Four Guns West

Slide 1

Charles Maynes

Weapons sound aesthetics-Real?, HYPER Real?, or just REDONKULOUS?Only your producer knows for sure.....

Do all guns sound the same?NO.........but actually they sort of do.......

Real world defining conditions for weapons recordingWeapon CaliberBarrel LengthConstruction MaterialsAmmunition typeLocationMicrophone typeMic placementPads and Limiting

Other location issuesWeather / Wind / RainSite SecurityActivity Pacing

http://vimeo.com/20869893

Chuck Russom

Guns Are LoudGuns Give The Player FeedbackThe Players Gun Needs To Be Bad-AssNPC Guns Shouldnt Sound Cooler Than The PlayersGun Foley and Shell Ejects Make A Gun Feel RealEvery Gun In The Game Needs A Unique SoundDont Forget The Tail/Decay Of The GunThe Sound Is Not Done Until It Works In The GamePhilosophy Of Gun Sound Design

Sound not working in game story?

Talk about unique sounds. Examples.

OnionsOgresSound Design Is Like

Onions Have LayersOgres Have LayersSound Design Has Layers

Important layers

Complimentary Layers

Conflicting Layers

Orchestration

Phase Cancelation

Player Gun Sound LayersMechBodyPunchMix

Mx Mastering

Different layers - multiple tracks

Why? One Recording wont do it. Mics dont hear like ears.

Real guns not as interesting as you might think

Aux Tracks at Bottom

Multiple Tracks per layer

NPC Gun SoundsCant Overshadow The PlayerNeed To Convey a Sense of DangerGreat Opportunity to Change Sound Based on Distance

Distances and xfades

NPC Multiple Distance LayersNearMediumFarVery Far

Part of an 8 layers system

Talk about context

Processing

EQ

CompressorLimiter/Volume MaximixerTransient Tape Saturation Bass Enhancer

17Chris vs Reality

Introduction to Splash Damage who we are where we came fromMy job what it is

18Chris vs Reality

Recording session with Charles Maynes

Weapons that have a unique sound

Building Blocks

Recording session with Charles Maynes great building blocksEd and Charles listed cool sounds stenchkin, sten, ak74source materialBlack and no recordingTimeframeTextureUnique sounding weapons

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Giving your weapons a unique voice

Using unusual non literal elementsChris vs Reality

Same as Art Direction, start on day one formulating a signature and styleDo not do sound in last 6 monthsI use non literal for texture and signatures on single shot weaponsPistols, Shotguns, RPG

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Brink Silenced Pistol breakdown elementsChris vs Reality

Break down of elements along with real recording of silenced pistol

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Brink Silenced Pistol final versionsChris vs Reality

Final version sounds nothing like real recording but still sounds like what a consumer thinks a silencer soud slike but has aunique character

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Brink Sniper Rifle breakdown elementsChris vs Reality

Breakdown of sniper rifle elements non literal elements include vocals and screams to give tonal texture

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Brink Sniper Rifle final versionChris vs Reality

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Ironsights sonic not realistic but who cares!?

This blends in when weapon in ironsights

Creates player focus

Non Weapon source elementsChris vs Reality

Initial idea ben and me blackearly versions too stylised and not work in gameevolved to mech basedPlayer focus

non weapon elementsshotgun

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Choir of not just guns philosophy

Design with harmony in mindChris vs Reality

Not just guns

3 focus groups think about a design phase

cars, guns whatever

When this sound in group plays how it does it work with this other sound in group

+++RecordingsElementsSound DesignPlugins/MasteringRecap=WIN?

So to recap

You go out and record source material, gather some other elements, mix and edit it all in Pro Tools, apply some plugins and then master it.And after all that you should end up with the perfect Gun SoundGreat - but that sound is still in Pro Tools and now you have to get it in game and have it sounding as good at runtime.

