Espes: It's also a Multimedia API, I guess

2012-08-17T04:34:19Z

It's also a Multimedia API, I guess

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	[[Category:Game Formats]]		[[Category:Game Formats]]
			[[Category:Multimedia APIs]]

Espes: Xact moved to XACT: Capitalise

2012-08-17T04:30:32Z

Xact moved to XACT: Capitalise

← Older revision	Revision as of 21:30, 16 August 2012
(No difference)

Espes at 04:29, 17 August 2012

2012-08-17T04:29:07Z

New page

* Extensions: xwb, xsb, xgs
* Company: [[Microsoft]]
* Website: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb174772.aspx
* Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-platform_Audio_Creation_Tool

Cross-platform Audio Creation Tool (XACT) is a audio framework released as part of the DirectX SDK.

Distributed XACT projects consist of three file formats:

== Wave Banks (.xwb) ==
A file format containing a collection of waves
* Waves - the raw wave data in [[Microsoft Wave|WAV]], [[Audio Interchange File Format|AIFF]], [[Windows Media Audio 9|WMA]], [[Microsoft xWMA|xWMA]] or [[XMA]] formats

Open source parsers:
* [http://aluigi.altervista.org/papers.htm#unxwb unxwb]
* [https://github.com/mono/MonoGame/blob/develop3d/MonoGame.Framework/Audio/WaveBank.cs MonoGame]

== Sound Banks (.xsb) ==
A collection of sounds and cues

* Sounds - a sound has one or more waves together with properties like volume and pitch. Sounds are made up of tracks.
** Tracks - tracks are made up of events E.g. the simplest track has a Play Wave event
** Events - various actions that take place within a track. Actions include: Play, Stop, Set Volume, Set Pitch etc.
* Cues - a cue is used in code to trigger sounds. Each cue is made up of one or more sounds

<pre>
sturct SoundBank {
struct SoundBankHeader header;

struct WaveBankNameTableEntry[header.numWaveBanks] wavebankNames;
struct SoundEntry[header.numSounds] sounds;
struct SimpleCueEntry[header.numSimpleCues] simpleCues;
struct ComplexCueEntry[header.numComplexCues] complexCues;

//...
}

struct SoundBankHeader {
uint32_t magic; // "SDBK"
uint16_t toolVersion; // 0x2E
uint16_t formatVersion; // 0x2B
uint16_t crc; // fcs16 checksum of all following data
uint32_t lastModifiedLow;
uint32_t lastModifiedHigh;
uint8_t platform; //0x12 ??
uint16_t numSimpleCues; //0x13
uint16_t numComplexCues; //0x15
uint16_t unkn3; //0x17
uint16_t numTotalCues; //0x19 ??
uint8_t numWaveBanks; //0x1b
uint16_t numSounds; //0x1c
uint32_t cueNameTableLen; //0x1e

uint32_t simpleCuesOffset; //0x22
uint32_t complexCuesOffset; //0x26
uint32_t cueNamesOffset; //0x2a
uint32_t unknOffset; //0x2e
uint32_t variationTablesOffset; //0x32
uint32_t unknOffset2; //0x36
uint32_t waveBankNameTableOffset; //0x3a
uint32_t cueNameHashTableOffset; //0x3e 16-bit hashes each
uint32_t cueNameHashValsOffset; //0x42
uint32_t soundsOffset; //0x46

char name[64];
};

struct WaveBankNameTableEntry {
char name[64];
}

sturct SoundEntry {
uint8_t flags; //0x0
uint16_t category; //0x1 ???
uint8_t unkn2; //0x3
uint16_t volume; //0x4 maybe pitch
uint8_t unkn3; //0x6
uint16_t entryLength; //0x7

if flags 1 (complex sound):
//"clips"
uint8_t numClips; //0x9
else:
uint16_t trackIndex; //0x9
uint8_t waveBankIndex; //0x11

if flags in 2/4/8:
uint16_t extraLen; //0x12
//then a rpc table for each flag
if flags in 16:
uint16_t extraLen; //0x12 7

