User harvest moon - Social Sound Design

Pursuing a career in Game Audio Programming

2011-07-13T06:46:20Z

Hi all,

I recently graduated from a two year program with an Associates in Applied Sciences in the field of Recording Arts, (focusing in game audio). So far, I'm having trouble finding work and feel like I should specialize myself into a certain facet of game production, rather than being "the sound guy".

I am considering taking my audio knowledge to a "normal" university that offers a computer science (or similar) program to pick up knowledge in the PC code realm. My intention is to combine my knowledge of audio and computer programming to bridge the gap between programming and game audio. That being said, I was wondering if any of you had any advice on that career move, or know of a more efficient, or practical route of making myself much more hire-able than my peers.

Thanks to anyone who responds!

Thoughts on Ableton Live?

2011-08-07T20:39:26Z

Anyone using Ableton for their sound designing and other audio editing needs? I also use PT8, but as of late, I've found Ableton to be a much more intuitive and streamlined DAW that allows to to do more with less time spent. Thoughts?

(By the way, I'm running Suite 8)

Help Learning UDK Audio Functionality

2011-08-07T18:26:46Z

Hi all,

I just got picked up on a project that is using UDK, I'm sound designing, but the project leaders are doing the audio implementation. I want to help out in anyway I can in order to streamline the process by utilizing UDK's audio tool kit to the fullest, unfortunately, I have never working in UDK, only in XNA and FMOD. Are there any good links that can get me up to speed with UDK's audio tool kit?

Answer by harvest moon for Do you play games?

2011-08-07T16:06:30Z

I have always been a gamer/musician hybrid, and therefor would split my free time between the two. Playing games as a video game sound designer could be called "case studies" or "research" because you're playing something that a group of audio engineers poured their heart into, and got paid a very nice paycheck for it. That being said, games such as Mass Effect 2 and Battlefield Bad Company 2 have outstanding audio work done, and have received numerous awards at GDC and other similar conventions.

As far as which ones games I go out and purchase goes, that's where youtube, and forums come in. I'm not a big fan of 60 dollar console games, and with the sad fact that businesses like blockbuster no longer are around to provide the public with a rental service to try things out before they commit to dropping serious dollars on a product they might end up disliking.

What I like to do, is learn who the sound team on the game is, and research those folks, and read anything that they might have posted on a forum, interview, etc... Because after all, those people are your "competition" and should be a driving force to push you to perfection. You'll usually find some repeated names, which gives me more of an incentive to find out what those guys did when they were my age, looking for work.

Finally, most of the time, new releases have something new to show to industry, including audio. I remember when I played Mass Effect 2 for the first time, and starting using my biotic powers, and started noticing little tricks the team used in order to keep that bassy, multi-band biotic sound sharp and clean while everything else is going on. (I won't divulge that, but it involves a side-chained low-pass filer built into the audio engine)

Anywho, I'm not going to tell you to buy every game you see, instead, try watching youtube videos of it, or on the games homepage for some in game footage, and read read read read everything you can. I know I can't afford a 60 dollar game every time I see something I want to play.

Cheers fellow sound buddy.

Answer by harvest moon for advice for getting a start in game audio

2011-08-06T23:54:23Z

Hi there, I'm going to respond as someone who is in the same boat as you are, recently graduating with an Associates in Recording Arts, focusing in Game Audio.

First off, The Aaron Marks book mentioned above is pretty much the bible in the Game Audio community, he (and many other famous sound designers) contributes not only practical information, but theory, and down to earth descriptions of how to handle certain situations. It's an easy read, very eat to digest, and very well written. Oh, also, anything by The Fat Man usually is taken as to be the highest of truths. (just google The Fat Man, you'll find what I'm talking about).

Moving forward, when I gradated (with honors) I thought I was gods gift to the gaming industry, and boy was I mistaken. Since many companies as of late have forced by budgetary constraints to lay off their audio team. Then, they (the game studio) usually end up contracting the same people anyways, just for a lesser cost, as outside contracted work. This makes it difficult for newcomers to find employment in the game industry. Whats more, 2-4 years in college, in fact, does not really give you enough time behind the tools you really need to master in order to flourish making games. For example, my Recording Arts course put me in front of ProTools a lot in the music recording, mixing, and post-production setting, which was fantastic, I learned how to navigate ProTools pretty effectively, learned a whole bunch about frequencies and the Hass effect and doppler and envelopes and gain structure and pitch and phase and timbre and resonance, etc etc etc. I also received some training with programs such as Peak Pro, and Sound Miner, however, I only received about two weeks of FMOD (audio middleware) training. While I did pick up FMOD Designer and Sandbox quickly, the lack of actually being able to make a working build and pass it off to the programming team (how do you do that anyway!?!) didn't help, and neither did not having a finished product to point prospective employers to. What I've found is that simply completing sound asset list assignments doesn't compare to the grueling grind of active game development and the twists and turns and heartbreaks and sweat and tears that it entails.

What I've learned from GDC and AES and from talking on forums such as this one, is that you must start at the bottom and prove yourself as you struggle your way up the ladder. (Again, I am only commenting as someone who is in the same situation as you). Currently, I am contributing (for free) to four separate game mod projects. The place I found these gigs is moddb.com, and indiedb.com, under the "jobs" tab over on the right. These are great websites that host and showcase mods done by teams who build games simply because they love to, and aren't financed by any larger corporation who would publish and release the game. For example, the project I just got hired on, called Renegade-x, is a remake of Command and Conquer Renegade from the early 2000's. Right now it is a mod for UT3, but they are acquiring new talent in order to re build it in UDK and provide a highly polished, stand-alone product. http://www.renegade-x.com/site/ (shameless, I know, but excited to be on this team) :)

Anyway, I digress

I would highly suggest doing some mod work, you'll be pleasantly surprised to find out how many of your favorite games are the host platform for some pretty impressive mods, with teams that are usually groups of people spread throughout the world, with other "real-life" jobs that keep them busy, and usually families, all coming together for the sake of making something great that the gaming community will appreciate and cherish for extending the life of that franchise ever so slightly. All for free.