6 Shot Burst3 Singles

Playback SystemsOriginal Recording

One of the first things to consider is your playback system, which should depend on the weapon types you have in game, the source material you have gathered and also the possibilities within your Audio Engine.

Im going to briefly cover 4 different playback solutions and highlight some pros and cons.

So lets look at a burst firing weapon, and assume that the source material we have is a 6 shot burst and 3 single shots.

>ProsSimple To ImplementUses Only 1 (or 2) Voice(s)Works For Singles And BurstChange Fire Rate Without PitchingPlayback SystemsMonophonicConsLooses Character Of Burst FireCan Sound FlatUsually Frame Rate DependentHard To Use Burst Source

A simple solution is a monophonic system.

This system can utilize the single shots and tail from the burst.Fire events are triggered on frames, with each new fire sample, stopping the previous playing sample.

Playback SystemsPolyphonic>

ProsSimple To ImplementCan Limit Voice UsageWorks For Singles And BurstChange Fire Rate Without PitchingConsLoses Character Of Burst FireCan Sound FlatUsually Frame Rate DependentHard To Use Burst Source

An extension to this is a polyphonic system, where we allow each sample to play fully

In this case we have overlapping between samples.Care must be taken so that this overlapping is like a smooth blend between samples and doesnt lead to mush.

Both monophonic and polyphonic systems like these are commonly locked to fire rate.

Original30FPSShot Every FrameShot Every Other Frame1177 RPM Un Quantized1800 RPM Quantized30FPS900 RPM QuantizedIs Firing / Is Not FiringBinary Switch On / OffFrame Rate vs Fire Rate

Any system that is locked to frame rate, will only be able to update at that frame rate.

So in a 30FPS setup, we would be limited to 1800, 900, 600 etc Rounds Per Minute - which correlate to once a frame, once every other frame, once every 3rd frame etc.

As well as limiting the fire rates available to us, we are also quantizing the original source material, thereby removing the life and feel of the original weapon, and end up with a gamey sounding weapon, a bit like a drum machine.

Variations in frame rate, i.e. dropped frames, play havoc with these systems.

**Birotron - Similar to a Mellotron, but uses tape loops, allowing sounds to play indefinitely

Playback SystemsLooping>

ProsFairly Simple To ImplementPreserves Burst CharacterIndependent Of Frame RateQuick To Edit And Place MarkersConsSingle Shot Can Lack Full PunchChanging Fire Rate Changes PitchCan Be RepetitiveLoop Release Needs Care

Commonly for burst firing weapons a looping system is used.

The loop has defined start, mid sustaining loop section and tail.

This preserves the character of the original burst recording, but if the sample is too short, it can quickly become repetitive.

Playback SystemsGranular>

ProsPer Grain AM,FM And DSPPreserves Burst CharacterIndependent Of Frame RateChange Fire Rate Without PitchingConsHarder To ImplementMore Sample Editing RequiredWorks Best For BurstsRequires Some Thought

A granular implementation, whilst harder to implement, offers the benefits of both the monophonic and polyphonic systems as well as the the looping system.

It allows you to utilize all the source material you have recorded, and has the bonus of being able to sync additional layers and have per grain processing.

Burst Fire All InBodyTailSurgery>+

The original sample we made in Pro Tools contained the gun firing burst and also the effect of that sound on its environment and how that sound decays after we cease firing.

This can easily be split into the body and the tail.

Burst Fire All InWhatWhereSurgery>+

In a very broad sense we can say that the Body tells us What we are firing

And the Tail Where we are firing


The What could sound like this


OpenUrbanIndoor SmallIndoor LargeBurst Fire All InWhatWhereSurgery>+

And the Tail can be varied to many suggest different locations





EnvironmentLow AmmoWeapon WearEmotional e.g. Slow MoSwell/Energy Build UpOverheatingWhere is the What?Body Layers

The body of the sound can also be added to, to provide additional sonic feedback for the player.

We can add an additional layer to the body to reinforce the characteristics of the environment it is being fired in.

