Introduction to Audio
On this page
There are lots of options for adding audio to your Spark AR Studio effects.
All Spark AR Studio effects include a microphone. This captures the voice of the user and plays it back into the effect.
An object called a speaker can be added to render ambient and one-shot audio clips in the scene. To connect an audio clip to the speaker, you can:
- Use an audio playback controller - a simple way play an audio clip on a loop in the background of your effect or play a one-shot sound in response to a boolean signal.
- Use the Audio-Player and Single or Multi-Clip Controller patches - for more complex playback systems, for example to modify the audio live through pitch shifting or distortion.
There are a range of audio effect patches available. Use them to modify, distort and analyze audio clips and the microphone input.
The microphone
The microphone is included in all projects by default. It's listed in the Scene panel as Microphone. It detects the voice of the person using your effect and plays it back into the scene. You can use audio effect patches to alter sound detected by the microphone, changing the sound of the user’s voice.
The speaker
The speaker is a scene object that renders audio in an effect. You can add multiple speakers to render different audio clips.
Audio clips
Audio clips should be mono M4A files. You can import your own or choose from a huge range of free, licensed sound effects in AR Library.
Audio playback controller
Use the audio playback controller to play sound continuously on a loop in your AR effect, or connect one-shot audio playback to boolean signals in the Patch Editor.
The Audio Player, Single and Multi-Clip Controller patches
Use these patches when you want to add logic to your audio effects, or transform the sound of the audio using audio effect patches. Learn more in this guide.
Audio effect patches
Spark AR Studio includes a wide range of audio effect patches. Use them to modify audio clips or the sound picked up by the microphone.
Scripting
The AudioModule class enables sound effects.
Testing audio
It's best to test effects on a device throughout the creation process using the Spark AR Player app.
When testing, check:
- You can hear the sounds you've added, but the volume isn't too loud. Adjust the volume in the speaker's properties.
- Ambient sound plays during preview and playback, and sits below your voice in the mix.
- There's no popping sound or gap when a sound loops.
- Scripted sounds play when they're supposed to, and aren't startling or too repetitive.