SpatDIF, the Spatial Sound Description Interchange Format, is an ongoing collaborative effort offering a semantic and syntactic specification for storing and transmitting spatial audio scene description. The SpatDIF core is a lightweight minimal solution providing the most essential set of descriptors for spatial sound scenes.
SpatDIF, the Spatial Sound Description Interchange Format, is an ongoing collaborative effort offering a semantic and syntactic specification for storing and transmitting spatial audio scene description. The SpatDIF core is a lightweight minimal solution providing the most essential set of descriptors for spatial sound scenes. Additional descriptors are introduced as extensions, expanding the namespace and scope with respect to authoring, scene description, rendering, and reproduction of spatial sound.
In computer music, many spatialization algorithms use a self-contained syntax and storage-format, wherein control messages (e.g. trajectories to move a sound virtually) programmed for one application are incompatible with any other implementation. This lack of a standardization complicates the portability of compositions and requires manual synchronization and conversion of control data - a time consuming affair. Incompatible data formats also prevent collaboration between researchers and institutions. The general idea is to develop of a format to describe, store and share spatial audio scenes across 2D/3D audio applications and concert venues. The ICST forms part of the team specifying and developing spatialization tools that use and promote the use of SpatDIF in the electronic music community.