• Home
  • About
  • Site Policies
  • Contact

Designing Sound

Art and technique of sound design

  • All Posts
  • Featured
  • News
  • Interviews
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • Resources
    • VR Audio Resources
    • Independent SFX Libraries
    • Events Calendar
  • Series Archives
    • Featured Topics
    • Featured Sound Designers
    • Audio Implementation Greats
    • Exclusive Interviews
    • Behind the Art
    • Webinar/Discussion Group Recordings
    • Sunday Sound Thought
    • The Sound Design Challenge

IGDATC Presentation: Footstep and Movement Sound

May 4, 2011 by lostchocolatelab

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyLSbX0vYX4[/youtube]

Since embarking on my informal game sound study of footsteps and movement sound, things have continued to develop in a remarkable way. What started casually, quickly spiraled into a lengthy debate involving many people and uncovering  some interesting patterns.

I recently reprised a presentation I gave at GDC this year at my local IGDA chapter in an attempt to share the findings of the initial study and continue the discussion with some of the new information gleaned in the meantime. If you missed it at GDC or are interested in some of the additional insights that came out, this presentation breaks down the fundamentals and unique considerations that emerge across a diverse cross section of game genre’s and uncovers some curiosities and aesthetic choices .

It may be not so surprising to have found people who feel passionate about the role footsteps play, but it’s no less fascinating to hear how deep people’s experiences go, and how willing they are to share their perspectives. What once seemed like a small part of game audio, has taken on a whole new light after being placed under the microscope. I’m thankful to everyone who has contributed to the conversation during the last year, and hope that by sharing these insights we can all move forward and give appropriate attention to movement sound in games.

Hit the IGDATC link for some additional related articles: IGDATC Video – Footstep and Movement Presentation

Video: Damian Kastbauer’s Presentation

Filed Under: videos Tagged With: damian kastbauer, footsteps, game audio, game audio podcast, gdc, IGDATC, lost chocolate lab, movement, video game

Comments

  1. Casey Coffman says

    May 4, 2011 at 6:08 pm

    Really nice talk, Damian.

    The only thing I took issue with was the idea of a delay offset. While I wholly agree that it is odd and not natural, the idea of working it’s way back to delaying/offsetting animations is not where it would stop: 

    Delaying animations (without looking odd) would mandate the input system behind them not allowing for (or allowing for less) animation canceling, therefor making the games feel less responsive and more sluggish.

    I’m very big on not allowing audio to negatively affect gameplay, it should always serve to enhance.

    If, however, some genius programmers/animations out there have ideas on how to make the idea viable WITHOUT adversely effecting gameplay and control, bring it on! :)

  2. Damian Kastbauer says

    May 5, 2011 at 10:22 am

    Thanks for having a listen!

    It’s great to hear your insights on the idea of delay offsets, I’m 100% with you regarding the support of gameplay.

    I think that my hope in suggesting it would be for audio to further support the realism of actual movement…with all of it’s inconsistencies. However, I’m not sure that realism is actually what would sound good or play nicely…hence my suggestion of experimentation. I think there is a current expectation that all of our player characters are superhuman in their ability to walk/ run at a steady pace for 30-40 hours of gameplay. Not sure if making them more “human” would make it more “real” or more “fun”.

    It would be great to dream it and solve these problems in conjunction with genius programmers/animators. I look forward to any further thought or experince on the topic. It’s been great hearing so many perspectives!

Trackbacks

  1. Designing Sound TV – IGDA Twin Cities Foostep and Movement Sound Study, April 2011 says:
    May 9, 2011 at 1:16 pm

    […] here. […]

Social Media

  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Posts By Month

#sounddesign on Twitter

#sounddesign

tunepocketTunePocket Music@tunepocket·
26 May 2020

Download royalty free gunshot sound effects, incl. one shot gun sounds, gun cocking sounds, gunshot with silencer, machine guns, and more #gunshot #sfx #sounddesign #videoediting #gamedev #royaltyfree https://t.co/bTTDQkveKF

Reply on Twitter 1265206307927162880Retweet on Twitter 1265206307927162880Like on Twitter 1265206307927162880Twitter 1265206307927162880
Reel2MReel2Media@Reel2M·
26 May 2020

At Reel2Media we are harnessing the power of smart speaker technology, to deliver cutting edge skills that solve problems and add value. To find out more, click here https://t.co/VAAw7vTW1V #sounddesign #smartspeaker #alexaskill #amazonalexa

Reply on Twitter 1265206269255847936Retweet on Twitter 1265206269255847936Like on Twitter 1265206269255847936Twitter 1265206269255847936
SoniKSoundLibSoniK Sound Library@SoniKSoundLib·
26 May 2020

Listen to #soundcloud preview of our next release! #np https://t.co/S3bxxrnqrh #audiopost #soundlibrary #soundediting #sounddesign #ambisonics #spatial #surround #ambience #roomtones

Reply on Twitter 1265204382779559936Retweet on Twitter 12652043827795599361Like on Twitter 12652043827795599361Twitter 1265204382779559936
asoundeffectA Sound Effect@asoundeffect·
26 May 2020

Want to know what the independent sound effects community has been up to? Hear the very latest SFX libraries here: https://t.co/OUBM2SqMoP #sounddesign #soundeffects #soundlibraries #indieSFX #gameaudio #filmsound #filmmaking #gamedev #indiedev #indiefilm

Reply on Twitter 1265199255838511105Retweet on Twitter 1265199255838511105Like on Twitter 1265199255838511105Twitter 1265199255838511105
OblikLinesOblik Lines@OblikLines·
26 May 2020

Working on new tracks with many instances of Misty Valley ! ⁠
Misty Valley is free for all NI Reaktor users⁠
You can get it here: https://t.co/bb53Gtkw5e

#reaktor6 #reaktor #nativeinstruments #synths #vst #sounddesign #virtualinstrument #musicproducer #obliklines #mistyvalley

Reply on Twitter 1265198647307907073Retweet on Twitter 1265198647307907073Like on Twitter 1265198647307907073Twitter 1265198647307907073
Load More...

Copyright Info

All content on Designing Sound is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Copyright © 2023 · Magazine Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in