Principles of Game Audio and Sound Design

Principles of Game Audio and Sound Design

by Jean-Luc Sinclair
Released April 2020
Publisher(s): Focal Press
ISBN: 9781351731126

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Book description

Principles of Game Audio and Sound Design is a comprehensive introduction to the art of sound for games and interactive media using Unity. This accessible guide encompasses both the conceptual challenges of the artform as well as the technical and creative aspects, such as sound design, spatial audio, scripting, implementation and mixing.

Beginning with basic techniques, including linear and interactive sound design, before moving on to advanced techniques, such as procedural audio, Principles of Game Audio and Sound Design is supplemented by a host of digital resources, including a library of ready-to-use, adaptable scripts. This thorough introduction provides the reader with the skills and tools to combat the potential challenges of game audio independently.

Principles of Game Audio and Sound Design is the perfect primer for beginner- to intermediate-level readers with a basic understanding of audio production and Unity who want to learn how to gain a foothold in the exciting world of game and interactive audio.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Half Title
  3. Title Page
  4. Copyright Page
  5. BRIEF CONTENTS
  6. DETAILED CONTENTS
  7. 1 Introduction
    1. 1 The Genesis of Audio in Games
    2. 2 From Sample Playback to Procedural Audio
    3. 3 How to Use This Book
      1. What This Book Is
        1. What This Book Isn’t
  8. 2 The Role of Audio in Interactive and Immersive Environments
    1. 1 Inform, Entertain, Immerse
      1. 1 Inform: How, What
        1. a Geometry/Environment: Spatial Awareness
        2. b Distance
        3. c Location
        4. d User Feedback and Game Mechanics
      2. 2 Entertain
        1. a Sound Design
        2. b Music and the Mix
      3. 3 Defining Immersion
    2. 2 Challenges of Game Audio
      1. 1 Implementation
      2. 2 Repetition and Fatigue Avoidance
      3. 3 Interactive Elements and Prototyping
      4. 4 Physics
      5. 5 Environmental Sound Design and Modeling
      6. 6 Mixing
      7. 7 Asset Management and Organization
  9. 3 The Game Engine Paradigm
    1. 1 What Is a Game Engine
      1. The Unity3D Project Structure
      2. 1 Level Basics 101
        1. a 2D, 3D and Cartesian Coordinates
        2. b World Geometry
        3. c Lighting
        4. d Character Controllers
        5. e Cameras
      3. 2 Elements of a Level
        1. a Everything Is an Object
        2. b Transform
        3. c Sprites
        4. d Meshes
        5. e Models
        6. f Textures
        7. g Shaders
        8. h Materials
        9. i Terrain
        10. j Skyboxes
        11. k Particles Systems
        12. l Colliders
        13. m Triggers/Trigger Zones
        14. n Lighting
        15. o Audio
        16. p Prefabs
    2. 2 Sub Systems
      1. 1 Animation
      2. 2 Input
      3. 3 Physics
        1. Rigidbodies and Collision Detection
        2. Physics Materials
        3. Triggers
        4. Raycasting
      4. 4 Audio
      5. 5 Linear Animation
      6. 6 Additional Sub Systems
  10. 4 The Audio Engine and Spatial Audio
    1. 1 Listeners, Audio Clips and Audio Sources
      1. 1 The Audio Listener
        1. Audio Clips
        2. Audio Sources
      2. 2 Audio Source Parameters
      3. 3 Attenuation Shapes and Distance
        1. a Spherical Spreading
        2. b Sound Cones – Directional Audio Sources
        3. c Square/Cube
        4. d Volumetric Sound Sources
        5. e 2D, 3D or 2.5D Audio?
      4. 4 Features of Unity’s Audio Engine
        1. a Audio Filters
        2. b Audio Effects
        3. c Audio Mixers
    2. 2 Audio Localization and Distance Cues
      1. 1 Distance Cues
        1. a Loudness
        2. b Dry to Reflected Sound Ratio
        3. c Low Pass Filtering With Distance
        4. d Spatial Width
      2. 2 Localization Cues
        1. a Localization on the Horizontal Plane
        2. b Localization on the Vertical Plane
      3. 3 Implementing 3D Audio
        1. a Object-based Audio and Binaural Renderings
        2. b Working With HRTFs
        3. c Multichannel Audio and Ambisonics
      4. 4 Optimizing Sound Design for Spatialization
        1. a Putting It all Together
        2. b Working With 2D and Multichannel Audio
        3. c Working With Ambisonics
        4. d Working With Object-Based Audio
  11. 5 Sound Design – The Art of Effectively Communicating With Sound
    1. 1 The Art of Sound Design
      1. 1 A Brief History of Sound Design
      2. 2 Sound Design – Basic Considerations
        1. a Effective Sound Design
