Houdini 11 Reference Windows

The Audio Panel sets the audio volume, and lets you choose which CHOP provides the audio waveform data for the animation timeline for lip syncing. You can access the Audio Panel it by selecting it from the Windows drop-down menu or by pressing Alt + I.

Note

This panel controls the audio that Houdini provides to the operating system. The operating system may do further processing or volume adjustment to the data before sending it to the speakers.

Audio output controls
Off

Do not play audio.

Scrub

Audio plays when during playback and when you scrub on the timeline.

The options below the Timeline radio button control how audio plays when you scrub along the timeline.

Repeat

When you hold the play head still while scrubbing, the audio will repeat around that frame.

Sustain

Controls how long the audio fades away for after the user stops scrubbing. This is used to make scrubbing a little less choppy.

Rate

Controls the length of audio played around each frame you scrub to. Higher numbers give shorter bursts of audio (30 means 1/30th of a second, 45 means 1/45th of a second).

Realtime

Plays a CHOP whose Time Slice option is on (forwards only).

Audio Output Delay

The delay applied to the audio output.

Test

Lets you play audio independent of the audio timeline.

VCR Controls

These buttons are similar to the ones on the playbar. See playbar help for more information.

On Change Rewind

Restarts the audio when a change is made.

Mono

Output audio on only one channel.

Tie

Lock the volumes of the left and right channels together (changing one changes the other). When this option is off, you can set the volumes of the left and right audio channels independently.

Meter

Turns on the live-updating VU meter.

VU Meter

Displays the current volume of CHOPs audio output. The green area represents output between -1 and +1. The red zone represents output outside -1 to +1, indicating the waveform is being clipped.

L and R

Control the volume of the left and right audio channels. When the Tie checkbox is on, these sliders are locked together.

CHOP

Get the audio output from a channel operator (CHOP). Click the + icon to choose the CHOP from your network hierarchy.

File

Get the audio output from a sound file. Click the + icon to choose the file.

Audio Second ... is at Frame

When the audio source is File, you can use these options to sync the sound file to your animation. To start the output later in the sound file, increase the Audio Second option. To start the output later in the animation, increase the is at Frame option.

Tip

You can also use the audiopanel HScript command to control audio output.