Now that PAX West is done, it's time to see what audio highlights you may have missed. If you couldn't get to the panel about the sound of Guild Wars 2, you're in luck! Drew Cady, Jerry Schroeder, and Joseph Clark, part of ArenaNet's sound team, go into their techniques for creating the game's incredibly detailed sound design. They break down how they made the sounds for … [Read more...]
The Volunteer Labor Behind DesigningSound.org
To those reading this in the U.S., Happy Labor Day! To those elsewhere, happy Monday. Coming from the UK where we have generic "bank holidays", I've still been getting to grasp with the many varied holidays celebrated here in the United States. Today is one such day, Labor Day. [perfectpullquote align="full" cite="United States Department of Labor" … [Read more...]
Sunday Sound Thought #85 – Always There For You?
As has come before; many of these posts will be philosophical in nature. Some will be in contradiction to previous postings. These are not intended as truths or assertions, they’re merely thoughts…ideas. Think of this as stream of consciousness over a wide span…Please bare with us as we traverse the abstract canals of audio musings. The lifecycle of all things seems … [Read more...]
Monthly Theme: Fun
[perfectpullquote align="full" cite="Steve Smith" link="" color="" class="" size=""]We're not curing cancer. We're barely curing boredom.[/perfectpullquote] Art is hard. Creativity is hard. Ditto clients, technical challenges, deadlines, impostor syndrome, repetitive strain injury, and burnout. The realist's manual on the hazards of professional sound design runs many miles … [Read more...]
“Burnout” – a sound design retrospective with Ben Minto
To end this month of "Burnout", I thought it might be fun to reinterpret the theme title and take a look at the sound design for a classic series of racing games that bear the same name. So allow me if you will, to take you... back in time! The year was 2001. It was the year the gaming world debuted the gruff yet dulcet tones of Max Payne. It was the … [Read more...]
Kickstarter: Making Waves / The Art Of Cinematic Sound
Making Waves: The Art Of Cinematic Sound is a kickstarter project launched by Midge Costin (Director/Producer), Karen Johnson & Bobette Buster to create a a feature-length documentary exploring the art, history, and aesthetics of sound in film, and by extension, sound on Earth. [perfectpullquote align="full" cite="" link="" color="" class="" size=""]MAKING WAVES: The Art … [Read more...]
Preventing Burnout
We are in highly creative, highly competitive, deadline-driven fields, and as such, over-exertion and long hours are often the norm. I'm been through the delirium of long crunches dozens of times and have unfortunately seen amazingly talented people fall victim to the stresses and exhaustion, ending their careers and leaving the creative field far too young. There is plenty of … [Read more...]