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Mastering Game Audio: Tips and Tools for Sound Design in Gaming

Dive into the world of game audio with Thomas Dahlberg and learn the intricacies of sound design for games, films, and more. Discover how to gather, edit, and manipulate audio to breathe life into your projects. Get valuable tips on recording techniques, working with budget constraints, and utilizing sound libraries. Explore the tools and techniques of editing and manipulating audio, along with asset management strategies for game development. Enhance your skills in game audio with expert insights from a seasoned sound designer.

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Mastering Game Audio: Tips and Tools for Sound Design in Gaming

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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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