Matinee - Sounds not playing at selected time anymore

Development Audio
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1

Hello,

We are using sound tracks in Matinee to synchronize many animations and events with a background music for an interactive experience.

Before version 4.9, when playing the matinee in the editor, the sound track would start at the time selected in the matinee window. If the time position is set to the middle of the sound track, the track will play from the middle.

Since the new release, the sound track will always play from the start no matter the time position, and therefore will be out of sync with the animation. Similarly, the sound track will be out of sync when playing the game if programmatically setting the matinee position at runtime.

The problem is easily reproduced on a new project, with a matinee actor and a single sound track in it.

After reading the release notes for the 4.9, I’m not entirely sure if it’s an intended change or a bug, but in either case it would be great to have a way to keep our workflow.

Thanks,

Garry

2

Hey LittleBigPixels,

I just tested what you are reporting here and was unable to reproduce the issue. In order to make sure our tests coincide with one another and the steps match, would you mind providing me with some simple reproducible steps and compare them against my own to verify this issue is in fact a bug?

Here are the steps I took getting an audio track to play through matinee:

  • Create a new Matinee Actor in a 4.9.1 project.
  • In the Matinee editor, create a new Director Group.
  • Create a New Camera Group and add some keyframed movements around the scene.
  • Create a New Empty Group and named it Audio Track
  • Right-clicked on new Audio Track group and added a ‘New Sound Track’
  • With my Sound Cue selected in the browser, I added a keyframe at around the 15 second mark to set where I would like the audio to begin playing.
  • Saved and exited my matinee.
  • With the Matinee selected in the level, I chose the ‘Play on Level Load’ option.
  • Pressed PIE (Play in Editor).
  • Sound Track successfully plays audio.

My guess as to the reason this issue is occurring on your end, is that you have upgraded you projects version and the reference within the Matinee of your Sound Cue has been broken or corrupted. This could be due to moving files around or just that it needs to be re-associated.

Let me know if you are still experiencing the issue after following the steps provided, or if you have further questions/comments.

Cheers,

3

Hi Andrew,

I think you misunderstood my explanation, so sorry for not being clear enough. The problem occurs when you move the time cursor before playing the matinee inside the matinee editor.

Here is a proper step-by-step reproduction:

Steps:

  • Create a New Blank Project, with either 4.8.3 or 4.9.1 engine version.
  • Import a .wav audio file in the project.
  • Create a New Matinee Actor in the level.
  • Create a New Empty Group named “Audio Group”
  • Right Click on the Group to create a New Audio Track
  • Press Enter to Add a Keyframe at the beginning of the matinee. The editor automatically selects the previously imported file.
  • Left Click on the Timeline to move the time to the Middle of the Audio Track.
  • Press Play inside the Matinee Editor.

Observed Result:

  • Engine 4.8.3: The matinee play from the selected time, and the audio stream plays from the selected location and onward.
  • Engine 4.9.1: The matinee play from the selected time, but the audio stream plays from the beginning.

I will reproduce those steps in two new project (4.8.3 and 4.9.1) and add it to this subject for you convenience.

Garry

4

Here is a link to the projects I have set up to illustrate the problem:

Projects

5

Hey LittleBigPixels,

I was able to test and confirm this issue on my end and have gone ahead and entered a bug for the issue
(UE-21363).

Thank you for taking the time to clarify and provide me with repro steps as this helped me write the bug report. When a fix is implemented for this issue we will add it to our Release Notes on our Documentation page, or in our Hotfix release notes on our Announcements and Releases section within the Forums.

Let me know if you have any other questions or concerns.

Cheers,