Audio Elements

audiosoundmusicelementseditor

Audio elements are sound files that live in your Ripple and can be played, paused, or stopped by actions. They are non-visual at runtime — participants hear the sound but don't see the element itself.

How Audio Elements Work

An audio element is essentially a sound asset with a name. It appears as a small icon in the editor for positioning and management, but it is invisible to participants. Other elements (images, shapes, or the scene itself) trigger playback through sound actions that target the audio element.

For example:

  • A "play" button image has a click action that plays the "Background Music" audio element
  • A scene activation action plays a "Welcome" audio element when participants arrive
  • A shape click stops all playing audio elements

Adding an Audio Element

  1. Click the Audio tool in the toolbox to place an audio element in the centre of your view, or drag it from the toolbox onto the canvas
  2. Upload a sound file
  3. Give it a descriptive name (e.g., "Applause", "Background Music", "Ding")

The audio element appears on the canvas as a small icon. Its position on the canvas does not affect playback — sound is not spatial.

Controlling Playback

Audio elements are controlled through sound actions attached to other elements. The available playback commands are:

  • Play — start playing the sound
  • Pause — pause at the current position
  • Stop — stop and reset to the beginning
  • Toggle — play if stopped, pause if playing

Each sound action can also specify:

  • Volume — how loud the sound plays
  • Loop — whether the sound repeats
  • Fade duration — smooth volume transitions when starting or stopping

Audio and Layers

Audio elements respect layer visibility. If you place an audio element in a layer and that layer is hidden, any sounds currently playing from that element will stop. This gives you a clean way to manage sound groups — hide the layer to silence everything in it.

Audio and Scenes

Like other elements, audio elements can be global (present in all scenes) or assigned to specific scenes. When a participant switches to a scene that doesn't include a particular audio element, that element's sound stops.

Tips

  • Use descriptive names — when you have multiple audio elements, clear names like "Quiz Correct Ding" or "Ambient Rain" make it much easier to wire up actions
  • Place audio elements near the visual elements that control them in the editor — it helps you stay organised
  • Use the loop option for background music and one-shot playback for sound effects
  • Layer-based audio grouping is a handy pattern: put all background sounds in one layer so you can mute them by hiding the layer