The Action Pack is a plugin for Unreal Engine featuring 11 fully procedural sound effects models (all sounds generated on the fly, no stored samples) for popular “action” sounds;
helicopters, engines, gunshots, sirens, rockets, etc. The plugin also provides over 90 presets for you to chose from.
These models are implemented as Blueprint-Spawnable classes that can generate sound effects in real time, completely procedurally. Each model offers various functions to change
the parameters of the sound effect at runtime. Hence the parameters can be linked to any in-game events, which can lead to very organic and interesting results.
The models are wrapped in USynthComponent classes, an unreal engine base component. So our sound models are usable anywhere where USynthComponent is usable.
This means that any model can be added to almost any element in your scene, instantly turning it into a procedural sound effect generator.
It also allows you to design your sound exactly how you want it, directly inside the editor.
Supported Target Platforms: Windows (x64 & x32), Mac, Android, iOS, Linux, XBox One
Supported Unreal Engine versions: v4.26.0 or later.
Included models: Explosion, Gunshot, Rifle, Helicopter, Jet, Propeller, Rocket, Alarm, Alert, Siren, Fire
After purchasing the plugin from the marketplace, you can install it using the Epic Games launcher. To use the plugin in a project, it must be enabled first. In the Unreal Editor,
go to Edit->Plugins and type "Nemisindo" in the search bar. Locate the Action Pack and click "enable". Restart the editor for the changes to take effect.
The plugin’s UI can be accessed by clicking the Nemisindo button in the Editor toolbar, or going to Window → Nemisindo. It will let you preview presets to check what they sound like
before adding them to a blueprint.
Warning : The UI might take a few seconds to load the first time you use the plugin.
To add a sound generator to a blueprint, click on “Add Component”, then scroll down to “Procedural Sound Effect” (or alternatively search for SFX). There you will see all the different
sound generators and their presets. You can add as many as you want to a single blueprint. Presets are copies of the default models, but their parameters are already setup with specific
values to produce a certain sound.
Each model provides some parameters to control certain aspects of the sound. Once a model is added to a blueprint, the parameters will appear in Details Panel->Settings.
You can hover over them to get more information. If you cannot see the parameters in the details panel, make sure you have the model selected in the Components panel.
Example - The parameters of the Jet model :
Important: These settings are "Default parameters". Meaning they only dictate the values that the model will use when the game starts,
and cannot be changed directly at runtime. To change model parameters at runtime, check the section called Parameter Functions.
The “Start” function must always be called at some point in order to generate sound.
Here, this is linked to an “On Component Hit” event,
meaning that the Jet sound will start when the actor collides with anything, including players.
Some models generate sound as soon as Start is called, like the Jet model in the example above.
These "Continuous Output" models will keep producing sound indefinitely until the “Stop” function is called.
Other models need to be triggered, using their corresponding Trigger function. These "Trigger" models will
only produce sound if Start has been called.
Continuous Output models: Helicopter, Jet, Propeller, Alarm, Siren, and Fire.
Example of a basic setup for a Continuous Output model:
Running this blueprint will continuously generate a Fire noise as soon as the game starts.
Trigger models: Alert, Explosion, Rifle, Gunshot, and Rocket.
Example of a basic setup for a Trigger model:
Running this blueprint will generate a single explosion sound 5 seconds after the game starts.
Even though the Trigger models stop producing sound by themselves, we advice using the "Stop" function to completely pause a model when it is not in use.
This will improve game perfomance, because a model will keep making calculations in the background until it's manually stopped.
All models provide functions to change the sound parameters at runtime. This makes linking parameters to in-game events very easy.
The functions related to the models in your blueprint can be accessed by right-clicking in the event graph and scrolling down to (or searching for)
“Procedural Sound Parameters”.
Example 1:
Here, a counter driven by “Event Tick” increases with time, and its value is linked to the actor’s height and the Jet’s thrust parameter.
This will cause the actor to rise in the air while the Jet sound get more intense. This graph is a simplified version of the Jet actor in the Demo project.
Example 2:
This is the same concept as example 1, but two model parameters are being changed at the same time. A counter driven by “Event Tick” (not visible here) increases with time.
The value of this counter is used to update the Helicopter's Engine speed and Rotor speed simultaneously, so the helicopter will sound like it's taking off. You can
find this graph in the Demo project.
Example 3:
Here, everytime the Gunshot is triggered the variable "Var Multiplier" is set to a random value between 0.8 and 1.2. This random value is then passed to various
parameters of the Gunshot model. In other words, these parameters are being randomised within a 20% range of their original value. So everytime we fire our weapon, it will
sound slightly different. You can also find this graph in the Demo project.
Unreal Engine’s built-in post-processing effects can be applied to all models. We specifically recommend using spatialization and reverb. Our models are designed to sound “dry”
so they can sound natural once placed in an environment with reverb and spatialization enabled. Spatialization can be enabled in the details panel of the sound effect model.
Reverb and other effects (delay, distortion) can be applied using audio volumes and submixes, just like with any regular sound asset.
Maximum thrust: Maximum thrust that the jet can reach
Acceleration Time: Time it takes for the jet to reach the maximum thrust after start
Manual mode: When enabled, the Acceleration Time is ignored and thrust instantly reaches the value specified
by Maximum Thrust. Use this if you want to automate the thrust yourself. Disable if you want to use the built-in automation.
RPM: How fast the propeller is spinning (Rotations Per Minute)
Horse Power: Horse Power of the propeller
Number Of Blades: Number of blades on the propeller
Doppler: Whether or not the sound should be affected by the Doppler Distance parameter
Doppler Distance: When Doppler is enabled, this parameter affects the pitch of the sound.
Higher Value -> More pitch shift. Automate this parameter to simulate a doppler effect.
