Hello all,
I am new to using the Stat Audio command and I am hoping to get some help understanding the information that is printed.
The first bit of data I would like help understanding is the Dropped Instances. Are the instances being dropped due to the number of Active Sounds going over the Max Channel limit?
Next is the Evaluation of Concurrency. I see that is a value in the CallCount, is this value stomping Active Sounds before it hits the channel Count?
Lastly, I’d like a definition of what defines an Active Sound. Does a sound that is playing but at 0 Volume go towards the Active Sound count?
Thank you,
I need to add an edit - I just found thisinfo based from the UDK engine. Is the information still accurate?
https://docs.unrealengine.com/udk/Three/StatsDescriptions.html#STAT%20AUDIO
I do not think much has changed for stat audio since the UDK days. It’s a very old, legacy debug and I’m not 100% sure I would trust it, to be honest.
Active Sounds are basically candidates for Wave Instances (which are your voices). Depending on the voice management properties and your version of the Engine, an Active Sound may or may not stick around between callbacks when it’s at Volume 0.
You can see a list of all currently playing sources, including those set to Play When Silent by typing in stat sounds or stat soundwaves.
Some things to keep in mind, SoundCues, which are also quite legacy, have misleading node terminology. The “Mixer” node, as an example, doesn’t actually render a mixdown of the sound into a single playing voice, if there are say 3 SoundWave Players going into a Mixer node, then it will attempt to play 3 sources at once–taking up 3 of your “channels.”
If raising Max Channel Count resolves your dropped instances, then you know you’re hitting your max. Additionally, just watching your voice count in stat sounds or stat soundwaves hit over 32, even momentarily, can have impact on which sounds remain.
This is why Concurrency and Priority are very important tools in shaping the significance of your game’s soundscape.
Additional debug cvars can be found under the au. prefix.
Hi Dan!
I’m on a custom 24.2 and it appears that the sounds are sticking around at volume 0. However, with stat soundwaves I’m going to look into this further. I’m currently locked at 32 sources. So like you said, setting the concurrency and priority is a must. Thank you for taking the time to explain all this.
Best,
Yeah, I usually budget out my voices using Sound Concurrency and Priority, depending on the particular project’s needs.
Hey Dan,
I’ve been using the Stat Sounds, Cues, Waves etc. It’s been really helpful. Again, thank you. I do have another question, what does it mean when the printed text is not white? I’m used to yellow being warnings, red being errors. How does the color change apply in this case?
Thanks,
Yeah, we’re working on updating the usefulness of debug displays–it’s ongoing work, so there aren’t any docs yet on the work in progress state. The different colors indicate the sound source’s status as it relates to voice management. I think Yellow is for Play When Silent sounds?