Is it possible to import audio at runtime?

Development Audio
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1

Hello! Me and a few others were considering to move a project to unreal engine 4, however it is heavily dependent on importing audio files during runtime.

The question is; is it possible to do this currently with the EULA? Would we be able to move the importer to a module for use on runtime, or would we have to write our own importer? I originally didn’t think something like this would be a problem so long as I had a subscription to ue4, but this post has brought up the concern:

Of course, we would be willing to give credit for the source code if something like that would be necessary. Thank you for any replies in advance!

2

Hi Ginku,

Thank you for your inquiry, let me see if I can clarify this:

The question is; is it possible to do
this currently with the EULA? Would we
be able to move the importer to a
module for use on runtime, or would we
have to write our own importer?

In this case, you would need to custom build your own importer for your product. The EULA forbids the use of any of UE4’s editor tools to be reused in a product. Let me know if you have any other questions and I will be happy to further assist.

3

Thanks you for your reply! I have another (hopefully not stupid) question.

I believe I found a solution that doesn’t involve simply moving the importer to its own module, but instead to call a function (FFileHelper::LoadFileToArray) to get an .ogg file as a byte array and then create a temporary SoundWave object using that data. The solution came from this source:

I want to think that this is a feature of the engine and not an editor tool but I would prefer to be certain before moving an entire project to ue4. So, would this be possible with the EULA? Again, thank you for your reply and any other replies!

4

That’s perfectly fine to use. The EULA is aimed to protect against someone directly taking the entire importer infrastructure and UI, but does not bar against using similarly styled code.

edit: This was inaccurate, please see my follow-up comment

5

Thank you! That answers all my questions.

6

Actually, now that I am re-reading that post, it looks like that is an engine-specific function. I thought it was a standard C++ function.

EDIT: I was incorrect, In that case, you could use the FFileHelper::LoadFileToArray

7

Is anyone able to advise me on the best way of loading wav or mp3 files during runtime. I’m working on an app that amongst other things would allow users to play their own music during the game.

Any help with Blueprints or ideas of how this could be achieved would be appreciated :0

Cheers!