# FMOD can't align sound samples (but I made a tool)

**URL:** <https://qa.fmod.com/t/fmod-cant-align-sound-samples-but-i-made-a-tool/11121>\
**Category:** FMOD Studio\
**Created:** [August 30, 2013, 3:12pm UTC](https://qa.fmod.com/t/fmod-cant-align-sound-samples-but-i-made-a-tool/11121 "2013-08-30T15:12:44Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![markmarijnissen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c5a1d2/32.png) [@markmarijnissen](https://qa.fmod.com/u/markmarijnissen)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 3:12pm UTC](https://qa.fmod.com/t/fmod-cant-align-sound-samples-but-i-made-a-tool/11121/1 "2013-08-30T15:12:44Z")

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Hi FMOD,

I have 75 sound samples that I need to align with sample precision. Does FMOD have tools to align sound effects?  
Or do I have to manually hack the XML?  
Or tediously position every sample individually?

thanks

Mark

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**Author:** ![markmarijnissen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c5a1d2/32.png) [@markmarijnissen](https://qa.fmod.com/u/markmarijnissen)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 2:17am UTC](https://qa.fmod.com/t/fmod-cant-align-sound-samples-but-i-made-a-tool/11121/2 "2013-08-31T02:17:05Z")

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I made an online tool to fix the problem: [http://data.madebymark.nl/other/fmod-snap-tool.html](http://data.madebymark.nl/other/fmod-snap-tool.html)

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**Author:** ![joseph](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/qa.fmod.com/joseph/32/264_2.png) [@joseph](https://qa.fmod.com/u/joseph)\
**Post date:** [September 2, 2013, 12:12am UTC](https://qa.fmod.com/t/fmod-cant-align-sound-samples-but-i-made-a-tool/11121/3 "2013-09-02T00:12:41Z")

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What exactly do you mean when you say ‘Align sound effects?’ What do you want to align them to, and how?

Currently, Studio includes some basic snapping behavior (including on the timeline, if a tempo marker is present) and trigger regions can be positioned by both clicking and dragging and the ‘Move To…’ context menu item. We are planning on expanding the snapping functionality; Would that fulfill your requirements?

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**Author:** ![markmarijnissen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c5a1d2/32.png) [@markmarijnissen](https://qa.fmod.com/u/markmarijnissen)\
**Post date:** [September 3, 2013, 12:41pm UTC](https://qa.fmod.com/t/fmod-cant-align-sound-samples-but-i-made-a-tool/11121/4 "2013-09-03T12:41:49Z")

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Ah, the context menu has the functionality I need.

My sound designer is a jazz musician. His music is often not in 4/4 time, rendering many quantization functions useless. He prefers manually positioning the audio, to sample accuracy – the context menu would provide the accuracy he needs.

In this particular case, we need to align trigger zones over different tracks to the same position. (We have multiple takes of say a piano-line, and the game needs to switch flawlessly between these alternate takes).

Thanks for the context menu tip!

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**Author:** ![joseph](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/qa.fmod.com/joseph/32/264_2.png) [@joseph](https://qa.fmod.com/u/joseph)\
**Post date:** [September 4, 2013, 12:02am UTC](https://qa.fmod.com/t/fmod-cant-align-sound-samples-but-i-made-a-tool/11121/5 "2013-09-04T00:02:08Z")

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We are planning to add support for non-4/4 time quantization, so you’ll be able to start using that before too long.