and max distance of 19-20 and an event with min and max distance of 0-20, adding a distance built-in parameter does not alter the attenuation curve applied by the spatializer effect.
I must be missing some important detail of how your event is set up. Could you describe in more depth how the distance built-in parameter and spatializer effect are used in your event and what settings they have?
Gah, I accidentally wrote “distance” instead of “direction” in my last post. I meant to write:
When I test here with a spatializer effect with min and max distance of 19-20 and an event with min and max distance of 0-20, adding a direction built-in parameter does not alter the attenuation curve applied by the spatializer effect.
Sorry for the confusion.
in the version of FMOD Studio that you’re using, the min/max distance controls appearing in the event macro controls does not mean that spatializer’s override has stopped working. Rather, the min/max distance macro controls appear if the event contains either an effect that makes use of it or at least one built-in parameter. Since Direction is a built-in parameter, it causes the controls to appear. The spatializer is still using its own min/max distance controls, however, as it is still set to overside mode.
This does mean that the min/max distance controls in the event macro controls don’t actually do anything in your event. You can safely ignore them, if you want.
So I think this is where the issue lies then. To me it seems the min/max macro controls do come in effect and that the max value becomes whatever is greatest between the spatializer and the event macro control. Not sure if there’s anything else affected as well.
See this test scenarios from the Sandbox. A direction parameter reference is added and the min/max range appeared for the event macro settings.
First is the baseline where both max distances are the same (Override is On):
The radius displayed in the sandbox is not the max distance used by a specific spatializer effect in that event. It is the highest max distance property in that event. Studio only displays one max distance radius per event, and so it displays the highest one, because visualizing the greatest distance potentially used by the event is more likely to be useful to your in the sandbox than visualizing an arbitrary max distance only used by some parts of the event.
For another example, if there were multiple spatializer effects in your event, each set to override but with a different max distance, the sandbox would display only the radius of whichever of those max distance properties was highest. Again, this does not mean that all of those spatializer effects are using that max distance, only that it is the highest max distance that the event uses.
Hi Joseph, got caught up with other tasks but I tested this in engine now.
Seems I was wrong about the Direction parameter. The examples I posted earlier is indeed working fine. The event macro doesn’t apply any audible changes.
However, if I add Distance (Normalized) automation to an effect and edit the curve, it uses the event macro min/max distance rather than the Spatializer min/max set to override. This is not the case when using the normal Distance parameter, that one uses the min/max from the Spatializer. Could you confirm this? See example setup below:
because visualizing the greatest distance potentially used by the event is more likely to be useful to your in the sandbox than visualizing an arbitrary max distance only used by some parts of the event.
This makes sense but also made me curious. If there can be a higher max distance value, even though override is used on a spatializer, what exactly does the override do? I suppose it can be used to have a certain track override the the whole events min/max settings. But when it’s on the master track I would expect it to override everything and that it would be the absolute max distance for the event.
You are right that the Distance (normalized) parameter uses the min/max distance defined in the event macro controls.
However, you are not correct about the distance parameter using the spatializer effect’s min/max distance. In reality, the distance parameter uses its own min and max distance values, which are unrelated to those of the spatializer effect and the event macro controls except by coincidence. You can see and edit the min and max distance of a distance parameter by right-clicking on its parameter tab and selecting “Edit Parameter…” from the context menu.
As I mentioned in my earlier posts, a spatializer’s override causes that spatializer effect to use its own min/max distance property values instead of the min/max distance specified in the event macro controls. Which is to say, it overrides the event’s min/max distance for that specific spatializer effect only, nothing else. It doesn’t alter the behaviour of other spatializer effects in the event, nor of automation on the distance (normalized) parameter or distance parameter, nor of instruments triggered by a distance or distance (normalized) parameter sheet. A spatializer’s properties only affect that spatializer, nothing else.
The override feature allows you to achieve complex behaviors that would not otherwise be possible. For example, you could create an event with a difference spatializer effect on each track other than the master track, and give each of those spatializer effects different min/max distance settings, in order to ensure that different parts of the event attenuate to silence at different distances.
That’s right, thanks for clarifying, totally forgot that the actual distance is set in the parameter while testing.
So to circle back to my original question; if the Distance (Normalized) parameter uses the min/max settings from the event macro, is there a way to use this parameter in an effect preset on multiple events and be able to change the min/max range in one single place? Or are we better off staying with the standard Distance parameter?
The purpose of the distance (normalized) parameter is to allow you to use a different min/max distance in every event that uses it. If you want all your events to use the same min/max distance values, you should use a distance parameter instead.
