Source n stuff on Friday, no charge because FREE = NICE!
In the mean time, you might want to skim through the OpenAL SDK Docs:
http://developer.creative.com/articles/article.asp?cat=1&sbcat=31&top=38&aid=45
(link at bottom of page)
Even if you don't get into the API, be sure to check out the sweet implementation guides in 'Effects Extension Guide.pdf'
Quote:
Consider a sword clanked in a small padded cell. It should sound very different to the same sword
clanked in a large cathedral, and it is reverberation that tells the story. Or consider a scream coming
from the next room. The occluded (muffled) quality of the scream tells you there’s a wall in between
you and the screamer. Without these environmental effects, the listener cannot pinpoint how far away
the sources are and has no idea of the environment where the sources are located. The Sound
sources are naked and lack warmth — the aural equivalent of a visual world without shadows, haze,
and independent light sources.
Environmental Audio gives the gamer an audible indication of the characteristics of their surroundings.
Reverb effects can provide the listener with sonic cues to differentiate between locations and reinforce
the feeling of immersion, and environmental filtering allows architectural features of the environment to
be modelled aurally.
Normaly I'd cringe at such a description thinking someone was 'spicing it up', but it really does sound that good :)
In the mean time, you might want to skim through the OpenAL SDK Docs:
http://developer.creative.com/articles/article.asp?cat=1&sbcat=31&top=38&aid=45
(link at bottom of page)
Even if you don't get into the API, be sure to check out the sweet implementation guides in 'Effects Extension Guide.pdf'
Quote:
Consider a sword clanked in a small padded cell. It should sound very different to the same sword
clanked in a large cathedral, and it is reverberation that tells the story. Or consider a scream coming
from the next room. The occluded (muffled) quality of the scream tells you there’s a wall in between
you and the screamer. Without these environmental effects, the listener cannot pinpoint how far away
the sources are and has no idea of the environment where the sources are located. The Sound
sources are naked and lack warmth — the aural equivalent of a visual world without shadows, haze,
and independent light sources.
Environmental Audio gives the gamer an audible indication of the characteristics of their surroundings.
Reverb effects can provide the listener with sonic cues to differentiate between locations and reinforce
the feeling of immersion, and environmental filtering allows architectural features of the environment to
be modelled aurally.
Normaly I'd cringe at such a description thinking someone was 'spicing it up', but it really does sound that good :)