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FMOD Events in Unity

Discussion in 'Formats & External Tools' started by grammo106, Jun 10, 2010.

  1. grammo106

    grammo106

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    Hi, I’m a sound designer who has been using FMOD for a while now but am integrating it into Unity for the first time for a 2(.5)D platformer I’m working on. My only experience with programming is MAX/MSP. I don’t understand how to get my FMOD Designer events into Unity. There is no instructions on how to do this. Can anyone help me? Be as patronising as you want! I'm currently in the prestigious Dare to be Digital game dev competition so a quick response would be much appreciated.
     
  2. DallonF

    DallonF

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    I don't believe FMOD is integrated into Unity at all. You'd probably need Unity Pro and make an external plugin to make it work.

    Some Googling, however, revealed a plugin which claims to work on both Indie and Pro. Have a look and tell me if this works:
    http://www.squaretangle.com/FMODUnity.html
     
  3. Dreamora

    Dreamora

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    Unity 2.6.x uses FMod for sound processing.
    But none of its features are exposed aside of what was present before already.


    I think it was mentioned that Unity 3 will get a deeper implementation but I'm commonly not that sound interested so not sure if my memory is playing games with me there
     
  4. sonicviz

    sonicviz

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    Can someone "in the know" please confirm exactly what parts of the FMOD api will be exposed in V3, and if we will be able to use FMOD Designer 2010 properly integrated into the Unity3d Dev workflow?

    Many thanks,
    sv
     
  5. ivanmoen

    ivanmoen

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    Bump... anyone at Unity Tec?
     
  6. andeeeee

    andeeeee

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    You may have to bear with us a while on this one. The main audio guy at Unity has recently become a father, so you can imagine his priorities are elsewhere at the moment :)

    However, I may yet be able to get some information about this. Stay tuned...
     
  7. theotherstudio13

    theotherstudio13

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    I am following this thread closely. I'd like to get the FMOD event system exposed and connected to the designer tool (with live auditioning) for an upcoming unity 2.6 project
     
  8. Joe-Robins

    Joe-Robins

    Unity Technologies

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    Actually the primary QA Engineer that was dealing with audio is also now a father... maybe we should ship 3.0 with an FMod fertility warning :D

    Joking asside I can confirm a number of new things that are in the current 3.0 beta (may change/improve prior to 3.0s launch):

    Audio Reverb Zones
    Placed within your scenes to modify reverb based on position. i.e entering a cave, tunnel, concert hall, bathroom, test chamber.. etc etc

    Audio Filters

    Effects that can be added to both source and listeners (to affect individual or all sounds)

    * Audio Low Pass Filter
    * Audio High Pass Filter
    * Audio Echo Filter
    * Audio Distortion Filter
    * Audio Reverb Filter
    * Audio Chorus Filter

    Rolloff

    Allows you to modify audio source properites based on distance

    There are three Rolloff modes: Logarithmic, Linear and Custom Rolloff. Only Custom Rolloff can be modified by modifying the curve. If you try to modify one of the other types, the type will automatically change to Custom Rolloff.

    Rolloff Modes that an audio source can have.

    Volume: Amplitude(0.0 - 1.0) over distance.
    Pan: Left(-1.0) to Right(1.0) over distance.
    Spread: Angle (deg 0.0-360.0) over distance.
    AudioEffectLowpass (only if LowPassFilter is attached to the AudioSource): Cutoff Frequency (22000.0-10.0) over distance.


    Ok, so those are the key things that I am aware of. (not being an audio guy I am probably missing a bunch of stuff) In terms of the designer tool etc.. again, I have no clue about that side of things. But hopefully the above snippets will give you an idea of some of the things to come.
     
  9. sonicviz

    sonicviz

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    ty for the info.

    So it looks like a basic FMOD implementation, with no ability to hook into the FMOD api ourselves to get at more advanced functionality (for example, designer or netstreams)

    ps: Congrats to Unity Audio guys new baby human. I have an 8.5 month old myself. I hope you get someone else to help him, he's going to be pretty tired for a while;-)
     
  10. DavidPlans

    DavidPlans

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    Just bumping this a little: could someone at Unity shed some light on whether further fmod functionality is coming or whether there's a schedule for it?

