Posted on No Comments on Project Reflection #2

Project Reflection #2

Aims – The aim of this project is to work alongside Colossal Creations to create sound design for their 3D Environment/Games level based off of H.P Lovecraft’s Cthulhu.

At the start of Audio Project #2 I set this as my aim. This has ultimately been achieved by working closely alongside the client and finding out their needs and meeting their expectations a professional level. The client is pleased with the result of the end product and has no negatives to be said after any flaws they found were ironed out.

Objectives – 

For the objectives I will write a short paragraph following each bullet point.

  • Liaise with client to clearly understand their vision. – This has been achieved with the final product. The client explained their needs for the project and through careful questioning I was able to pinpoint their vision and deliver a professional final product.
  • Record a wide range of audio and create sound effects for the clients environment but also building my own sound library for future projects. – This ojective wasn’t achieved for this project, however, through further conversations with both the client and individuals working within the Game Audio industry, as well as discussions had with David in tutorial sessions, I found that the need to record and create a sound library for a project such as the one taken on wasn’t hugely necessary. Individuals such as Barney Oram, Suddi Raval and Nick Dixon explained that within the industry you’re access to sound libraries overtakes the need to record your own – especially when working to a deadline. I would have enjoyed to create a sound library an have the experience of doing so, however liaising with the client drove the project into a different direction.
  • Compose music working to clients vision; getting feedback from client throughout the process. – As the project went on, composing a soundtrack to work with the clients vision became the main focus. The client gave examples of how they imagined the level would sound in terms of referencing games such as the Uncharted series or the Tomb Raider series. This set a foundation for myself to build upon. After sending the final mix over to the client I got the feedback that it matched their vision and sounded like a “more sinister version of the Tomb Raider 2 menu theme song”, which is a reference track I hadn’t listened to. However instantly recognized from our childhood.
  • Build sound to picture on a linear timeline using Pro-Tools. – For this project I didn’t use Pro-Tools. I found that my workflow naturally took to using FL Studio for the majority of work and only a few sound effects were added into a timeline whilst editing the visuals and audio together in Adobe Premiere Pro. This didn’t make any difference to the final product. However using Pro-Tools and gaining a further insight into industry standard software could have proven helpful when looking for employment.
  • To create a finished piece of work which can be discussed and explored further into my personal portfolio. – This has been achieved and now all work from Audio Project #1 and #2 are currently hosted on my website; which can be found at http://benward94.wixsite.com/benwvrd 

Learning Outcomes –

  • To improve skills with working to a client project at a professional standard for the real world industry.
  • To understand  the standard work flow and job role of a Sound Designer within the games industry.
  • To have researched sound design techniques & sound designers that can aid my personal development in reaching the games industry.
  • To identify the key skills needed for a graduate needed to enter the games industry.

For my learning outcomes I feel like all four have been achieved and documented throughout my research blog. I am now a lot more confident with my knowledge within the game audio industry and community. As well I have found myself enjoying the creative freedom that comes with composing music for video games. I am going to continue working on projects such as this over the next year to create a professional portfolio of work and be able to create my own unique style, which will hopefully lead into a career path in this industry.

 

Posted on No Comments on Project reflection #1

Project reflection #1

This project has been technically challenging but extremely rewarding. Working towards a client project is something I haven’t really experienced before so I felt like I was thrown into the deep end with it. However, I found myself thinking of my client as a regular customer at work which helped the experience.

Building a rapport wasn’t 100% necessary for this project as I was working for my older brother, so we were already on the same page and both really excited to finally be able to work together. I found it really important to approach questions, that either myself or Nick had, differently depending on the information that I needed to be able to gain, this is something that I have already reflected upon in my blog. Being able to match Nick’s needs for the project was a steep learning curve for myself; I wanted to be able to create the piece of music that I had in mind but as I am still learning how to utilize orchestral instruments within a virtual environment I had a lot of work to put in. David pointed me in the direction of Spitfire Audio and specifically the video LCO Strings – How To Blend Dry & Ambient Libraries Together which discusses the technique of mixing and automating VST orchestral instruments together. Videos such as this combined with producers such as Varien and his videos on creating virtual orchestral music made a huge diffrence in how I have thought about approaching my mix and hopefully has transferred into the end product.

Throughout the entire process I have been sending Nick various arrangements and mixes back and forth to get his opinion and tailor the sound to his needs. He has been relatively happy and in the instances that he wasn’t, he sent me reference tracks to keep the project on track. An example would be when discussing the strings sections, Nick couldn’t explain musically what he was expecting, so he referred me to the Menu Theme of Tomb Raider 2. This worked really well in being able to communicate ideas back and forth in a language we could both understand.

Learning how to extract information from a client has been one of the biggest benefits I’ve had from doing the project. It is a skill which I have found incredibly useful and is something that will be used in any client based work I do in the future.

