Creating and Using Sound Sources

Shade3D uses sound objects to represent sounds in a 3D scene. By placing sound objects inside a joint and applying motion to the joint, sounds can be animated in a scene.

The position information of sounds is calculated based on the position of the sound object relative to the camera position. It is easier to arrange sounds in a scene properly by first creating a new camera object, which is visible in the Figure window, and then moving the sound objects and camera object appropriately to achieve the desired sound effect.

Using sound objects is described below.

1. First set up the scene to which you wish to add sound.
2. From the Create tool in the Toolbox choose Sound.
3. Click on the point in the Figure window where you wish to position the sound object.
   A sound object is created in the scene, and an Open dialog appears prompting you to select an audio file.
4. Browse to the audio file you wish to use, keeping in mind the supported file formats listed above.
   A sound object appears in the Browser appended with the audio file name.
   

   Important Sound files used in a Shade3D scene are not saved in the Shade3D file (.shd). Shade3D references the actual sound file when it is executed. Changing the relative directory path of the sound file, changing the file name, or deleting the file will cause the sound to not load with the Shade3D scene.

5. With the sound object selected in the Browser, open the Object Info window by choosing Object Info from the View menu.
   
   The sound object's volume, repeat settings and other information can be viewed or modified here.

   See also Sound Information

6. Open the Motion Window by selecting View > Motion.
   If the sound object is selected in the Browser the sound's waveform is displayed in the motion box.
   

   Motion

Modify the start frame of the sound, fade in or fade out the volume, or do other sound editing here.
A sequence key point is created for the start frame and can be moved to a different frame. The start frame can also be moved by dragging the left edge of the waveform.

Motion

(Moving the sequence key point)

Motion

(Moving the left edge of the waveform)

By moving the motion points the volume can be made louder or softer.

Motion

The leftmost motion point in the motion box indicates the start frame of the sound. If a new motion point is added farther to the left in the motion box the start frame is updated automatically.

Motion

Clicking the Play button with the Sound Preview checkbox checked will play a preview of the sound with the applied motion settings. If the 3D Sound checkbox is checked, the preview will include the 3D effects.

Note For more information on using the Motion Window, see also Motion Window.