Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
The basic Audio Source settings are directly below the name, in the area
above the colored graphic display indicating 3D Sound Settings. Note
that by default, the AudioClip setting says None (AudioClip). You can
change this by dragging the desired AudioClip directly over the None
label and dropping it. You can also click the dot just to the right of this
i eld to select the sound you want from the i les listed there. Pick the i le
marked
PlasmaFieldDrone.aif
or select an ambient loop of your own
choosing. When you do this, the
None
setting will change to the name
of the AudioClip.
Notice that the settings state that this is a 3D sound. If you have
deselected the 3D option for the sound i le in the Inspector (remember,
not the Audio Source—3D and 2D is i le dependent), the settings will
state that this is a 2D sound.
Let's go over the rest of the controls available:
•
Mute
temporarily mutes the sound. Mute can be useful when you
need to isolate a particular sound from others. Leave this setting alone.
•
Bypass Ef ects
temporarily shuts of all ef ects that have been applied
to the sound such as reverberation or other i lters (most of these
ef ects are available only in Unity Pro). Leave this setting alone as well.
•
Play On Awake
immediately plays the sound as soon as the scene is
loaded. This setting is useful for ambient sounds. Turn this option on.
•
Loop
will loop the sound in the game. Note that checking this setting
is dif erent from using the Loop option in the Preview area, though it
has the same ef ect. The Loop setting causes the Audio Source to loop
continuously, so it is useful for background sounds. Turn this option on.
•
Priority
allows you to rank sounds according to their importance. When
there are many Audio Sources, some may be less important than others
and not need to be heard. You can rank sounds from 0 to 256: 0 indicates
the most important sounds and is reserved for music soundtracks and
other audio that must be heard, while 256 indicates a sound that does
not need to be heard much at all. Leave this alone for now.
•
Volume
is the maximum volume the Audio Source will have: 1 is the
highest volume possible, and 0 mutes the sound.
•
Pitch
is like a record speed control. Ef ectively, it adjusts the playback
speed of a sound. Because speed and pitch are linked, a faster speed
(above 1.0) creates a higher pitch with a shorter length, while a lower
number (below 1.0) creates a lower pitch with a longer length. As
we mentioned earlier in the topic, this parameter can be immensely
useful in creating an organic quality for several similar sounding sound
ef ects.