Also, as a final note, as I work on these projects, I'm asking the team members to teach me certain programs (such as UDK's audio interface) that I never learned in school order for me to be a more valuable asset to the team, and make myself more hirable in the future. Also, I'm considering focusing mysely into audio programming, rather than straight sound designing, or composing. I asked a question on here not to long ago about just that, and from what I read, the industry needs good, quality audio implementers who want to do just that. I'm trying to relearn FMOD, and other programs such as Wwise, XNA, UDK etc...(I think the Crytek engine is public now too, I believe?) That's an incredible engine that will be churning out some fantastic games in the future.

Oh, and also check out the 'Global Game Jam', and see if you can get in one next year. It's a two day game design crunch mode held usually in a school or studio where participants stay up for 48 hours designing a small game, all designed around the predetermined common theme or topic. Teams from all over the globe participate, and at the end of the 48 hours, you submit to a central source and are judged and awarded and hosted on the Global Game Jam webpage. Sound designers are a rarity in these competitions, and although you'll be getting your butt kicked for 48 straight hours, you'll build some potentially great relationships with fellow game designers.

Sorry about the long post, but I hope this helps, and good luck with your career.

FMOD Studio 2011

2011-07-19T19:01:39Z

Hello everyone,

I asked a question a week or so ago about audio programming and my interest in becoming a dedicated audio implementer; recently I was on FMODs site and read about the sweet new features in Studio 2011 such as live mixing, use of professional DSP, mixer snapshots, etc...

My question is...

How pivotal do you think these new sets of live mixing, modulating, mastering, and overall workflow enhancing features are to the game dev team, and, should this be one of the very first things I seek to conquer as a prospective audio implementer? Or should I focus on knowing the version that is current exceptionally well?

Thanks!

Comment by harvest moon

2011-08-08T18:45:20Z

touche' sir... XD

Comment by harvest moon

2011-08-08T16:52:03Z

True, PT is the flagship audio editor, but I've recently come to appreciate Abletons UI and ease of processing, but it's not that great for film work.

Comment by harvest moon

2011-08-08T16:51:21Z

Sampler and Simpler are two of my favorite parts of Live, so much editing capability without altering files.

Comment by harvest moon

2011-08-08T16:50:43Z

That's why I originally got it, to expand my musical capabilities.

Comment by harvest moon

2011-08-08T16:50:16Z

QFT, I'm the same way!

Comment by harvest moon

2011-08-08T16:49:54Z

Same, I originally got it so that I could expand my musical capabilities into the digital realm easier (I'm a drummer), but after working with PT for a few years, I've moved towards Ableton for 80% of my work.

Comment by harvest moon

2011-08-08T16:48:58Z

Could you link me to your tutorials? I'm always looking to learn the program more thoroughly. I don't do much (if any) film work, so Ableton has been nothing short of perfect for my needs.

Comment by harvest moon

2011-08-08T00:51:16Z

Agreed, I use it to make one-shots and loops for games, and in my experience, I prefer Ableton for that reason. But I agree, nothing matches PT with film post work.

Comment by harvest moon

2011-08-08T00:50:21Z

Yeah, even though it has video capabilities (for free), it isn't really meant to do audio for film. Seeing that I'm not in that field, that doesn't bother me much, I'll still do work in PT if needed, but for one shot sounds and loops, I'll take Live over PT any day.

Comment by harvest moon

2011-08-08T00:49:01Z

I agree, Ableton just makes everything a little easier and quicker to do imo. I do also appreciate the easy of loading MIDI instruments and quickly writing music and building synths. Also, the pre-loaded audio effects and instruments aren't bad, and definitely out perform anything PT comes stock with. I don't do much film stuff, and if I do, it would be in PT.

Comment by harvest moon

2011-08-07T19:54:56Z

I was turned on to that by a friend as well, thanks guys!

Comment by harvest moon

2011-08-07T15:00:26Z

Beat me to it. Probably the best freeware available.

Comment by harvest moon

2011-07-22T20:42:57Z

I emailed FMOD, that was their response. Thanks all.

Comment by harvest moon

2011-07-22T20:42:11Z

Hi Dakota, Thanks for writing. Good question, studio is not released yet. We're still working on it, should be either at the end of this year or early next year. As a programmer you could quite easily use FMOD Designer 2010 and our programmer API. We have 2 APIs , one for low level sound manipulation (ie using sounds/channels/dsps/geometry) and another API for loading designer files and triggering events specified in designer. regards, Brett Paterson | CEO FMOD by Firelight Technologies Pty Ltd Interactive Audio Middleware | www.fmod.org

Comment by harvest moon

2011-07-19T22:35:11Z

So if I wanted to touch Studio, I would have to purchase the license? Or find a studio who has it already? I have some experience in Designer and Sandbox and just downloaded the API, but I only had about a two week course in FMOD, and everything was just previewed in Sandbox, not actually put in game. Should I just start diving back into FMOD full scale and learn it in and out for now?