Resident Evil 2 sounds scary as hell!!

The Remake of Resident Evil 2 has possibly got to be one of the most anticipated and well done remakes of the last few years. One factor that makes this game so great is the use of audio visual cues to make the player feel scared and give them the feel of dread. When I was playing the game, what stood out to me the most was the footsteps of our big boy friend T-00 (otherwise known as Mr X). His footsteps are persistent within the sound mix and as soon as you hear that first thump from him, you know he around and you start to really feel a sense of horror. This has been executed brilliantly thanks to the audio director and team of designers that helped make this game what it is! The technique of audio implementation that was used within this game was mostly based around positional audio. This is done using their very own audio technology which is aptly called the Real-time Binaural System. This technology was presented at an Audio Engineering Society (AES) Conference This system aims to fix the problem within games that audio usually sounds far off its own source within a 3D space in some game engines. The sounds would also degrade in quality along with being more quiet then it should be. This audio technology was created to make sure the audio sounds as real as it can be! Resident Evil 2 executes this system as sounds from Mr. X are accurately portrayed with this system. I personally think there is still work to do with the tech as sometimes the audio can be deceptive to a few placements. However this is a brilliant step in the right direction for all games in the industry and it should be implemented into more games to help develop this technology!

If you would like to read about the 3D audio technology used you can read the AES paper here!

Or even better you can read the article I read about Resident Evil 2's sounds from digital trends which includes an interview with Capcom's Audio Director Kentaro Nakashima!

Stepping into the world of Game Audio.

Hi there! It's been a while!

I have been busy for some time now working on corporate projects acting as the audio recordist. I enjoy recording all the time and love to try and get the best sound out of the day, and I am disappointed when I am unable to achieve this goal. However hurdles aside I have gotten to the point now where I am comfortable with my efforts in recording and want to push myself further. Further into the shoes of what I wanted to do for a long time. As you can tell by the title, this includes game audio!

I am one to work on personal projects and find work sources online such as game levels that are nearly complete to put audio in and make it sound amazing. However I have trouble finding these type of projects other then using the templates from Game Audio Implementation (which you should totally check out! It is an amazing learning source and I used it throughout my time at university). I want to create something that is unique to me and my portfolio. This entails either creating my own game assets or outsourcing help to help create a game idea that I would love to create. I will detail these ideas in a later post, for now I would like to share some information with you on how to create audio for games.

This is only a rough outlook so far as I am still looking into the ins and outs of game audio so far and at first I was mind boggled by coding languages and met with confusion on what to use. This is something you need to face and overcome. I still do not know these languages myself or know which ones to use specifically. Different engines use different code (that's no surprise) so you might just want to choose one for now and work with that particular engine to get the result you want in the long run. The easiest engine to use in this case is Unreal Engine. This is because of their use of visual coding with blueprints and you are able to use very basic forms of DSP. You go into the ins and outs of everything audio and 3D in the most easiest way possible and you can even delve into the normal scripting/coding process if you wish by using visual studio. Visual Studio is free for personal use and you should go there as install the program if you really want to get into the insides of coding. Unreal engine uses C++ as its coding structure which is perfect as this does give you most of the basics of coding. C# is used within the Unity engine which deals more with line coding more then visual coding so it will be a bit harder to get into. However if you are already experienced, go for it. 

I have seen many tutorials on how to use middle-ware such as Wwise and Fmod and what these programs are capable of are amazing. However a question that I proposed to myself is that if an indie game was to incorporate this into their game and start earning a good revenue, they could be crippled with licensing fees for using the engine. This is why I like to try and get my sounds working perfectly within the engine without middle-ware for two reasons. Reason one to try and help out the smaller devs who cannot get a license for middle-ware. Reason two, to prove my skills at being an audio implementer. I am still learning and you probably are too. But you can never not learn anything as something new is always being done with audio! If you want to know more a blog post by Winifred Phillips goes into detail about these systems.

