Buffer Properties

The Properties Window for a buffer selected in the Audiopath Designer Window is shown in the following figure.

The Buffer Properties window contains the following settings:

• Use standard buffer

  Select this check box to make the buffer one of the Standard Buffer Types selected in the drop-down list. Most other options are not available, because the properties are preset for standard types. In addition, the bus for the buffer is listed as Default and cannot be changed.

  If the check box is not selected, the buffer is User Defined, and you are responsible for setting all properties.

• Share buffer with other audiopaths

  Select to share the buffer. See Sharing Buffers.

• Channels

  Enter or select the number of audio channels, either 1 or 2. This value is read-only unless the buffer is User Defined and has only a single bus. A buffer must have at least one audio channel for each bus. For most purposes, the number of buses and number of channels should be the same.

• Enable Doppler Effect

  Select to allow applications to apply Doppler shift to the pitch of the sound by using the 3-D capabilities of DirectSound.

• Edit GUID

  Click this button to open the Edit GUID Dialog Box. The GUID is used for Sharing Buffers.

• Enable 3D Control

  Click to enable 3-D spatialization of the buffer by applications.

• 3D Position

  Click this button to open the 3D Parameters dialog box and set the default location and other parameters of the sound. For information on these parameters, see the Microsoft DirectX audio documentation.

• Mute at maximum distance

  Select to mute the buffer when it is located too far away to be heard. See the DirectX documentation for more information.

• Algorithm

  Select an algorithm for processing the 3-D parameters. In most cases, the Default setting gives satisfactory results. For more information, see the reference topic for the DSBUFFERDESC structure in the DirectX documentation.

• Pan

  Click this option to enable stereo panning of the buffer. A buffer cannot support both 3-D spatialization and panning.

  In the text box, enter or select a default pan value in the range from L10000 (hard left) to R10000 (hard right). This value can be changed by applications. It is cumulative with the pan value set for individual PChannels; see PChannel Properties.

• Volume

  Enter or select a value in the range from 0 to -10000 to set the volume of the buffer, expressed in degrees of attenuation. Zero is full volume.