//dsp preset table
uint8_t num;
uint32_t unkn[num];

if flags 1:
struct {
uint8_t unkn;
uint32_t clipOffset;
uint32_t unkn2;
}[numClips]
}

sturct SoundClip {
uint8_t numEvents;
struct ClipEvent[numEvents];
};

struct ClipEvent {
uint32_t eventInfo; //event id in lower 5 bits
}

//event id 1, size 16
struct EventPlayWave : ClipEvent {
char unkn[4]; //0x4
uint16_t trackIndex; //0x8
uint8_t waveBank; //0xa
uint8_t unkn; //0xb
uint16_t unkn2; //0xc
uint16_t unkn3; //0xe
};

//event id 3, size at least 13
struct EventPlayWaveVariation : ClipEvent {
char unkn[5];
int16_t unkn2;
int16_t unkn3;

struct VariationTable; ///wtf!?
}

//event id 4, size 40
struct EventPlayWavePitchVolumeFilterVariation : EventPlayWave {
struct PitchVolumeFilterVariation;
}

struct PitchVolumeFilterVariation {
int16_t unkn;
int16_t unkn2;
uint8_t unkn3;
uint8_t unkn4;
float unkn5;
float unkn6;
float unkn7;
float unkn8;
uint16_t flags;
}

struct SimpleCueEntry { //cue that maps straight to a sound
uint8_t flags;
uint32_t soundOffset;
};

//size 15
struct ComplexCueEntry {
uint8_t flags;
uint32_t variationTableOffset;
uint32_t transitionTableOffset;
struct InstanceLimit;

};
struct InstanceLimit {
uint32_t unkn;
uint8_t unkn2;
uint8_t unkn3; //dono if here or in ComplexCueEntry
};

enum VariationTableType {
Wave,
?,
?,
?,
CompactWave
}
struct VariationTable {
uint32_t flags;
//numEnties in lower 16 bits
//flags in upper 16 bits
// -table type in bits 3,4,5
uint8_t unkn;
uint16_t unkn2;
uint8_t unkn3;

table 0:
struct {
uint16_t trackIndex; //?
uint8_t waveBank;
uint8_t weightMin; //?
uint8_t weightMax; //?
}[numEntries];

table 1:
struct {
uint32_t soundOffset;
uint8_t weightMin; //?
uint8_t weightMax; //?
}[numEntries]

table 2:
struct {
uint32_t unkn;
uint8_t weightMin; //?
uint8_t weightMax; //?
}[numEntries]

table 3:
struct {
uint32_t soundOffset; //?
float weightMin;
float weightMax;
uint32_t unkn;
}[numEntries]

table 4:
struct {
uint16_t trackIndex; //?
uint8_t waveBank;
}[numEntries];
};

struct CueNameHashVal {
uint32_t nameOffset;
uint16_t unkn;
}
</pre>

== Global Settings (.xgs) ==
Defines rules and settings for sounds.

* Categories - sounds can be assigned to a category (only one each) that specifies certain rules like number of instances along with settings like volume. You could create a category for the sounds of one character in your game so they all have the same volume. There are three predefined categories: global, default and Music.
* Variables - these can be defined in the design stage and then referenced by the programmer in code to control Run-Time Parameter Controls
** Run-Time Parameter Controls - also known as 'sliders'. These allow the control of sound parameters as the sound plays. For example they could be used to control the pitch of a car engine sound so as the accelerator is pressed the pitch is changed
* DSP Effect Path Presets (DSPs) - allow effects like reverb to be applied to sounds
* Compression Presets - compression can be applied to waves or wave banks

Open source parsers:
* [https://github.com/espes/MonoGame/blob/develop3d/MonoGame.Framework/Audio/AudioEngine.cs MonoGame]

[[Category:Container Formats]]
[[Category:Game Formats]]

XACT - Revision history

Espes: It's also a Multimedia API, I guess

Espes: Xact moved to XACT: Capitalise

Espes at 04:29, 17 August 2012