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逆向思维:什么不属于声音设计?

发布时间:2011-12-20 11:00:58 Tags:,,,

作者:Ariel Gross

什么不是声音设计?这是个奇怪的问题。

我之所以以这种方式解释这个问题是因为我原本想要撰文回答:“什么是声音设计?”但在进行头脑风暴后我发现,这需要400页内容,我今天没有这么多时间,所以我决定回答更简单的问题。也就是,什么不属于声音设计?

我为什么要提出此问题?

我瞄准此问题的原因是玩家通常不知道声音设计师所做的工作。我主要谈到其他学科,但这同样适用很多学生,甚至是所谓的声音设计师。

但这非常重要。把握什么是声音设计非常重要。有时这就像是我们挥舞着Bologna魔杖,然后声波开始弥漫于空气中。更清楚来说,若我们挥舞Bologna魔杖,声波就会在空气中传播,但这些不是刻意制作的内容。或者至少它们不是主流内容。

此问题的首个答案是:声音设计不是当某人要求提供声音时,在空气中挥舞bologna魔杖。甚至根本不存在bologna魔杖这样的东西。至少不是处在主流位置。我们就此仔细研究过。关于此问题我已给出答案,现在开始新内容。

sound design from conversationagent.com

sound design from conversationagent.com

那么什么不是声音设计?

声音设计不是能够迅速完成的工作。它不会在5分钟内实现。我不在乎自己制作的是什么声音,也许是羽毛轻轻飘在一篮棉花上的声音。这无关紧要,这不会只花5分钟,也不会只花30分钟。

我也许能够在1小时内完成,但这绝不会是最佳内容。甚至完全搭不上边。这将会是粗糙雏形,必要情况下也能够发行,但我也许会腾出更多时间将其做得更好。也许这至少要再花费几小时。

声音设计不是简单将既有声音植入游戏中。虽然在某些情况下,这符合技术规范(游戏邦注:这取决于声音文库的EULA或声音是否完全归自己所有),但这依然无法为Team Audio所接受。我们倾向基于系列声音着手,这些也许来自声音文库,也许是独创声音,但我们不能仅停留于此。

我们从这些声音着手,通常被称作原始资产,将若干种声音融合起来,将它们调节出各种效果,赋予它们各种声音魔法,让其变得颇具创造性,最重要的是,将它们运用至最佳位置。

声音设计不只是声音设计师的专利。就像我能够通过paint.net制作出优质图像一样,任何人都可以制作声音,而且可以做得很好。我们可以通过Audacity等很多免费工具制作声音,这会让你头晕目眩。但其实这是非常普遍的选择,工具免费,所以不妨大胆尝试。

除此之外,你还可以通过自己的嘴巴制作声音。Volition非常鼓励这种做法,这能够帮助我们决定用户喜欢的内容。仅是通过嘴巴制作声音,你就能够从中获得众多有用指示信息。

也就是说,设计杰出声音绝非易事。和其他职业一样,声音设计也要经过多年实际操作才能掌握,也许要花一生时间。这极富创造性和技术性,有时还非常令人沮丧。

想要成为专业声音设计师,你需要将自己的生命投入其中,将自己的灵魂投入其中。若你有幸同优秀设计师共事,那么不妨好好欣赏他们的工作。若他们擅长于此,不妨好好观察他们如何制作。

声音设计不是专指音效。这个问题有些棘手,我并不是要令大家感到困惑,但声音设计&配乐及声音设计&语音之间的界限非常模糊。Mario拾起硬币是个快节奏的双音符旋律。这是否属于音乐?我不确定,但无疑具有音乐效果。我觉得你可以将此称作小型歌曲,或音效。

将对讲机特效运用至语音对话给人的感觉非常像音效设计。设置僵尸声音亦是如此。降低原始声音,进行某些失真处理,融入某些额外声响和动物叫声,在我看来这非常像声音设计,但其依然属于语音对话。

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What Isn’t Sound Design?

by Ariel Gross

What isn’t sound design? That’s a weird question. Well, not that weird. It’s not like asking why I frequently wear briefs made from bologna. The answer to that, by the way, is because most people would never guess where the smell is coming from. They’d feel awkward even suggesting it, and rightly so. If you’ve read any of my other blogs, you’re probably expecting me to end on bologna briefs. I might.

