Tutorial #3 Setting up world audio

Tutorial #3: Setting Up World Audio

Overview

This tutorial walks through adding managed AudioSources to your scene using the WorldAudio system. WorldAudio provides importance-based culling, reverb, and privacy channel gating for scene audio (music, ambient, sound effects).

You will learn how to:

1. Add the WorldAudioController to your scene
2. Create a managed AudioSource with OccludedEmitter
3. Configure spatial audio for VRChat
4. Test the setup

Prerequisites

• Installation complete
• TLP_Essentials prefab in your scene
• TLP_PlayerAudioController prefab in your scene
• Basic Unity knowledge

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1. Add WorldAudioController

1. Drag the TLP_WorldAudioController prefab into your scene:

   • Path: Packages/tlp.udonvoiceutils/Runtime/Prefabs/Core/TLP_WorldAudioController.prefab
   • This is the core controller that drives the emitter update loop

2. Select the TLP_WorldAudioController in hierarchy

3. Verify the WorldAudioController component is present in the Inspector

Note: Only one WorldAudioController is allowed per scene.

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2. Create a Managed AudioSource

1. Create a new empty GameObject (name it e.g. AmbientMusic)
2. Add an AudioSource component
3. Assign your audio clip to the AudioSource
4. Configure basic AudioSource settings:
   • Spatialize: ✅ enabled (required for VRChat 3D audio)
   • Loop: ✅ enabled (for ambient/music)
   • Play On Awake: ✅ enabled (starts automatically)
   • Max Distance: set based on your needs (e.g. 50)

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3. Add OccludedEmitter

1. Add an OccludedEmitter component to the same GameObject

2. The following components are added automatically:

   • ReverbController — manages reverb and lowpass filter
   • AudioSourceStateController — play/pause/cull state machine
   • AudioLowPassFilter — distance-based muffling
   • AudioReverbFilter — reverb effect

3. Configure OccludedEmitter settings:

   • Disable GameObject When Culled: ✅ enabled (saves CPU when culled)
     • ⚠️ Set to false for Unity VideoPlayer sources — disabling breaks audio filters
   • Privacy Channel Id: -1 (no privacy, audible to all)

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4. Add VRCSpatialAudioSource

VRChat requires the VRCSpatialAudioSource component for proper 3D spatialization:

1. Add VRCSpatialAudioSource component to the same GameObject
2. Configure settings:
   • Enable Spatialization: ✅ enabled
   • Gain: 0 (default, no volume boost)
   • Far: 40 (distance where audio becomes inaudible)
   • Near: 5 (distance where audio is at full volume)
   • Volumetric Radius: 5 (range where audio is not spatialized)

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5. Final GameObject Structure

AmbientMusic
├─ AudioSource (Spatialize: true, Loop: true)
├─ AudioLowPassFilter
├─ AudioReverbFilter
├─ OccludedEmitter
├─ ReverbController
└─ VRCSpatialAudioSource

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6. Configure WorldAudioController (Optional)

Select the TLP_WorldAudioController and adjust if needed:

Field	Default	Description
Importance Updates Per Frame	1	Emitters to recalculate importance for per frame. Higher = more responsive, more CPU
Updates Per Frame	3	Emitters to update per frame. Higher = more responsive, more CPU
Max Active Sources	32	Max concurrent active emitters. Beyond this, lowest-importance emitters are culled

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7. Test

1. Enable ClientSim
2. Click Play
3. Walk toward the AudioSource — audio should be clear and loud
4. Walk away — audio should fade with distance
5. Walk beyond Max Distance — audio should be inaudible

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How It Works

The WorldAudio system manages your AudioSource through the emitter lifecycle:

1. Startup — OccludedEmitter registers with the EmitterRegistry
2. Importance scoring — each frame, WorldAudioController recalculates importance based on AudioSource priority and effective volume (which depends on distance and rolloff mode)
3. Culling — when beyond MaxActiveSources, lowest-importance emitters are suspended
4. Reverb/lowpass — distance-based audio effects applied automatically
5. Reactivation — when a culled emitter becomes important again, it resumes seamlessly

See WorldAudio-Subsystem for full details.

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Adding More Emitters

Repeat steps 2-4 for each AudioSource you want managed:

• Ambient music
• Sound effects
• Environmental audio
• Video player audio (set Disable GameObject When Culled to false)

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See Also

• WorldAudio-Subsystem — how the system works
• WorldAudio-Limitations — AVPro incompatibility, direct control restrictions
• OccludedEmitter — per-emitter configuration
• WorldAudioController — controller settings
• How to Set Up Reverb — emitter reverb configuration
• Troubleshooting — common WorldAudio issues