This layer could be varied over time to give audio clues about how long it has been firing and how much energy is in the system.

First PersonThird Person

Where Is The What?0P vs 1P vs 3P vs Farvs

The main Body sample can also be switched out depending on the relationship between the source and the listener.

We both have the same weapon

Yet, I expect my gun to sound different to yours.

Mine is closer and around 30 cm from my ears

Yours is further away from me and should be less detailed



Where as mine can sound like this



Yours will have less foley detail, less saturation and more definition between shots.

First PersonThird PersonFar Person

Where Is The What?0P vs 1P vs 3P vs Farvsvs

The person firing a few hundred meters away will exaggerate this effect further

First PersonThird PersonFar Person

Where Is The What?0P vs 1P vs 3P vs Farvsvs

Like this

First PersonThird PersonFar PersonZeroth PersonIron Sights

Where Is The What?0P vs 1P vs 3P vs Farvsvsvs

An additional extension to this distance layering is the Zeroth person or Iron Sights position.Which brings the weapon a lot closer to your ears.

First PersonThird PersonFar PersonZeroth PersonIron Sights

Where Is The What?0P vs 1P vs 3P vs Farvsvsvs

Like this.

Taking these four layers we can easily cross fade between these with distance and the observant will have noticed that all four layers I played were in sync,

making it easier to have long blends between the different distance samples, and yet still preserve the definition of the individual shots.

Distance from Listener

UnrealnessReally RealRealness vs Distance

When designing these layers, we should take into account player expectations.

This can be approached in many ways, a useful start can be to compare Realness with Distance, if of course Real is one of the facets we wish to portray

Where does a players concept of Real come from?

When have they heard real guns?


UnrealnessFARNewsYoutubeFilmReally RealWhat Does Real Sound Like?

Recently a lot of real recordings have been heard on the news, as a result of ongoing conflicts.Youtube hosts many clips of real guns being firedFilm and television also define the expectations of what a real gun sounds like.

I find that people are receptive to what a loud sound sounds like quite far away, about 1 km, and how that sound propagates through their environment.

The experience of listening to thunder or even fireworks is a perfect example of this. This experience is comparable to material I would use for a FAR Layer. A real gun recorded from far away.

Really RealUp Close


Unrealness3PFAR

DIY RecordingSample Libraries

Pro Recording

When we move to the 3rd person sound, for me this is encapsulated by the material you can collect whilst recording weapons or that can be found on traditional sample libraries.

This is still real, but generally tends to have some saturation and limiting burnt into the recording, which can be similar to how our ears would naturally react to loud sounds.

Really RealUp Close And Personal


Unrealness3PFAR1P

OTT FilmSUB

Foley

When we reach the first person sound, sound design is almost definitely needed to make the gun sound close and if needed give if that Rambo-esque emotional edge.

Foley and low frequency content usually have to be mixed in to give it the correct presence.

Really RealUnreal

Distance from ListenerUnrealness3PFAR0P?1P

Finally at the Zeroth layer, well you are on your own.You could focus your design in the same way that the shooter is completely focused on the sight of the weapon to the exclusion of all other visual stimulus - and match the sound to this.

Or for me going from personal experience of firing a few rounds in iron sights with no ear protection, it could sound like someone striking an anvil with a hammer next to my right ear, hearing nothing in my left ear and being punched lightly in the stomach.

The choice is up to you.

Runtime DSPGelling Together In The WorldIR ReverbDistance FilteringAngular FilteringEmotional EQDucking/MixingObstruction/OcclusionHDR

A final note is that the liberal, or even exuberant, use of runtime DSP can help all these layers gel together to deliver a unified gun experience, that believably sits in your world.

=WIN!+FrostBite 2La Fin

Using these ideas and techniques, along with many others, are some of the vital steps in taking that perfect gun sound from your Pro Tools session, implementing into a game and delivering that experience to your consumers.

Thanks For ListeningQuestions?

Four Guns West

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Transcript of Four Guns West