Sonic Design - Final Project: Game Audio Design
Chan Wan Qing / 0350928 / BA of Design (HONS) in Creative Media
Sonic Design
Final Project
INDEX:
1. Lectures
2. Final Project: Game Audio Design
3. Feedbacks
4. Reflection
LECTURES
Week 12 / 12.12.2024
Sound for Film
*Start from Video Storyboard
- visuals; description; music, SFX,
audio description
*Linear Production
- when; what kind of sound; how loud /
soft
- linear media
Sound for Game
*Game is not linear
*Things happen based on the player's
states, choice, action
*Predict what
will happen
*Visuals can serve as reference on what style of sound you
want to make
Event (Triggers / Cues) Mapping
-
Determine all possible actions that would require sound or change in sound
state
1. Analysing game flow, visuals
2. List down everything and
categorise
3. Reference / Concept on sounds or music
*Get clear reference
A. Research > Finalised Direction
B. Production
- Mock Mix (Built sound effects according to the
video)
While creating sound...
- Can use 1 type of sound for
different parts, adjust the pitch
- Study the component of the sounds
- Experiment with different effects on the sounds when editing
- Try
doing different variations while recording
*Effects > Generate > Tones
INSTRUCTIONS
Final Project: Game Audio Design
In the final project, we were given a choice of game play videos. We will then need to create the sound and bring the game to life. First, we will have to observe the game video. Then, we need to plan and organise the sound in the game and create the sound on our own.
Audio Storyboard
From the given game play videos, I chose to do Hollow Knight. After that, I started to observe the game play video and listed down the types of sound according to the action, environment and things in the video. After listing down the sound, I did the audio storyboard.
Audio Storyboard
Then, I also listed down the tools that I planned to use to create the sound. Since some of the tools is not with me in dorm, so I couldn't record the sound in the recording studio.
- Walking on rock sound (Nail File)
- Electric (Tape / Zipper / Thick Plastic Bag)
- Sword (Knife)
- Coins Falling (Keys)
- Collecting Coins (S Hanger Falling on Ground)
- Insect Flying (Razor)
- Bug Walking (Thin Plastic Bag)
- Bug Attacking (Keyboard)
- Insect/Bug Crushed/Die (Shaking Water in Bottle)
- Electric Spark with Insect (Electric Mosquito Swatter)
- Jumping – Woosh (Thick Plastic Bag)
- Landing (Nail File)
While recording the sound, I captured a variety of versions at different speeds and tones to provide more options for selection when editing the sound. I recorded the sound with my phone and transferred them to my laptop. I named the files with the tools right away after the recording so that I won't be confused later.
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Recorded Sounds
Sound Editing
After finishing with the recording, I started to edit the sound. Similar to the previous project, every time I record a sound, I recorded the white noise for 5 seconds so that I can capture noise print and apply noise reduction. I moved every recording track to Adobe Audition and did noise reduction.
Noise Reduction
I did it one by one and save the file for further editing. After doing noise reduction for all of the recordings, I started to edit the sound with all the things we learned.
Starting with the nail file, I planned to use it as the running sound. Since in the nail file recording, the 'shhh' sound is quite loud, I increase the base sound and reduce the treble with parametric equaliser. Then, I added phaser to alter the sound. I experimented a few different types of phaser to find the most ideal effect on the sound to create the running sound of the character.
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Running - Nail File (Parametric Equaliser)
Then, I moved to the next sound, which is coins falling sound. I listened to the recordings of chain and keys to decide which to use for this sound. I felt like the chain sounds too heavy for the coins, so I decided to use the keys recording. Since there are a few versions, so I chose the most suitable part and copy to new and started to edit. I was pleasantly surprised by how well this worked as the sound of coins falling, so I simply applied a parametric equalizer to enhance its frequency.
For the sound of the game character collecting coins, I found that the sound of an S hanger rubbing against the floor worked quite well. But to make it more like sound effects of game, I added phaser - landing light to the sound.
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Collecting Coin - S Hanger (Phaser)
Then, it's the sound for the sword. I recorded the sound of attrition between 2 knives for the sound of the character attacking using sword. Unlike what I imagined, the sound turned out to be deeper than I thought since I originally thought it will be a crisper, sharper tone. So, I applied parametric equaliser and adjusted the pitch. Then, I added phaser to it to create a game-like sound effect.