        2. b Sound Design Guidelines
      3. 3 Getting the Right Tools
        1. a Equalization
        2. b Dynamic Range
        3. c Reverberation
        4. d Harmonic Processors
        5. e Metering Tools
        6. f Utilities
      4. 4 Microphones
        1. a Microphone Choice: Dynamic vs. Condensers
        2. b Mic Placement
      5. 5 Sound Design – Before You Start
        1. a Always Use High Quality Material
        2. b Don’t Get Too Attached
        3. c Build and Learn
        4. d Listen for the Expected and the Unexpected
        5. e Layers
        6. f Be Organized
        7. g Communicate
        8. h Experiment, Experiment, Experiment
    2. 2 Basic Techniques
      1. 1 Layering/Mixing
      2. 2 Pitch Shifting
        1. a Playback Speed Modulation
        2. b Granular Synthesis
        3. c Fast Fourier Transform-Based Algorithms
      3. 3 Distortion
        1. a Saturation
        2. b Overdrive
        3. c Distortion
        4. d Bit Crushing
      4. 4 Compression
        1. a Blending Through Bus Compression
        2. b Transient Control
        3. c Inflation
      5. 5 Equalization/Filtering
        1. a Equalization for Sound Design
        2. b Resonance Simulation
      6. 6 Harmonic Generators/Aural Exciters
      7. 7 Granular Synthesis and Granulation of Sampled Sounds
        1. a Granular Synthesis Terminology
        2. b Sound Design Applications of Granular Synthesis
      8. 8 DSP Classics
        1. a Ring Modulation/Amplitude Modulation
        2. b Comb Filtering/Resonators
      9. 9 Reverberation
        1. a Indoors vs. Open Air
        2. b Reverb Parameters
        3. c Reverberation for Environmental Modeling
        4. d Reverberation as a Dramatic Tool
      10. 10 Convolution
        1. a Optimization
        2. b Speaker and Electronic Circuit Emulation
        3. c Filtering/Very Small Space Emulation
        4. d Hybrid Tones
      11. 11 Time-Based Modulation FX
        1. a Chorus
        2. b Flanger
        3. c Phasers
        4. d Tremolo
      12. 12 Foley Recording
  12. 6 Practical Sound Design
    1. 1 Setting Up a Sound Design Session and Signal Flow
      1. 1 Signal Flow
        1. a Input
        2. b Inserts
        3. c Pre-Fader Send
        4. d Volume Fader
        5. e Metering: Pre-Fader vs. Post Fader
        6. f Post-Fader Send
        7. g Output
      2. 2 Working With Video
        1. a Know Your Frame Rate
      3. 3 Clipping Is Easy – Mind the Signal Path
        1. Use the Dynamic Range
      4. 4 Setting Up a Basic Session for Linear Mixes and Cut Scenes
        1. a Music, Dialog and Sound Effects
        2. b Inserts vs. Effects Loops for Reverberation
        3. c Setting Up the Mix Session
        4. d Master Output and Sub Maste
        5. e Submixes and Effects Loops
        6. f Further Enhancements
    2. 2 Practical Sound Design and Prototyping
      1. 1 Guns
        1. a One Shot vs. Loops
        2. b General Considerations
        3. c Designing a Gunshot
      2. 2 Prototyping Vehicles
        1. a Specifications
        2. b Selecting Your Material
        3. c Processing and Preparing Your Material
        4. d Building a Prototype
      3. 3 Creature Sounds
        1. a Primary vs. Secondary Sounds
        2. b Emotional Span
        3. c Working With Vocal Recordings
        4. d Working With Animal Samples
        5. e Working With Non-Human or Animal Samples
      4. 4 An Adaptive Crowd Engine Prototype in MaxMSP
  13. 7 Coding for Game Audio
    1. 1 Why Learn to Code?
      1. 1 Syntax and Logic
      2. 2 Algorithms
      3. 3 Basic Object-Oriented Programming Concepts
        1. a Procedural vs. Object-Oriented
        2. b Encapsulation and Inheritance
    2. 2 An Intro to C#: Syntax and Basics
      1. 1 Our First Script
      2. 2 Variables, Constants, Data Types Operators, Arrays and Lists
        1. a Data Types
        2. b Variables
        3. c Arrays
        4. d Lists
        5. e Access Modifiers
      3. 3 Accessing a Function From Another Class
    3. 3 Playing Audio in Unity
      1. 1 Our First Audio Script
      2. 2 Play() vs. PlayOneShot()
      3. 3 Using Triggers
      4. 4 Sample Randomization
      5. 5 Detecting Keyboard Events
      6. 6 Audio-Specific Issues
        1. a Timing – Frame Rate vs. Absolute Time
        2. b Linear vs. Logarithmic Amplitude
  14. 8 Implementing Audio: Common Scenarios
    1. 1 Before You Start: Preparing Your Assets
    2. 2 Ambiences and Loops
      1. 1 Creating Ambiences and Loops
        1. a Seamless Loops
        2. b Creating a Simple Loop – Looping Techniques
        3. c Creating Variations
      2. 2 Implementing Our Loops in a Unity Level
        1. a Challenges
        2. b Spatial Distribution
