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How To Lead A Creative Kick-Off Meeting

  • November 27, 2017
  • Posted By "Admin"

One of the most daunting stages in the collaborative process relates to how and where to start with the creative and logistical partnership with a game developer or publisher.

Approaching a new game or, even more so, jumping in on a live product, can sometimes be an overwhelming experience. We have participated in more than a few meetings with game developers, producers, game designers, programmers, and creative directors wherein time was spent in discussions, but at the end of the call, we are no closer to understanding what is needed, or what the vision for the game is. This phenomenon birthed an approach for us that works well for all stakeholders in the project. (more…)


KingsRoad Sound Design Q&A With Michael Bross

  • November 27, 2017
  • Posted By "Admin"

1. What have you been working on for Rumble’s KingsRoad game over the past 18+ months?

We’ve been working on all audio aspects of the game, including the full range of sound design and music as well as character voices. In the early stages, we were also doing implementation (both remote and onsite). (more…)


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Game Audio Field Report #2: Happy Birthday Marvel Heroes!

  • November 27, 2017
  • Posted By "Admin"

June marks the first anniversary of the public release of Marvel Heroes, so what better time to recount the time I’ve put into the game? It has been nearly 2 years since I first set foot in the Gazillion building, so here it goes… (more…)


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Best Practices For Fine-Tuning and Polishing In Casual Game Audio Implementation

  • November 27, 2017
  • Posted By "Admin"

The Circle of Development Trends

Casual and mobile game development tends to be cyclical, with a big hit game leading developers to create games with similar themes and gameplay. In the early and mid-2000′s, we worked on a lot of Match-3 style games that followed in the wake of the success of titles like Bejeweled and Zuma. (more…)


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Indie Game Feature – Incarnate: Body Mind and Soul

  • November 27, 2017
  • Posted By "Admin"

Skeleton Hand is a Chicago-based company that is currently in the process of creating their first game titled Incarnate: Body Mind and Soul. With their unique game concept, Skeleton Hand will redefine how both turn-based strategy and living-card games are played. (more…)


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7 Reasons Why Mobile Game Devs Should Use Wwise

  • November 27, 2017
  • Posted By "Admin"

As an audio director, I’m always interested in ways to create the most amazing audio experiences possible in a game. In the last 10 years, we’ve seen valuable developments in game-side audio tools that have aided in these efforts. Once such software tool / engine is Wwise.

Wwise is a powerful interactive sound engine for games that has traditionally only been accessible by AAA / big budget games, but in the last couple of years, it also began supporting iOS and Android. This is a great benefit for mobile game devs, as it gives them access to tools that pave the way for an impactful audio contribution to the overall experience.

Wwise Audiokinetic

Here are 7 reasons why mobile developers should seriously look at using Wwise:

1. It’s free. For games that use under 200 audio assets, Wwise is free. This is great news for mobile game developers, since most mobile titles require less than that.

2. Lowers development costs. Instead of devoting precious engineering time to create an audio engine for your game, a powerful solution is available that requires little time to get up and running.

3. Reduces burden on developer. Wwise allows your audio team (whether internal or external) to effectively manage and integrate the audio content. This frees the rest of your team to focus on other tasks.

4. Proven tools. Wwise has been used on a ton of games, from Assassin’s Creed to Zoo Tycoon to hundreds of other titles. We’ve used it here at SomaTone for games like Marvel Heroes and Oddworld, as well as a number of other titles.

5. Exceeds Unity / Unreal audio tools. Audio features in Unity and Unreal are basic and don’t allow your team to harness the emotional power that great music and sound design can bring to the table. Wwise really blows away audio tools in these engines.

6. Unity / Unreal Integration. It’s already supported by the makers of these game engines, so that means less hassle for your developers to integrate into your game engine.

7. Better audio. Last but not least, it will allow your sound designers and composer to create a better audio experience in your game because it gives them access to a slew of powerful audio-oriented features from audio behavior settings to integration.

With all these benefits, there’s no reason why mobile game devs should not look at Wwise. For information on Wwise:
https://www.audiokinetic.com/products/wwise/

For more information on the free license:
https://www.audiokinetic.com/licensing/free-limited-commercial/

Watch for more in-depth coverage of this topic coming soon in our blog.


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Game Audio Field Report #1

  • November 27, 2017
  • Posted By "Admin"

An introduction to the on-site audio guy

By Ben Gabaldon, Sound Designer, SomaTone Interactive.

I’m happy to be writing today on the difference between creating sound for games, and creating sound with games. More specifically, the difference between on-site and “over the wall” audio development. That is certainly not to say that “over the wall” is the wrong approach, but the process is very different. It’s impossible to say one is better than the other, because they both offer completely different advantages. But, in this post, I’m going to discuss how awesome and effective it is to be an “audio paratrooper” of sorts.

