Type Function Library audio.* Return value Boolean Revision Release 2024.3703 Keywords audio, seek, position See also audio.rewind()
Seeks to a time position on either an active channel or directly on the audio handle.
This function returns true on success or false if otherwise.
There are subtle behavior differences depending on whether you used audio.loadSound() or audio.loadStream() on what you are trying to seek:
For audio preloaded with audio.loadSound(), you may only seek using the options table parameter containing a channel parameter. You may not seek using the audioHandle parameter. This is because audio.loadSound() is optimized to share the audio data so you can play back multiple instances of the sound simultaneously (at different positions). Seeking the underlying data complicates this optimization.
In contrast, for streaming audio loaded with audio.loadStream(), you are expected to seek using the audioHandle parameter, but if you seek streamed data using the channel parameter, it will automatically seek as if you used the audioHandle parameter (so, you are allowed to specify either parameter safely).
Also note that for files loaded with audio.loadStream() which are currently playing, you may not hear the audio update immediately until after the current buffer finishes playing. If you want seemingly “instantaneous” seeking, you should stop the playback first using audio.stop(), seek, then start playing.
audio.seek( time [, audioHandle ] [, options ] )
Number. The time in milliseconds within the audio handle you want to seek to.
Object. The audio handle of the data you want to seek. This should only be used for audio loaded with audio.loadStream(). Do not use the options.channel parameter in the same call.
Table. Table that supports a single key, channel, which is the channel you want the seek operation to apply to. This is best for audio loaded with audio.loadSound(). Do not use the audioHandle parameter in the same call.
audio.seek( 5000, { channel=1 } ) -- Seek channel 1 to 5 seconds
audio.seek( 4000, backgroundMusic ) -- Seek the audio handle to 4 seconds