Finishing up Loudness Month here at Designing Sound I asked the good folks at Audiokinetic (makers of Wwise), Firelight Technologies (makers of FMOD) and G.A.N.G. IESD about what is happening in game audio in regards to loudness metering. From the G.A.N.G. IESD Committee: "Loudness and monitoring levels have been very high on the IESD's agenda since the the organization … [Read more...]
Does Bit or Sample Rate Reduction Affect Loudness Measurements?
A few nights ago, I was struck by an idea that hadn't occurred to me previously. I was prepping for a presentation on loudness metering at a game development studio that would take place the following day. It was a question... Would bit rate or sample rate reduction affect the loudness measurement of sounds metered using ITU-R BS.1770? Both are practices common to game … [Read more...]
Different Loudness Ranges for Console and Mobile Games
This article is a guest post, written by Bernard Rodrigue of middleware vendors Audiokinetic, discusses loudness measurement over a range of game audio specific scenarios, such as mobile platforms versus home consoles, and family friendly versus AAA war titles. Overview The EBU R-128 loudness recommendations and ITU-R BS.1770-3 specifications include three different kinds … [Read more...]
Loudness and Metering (Part 2)
Guest contribution by Owen Green [This is the second of a two part series on loudness, mixing, metering and the new ITU loudness spec] The New Loudness Standards, and What They Might Mean for Us Depending on the field in which one worked, standard production practices have tended to be orientated around peak normalisation of material. That is, lining up recordings by their … [Read more...]
Loudness Webinar Recording Available
If you missed Saturday's webinar, the recording is now available. Just click here to load it up. We had some reports of audio issues, which appear to be due to the service's compression settings. All of the truly pertinent information is included in the slides that were part of the presentation. So if things get a little difficult to make out sonically, don't fear that … [Read more...]
Loudness and Metering (Part 1)
Guest contribution by Owen Green [This is the first of a two part series on loudness, mixing, metering and the new ITU loudness spec] Understanding the complex relationship between sound level and perceived loudness turns out to be very important to us as designers of sound for a number of reasons: Our perception of loudness is not constant (or even remotely linear) … [Read more...]
It’s Time to Talk About the Loud!
It's February 1st. That means it's a new month with a new featured topic. This time around, we'll be digging into the subject of loudness metering. When we refer to "loudness" we're talking about those specific documents you've been hearing more and more about over the last few years: ITU-R BS.1770, EBU-R128, and ATSC-RP A/85. Whether you know what all of that means or not, … [Read more...]