This month's Sound Design Challenge is now live, and it's a game audio based challenge designed for even beginners to handle. It's a great learning opportunity if you're looking to get your feet wet. There's even an extended deadline this time around; a full two weeks. We have plans to migrate the Sound Design Challenge over here to Designing Sound in the future, but until … [Read more...]
Philosophy Behind Design: Stefan Strandberg
Bashandslash.com have published a fantastic sixty minute podcast with Stefan Strandberg, DICE audio director behind the Battlefield series. He talks about his design philosophy and looking at the bigger picture when designing and auralizing in context. This is a must listen even for those with limited interest in game audio. The team that built the soundscape in Battlefield … [Read more...]
Rodney Gates Special: Early Challenges – Authoring Sound for “Darkwatch” on Two Very Different Platforms
[Written by Rodney Gates for Designing Sound] All SKUs are created equal…right? It is a common question every time a new game is released on the console platforms: “I have both systems. Which version should I buy?” In a perfect world, any game created for the consoles would run just perfectly on them, without any performance edge leaning towards one machine or the other. … [Read more...]
Mass Effect 3: Sound & Weapon Design
Game Informer has published a video interview with Bioware's audio lead Rob Blake on the sound and weapons design for Mass Effect 3. He talks about how they have collaborated with other EA studios to share ideas and upgrade the sounds from Mass Effect 2 to create an immersive environment. In addition to building the aural landscape of an entire galaxy's locations and … [Read more...]
Rodney Gates Special: How I Spend My Vacations: Field Recording
[Written by Rodney Gates for Designing Sound] Serenity Now! Nothing can be more peaceful than sitting quietly for several minutes at a time in a unique location recording the living world in front of you. Your eyes and ears are alert and observant of everything that’s happening as the recorder captures it all. There is a calm that comes over you and for the first time in a … [Read more...]
Rodney Gates Special: Getting the Gig – A Guide to Becoming a Video Game Sound Designer
[Written by Rodney Gates for Designing Sound] Everyone has a story on how they started working in games, and they can be as varied as the day is long. Many start in Quality Assurance positions (game testing), or Customer Service (in the case of Sony Online). Some get internships, and some get hired on as a junior sound designer attached to a team right away. What I’d like … [Read more...]
Rodney Gates Special: Exclusive Interview
As usual, below is an interview with this month's guest, Rodney Gates. Designing Sound: How did you get started and How has been the evolution of your career since then? Rodney Gates: In 1996 I attended the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences in Tempe, Arizona. At the time, the focus of the school was on audio / music production with a little bit of post and live sound … [Read more...]