    I understand paternity puts a filter on things (two children under 5 here)...

    but just wondering: I'm considering creating a c# assembly for fmod 4.32 iphone target similar to what squaretangle did, but it seems like re-inventing the wheel if people are already on it at Unity...on the other hand, I can't wait too long as I desperately need audio I/O from iphone mic, and pitch detection, both of which work just fine on FMOD ex iphone...

    please? just some hint of where we're at?

    cheers,

    David
     
  11. Dreamora

    Dreamora

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    for 3.0, there won't be any additional functionality come aside of whats present already.
    Beyond that, we will see it when UT talks about it beyond the 3.0 release, given they do (roadmaps are pretty uncommon, there was only a single case last year when some roadmap alike blog postings happened for unity and unity iphone)


    As for the iphone part: no thats not possible to do. Neither mic in general nor any specific fmod functionality.
     
  12. DavidPlans

    DavidPlans

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    How do you know this? Are you part of the Unity team?

    I'm not sure you understood. This -is- already working in FMOD. Both mic in from iphone, and pitch detection. The current FMOD iphone target provides that:

    http://www.fmod.org/index.php/download

    In particular, the xcode project for pitch detection in the examples, which I've just tried, gives you real-time pitch detection in notation and hertz.

    Not only is real-time recording and analysis possible, but once you have an FMOD session open, you can pass the audio buffer to any other analysis tool written in C++ (or Objective-C).

    I've just tried that, interfacing the current FMOD example to libxtract and getting not only spectrum centroid but audio spectrum basis data and MFCC.

    So, yes, it -is- possible to do.

    Now can we have a reply from Unity?

    David
     
  13. niosop2

    niosop2

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    What dreamora was saying is that no, that functionality isn't exposed through Unity's sound API, not that it isn't possible using a full FMOD implementation. You could write a Unity app that visualizes or uses the data somehow and a different component that uses a full FMOD implementation to capture the data and do pitch detection, you'd just have to find an efficient way of passing that data from FMOD to Unity. I don't know how well that would work on the iPhone since I haven't worked with it though.
     
  14. DavidPlans

    DavidPlans

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    Yes, I understand only too well that Unity 3.0 doesn't expose the full FMOD api, that's precisely why I'm asking whether someone affiliated to Unity could comment, before peeps like Squaretangle or ourselves attempt a full assembly that packages it.

    It's great that they exposed what they have though, just wondering whether they are aiming for events and fmod designer connections, or whether they're not even considering it.

    If the former, we'll probably wait and find another way. If the latter, we'll join squaretangle and add to their codebase to integrate fmod ex's iphone target fully into Unity as a c# assembly.

    David
     
  15. theotherstudio13

    theotherstudio13

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    I think it would be very useful to have a clear statement from Unity about the status of getting the FMOD event system and designer tool set working. Clear instructions from the sound designers perspective and technical instruction for the programmer hooking it up. We also need a clear description of the limitations when using unity free.

    I'm glad you've improved the basic audio features included with unity 3. I think that adding full FMOD support would be a huge advantage to the Unity community and would vastly improve the quality of audio in Unity games.

    Considering that there isn't any clear indication from the Unity team about the status of getting FMOD working I'll probably end up just using the basic built in audio features for my current unity free (2.6). I will however report if my team can get FMOD events and designer working.
     
  16. sonicviz

    sonicviz

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    +10 on the FMOD Events/Designer integration timeline (or not)
     
  17. theotherstudio13

    theotherstudio13

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    guys I just found a great post of the FMOD forums with a nice rundown of the issue !!
     
  18. soren

    soren

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    Hi Guys/Girls,
    Sorry for the late reply!
    FMOD Designer/Events support will not be in 3.0 and probably not in the future either. We believe in a much deeper integration of audio editing and that it should happen in Unity and *while* you edit/play your game and shouldn't depend on an external app. 3.0 already have some nice automation features, live audiotioning etc. - and much more is on it's way.
    We use FMOD for it's broad platform support and highly optimized backend.

