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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.

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Creating Game Audio

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  1. Creating Game Audio With Thomas Dahlberg

  2. 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

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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

  6. Gathering Audio:Original Recordings My mobile recording setup a year ago.

  7. 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!

  8. Gathering Audio:Tips for Recording A sound report for my Zoom h4n.

  9. 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!

  10. 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”

  11. Gathering Audio:SFX Libraries • Professional Libraries can be expensive: • Blastwavefx.com, SoundSnap.com, SoundDogs.com, ProSoundEffects.com • FreeSound.org

  12. Editing

  13. 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

  14. Manipulation of Audio EQ, Delay, Compression, and Pitch shifting • 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

  15. 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?

  16. Audacity Demonstration

  17. 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

  18. UDK Demonstration

  19. 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

  20. Asset Management

  21. 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

  22. Any Questions? • www.DahlbergSound.com • Tom@DahlbergSound.com • Additional reading: • Sound Effects Bible by Ric Viers

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