SweejAmbience Features
This page focuses on the core features of SweejAmbience and how they help sound designers create compelling ambient soundscapes.
Ambience Volumes
Defines areas where specific ambient sounds play. Each volume has:
- Customizable attenuation distance
- Proximity-based blending with nearby volumes
- AreaType association for environment-specific sounds
Priority & Weight System
Controls how multiple ambient sounds blend:
- Higher priority sounds take precedence when volumes overlap
- MaxWeight caps the maximum contribution of a sound
- Creates smooth crossfades between different areas
- System applies equal power crossfade to maintain consistent overall volume
AreaTypes
Classify different environments to adapt sounds to their contexts:
- Switch content based on environment (indoor/outdoor)
- Enable environmental filtering for sounds
- Access in MetaSound for advanced processing
MetaSound Integration
Access ambient information in MetaSound:
- Use "SweejTech Ambience Listener AreaType" interface
- Retrieve primary and secondary AreaTypes and their mix values
- Access AreaType properties for advanced sound processing
- Create effects like filtering sounds when moving indoors
Watch Demo: MetaSound Integration
Scatter Spots
Create dynamic, randomized point-source sounds:
- Configure timing between sound triggers (e.g., 10-20 seconds)
- Set random distance and height variation
- Enable pre-warming for quicker initial sound buildup
- Activate based on proximity threshold
Reverb & Audio Effects
Apply environmental effects that change with player position:
- Assign effect chains to ambient areas
- Automatic crossfading between different effects
- Support for any submix effect (EQ, delay, etc.)
- Dedicated reverb submix for efficient processing
Ambience Definitions
Create reusable ambient sound configurations:
- Store AreaType, sound, reverb, and scatter spot settings
- Apply consistent settings across multiple volumes
- Override individual settings when needed
- Balance consistency with customization
Watch Demo: Ambience Definition
Real-time Visualization
Debug and monitor your ambient soundscape with two key tools:
Ambience Inspector
- View all active ambience components and volumes
- Monitor sound levels and weight calculations
- See current AreaTypes and their mix values
- Visualize volume boundaries and proximity values
Scatter Spot Inspector
- Monitor which scatter spots are currently playing
- See countdown timers for next sound triggers
- View distance and height information
- Display visual representation of scatter spot timing
Debug Tools
AreaType Debug
To see what AreaTypes are currently active, use the console command SweejTech.AreaType.ShowDebug 1.
Sorting on Resulting Level in Ambience Inspector will show relevant ambience actors, and you can enable a column to show what Submix Effect Chain each actor has.
Reverb Debug
To see what effects are currently active on the Reverb Submix, use the console command SweejTech.Reverb.ShowDebug 1.
Sorting on Resulting Level in Ambience Inspector will show relevant ambience actors, and you can enable a column to show what Submix Effect Chain each actor has.