        3. c Working With the Time Property to Avoid Phasing Issues
      3. 3 Random Emitters
        1. a A Simple Random Emitter Algorithm
        2. b Coroutines
      4. 4 Ambiences, Putting It All Together
      5. 5 Sample Concatenation
        1. a Creating Variations With Footsteps Samples
        2. b Case 1: Swapping Audio Clips
        3. c Case 2: Using PlayScheduled()
      6. 6 Collisions
        1. a Detecting Collision
        2. b Velocity-based Sample Selection
      7. 7 Raycasting and Smart Audio Sources
        1. a Implementing Occlusion With Raycasting
        2. b Avoiding the Pebble Effect
      8. 8 Animation Events
      9. 9 Audio Fades
      10. 10 Distance Crossfades
      11. 11 Working With Prefabs
        1. a Creating a Smart Intermittent Emitter Prefab With Occlusion
        2. b Instantiating a Prefab From Scripting
        3. c Destroying an Object Instantiated From a Prefab
        4. d Instantiating Audio Emitters at Random Locations in 3D
  15. 9 Environmental Modeling
    1. 1 What Is Environmental Modeling?
      1. 1 Reverberation
        1. a Pre-Computed vs. Real Time Computation
        2. b Absorption Coefficients
        3. c Environmental Modeling With Reverberation in Unity
        4. d Unity’s Reverberation Parameters
      2. 2 Best Practices for Environmental Modeling
        1. a Late vs. Early Reflections
        2. b Reflections Level
        3. c Density and Diffusion
        4. d High Frequencies vs. Low Frequencies
      3. 3 Reverb Zones, Effects Loops and Audio Reverb Filters
        1. a Reverb Zones
        2. b Adding Reverb as an Effect Loop Using the Mixer
        3. c Audio Reverb Filters
    2. 2 Distance Modeling
      1. 1 Filtering as a Product of Distance
        1. a Adding a Low Pass Filter That Will Modulate its Cutoff Frequency Based on Distance
        2. b Width Perception as Product of Distance
        3. c Dry to Wet Ratio as a Product of Distance
        4. d Distance Simulation: Putting It All Together
    3. 3 Additional Factors
      1. 1 Occlusion, Obstruction, Exclusion
        1. a Occlusion
        2. b Obstruction
        3. c Exclusion
      2. 2 Distance Crossfades
      3. 3 Doppler Effect
  16. 10 Procedural Audio: Beyond Samples
    1. 1 Introduction, Benefits and Drawbacks
      1. 1 What Is Procedural Audio?
        1. a Procedural Audio, Pros and Cons
        2. b Approaches to Procedural Audio
    2. 2 Practical Procedural Audio: A Wind Machine and a Sword Collision Model
      1. 1 A Wind Machine in MaxMSP With Subtractive Synthesis
        1. Making the Model Flexible
      2. 2 A Sword Maker in MaxMSP With Linear Modal Synthesis
        1. Spectral Analysis
        2. Modeling the Impulse
        3. Modeling the Resonances
        4. Making the Model Flexible
  17. 11 Adaptive Mixing
    1. 1 What’s in a Mix? Inform and Entertain (Again)
      1. 1 Mix Considerations
      2. 2 Music, Dialogue and Sound Effects
      3. 3 Planning and Pre-Production
        1. a SubMixing
        2. b Routing
        3. c Dynamic Range
        4. d Passive vs. Active Mix Events
    2. 2 The Unity Audio Mixer
      1. 1 Adding Groups to the Unity Mixer
      2. 2 The Audio Group Inspector
      3. 3 Working With Views and Colors in the Unity Mixer
        1. Creating Views in Unity
      4. 4 Adding Effects to Groups in Unity
      5. 5 Inserts vs. Effect Loops
      6. 6 Setting Up an Effect Loop for Reverberation in Unity Using Send and Receive
        1. Note on Adjusting Levels During Gameplay
      7. 7 Ducking in Unity
        1. Setting Up a Ducking Compressor in Unity
    3. 3 Snapshots, Automation and Game States
      1. 1 Working With Snapshots
      2. 2 Recalling Snapshots via Scripting
      3. 3 Editing Mixer and Plugin Parameters via Scripting
      4. 4 Exposing a Parameter: Controlling a Volume Slider
    4. 4 Good Practices
      1. Mix Levels
  18. 12 Audio Data Reduction
    1. 1 Digital Audio: A Quick Review
      1. 1 Pulse Code Modulation
      2. 2 File Size Calculation
    2. 2 Data Reduction Strategies
      1. 1 Speech vs. Generic Audio
      2. 2 Bit Rates
      3. 3 Perceptual Coding
        1. The Trade-Off
      4. 4 Common File Formats
        1. a MP3
        2. b Advanced Audio Coding
        3. c Ogg Vorbis
        4. d AC-3 Dolby Digital
        5. e Adaptive Differential Pulse Code Modulation
    3. 3 Data Reduction Good Practices
    4. 4 Data Reduction Options in Unity
      1. 1 File Options
      2. 2 Load Type
      3. 3 Compression Formats Options
        1. Sample Rate Setting
  19. Index

Product information

  • Title: Principles of Game Audio and Sound Design
  • Author(s): Jean-Luc Sinclair
  • Release date: April 2020
  • Publisher(s): Focal Press
  • ISBN: 9781351731126