On a regular basis, I am sent to the front lines of audio content creation and integration at our clients’ offices, in the middle of, or toward the end of production, to connect in person and work alongside the team of people creating a product. It’s never just a product though, it’s their game. It’s what this group of designers, VFX artists, software engineers, animators, modelers, etc., have all come together to shape into something they really care about.

There is always such passion and intensity in the development that comes through with that day- to-day contact. I get to see it in the team meetings, casual lunches, and in anecdotal conversation on a more personal level about all that this assembly of artists is really trying to achieve. Becoming directly part of that team, and that environment of creative conversation, leads to a more immediate ability to contribute to the needs of the team. It can be like playing darts, throwing 3 darts at a time from a distance. Or standing right there next to the board, sticking the darts exactly where you need to.

A day in the life of an on-site audio person varies from team to team. Communication styles vary; team meetings and relationships do too. The shifting sands extend especially to how each team can support their brand new audio contractor guy that just showed up. In some cases, there is a dedicated audio engineer ready to create audio tools into Unreal. In the next, a smaller team of software engineers working furiously to get the next patch stable, just doesn’t have the time to fix a line of code to get your build playable. Adaptability has quickly become my best friend over the past few years of working on site. It doesn’t matter how experienced you are with one or two audio tools, it’s how well you adapt to all new pipelines, engines, and sometimes all new audio tools.

Have you seen Apollo 13, where Houston dumps out that bag of seemingly unrelated components with the expectation to make them filter oxygen? That’s often what I get handed to me, and I love to sort out the solution. But when you are simply creating sound assets for a team under that level of pressure to integrate and manage on their own, you just know that nobody will walk away with a fistful of bulls-eyes.

In contrast, working integrally alongside game development teams delivers enormous benefits to the creative process and overall results in game audio excellence.
Being there, up close and personal, makes all the difference.

Watch for my next entry, when I’ll share more about my on-site adventures.


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Demystifying the Voice-over Process

  • November 27, 2017
  • Posted By "Admin"

Ultimately, the right voice actors strengthen gamers’ relationship to game universe.

As a voice-over producer, a lot of what I do is carry the client through the voice-over process, from casting and script preparation, recording and directing our talent, to mastering and delivering files on time.

It is highly beneficial to work on the voice-over for a game as soon as concepting and writing have begun– an integral approach that is equally true for the casual mobile titles, as it is to AAA console experiences.

Since dialogue is one of the most effective tools for connecting players to a game and its universe, having the right talent in the booth and directors in the control room make all the difference.

What is most important to any voice director is capturing the right feeling and emotion from every actor in their studio. It’s all about ensuring that context is properly portrayed, and that every line informs the gamer of what they need to know, strengthening their relationship to a games universe.

Calling Central Casting:!
When a rough script for a new project is submitted, I ramp up into the casting process. Depending on the scope of the game, I submit casting documents to talent agencies and private contractors. In its simplest form, a casting document contains all the information for a needed character, any voice references, sample art, and several test lines for the actors to read. After receiving our first round of auditions back, we shortlist the most qualified voices, and submit them back to the game’s producers and directors to review and choose. We cast in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Vancouver, and have access to studios and contractors all over the US.

Record, Master, Edit for Sonic Perfection:
After a project has been through casting, and the roles have been filled, we schedule actors in one of our studios to come in and record. Game producers and directors often attend the sessions– if not in person, then connected and listening via Skype. Even if a client has little to no experience working with dialog or actors in their games, having their input and presence at the sessions is extremely helpful for both me, as the director, and the actors.

One of the last phases of the voice-over process is editing and mastering. During a session, we make notes about which takes we liked the best, and which performances were most authentic. These all go to our editor, who cleans and processes the files, removes vocal clicks and imperfections, and masters them to be played back in game. Commonly in video games, a single line may play multiple times, and in those cases, it’s not uncommon for us to deliver five or six versions of line to avoid becoming repetitive. After our dialog has been through editorial, it goes back to the developer, and is finally implemented in game.

Strengthening Players’ Relationship to Game through Sound:
What is most important to any voice director is capturing the right feeling and emotion from every actor in their studio. It’s all about ensuring that context is properly portrayed, and that every line informs the gamer of what they need to know, strengthening their relationship to a game’s universe. Working with such an experienced team, as at SomaTone, simplifies and streamlines the process and consistently yields great sounding game dialogue.


