Spots of Silence

( <--- the video game place, master mix room)




We (me and the designers) got a lesson last week in creating loops and other sounds for video games. There is a lot more to it than what you imagine at first.

Back in the day, many platforms had plenty of disc space on their medium (the actual physical game you insert into the game system). However, the game systems did not have much memory. This created a very strict use of bites for each piece of information required on a game. Typically, most larger data files are taken from the disc but small more immediate data chinks are required to be ready in the memory. For example, a machine gun sound (a short loop) will be stored in the memory while an ambiance of the space, which is longer in length and has a less imediate trigger in game play, resides on the disc and can be searched for by the system during play. So, if memory is tight, then loops and other immediate sound cues must be kept to a size of 3-5 seconds at a sample rate of generally 44.1 or less.

Yes, I said it. Less. AHHHHHHH. Oh, the sacrifice! 44.1kHz is CD quality, which is decent but not as rich as stupidly labeled "HD" audio which would just be a higher sampling rate and greater bit depth. But some games, often the first game to kick start the franchise, will actually lower their sampling rate to 32 or 22 – gag, that's gross. This actually happens to allow for more space on the medium, but this sacrifice only occurs when a developer is already settled in a franchise and not trying to impress anyone.

I suppose I've never played video games enough (besides mario kart and smash bros) to notice that sound quality may be wavering, but you should listen closely next time you do play a game... Although I bet you Guitar Hero sounds at least decent.

As for my own personal adventures...

I went to a industrial disco-tek club last Friday night with Lisa, the designers and several other people I have associated with the film that Lisa's working on. The spirit was like on those silly Thursday evenings where we attended Optimus Prime night, and danced the night down. We went to Das Bunker because Andy (of Chombichrist) was supposed to DJ. Chombichrist's music is in the film Lisa's working on (diagetically motivated, but listen closely to the lyrics of the song as they comment on the scenes they are in), so everyone there knew one another through the film, and several of us knew each other through the university. Stephanie Joyce and Dave Groseclose were there, although I already expected Steph to be there. It was good times, techno-pulsed music and interesting apparel. Although the experience was interesting, I will never be an industrial-techno-geek at heart.

As far as the internship is concerned, I'm able to do a bit more for Lisa like find sound effects for the film she's working on. I've also spotted the reels for vocalizations (grunts, groans, sighs, etc), and have my last reel to do today. When you watch a picture for spotting, you focus on the visual better when you don't listen to sound. Because of that, I have spotted in silence. It's rather liberating because you make up the sounds in your head which is not already cluttered by the sounds already created and organized by the sound supervisor. Lisa's the one who actually told me to do so, a concept passed to her by Walter Murch.

I have a ton to learn from everyone here.

ps - i miss this: