2024.1.7.8863
2023.1.15.8789
2025.1.1.8936
2022.1.19.8584
2021.1.14.8108
2015.1.9.5624
2019.2.15.7667
2019.1.11.7296
2018.1.11.6987
2017.2.10.6745
2017.1.9.6501
2016.2.6.6153
When you are authoring audio in Wwise, CPU usage is an essential concern. It is also important to balance performance and quality. If you are authoring for multiple platforms, you will have to be aware of each platform's technical limitiations and requirements, and also consider the CPU resources required by any accompanying software.
Many Wwise features and plug-ins affect CPU usage. The topics in this section provide an overview of the major factors that affect CPU usage and offer different strategies and best practices for CPU optimization. In general, the process consists of using the Profiler (refer to Profiling) to monitor CPU performance, determine which factors you need to address, and then use the guidelines in this section as a starting point to explore possible solutions.
Every Wwise project is different, available CPU resources vary by platform, and quality and performance requirements also vary, so there is no single set of specific guidelines or recommendations that apply to all cases. Instead, you will have to experiment, listen to your sounds in Wwise, and determine the optimal settings. The following major factors affect CPU usage:
Number of concurrent voices. The number of voices, especially physical voices, has a large impact on CPU. As the number increases, CPU usage increases with it.
Effects. Wwise audio Effects consume CPU and the amount varies depending on the specific Effect, where the Effect is used, and whether it is rendered.
Audio codecs. Audio file conversion with codecs uses CPU, and some codecs require more CPU resources than others.
Spatial Audio. The various options and settings that control 3D acoustics can have a major impact on CPU usage.
Each of these topics is described in further detail in the following sections.
In addition to this documentation, there are several resources that contain information about CPU optimization:
Optimizing CPU Usage discusses optimization in the context of the SDK, which provides developers with additional options that are not available in the user interface.
Two blog articles, Wwise CPU Optimizations: General Guidelines and How to get a hold on your voices - Optimizing for CPU (PART 1), discuss optimization. However, note that the specific numbers in the articles might not be valid for the latest platforms.
The Wwise 251 certification course contains many examples and recommendations for CPU (and memory) optimization. It uses the Unity-based Wwise Adventure Game sample program as an example.
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