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Somatone’s 10 Keys to Great Game Audio

  • November 27, 2017
  • Posted By "Admin"

When it comes to achieving excellence in game audio, here are 10 key components to keep in mind throughout the creative process:

1) Communication – The heart of it all and sometimes the most difficult issue to address, especially when working from afar. Projects and teams can vary greatly, you’ve got to learn to be compatible, resourceful and assertive to make sure you are heard and you’re giving and receiving the information you need. Modern technology has made it easier for us to work remotely but nothing beats good old-fashioned face-to face real-time communicating, which is highly encouraged when kicking off a project.

2) Creativity – On all fronts, this is what drives us. Recording, designing, implementing and problem-solving all can take a nice healthy touch of creativity to help shape the overall tone of a project.

3) Gameplay Driven Approach – Who What When Where Why? Ultimately we are here to support the gameplay, the fun, the action, not to distract from it. There are exceptions of course where audio can take front seat but most of the time we want to work in harmony with the action on screen. Thus we are driven by each project’s gameplay, it affects decisions of all kinds.

4) Implementation – (aka integration) is taking all moving parts of the machine and then putting them together to run just right. This is big and not everyone is aware of it. Without proper implementation, a game’s audio can be ruined.

5) Iteration – Iteration, iteration, iteration. So important in our line of work. You might have created an amazing sound in a linear presentation, but once it’s hooked up in a non-linear universe functioning with all the other moving parts, it could not work at all. Playtesting, revising, testing, revising is the name of the game.

Game Audio Collaboration Somatone

 

6) Collaboration – There is great value in working with others. As sound guys sometimes we like to retreat to our studios, shut the door and make loud noises. Certainly this is encouraged but first and mostly throughout a project, collaboration is where things get done. Establish relationships, hangout around the snacks, sneak in to other team meetings, discuss ideas out loud, if you’re remote make visits to the office once a month, get skype accounts of everyone you’re working with, all these are healthy habits of collaboration.

7) Mixing & Dynamics – It’s all in the mix! This is where the magic happens, the joining together of all your elements. Recording, designing, implementing all require knowledge and awareness. It’s the cornerstone of what we do in audio and a powerful tool for making your aural creations come to life!

8) VO Production – A whole art in and of itself. From the recording, directing, editing and mastering a meticulous approach is needed in each action in order to capture the essence/performance of the human voice and transfer that to a non-linear environment.

9) Experience – Walking the streets of a busy urban downtown area, listening to the way people interact, standing in a field out in the country in the middle of the night under a full moon, watching the latest Marvel film, playing the latest big game. Game Audio is like a painting, all these experiences give inspiration and help shape our sound.

10) Leadership – With experience comes leadership. Taking up the reins, guiding the ship, having confidence in your craft and the ability to communicate that effectively and execute on command.


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Merging New Sound Design To Match Existing Sound Design

  • November 27, 2017
  • Posted By "Admin"

Recently I had a project where a client had come to us with a great casual game. Unlike others, this game was not a clean blank slate of sound nor was it in development. This game had partial sound coverage that the client was married to and they had asked to replace some of the sounds and add to it, but for the most part keep their old assets.

Now to me this is a rarity, because usually I will find a game that gives me, as a sound designer, more creative control because I get to start from scratch while also watching art and game design develop in the process. And the kicker here was, the sounds they wanted to keep, were actually really great-sounding and very fitting to the game. So talking them out of it was out of the question.

The challenge began.

I started by analyzing what the game was all about just by simply playing it. Again, it was a finished, working game. After experiencing what the game was all about, I had a good idea as to what the developer wanted to do with the sounds and how they wanted to use them for the player experience. By first getting in the head of the developer, I then ventured to the mind of the original sound designer. Questions I asked myself were, “Was he trying to complement the music or was he trying to have good separation?” “Was their design harsh and fast or slow and subtle?”

I figured that they wanted fast but subtle, complementary to the music, very airy, and a certain sound that I like to call, “expensive.” By expensive I don’t mean price, what I mean is sound effects that have high frequency content, are very shimmery on the top end, no muddiness to the sound or attack that is hurtful or annoying to the ear and that are very clear.

Lastly, I looked into what would be the best way to approach finding elements for this design. After going through a couple of libraries of sounds, I soon realized that the “expensive” sounds that I was looking for were only going to be achieved through the use of instruments. I then looked into instruments that I could use with my sound design to make this happen. I found chimes and bells to be the best answer for the job and the rest was smooth sailing from there. I find spending a little bit of time doing the research and brainstorming on a project can go a long way rather than just jumping in and taking a risk. I definitely streamlined my design process and I would encourage anyone to do the same.

Merging existing game sound with new sound is yet another way to be challenged creatively as a sound designer, and taking the time to carefully develop fresh ideas can make all the difference in creating results that everyone loves.

– See more at: https://somatone.com/blog/merging-new-sound-design-to-match-existing-sound-design/?newpostid=2097#sthash.02SLOAzc.dpuf


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