As sound designers, our jobs usually entail creating a vivid sonic world to accompany a narrative. But often, the nature of the worlds we are creating presents some unique challenges; there's no doubt this was the case on ABZÛ, an upcoming underwater exploration game from Giant Squid Studios. In a recent blog post, Giant Squid's sound designer Steve Green delves into their … [Read more...]
News: The History of Animation Sound
It has been said that during times of national economic hardship, people look to entertainment for relief. Taking that with a grain of salt, Walt Disney couldn’t have revealed Mickey Mouse at a better time. Though on the verge of the Great Depression, and with the film industry making its swift yet awkward transition into synchronized sound, Walt Disney Studios … [Read more...]
Adventures in SFX – Creating Port of Call
Michael Raphael has been recording and releasing high res sound effect collections for sound designers and editors since 2010. His site Rabbit Ears Audio covers such diverse sonic ground as Hind Helicopters, train whistles, and typewriters. In a recent collaboration with Audio Director Rob Bridgett he has released a new library called Port of Call and they've kindly offered to … [Read more...]
News: How to Create Horror Sound Effects
In an appropriately seasonal blog post over at A Sound Effect, Asbjoern speaks to Saro Sahihi of SoundBits, a boutique SFX library and sound design company. Saro, who has released some excellent gore SFX libraries, goes in-depth on how to achieve some truly squishy, wrenching, and disgusting gore sounds for all your horror needs. He even touches on some other horror mainstays, … [Read more...]
News: Behind the Scenes with Plants vs. Zombies 2 Neon Mixtape Tour
Considering the newest Plants vs. Zombies 2 release has the word "mixtape" in the name, there was never any doubt that music would play a big role in the game's experience. And as anyone who closely follows PopCap Games and their audio obsession, they're not a company that does something halfway when it comes to sound or music. That's why its a real treat that PvZ2 Neon Mixtape … [Read more...]
News: SOMA – Behind the Sound
There's a common joke among game audio artists and designers: if you ask any number of sound designers what genre they'd most like to work on, the odds are good they'll all say "horror", twice. It's no surprise it's such a common answer, either; horror games offer designers some of the most interesting and diverse sound design opportunities one can come across. There's no doubt … [Read more...]
News: A Sound Effect: How to Design Supreme Sci-Fi Weapon SFX
In a recent blog post, A Sound Effect spoke to sound designers Ruslan Nesteruk and Glen Bondarenko on the techniques and tools they utilize in creating sci-fi weaponry SFX. The post delves into layering, synthesis techniques, breaking down each weapon into its constituent components, and a great deal more. If you want some insights on creating better sci-go weaponry, you owe it … [Read more...]