Godot Feature: Add Ogg Vorbis Quality Setting
Hey guys! Today, we're diving into a crucial feature request for the Godot Engine that could significantly impact game development: adding a quality setting to the Ogg Vorbis importer. This proposal stems from a real-world challenge encountered while developing a commercial game, and it highlights the importance of efficient audio file management. So, let's get started!
The Problem: Bloated Ogg Vorbis File Sizes in Godot
In game development, file size is a critical consideration. Large file sizes can lead to longer download times, increased storage requirements, and performance issues, especially on lower-end devices. When working on my project, Rift Riff, I ran into a perplexing issue with Ogg Vorbis audio files in Godot.
I found that the imported Ogg Vorbis files were actually larger than the original files! For example, one file that was 7.48 MB before import ballooned to 7.66 MB after being imported into Godot. This unexpected increase in file size raised a red flag. It became clear that the lack of quality control during the import process was a significant limitation.
To illustrate the issue further, I exported the same music snippet from my DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) at three different quality settings: 10, 5, and 0. Here's a breakdown of the file sizes:
- Export Quality 10: 2.1 MB
- Export Quality 5: 720 KB
- Export Quality 0: 280 KB
The most striking observation here is that the difference in audio quality between the highest (10) and lowest (0) settings is virtually indistinguishable to the average listener. However, the file size difference is a whopping 75%! This demonstrates the massive potential for file size reduction by implementing a quality setting in the Ogg Vorbis importer.
This is a big deal for commercial game projects where optimizing file sizes is paramount. Imagine the cumulative impact of these size differences across dozens or even hundreds of audio files in a game. It's easy to see how a quality setting could lead to significant savings in storage space and bandwidth.
The Solution: Implementing a Quality Setting in the Ogg Vorbis Importer
The solution to this problem is straightforward: add a quality setting to the Ogg Vorbis importer in Godot. This would give developers the ability to control the compression level applied during the import process, allowing them to strike a balance between audio quality and file size.
As you can see in the image included in the original proposal, most DAWs offer a quality setting when exporting Ogg Vorbis files. This setting typically ranges from 0 to 10, with 10 being the highest quality (and largest file size) and 0 being the lowest quality (and smallest file size). Godot's importer should offer a similar control.
This feature enhancement would directly address the issue of inflated file sizes and empower developers to optimize their audio assets more effectively. By providing a quality setting, Godot would align itself with industry-standard practices for Ogg Vorbis encoding and offer a more streamlined workflow for audio asset management.
How This Feature Would Work
While I'm not a C++ guru or an audio encoding expert, I can envision how this feature might work conceptually. The importer would need to expose a new setting in the import dialog, allowing users to select a quality level for Ogg Vorbis files. This setting would then be passed to the underlying Ogg Vorbis encoding library during the import process.
Ideally, the quality setting would be a slider or a numerical input field, allowing for fine-grained control over the compression level. Godot could also provide some presets, such as
