Feature suggestion - Oval/Rectangular 3D sounds

FMOD Studio
1

I suspect this has been discussed/requested before for previous iterations of Designer, but just in case, has the idea of offering oval or rectangular shapes for 3D sounds ever been considered? The current circular shape doesn’t work so well for things like coastlines (for the sound of waves) or objects that are more rectangular in shape. I understand that an oval or rectangle would be more cpu heavy, but would it be so bad that it couldn’t be used under certain conditions?

Or perhaps some sort of approximation could be done with multiple circles and 2 or 3 instances of the same sound, where, as you move along the length of the oval, the code would cross-fade between the 2-3 instances (while switching the most distant circles to virtual as the listener moves away from) to give the impression of a steady wall of sound. Or maybe the code could move a single instance of the sound along the length of the oval (by having the emitter travel from centre point to centre point of each circle) as the listener moves around (so that it follows the listener as it travels along the length of the emitter)? I’ve approximated rectangles in the past with multiple instances of the same emitter, but you can end up with phasing, volume dips/spikes, lots of iteration to get it sounding natural, or you may max out the number of voice/codecs allocated. Therefore, having something more intelligent and efficient would help me avoid this less than elegant way I’ve handled the problem in the past.

Is any of this at all practical?

Thanks,
Sean

2

If you use a geometry object around a sound, voila, rectangle sound!

3

Thanks, Brett. Is the method of doing this the same in Designer 2010 as it is in Studio? If so, then I understand that I would need a programmer to do this for me, or I would need a tool developed to place walls/geometry around an emitter, correct? If that’s the case, then down the line it would be great to have some sort of limited method within Designer for bounding/occluding emitters by a rectangle.

Can the coastline scenario that I had mentioned be handled by using geometry objects? In this type of scenario, where the coastline is very wide (but you want it to fade-out fairly quickly as you walk away from it), being able to approach the emitter to the left/right of the center point without it sounding quieter on the left/right hand side would be what I’m looking for. If I were to place a geometry wall along the length of the coastline, I assume as soon as I crossed that wall I would get a sudden increase in volume, correct?

Thanks,
Sean