This is just a basic outline of what you need to look into to get into game audio. To really get through the door you need to get contacts and i'll make a post about that at a later date. for now, stay awesome and keep making those sounds!

Build-A-Mech SFX Pack!

Hello to all!

I have been working on a sound effect pack for a few months to help anyone in need of servo mechanical sound effects. I have created a mechanical sound effects pack inspired by the video game series Titanfall!

This sound effects pack will be constantly updated with brand new sounds for you to use! An evolving sound pack if you may think of it! All I ask for if you want to use these sound effects for your project is to give me credit. Show my name and direction to my website www.seanlewis.audio.

Follow the google drive link below to get your free sound effect pack! And please stay in touch with this blog for updates on this sound pack!

FREE DOWNLOAD - https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-GZN96FdZ4ndzNkYVRWUGY3TE0


NOTE: If the link above is not working please leave a comment. I will fix any directory problems as fast as I can!

Unreal Engine 4 Audio Engine Update!

Hello to all!

At GDC 2017 this year, Aaron McLeran has presented what the new audio engine that will be in the new unreal engine update 4.16! Have a seat and watch the presentation of the unveiling below:

Unreal Engine 4 - Audio Implementation Guidelines

Hello to all!

Implementing sound into Unreal Engine 4 is a challenge on its own if you are new to sound implementation. This is where looking at the online manual really helps you out! Mixing audio within the engine is something you need to learn off the bat to make sure you have balanced the audio correctly so you don't get any conflicting sounds within the engine which is very easily done. In the Unreal Engine 4 manual they have stated a baseline on how you can mix all different elements of audio within the engine itself! The audio in unreal is measured in volumes so the following numbers are what volume you should have your sounds within the game engine:

Dialogue - 1.4
Music - 0.75
Weapons - 1.1
Ambience - 0.5

To reiterate this is for mixing within the game engine. If the sound you are working with in these parameters you think are too loud or too quiet you can play with the settings in the engine to make them louder or quieter. But to stick with baseline measurements for the sake of sticking to the manual, edit your sounds in your main digital audio workspace such as reaper and pro tools.

No matter what the Audio System Overview (or what I call the Unreal Engine 4 manual) is there to help you beginners get off your feet. It is simple to follow as you are taught the basics of audio implementation there.

Unreal Engine 4 Audio System Overview - https://docs.unrealengine.com/latest/INT/Engine/Audio/Overview/

SFX - Unreal Engine 4 Footsteps Tutorial

Hello to all!

I have found a very helpful YouTube series that help you figure out how to implement footstep sounds into your unreal engine level! Help this creator out and subscribe to him and give him all the likes he deserves!

SFX - Recording Explosions in the UK

Hello to all!

Researching how to record explosions I came across a post from The Recordist, about creating explosion sounds from scratch. This included going to a gun store and asking for help. As you can tell from that sentence this was done in the USA and over here in the UK we cannot sell exploding pads to the general public. So I want to see how you can record explosions in the UK if you are a small freelance audio recordist.

The Recordist Article - https://therecordist.com/explosion-sounds-from-scratch/

Unless you are lucky enough to have your sound recording gear ready for a meteor hitting the earth you are not going to have a fun time trying to record explosion sound effects in the UK. You can record the sound of fireworks exploding in the sky, but you usually tend to get a crackle after the fireworks have exploded and can saturate the initial explosion sound. This is where you would have to use some sort of explosive to try and eliminate the crackle effect. However for any type of explosive here in the UK you need a license just to even store them! This is great for security here but for us audio recordists... not so good. If you plan to do this within the UK you will need to follow the guidelines of health and safety from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

These guidelines can be found here - http://www.hse.gov.uk/explosives/

To record the audio of an explosion you will have to carry out an explosion test which must be conducted in accordance with the test protocols set out in the current edition of UN Manual of Tests and Criteria. The tests must be recorded using video and full supporting evidence must be provided with the application of the explosion request.

To come to a quick conclusion, if you want to record explosion sound effects with ease, go to America. It'll also probably be cheaper.