PS3 Audio: More Than Extra Channels

Speakers: Jason Page, Michael Kelly

Track: Audio

Format: Lecture

Experience Level: Intermediate

Description: Since June 2004, a team of engineers from the SCEE Technology Group audio department have been creating the PlayStation 3 audio SDK library: MultiStream. The features of this library show not only the capabilities of the PlayStation3, but also what next-gen really can mean for audio. The presentation examines the MultiStream library, explaining its features and the reasons behind some of the design decisions made during its development. It also looks at how the role of a content creator will change in the future due to the new possibilities available. How much more work is involved in a next-gen product, what resources are required, and what new skills must be learned to cope with these areas is explored.

From a producer's point of view, the talk investigates the evolving roll of an audio programmer and what is an audio programmer's roll with next-gen. Looking into the possibilities of DSP power on the PlayStation 3, the presentation cover not only what these DSP effects can deliver to the listener, but also how they can be used to the advantage of the development process. Developers planning on writing their own audio engine will also benefit, as the presentation aims to explain the issues and problems which the development team encountered along the way when designing and programming MultiStream.

The talk concludes by exploring new areas for research in audio for games, covering the design of new tools at SCEE which address the complex features introduced by next gen audio engines.