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MillimeterWorkflow Evolution
Dec 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By Dan Daley
As the tools for video-game audio get more sophisticated, the sound gets more complex and the workflow has to adapt.
Location, Location, Location
On NCsoft's Dungeon Runners and Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa titles, much of the sound effects are the equivalent of foley, says Tracy Bush, director of audio. Field recordings are done with both digital recorders running at 96kHz and a Nagra Audio four-track analog deck. “When we're recording gunshots, we'll put a shotgun microphone downrange from the shooter and a kick-drum-type of microphone, like an [Electro-Voice] RE20, at the shooter's feet, and record them to both formats,” he says. “The digital recording gives you tremendous crispness, and the analog recording has a great, fat midrange to it. When you mix them together, it's very dynamic.”
— D.D.
SFX Planning
As with linear-based media, sound effects have to make perfect sense to enhance the interactive elements. Sounds easy, right? “Think of a racing game like Need For Speed, where car engine sounds are a major factor,” says Charles Deenen of Electronic Arts. “They have to be loud, big, and proud. So the music has to be crafted carefully around the car engines, and careful frequency banding has to be used in order to make the material work together. You don't want car engines to sound small over music with similar tonality. Same goes for the timing of the elements — music can't get in the way of crashes. A lot of planning goes into what the elements should sound like together versus how they sound individually. It's easy to make smaller-sounding elements work together than making big sounds work well together.”
— D.D.
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