Creating Game Audio
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Transcript Creating Game Audio
Creating Game Audio
With Thomas Dahlberg
A little about me…
Graduated in 2010 from the Savannah College of Art and
Design.
Background in audio for film and animation.
Owner of Dahlberg Sound LLC.
Been working as a professional sound designer for mobile
games for two years.
Have spoken at ECGC and GSU on game audio
development.
Side note: I will make this PowerPoint available for
download from my website www.DahlbergSound.com
What does a Sound Designer do?
Manipulate audio for games, film, television, theatre,
sound art, etc.
The Sound Designers for a company create most of, if
not all, of the sound effects for a game.
They accomplish this through:
Taking recorded audio (either by themselves or someone
else) and manipulating it through digital or analog means.
Sound effects give the game life.
If done right, not many people will notice your work.
Getting Started
A way to…
Gather Audio- whether through recording or from
libraries
Edit Audio- Desktop Audio Workstation (DAW)
Get them in an engine- a way to hear those sounds play
back in a game.
Gathering Audio:
Original Recordings
“If it sounds good, it is good” – Duke Ellington
Field Recording vs. Studio Recording
Field: Portable recording device, microphone, wind
protection, cables, boom pole and/or pistol grip
Studio: Computer with DAW, USB Microphone or a
regular microphone with an interface.
The Zoom h4n is an affordable handheld recorder
that can be used in the field or in the studio
Gathering Audio:
Original Recordings
My mobile recording setup a year ago.
Gathering Audio:
Tips for Recording
Controlling the environment
Turn off a/c or anything that may create a hum
Have family, friends, roommates, etc. be quite.
Make sure there is no music playing in the background
Microphone placement
Recording from a different angle can drastically change the
character of the sound.
Have a nice pair of circumaural headphones
Be patient and always record more than you need
Document every take!
Gathering Audio:
Tips for Recording
A sound report
for my Zoom
h4n.
Original Recordings:
Budgetary Constraints
Possible Expenses:
Location based: travel, gas, renting a location
Gear Rental: microphones, recorders, mixers, batteries,
cables, and a truck to transport all this gear.
Hiring Extra People: armorer, fire marshal, police, extra
manpower, etc.
Having to carry money to pay off noisy neighbors. (it
happens...)
After all of this, you still have to edit everything!
Gathering Audio:
Library Sounds
Not always economical to record
everything.
Dangerous/expensive activities
Exotic animals
Contrary to popular belief, you can
make original designs from SFX
libraries.
“Designing from” vs. “Copy, trim,
and paste”
Gathering Audio:
SFX Libraries
Professional Libraries can be expensive:
Blastwavefx.com, SoundSnap.com, SoundDogs.com,
ProSoundEffects.com
FreeSound.org
Editing
Editing Audio
Free DAWs (Desktop Audio Workstation)
Windows – Audacity
Apple OSX – Garage Band (comes standard with OSX)
Paid DAWs
Avid Pro Tools
Apple Logic
Sony Sound Forge
Reaper
Nuendo
Manipulation of Audio
Equalization- Remove unwanted frequencies
Delay- Add echoes
Reverb- Make it sound like it’s in a specific space
Compression- Compress the dynamic range
Modulation- Create a tremolo or vibrato effect.
Pitch/Time- Slow down or speed sounds to make them
sound other worldly.
Reverse- Make the sound play backwards. Can be very
creepy
EQ, Delay, Compression,
and Pitch shifting
Breaking Down A Sound
Figure out the game logic before editing any audio
Will the sound…
be a one-shot?
loop?
have multiple states?
need to have several different versions?
Audacity Demonstration
Game Engines and Middleware
Free to learn, not to publish, game engines
Unreal Development Kit (UDK)
Unity3D
Free to learn, not to publish, audio middleware
WWISE
FMOD
UDK Demonstration
Asset Management
Use a standardized naming convention for your
project
Earth_Attack_001, Mars_Attack_001
Use _### for works in progress. Drop the numbers
for final.
Spreadsheets
Keep up to date on the latest WIP number
Update the status of the effect
Asset Management
Asset Management:
Deliverables
File types?
Wav, ogg, mp3, wma
Sample rate, bit depth, bit rate
UDK requires .wav at 16bit
Naming Conventions
UDK doesn’t allow spaces
Saving space for mobile games
Shorten loops
Compress files or lower resolution
Any Questions?
www.DahlbergSound.com
[email protected]
Additional reading:
Sound Effects Bible by Ric Viers