George Spanos has published a nice talk he had with Vance Dylan, sound designer with work on titles such as Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age: Origins, and Sonic Chronicles. Vance talks about specific games, his career and how he creates sound. Let's read: Let's start off with the ubiquitous question: when did you decide to pursue a career in sound? Vance Dylan: I was … [Read more...]
The Next Big Steps in Game Sound Design
Some days ago I read this great article on Gamasutra created by my friend Damian Kastbauer, and I just realized that I didn't talk about it on the blog, so if you haven't read it yet, you can do it now: It's a great time in game audio these days. As we move forward in the current console generation, several emerging examples of best practices in audio implementation have been … [Read more...]
Charles Deenen Special: Exclusive Interview
Designing Sound: Hi Charles, first of all, would be great to have an introduction about your career. How did you start, how you grow up in the sound world, and so on… Charles Deenen: Thanks for the invite! We’ll have a fun month together with (hopefully) lots of usable info. I’ve been called an old fella by some young folks in the industry, so am getting up there in age. I … [Read more...]
Exclusive Interview With Tom Smurdon, Audio Director of "Dark Void"
Dark Void is a new sci-fi adventure game from CAPCOM for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. The story is about a cargo pilot called William Augustus Grey who crashes into the Bermuda Triangle and is teleported to a parallel universe. With the help of other survivor humans and Nikola Tesla, Willian have to go back to the earth, but first fighting with all kind of creatures on the Void. Here … [Read more...]
From UT3 to UDK: Top 10 Changes to the Unreal Audio System
Chris Latham from Engineaudio has published a video with his top 10 changes to the Unreal Audio System from UT3 to UDK. 10. New Sound Actor Icons 9. Multiple Sound Slots for AmbientSounds 8. SoundGroups are now called SoundClasses 7. SoundClass Editor 6. Ambient Zones 5. Visual of Min Radius 4. Switch from OpenAL to XAudio2 3. Improved Distance Models 2. Improved Low Pass … [Read more...]
Audio Implementation Greats #1: Audio Toolsets [Part 1]
After steeping in the current console generation, several examples of best practices in audio implementation have been exposed through articles, exposes, and video examples scattered across the internet. In an attempt to overview some of the forward thinking front runners in the burgeoning field of Technical Sound Design, I've been pulling together examples of inspirational … [Read more...]
Designing Sounds for "World Of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade"
Cool featurette about the sound design of "World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade" featuring Developer Chris Metzen, Audio Director Russell Brower, Lead Sound Designers Brian Farr and Joseph Lawrence, and Assistant Sound Designer Jonas Laster. There are also videos about the voices and music if you want to see. … [Read more...]