Sword - Knife (EQ, Pitch Shifter, Phaser)
Next, I edited the sound of bug attacking. I used the sound of typing on keyboard as the sound effect of the bug enemy attacking. I only added parametric equaliser for this as it suits very well. Then, I continued to edit the sound of the bug walking. This is very challenging for me because I experimented it a few times but it doesn't sound like the sound I wanted ('krek krek'). At last, I tried to layer different sound to come up with it. I used the sound of electric mosquito swatter, shaking water bottle and layered them with the keyboard sound. Then, I applied parametric equaliser to increase the frequency.
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Bug Attacking - Keyboard (EQ)
Bug Walking - Layering
Then, I edited the sound of the crushed flying insect and bug and also the dying sound. I recorded the sound of shaking water in a bottle for both sound with different variety. The shorter one, I used it for crushing sound and the longer and louder one for dying sound. I cut the sound and used parametric equaliser, pitch shifter to increase the frequency and tone from the original recording. I also added phaser at last. For bug crushing sound, since it's bigger than flying insect, I layered different sound including electric mosquito swatter, water and flying insect crush sound. I also alter this sound a bit by changing its pitch for the 'hitting stone pile' sound.
Bug Crushing - Layering
Next, I edited the thick plastic sound as the electric wave and electric spark sound. I used 2 different parts of the recording for the 2 parts. To create the electric wave sound, I softly rubbed thick plastic, while for the electric spark sound, I applied a harder, shorter rub on the same plastic bag to achieve a sharper effect. I added parametric equaliser to increase the frequency so that it sounds sharper. I also applied pitch shifter to increase its pitch. Then, I added chorus to achieve the result of electric sound effects.
Electric Component - Thick Plastic Bag (Pitch Shifter)
Lastly, I used the edited nail file sound to create the landing effect. I worked on the landing sound in the multitrack editor, as it required reversing for the desired result. For the woosh sound, I cut out a small part of the thick plastic bag sound and did editing on it. I manipulated the rubbing thick plastic bag sound by applying hard limiter to control the dynamic range, stretching the sound to extend its duration, and adjusting the pitch to achieve a smoother and suitable woosh sound effect.
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Landing - Nail File (Reverse)
After finishing on the editing of the sound effects, I imported the video to audition and started to align the sound according to the actions, things and environment in the game play video. I seperated different types of sound in different tracks. Some sounds, like the electric spark effect, were overlapping in the main electric spark track. To address this, I added a new track below the main one, which helped organize the timeline more clearly. This allowed me to easily identify each track and adjust their timing for better synchronization and clarity. Lastly, I added the ambient sound to the track.
Ambient Background Sound
After aligning all the sound effects according to the game play video, I have to make sure the track doesn't clip. So, I adjusted the volume of the track where it clips. At the same time, I carefully balanced the adjustments to ensure the sounds remained audible and clear without compromising their impact. Finally, I exported the multitrack session and imported it to Premiere Pro to sync with the game play video.
Final Project: Game Audio Design
Final Game Audio Design
Audio Journal
Final Project: Game Audio Design (Google Drive)
FEEDBACKS
Week 11 / Final Project
Observe all the visuals carefully including the sound happening at the background.
REFLECTION
This project is a completely new experience for me on sonic design. Unlike the previous projects, for this task, we have to create, record and edit the sound effects ourselves. Since I didn't play many games, I was quite lost in the beginning. Therefore, I started with listing down the sound for the actions and environment sound in the game play video. To do this, I had to observe the game play video for a few times to ensure that I recorded all possible sound that will have in the video. Then, I did the audio storyboard. This was also quite challenging since we have to observe and record each different sound second by second. The next challenge is this project is to think of what kind of tools can I use to create the sound effects. There is also some sound that we can use repeatedly with different sound editing methods but I'm not sure which sound can be used for different parts. Therefore, I started by listing the sounds I was confident I could create and record them. Since in project 2, I learned the way to record the sound, so I did what I'd done in Project 2 and did noise reduction for the sound. Then, I started to edit and experiment different methods to create suitable sound effects for the game. The experimentations for each sound were quite fun since there are a lot of choices to edit the sound. During the experimentation process, I often discovered unexpected opportunities to repurpose certain sounds for other parts of the game, which added versatility and creativity to the project. While doing this project, I found that it is important to record different variety of the sound created by an object so that we have different choices when doing sound editing. In the end, I felt proud and satisfied in completing the final game play video, enriched with sound effects that I created myself.
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