This mammoth guest contribution comes to us from Sound Designer Chris Lane. Chris is an independent sound designer and audio programmer based in Los Angeles. His recent credits include Black Panther, the Childish Gambino VR Experience: Pharos, and Apple’s Logic/Garageband. For this month's theme of "Eureka!", Chris put on his lab coat and did some in depth experimentation … [Read more...]
Special Academy Award Granted to VR Experience ‘Carne y Arena’
For only the second time in history (the first was 1996's Toy Story), the Academy is granting a special Oscar, this time to Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu for the virtual reality experience, Carne y Arena (Virtually Present, Physically Invisible). The experience was hosted at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year and remains on exhibition in Los Angeles, … [Read more...]
VR Sound Design for Touch Controllers
This is a guest contribution by Earl Scioneaux, III. Earl is a New Orleans-based game sound designer. He also does sound for film and produces music under the monicker The Madd Wikkid. When I first used touch controllers, I was amazed at how they enable the player to instinctively “grab” things in the game world. This can allow for some amazingly intuitive and … [Read more...]
Gamasutra: VR cockpit audio in Gunjack 2: End of Shift
As part of their ongoing Game Design Deep Dive Series, Gamasutra just published an article by Alex Riviere (Audio Director at CCP Shanghai) on the audio in Gunjack 2: End of Shift. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uz8RyoMgSCM&feature=youtu.be You can read the full story here. … [Read more...]
AES Forms Group to Explore Audio for New Realities
In a recent press release the AES announced the formation of a new group to advance the science and application of Audio for Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality environments. Our initial objectives will include collating the state of the art in audio for new realities across recording, composition, sound design, spatial audio, environmental analysis and auditory scene … [Read more...]
Using VR design strategies in non-VR projects
Finally! With the advent of somewhat affordable VR systems and the first titles making their way into the public’s hand, we are hearing something from the general populace and other non-audio developers that we sound professionals have always known: Sound matters! Since VR is an enclosed experience, in that the user is entirely enveloped visually in the world they … [Read more...]
Razer Acquires THX
Razer, best known for its gaming hardware & lifestyle products acquired THX, renown audio & video quality assurance company founded by George Lucas in 1983. Razer Co-Founder and CEO Min-Liang Tan said: Razer has a vision for innovation at every level of entertainment, a vision which THX has championed since its inception more than 30 years ago. This acquisition will … [Read more...]