FMOD is audio middleware that provides features for real-time 3D audio and digital sound effects in video games. It supports many platforms and over 20 file formats. Games that use FMOD include Guitar Hero III, BioShock, and Crysis. FMOD can create thousands of simultaneous sounds, handle 3D positioning, and apply effects chains through a C++/C# API. Configuration options include output settings, Doppler scaling, and hardware channel counts.

1. 1
Useful Tools for Making Video
Games
Part IV
An overview of

2. 2
Features
Built-in DSP effects
PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PS2, PSP, Xbox,
Gamecube, Windows, Linux, Mac OS
support
Sound designer tools (FMOD Designer)
3D sound
Thousands of sounds at once
Multi-speaker support
Supports over 20 file formats
C++, C#, Visual Basic API
…

3. 3
FMOD Hot Games
Guitar Hero III
BioShock
Stranglehold
Metroid Prime 3
Heavenly Sword
Call of Duty 4
Crysis
StarCraft II, World of Warcraft
…

4. 4
Startup Sequence
// create system
FMOD::System* system;
FMOD_RESULT result = FMOD::System_Create(&system);
// set speaker mode, 3D settings, configuration options etc.
// …
// load sound
FMOD::Sound* sound;
result = system->createSound(“sound.mp3",…, &sound);
// play sound
FMOD::Channel* channel = 0;
result = system->playSound(…, sound, …, &channel);
// release resources
Result = sound->release();
Result = system->release();

5. 5
Configuration options
if you desire behaviour differing from the default
such as:
System::setOutput(FMOD_OUTPUTTYPE_[AUTOD
ETECT/XBOX/XBOX360/PS2/PS3/PSP/WII/…])
System::set3DSettings(float dopplerscale, float
distancefactor, float rolloffscale)
System::setHardwareChannels : specify min
number of hardware channels before falling to
software
System::setSpeakerMode : Surround, 5.1, 7.1 etc
…

6. 6
Channels
A channel is an instance of a sound. You
can play a sound many times at once, and
each time you get a new channel handle.
Channels can be grouped eg:
FMOD::Channel *channels[NUM_CHANNELS];
FMOD::ChannelGroup *group;
result = system->createChannelGroup("Group", &group);
result = channel[i]->setChannelGroup(group); // i:0..NUM_CHANNELS
result = groupA->setVolume(…);
group->setMute(…); // etc.

7. 7
3D Sound
FMOD_RESULT result =
fmodSystem->set3DListenerAttributes(int listener,
const FMOD_VECTOR* pos, const FMOD_VECTOR * vel,
const FMOD_VECTOR * forward, const FMOD_VECTOR *up);
Pos: Address of a variable that receives the position of
the listener in world space.
Vel: Address of a variable that receives the velocity of the
listener.
Forward: unit length and perpendicular to the up vector.
up
Update these vectors every so many milliseconds, not
every frame, since frame rate can vary.

8. 8
Effects
Can create chains of digital sound processing effects by adding
existing filters one after the other eg:
FMOD::DSP* dspDistortion = 0;
FMOD_RESULT result =
system->createDSPByType(FMOD_DSP_TYPE_LOWPASS,
&dspDistortion );
result = system->addDSP(dspDistortion);
DSP types:
FMOD_DSP_[CHORUS/COMPRESSOR/
DISTORTION/ECHO/FLANGE/NORMALI
ZE/PITCHSHIFT/REVERB/…]

9. 9
References
www.fmod.org