    Cheers!
     
  19. theotherstudio13

    theotherstudio13

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    Thanks for checking in and clearing that up. I think building your own audio toolset into unity is a great idea.
     
  20. sonicviz

    sonicviz

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    ty for the update. Looking forward to the additions.
     
  21. Vinícius Sanctus

    Vinícius Sanctus

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    How can one check input volume using FMOD in unity? im googling it for day now, only find some function from another engines like FMOD :: DSP :: getInputLevels, FMOD :: DSP :: getInputMix, but i couldnt find anything on unity. Help please! =)

    Edit: Nvm just found it. For all of those who are trying to get the mic input volume, just get the max value from the spectrum array. This way you will be able to get the mic input volume! =)

    PS: Hurray for me!

    =)
     
    Last edited: Feb 14, 2011
  22. mohydineName

    mohydineName

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    Hi all,

    I have been able to integrate the latest FMOD designer api with Unity 3 and make it run on an iphone/ipad (even the MusicSystem). I wonder how many ppl would be interested in such solution, so please contact me at mohydine_at_yahoo.com and let me know if that would be useful to you.

    Stephane
     
  23. pbaker

    pbaker

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    That would be very useful. Anyone else have details of how to get this going?
     
  24. gregzo

    gregzo

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    Hi!

    News on Mohydine's finished plugin here

    Cheers,

    G
     
    Last edited: Feb 21, 2012
  25. hippocoder

    hippocoder

    Digital Ape

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    Friendly bump - wondering what happened to this, or if it's still planned :)
     
  26. Cunnings

    Cunnings

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    Hi all,
    I'm pretty new to this forum but have been working on both Unity and FMod for a while now as an Audio Designer I'm more than familiar with technical side of the matter (hence majored in computer software engineering). The FMod has the integration for a while now, the latest release has memory (and channel) leakage though and doesn't support low level access (for now. I have seen some commented regions in their code for low level access). For those who wish to utilize their interactive music out there, it doesn't support FMod Designer music style but as the FMod Studio has the same approach for music as any other event it can be done there. If you want to check input/output/routing (Live creation and monitoring in general) of your sounds inside game from FMod Studio, you can use its Connect to Game feature but you need to un-comment the definition of live update (first line of the FMod system script) and you're set, though it may crash sometimes since it is definitely not even in beta (that's why it is commented).
    All these things aside, I need approval for the integration is official and accepted by Unity Tech that it won't corrupt and has no conflict with Unity and its audio system itself and hurt the production in long run. I believe in this but the production manager insists on an official post or reply or something from UNITY, not the FMod.
    I will be more than grateful to have the official reply or post on its approval and still will be thankful to have the denial if it does conflict, so I could personally move on with the pain and grief that nothing I could do for the workflow and production.
    Thanks all for bearing with the long post.
     
  27. Cunnings

    Cunnings

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    Thank you for all your efforts. I see your point there to have a complete solution, independent. But while getting there, it can really grease things up for audio guys. I mean why not at all? modelers have their mudbox/zbrush, decorators have their max and maya, animators have their motion builder and god knows what else. Even compositors and particle FX guys have their own programs and all their effort are supported. Think FMod as a Maya for Audio guys, and instead of importing models and animations and materials in fbx, we import audio events in banks and fev. And you say it has great optimized backend, so why reinvent the wheel? (while it will be free for Unity and I'm sure since they put integration scripts first they are more than willing to workaround some kind of licensing for Unity Pro that suits both company.)
     
  28. CinnoMan

    CinnoMan

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    +1 for the whole audio thing;

    I've just succesfully connected fmod studio to a running scene and am very excited at the possibilites this might open up for my project. However, even if the functionality were a bit more limited, an integration in Unity Pro might be more attractive than the 500$ per game per platform FMOD license fee for tiny indies like me.