Technical data

ASTi ACE Studio Components Reference Guide Rev. M DOC-01-TELAS-CRG-4
Copyright © 2014 Advanced Simulation Technology inc. 129
How to use the Highways 3D Service
Using the Highways 3D Service is a three-step process that includes entering audio
into the service, determining how it is mixed or processed, and extracting audio for
the outputs from the service.
The Highways 3D Service components include:
For input into the service:
Audio > AudioFeed
For controlling gain-mixing or 3D positioning of a sound:
Feeders > Balancer1, 4, 8, 16
Feeders > AuralCuePos
For extracting audio from the service:
Audio IO > HighwayOut
Audio IO > SpeakerOut
Audio IO > Headphone3dOut
Add an AudioFeed component in a simulation model to input a sound into the
service. Add more AudioFeed components for other sounds if they need mixing or
independent positioning. Create and select new sound names or “cue IDs” to
identify the sound in the service.
Add a BalancerN component in a Feeder model to gain-mix a sound to the output
highways. Select the cue ID of the sound used for mixing and then select or create
the highways. The number of output highways the sound is mixed to is determined
by the size of the Balancer. Link the gains from the host or elsewhere in the load if
desired, or just set static gains by hand.
Add an AuralCuePos component in a Feeder model to add a sound to the 3D
Soundfield at a specified position. Select the cue ID of the sound that is then added
to the Soundfield. Link to or set the (x, y, z) position inputs to determine the
location of the sound in the Soundfield.
Add a HighwayOut component in a hardware model to extract audio from one of
the output highways. Select the highway and then link the audio output of the
component to a hardware output. Only sounds put onto the highways using
Balancer components are retrieved by this component, not sounds that were
positioned in the Soundfield using the AuralCuePos component.
Add SpeakerOut components in a hardware model for each speaker in the
simulator. Enter the (x, y, z) position of the speaker and then link the audio output
to a hardware output. The service will decode the Soundfield to this speaker based
on the specified position.
Add a Headphone3DOut component in a hardware model for operators that should
have 3D audio in their stereo headphones. If head tracker information is available
from the host, link it to the head azimuth and elevation inputs. Link the left and
right audio outputs of the component directly to the output channels for the left and
right earcups of the operator's headphones. Avoid adding other components
between the Headphone3DOut and hardware components. The presence of other
components on these audio streams can alter the timing and distort the apparent 3D
position of the sound.
Note: HighwayOut and SpeakerOut components can be added to auto-generated
hardware models using the Channel helper. Notice the “Highway”, “Speaker”, and
“Speaker Position” options when creating ACE-RIU, ACU, and Amp channels in
the Channels helper window. Enter a highway name to have a HighwayOut
component created, the highway selected, and the audio linked to the channel's
audio out. Enter a speaker name and position to have a SpeakerOut component
created at that position with its audio linked to the channel's audio out.
The Gain-Mixing figure below shows an example of using the Highways 3D
service for Gain-Mixing warning tones to a set of output highways.
Figure 12: Gain-Mixing
Highways 3D
Service
Warning Tone Model
Audio Feed
AudioIns
Cue ID: ‘warning tones’
Feeder Model
Balancer4
CueID: ‘warning tones’
Hwy1: ‘pilot headset’
Hwy 2: ‘copilot headset’
Hwy 3: ‘cockpit speaker’
Hwy 4: ‘instructor
speaker’
Hardware Model
Highway Out
Hwy: ‘pilot headset’
Audio Out
Pilot_ACUchannel
Audio Out
Wave Wave
PlaySound