SketchUp supports the ability to place Enscape sound sources in your projects, which can add sound to your live walk-throughs, standalone exports and videos. You can use any .wav, .mp3, .ogg, .flac, or .raw sound file, which will be looped to play continuously while Enscape is running, if you have the sound enabled. There is no length or size limit on these files. When you have the sound enabled, the sound will get quieter the farther away you are from the source, but it is not affected by geometry. Enscape’s sound simulation is rather processor heavy, so if your project is too large or detailed, it may lead to a crash – which is why we recommend not to use too many sound sources at once.

To include a sound source in your Enscape standalone export, the sound must be enabled prior to exporting. If the sound is not enabled, it will not be included. It is not possible to remove or disable the sound in a standalone, if it was exported with sound. To include sound in videos created in Enscape, the sound must also be enabled prior to beginning the export.

A dialog window will open allowing you to select the sound source. By default Enscape opens the sound files that come shipped with Enscape, but you can also use your own sound files.

Once you have selected your sound file a speaker symbol will appear next to the mouse pointer in the SketchUp viewport allowing you to place the location of the sound source in the project. Click once to place the sound source.

You will then choose the axis direction. You can use the Left, Up, and Right arrow keys to set the specific axis direction along which to slide the sound source.

When the sound source is placed, you will be able to adjust the Volume, Full Volume and Zero Volume settings, and change your sound file. The Full Volume setting defines the distance from the sound source (in meters) that the sound is played at its full volume. Outside this radius, the sound will fade until it reaches the distance defined in the Zero Volume setting, at which distance the sound will stop playing altogether.

You can adjust the Full Volume and Zero Volume settings in the Enscape Objects window, or by clicking and dragging the red squares marked 2 and 3 above respectively. To adjust the placement of the sound source, click the red square marked 1. When the Full and Zero Volume values are the same, the sound starts or stops immediately when you enter or exit the radius of the circle.

Here’s a video showing an audio file being placed in SketchUp (please enable your audio on your system and in the video to hear the audio file).

You will need to have Enscape running to access the options to enable / disable the sound source, as well as to hide or show the sound source in the Enscape viewport.