by CG Meerkat·Audio
Images © CG Meerkat. Used for product review; image policy.
Cycleacoustics Reverb Generator earns its place in the superhive library for an unusual approach: it repurposes the Cycles render engine as a sound simulator, tracing rays from an emitter to a camera-based listener to build convolution reverb impulse responses.
Cycleacoustics Reverb Generator is a Blender add-on for generating reverb impulse responses from models of reverberant environments such as rooms, caves and halls. Its name is a portmanteau of "Cycles" and "psychoacoustics", and it simulates sound using Cycles raytracing to generate convolution reverb impulse responses. It is aimed at Blender artists, music producers and filmmakers.
The add-on uses the Cycles render engine to trace the paths sound can take from an emitter object to a listener or microphone represented by the camera. Special material setups keep track of total ray travel distances, number of bounces, and high and low frequencies. By generating impulse responses from 360º camera renders, the algorithm pans and alters the timing and frequency responses of incoming sound rays based on their angular directions.
Two editions are available. The Lite edition includes basic mode and one environment, while the Full edition adds psychoacoustic mode, indirect-only mode and four environments. Timing is based on the speed of sound, which you can change, so scenes modeled to scale produce accurate sound travel times. Audio sample rates of 44.1 KHz and 48 KHz are supported.
Cycleacoustics Reverb Generator is best for blender artists, music producers and filmmakers who want to generate reverb impulse responses from 3D models of rooms and other reverberant spaces.
Cycleacoustics Reverb Generator is completely free to download and use.
Cycleacoustics Reverb Generator relies on Blender's Cycles render engine, which it uses to trace the paths sound can take from an emitter object to a listener or microphone represented by the camera. For the calculations to work as intended, the Cycles sample count must be set to 1. Rather than raising samples for quality, you enlarge the render resolution, which should be square, so more reflections are caught for a more lush reverb. Larger scenes such as bigger rooms generally need higher resolutions to fill out their longer reverb tails.
Cycleacoustics Reverb Generator comes in two editions. The Lite edition includes the add-on with basic mode and one environment, the Living Room & Kitchen scene. The Full edition adds psychoacoustic mode, indirect-only mode for generating wet-only impulse responses, and four environments: Living Room & Kitchen, Bathroom, Gymnasium and Tunnel. In basic mode, reflections are panned left and right depending on their direction with no changes to frequency response. Psychoacoustic mode slightly delays reflections in the left and right channels depending on direction and also adjusts the frequency response.
Cycleacoustics Reverb Generator supports audio sample rates of 44.1 KHz and 48 KHz. You set the scale of your scene using the speed of sound in Blender units per second, so scenes modeled to scale produce accurate sound travel times. The add-on renders with a 360º mirror ball camera and then generates a stereo impulse response. You can also save a render result as a 32-bit RGBA EXR file for later impulse response generation, rather than generating the IR straight away.
Cycleacoustics Reverb Generator works with specific material setups and a particular render configuration, so the recommended starting point is one of the included starter template .blend files, which have the CycleAcoustics materials and render setup ready to use. Available templates include an Empty scene and Living Room & Kitchen, with Small Bathroom, Concrete Traffic Tunnel and School Gymnasium also included in the Full edition. From there you render with a 360º mirror ball camera at a square resolution and generate a stereo impulse response.
Cycleacoustics Reverb Generator is listed as free in this catalog. It comes in a Lite edition and a Full edition, which differ in the modes and number of environments included, so for current licensing details and what each edition provides it's best to check the developer's page. The Lite edition ships with basic mode and one environment, while the Full edition adds psychoacoustic mode, indirect-only mode and four environments.
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