The reason I’m phrasing the question this way is because I originally wanted to write up a blog that answers the question, “What is sound design?” But in brainstorming, I realized that it would probably end up being roughly 400 pages, and I don’t have time for that today, so I thought instead I’d ask an easier question. That is, what isn’t sound design?

Why Am I Even Asking This Question?

I’m asking and eventually answering this question because it seems like people generally don’t know what sound designers do. I’m mostly referring to other disciplines, but it also applies to many students and even some so-called sound designers (that don’t seem to know what they’re doing).

It’s important, though. It’s important for people to know what sound design is (or isn’t). Sometimes it’s like people think that we wave a magic wand made from bologna and rad sounds start filling the air. To be clear, rad sounds would start filling the air if one were to wave a bologna wand around, but those haven’t been invented. Or, at least, they’re not mainstream (yet).

So, the first answer to the question is this: Sound design is not the result of waving a bologna wand around in the air after someone requests a sound. There isn’t even such a thing as a bologna wand. At least not in the mainstream. We’ve gone over this. Since I’m getting to answering the question already, I’m starting a new heading.

Okay, So What Isn’t Sound Design?

Sound design is not quick work. It doesn’t happen in five minutes. I don’t care what sound I’m making, it could be the sound of a feather landing lightly in a basket of cotton. It doesn’t matter, it’s not going to take me five minutes. It’s probably not going to take me 30 minutes.

I might be able to get it done in an hour, but it’s not going to be the best that it can be. Not even close. It’s going to be a rough first pass that may be acceptable to ship if absolutely necessary, but I’ll probably find some time to make it better later. May as well say that it’s going to take at least a couple hours.

Sound design is not simply taking existing sounds and plugging them into the game. Although in many cases this is technically legal to do, depending on the EULA of the sound library or if the sounds are owned outright, it’s still generally unacceptable to Team Audio. Yep, we do tend to have a bunch of sounds lying around, and they may come from sound libraries, or they may be original field recorded sounds, but the buck doesn’t stop there.

We want to take those sounds, usually referred to as source assets, and layer who-knows-how-many of them together (could be two, could be 100), tweak them with all kinds of effects, and apply all manners of audio wizardry to them to make them unique and, most importantly, perfect for what they’re being used for.

Sound design is not reserved exclusively for titled sound designers. Just like how I can open paint.net and make an awesome picture, anyone can make a sound, and believe it or not, it can be great. There are so many free tools to make sounds that it would make your head spin. Audacity is a popular choice, and it’s free, so don’t be afraid to dabble.

Beyond that, you can use your mouths to make sounds. We encourage this at Volition to help us determine what it is that people want. Just make the sound with your mouth and you’ve given more useful direction than you may realize.

That said, good sound design is not something that is easy. Like any other profession, sound design will take years and years of hardcore practical application to master. It could take a lifetime. It’s highly creative, highly technical, and at times, highly frustrating.

To be a professional sound designer, you have to devote your life to it. You have to pour your soul into it. If you have the fortune to be working with good sound designers, take a moment to appreciate their work. Like, go watch them do it if they’re cool with it. You’ll see!

Sound design is not exclusive to sound effects. This one can be tricky and I don’t mean to confuse anyone reading this, but the lines between sound design and music as well as sound design and voice are blurry. Mario picking up a coin is a quick little two-note melody. Is it music? I don’t know. It’s musical, for sure. I think you could call it a tiny little song, or you could call it a sound effect.

And when I’m applying a walkie talkie effect to a voice line, it feels suspiciously like sound design. Same goes for zombie voices. Pitch the original line down, apply some distortion, layer in some extra spit and a growling animal… sounds pretty sound designy to me. But it’s still a voice line!

What about the bologna briefs?

You could use the footstep system for that. Take a squishy sound, something nasty, maybe stirring a bowl of mac n’ cheese, and make it staccato with your envelope, basically an immediate attack and a decay of no more than a half a second. I’d probably opt to layer in some subtle farts in a couple of the variations, but that’s just me.

Bologna is pretty floppy, so it would be slapping against the thighs, so you may want to put something viscous on your hands and clap them together, maybe maple syrup, since that’s highly viscous and also may not taste too terrible if eaten on bologna. Layer that in there, too. Then, make it play on top of whatever footsteps are already playing using your footstep system. This way you get the sound on every step.

You’ll want some VO lines for NPCs that indicate that there is a meaty, pungent smell emanating from the character that is wearing the briefs.(Source:gamasutra


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