Posted on No Comments on Tutorial Session #5, #6 and #7

Tutorial Session #5, #6 and #7

What we discussed – With the final stages of my pre-production research completed I was in full swing of creating my final piece of work for the client. These three tutorial sessions were slow in terms of workload that needed to be done as other commitments got in the way. However David was helpful with guiding me towards different ways of approaching the project to maximize productivity in the limited time I had; this was mainly focusing on the composition of the song, as the sound effects had already been sourced at this point in time.

What needed to be done – The steps taken to complete this work were to give myself time to set up the VST instruments that I was using and sit down and let my creativity flow to produce the bulk of work. After this, it was a case of refining the composition to take the audience on a journey as if they were playing through the level itself.

Steps taken – I spent a day working out the VST instruments and figuring out a rough plan of where they would sit within the composition. The following day I found myself with a rush of inspiration from talking to Nick at CC as we were discussing old PlayStation games that we used to play in our childhood and reminiscing over soundtracks. From this point I’ve spent a few hours a day refining my ideas to a point which I am happy with, as well as making sure the composition compliments the video that I am working to.

Posted on No Comments on Case Study – Barney Oram/Sound Designer

Case Study – Barney Oram/Sound Designer

  • Barney Oram is a 22 year old ‘Junior Sound Designer’ working at Cloud Imperium Games, Manchester. Barney is a recent graduate of the University of Lincoln (2013-2016) and studied the Audio Production course. Outside of his job, Barney hosts a Game Audio related podcast called ‘The Soundbyte Podcast’, which a new episode is recorded and released each month.
  • Typically in the games industry there are two types of companies; AAA (Pronounced Triple A) are big budget ‘Hollywood’ privately funded games companies that hire a large amount of employees. And also ‘Indie’ companies, which are independently funded.
  • As Barney works for a AAA company, in the interview conducted, we asked what his opinion is for a graduate to break into this industry; he specified that AAA companies are looking for individuals with passion and drive. It isn’t always about the technical ability, as that can be taught. However the industry are looking for creative individuals, who are able to showcase their unique abilities.
  • Barney explained the importance of networking with individuals currently involved with game audio, primarily through social media such as Twitter and game audio meetups, such as Game Audio North – Both of which Barney is highly active with and is recognised within the community; in his guest lecture he mentioned that his current boss knew of his name prior to applying, however Barney doesn’t think this had any sway on the decision for him to gain employment.
  • Barney said “one of the most valuable assets that you can have is a showreel, typically hosted online and given as a link when applying directly to a company. In Barney’s case there were over 200 people who applied for the Junior Sound Designer position at Cloud Imperium Games. Show reels typically need to be around the one minute mark portraying your best and most creative work, to show a wide variety of skillsets and knowledge of game audio; an example is Barney’s, which demonstrates sound design on a linear level, sound design through middleware (FMOD) and then implemented audio into a game engine (UE4). For most employers, if they’re interested they will then look further into your website and look at other more detailed pieces of work that you have to offer.
  • A company to aspire towards would be game developer and digital distribution company Valve, who are based in Bellevue, Washington, USA. Most commonly known for their ‘Orange Box Collection’, which hosts a series of video game titles such as Half-Life, Portal and Team Fortress. They are also widely renowned for their PC gaming platform ‘Steam’, where users can download video games directly to their computer.
  • In recent years, Valve have released their company handbook online for the world to view. In an interview with Barney, he discussed how Valve have a ‘T-Shaped Model’ for employees to follow; the model states that they employ people that are both generalists (highly skilled at a broad set of valuable things—the top of the T) and also experts (among the best in their field within a narrow discipline—the vertical leg of the T). Barney explains in his Podcast, Soundbyte Podcast, that he views Technical Sound Designers as this T-Shaped Model. At the top of the ‘T’, we have games developers who understand the games engines basic functions, middleware, coding, audio tools etc. But their specialised field is the Sound Design, which would be seen as the “vertical leg of the T”.
  • We had a guest lecture from Suddi Raval, who is the Audio Manager of TT Games, Manchester, who are a partner of Warner Bros Games. Suddi’s role is typically seen at the top of the game audio food chain. We approached Suddi post-lecture to understand a bit further upon the question of what he feels a graduate who is looking to gain entry into the video game industry should have. His answers to this question were;
    • A core understanding of digital audio workstations, software that is used within the audio industry, and show an applied understanding of how they work with being able to demonstrate knowledge of a wide range of software.
    • To understand basic studio recording techniques (multi track recording, mic placement, different styles of microphones, polar patterns etc)
    • To show a keen interest and passion for Game Audio and/or the Games industry.
    • To have a demo show reel to showcase your potential; the show reel doesn’t necessarily have to be a fully audio implemented playable demo. It could be a video of a movie or game play footage stripped down and replace all of the audio with your own work, which can prove your potential and creative drive.
    • And to show an understanding of different middleware that can be used within the games industry; essentially just ‘do your research’.