My UT3 Sound Design Project

[deadxatthexscene]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIx4P3E1sbA

*whoops, no embeds, click the linky to youtube instead*

So just a little background before I copy and paste the details I put on the video. I'm an sound arts student at Expression College in Emeryville, CA, pretty much a standard art school but pretty up to date for new media as far as graphics, sound, animation etc (emeryville is home to Pixar for those that don't know). I did this project in my MIDI 1 class along side taking my Apple Logic Pro 8 Certification (level one). This is the first time using this program as I'm mainly a user of Cubase Studio 4 And Reason software. So I just dove into the program and composed to this video that I hope the community will enjoy!

On a side note the original file was about 170MB and it compressed to hell for streaming, so obviously this isn't optimized for streaming and high compression, so the dynamics are lost and the audio compression is also obvious, it's something I definitely need to improve on in further projects. It sounds great on large studio speakers but obviously if I mixed it more effeciently it SHOULD sound great on computer speakers. Any praise or criticism is appreciated, please show your friends

Oh yeah, sorry to advertise myself, but with the Make Something Unreal Contest going on, I am definitely available to compose music and create sounds if anyone needs a sound designer. It's what I do and what I love! So send me a message!

"I did this project for my MIDI 1 class. Basically the idea was to choose a 3 minute clip or compilation of video game trailers and do sound design for the entire trailer. That includes all music, dialogue, sound effects, ambiance and etc. Although a lot of the sound effects are from a library, they were all processed to create new sounds (obviously none are from the original game). A lot of the project was to show that we knew how to use MIDI and compose to a video using MIDI, so there is no audio besides premade loops (which can be treated as MIDI, nearly) I'm quite proud of it though some parts could use more work for my final reel."

[Henrik]

I am a sound engineer so I'll give you some feedback..

I found the effects too abrupt and dry. too percussive. A gunshot needs to sound like a gunshot.. In the real world they ring because of reverberations.. Try to get some organic stuff like explosions or those types of sounds in there that ring and have some nice sustaining bass. The music was alright, and it suits the game. But for the most part the sequence did not succeed in building up as much excitement as it could have because the overall sonic landscape is pretty much the same throughout. Seems good for an early effort anyway.

[deadxatthexscene]

Thanks for the response. I got the same feedback from my instructors. A lot of them really like the score but felt that it got boring towards the end. I tried switching up the drum tracks, because I really wanted a drum n bass kind of feel, but there was something missing and I felt like I was spending too much time on it. Especially because I had a minimum of 3 minutes for this project. I think 2 trailers at 1:30 each would've been more solid in my opinion.

As for the gunshots, I can agree with that too. Most of the explosions were layered with multiple types of explosions and shots, but the gun shots were a bit different. I tried to run all of the guns through the same reverb aux track but the ones early on stood out to me more than others.

I'm not trying to make excuses I'm just kind of bouncing this around so I can see how I feel about it

The project was turned in but I definitely want to fix it up for my reel, like I said before. I've been doing a lot of work in Apple Logic 8 Pro and I'm getting more used to it the more I use it, and I LOVE it for composing and writing for film, I find myself working much more efficiently than when I'm working in Cubase.

Thanks again for the feedback I can use all I can get!

[Henrik]

I've never liked Cubase for the PC, I can name several I like better... Cubase is overrated if you ask me.

[deadxatthexscene]

I've never liked Cubase for the PC, I can name several I like better... Cubase is overrated if you ask me.

I must agree with you. I started on Cubase LE, moved to Cubase SX3, and now I'm using Cubase Studio 4. It's great don't get me wrong and a LOT of people like it, but I started using Logic 8 Pro and wow, it can be as powerful and as geeky as you want, or it can be as easy as you want...

I never liked Pro Tools for composition, but more for tracking. I do like Cubase's mixing engine though statistics show it's very noisy on a bounce/export.

What do you personally use Bersy?

[Brad.G]

well i think it makes a bloody good advert for the game in my opinion im not a sound engineer or anything close to it, but i know what i like, and i think its great work

[deadxatthexscene]

well i think it makes a bloody good advert for the game in my opinion im not a sound engineer or anything close to it, but i know what i like, and i think its great work

Thanks a bunch! That means alot!

[Henrik]

I primarily use Sonar right now but I like certain strengths in other programs better..

Samplitude: Very intuitive panning features, mixes to me sound like they should in Samplitude more than in other programs..

Pro Tools 7.4: The elastic audio is the best I've heard in any program.. changing tempo is completely hassle free..

Reaper: Cheap as heck and constantly updated with new features and a wide array of its own plugins. Takes 2nd place for mix sound after Samplitude

Acid: Very accessible for midi programming.. easy to get started without even setting up synths.. works better as a Rewire slave than others I've tried.

Adobe Audition: best for vocal editing and track prep/restoration.. best for editing SFX, which you are obviously interested in. Unfortunately worst in MIDI.

Sonar is the best all around DAW at least for my needs.. which includes midi functionality, mixing flexibility and ease of use, and it is good for guitar tracking.. works very well under heavy loads too.

I would give Logic a go but it isn't available for Windows anymore.

[deadxatthexscene]

Sounds great. I need to get my hands on Sonar because I've heard great things about that too. Is Sonar both OSX and Windows?

I use Logic mainly at school, I've always been a PC guy, but my current PC is crowded with too much stuff to use it for both audio and gaming/surfing. Corrupted files, slow harddrives, driver hell... Thinkin about getting a Mac Pro for dedicated audio.

Ableton Live isn't too bad when Rewiring, definitely wouldn't use it as a standalone DAW...

[Henrik]

Is Sonar both OSX and Windows?

I believe so, yes.

[Henrik]

Yeah, I really don't like Ableton, heard good things, but when I tried it, it just did not jive with me at all.

[Brad.G]

wtf?.........

[H3i53nb3rg]

That user has had posts like that all over the forum in the last 24 hours. Probably just some spamz0r or someone who's had their account hax0red.