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It's common knowledge among sound and music professionals that game developers generally don't know what to do with us. We're usually brought in near the end of a project, one of the last elements considered -- this in a medium that has rarely been considered silent.
This differs from filmmaking, where by necessity sound is essential on the first day of shooting and musical ideas are often planned early in the process. For example, composer Trent Reznor sent film director David Fincher music while he was shooting The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. But outside of an in-house job, our services for game developers are usually brought in on the last lap. Get the assets recorded -- perfectly -- ASAP, then move on to the next gig.
On the other hand, audio experts don't know how to deal with computer folks, broadly speaking. With filmmakers they likely share a similar passion for other aspects of production: story, directing style, visuals. Though games have similar elements, how many audio pros have a conversational interest for things like Unity, C++, or monetization?
Game sound professionals are creative types who have (hopefully) developed the technical skills of audio implementation, while developers are technical wizards who have fostered the creative and leadership skills that get their projects to completion.
The two face a challenge in communication that's complicated by the subjectivity of creativity. Developers don't understand how hard we work to create a needed one-second sound effect anymore than we understand how hard they work to get a game to even basic functionality. Perhaps that understanding isn't essential, but a lack of recognition for it can create roadblocks that cause time and money to be wasted.
What are some steps each side can take to improve communication and ultimately create more effective game audio? I can't claim to have experienced every possible audio/developer situation, but for this article I want to share a few of my experiences in the indie universe.
What Does a Freeze Ray Sound Like, Anyway?
I worked on a game with a designer in Israel. I was required me to create the sound of a death ray that freezes the character. I whipped up a cool magic sound in my studio... and got rejected. Tried a variation... fail. Tried more ideas... nope. The designer's complaint? None of these assets "sound like a human being frozen."
 Huh? "What does a human being frozen sound like?" I asked.
"I don't know, but I'll know when I hear it."
Oh, heck no! I didn't have the time or financial incentive to indefinitely email variations on one sound. I wanted guidance! So I prodded a little further about where to explore and the developer made a request for something organic sounding.
A-ha! No mystical magic-type sound created with synthesizers. Samples, earthy sounds grounded in the real world! I created a mish-mash of outdoor winter sounds (footsteps in snow, skiing, etc.) and the developer was thrilled with the very next sound I created.
What did I learn from this situation?
1. Get more explicit details of what was needed in the sound asset. I know; it should be obvious. But typically I'm given a list of desired sounds, a few general comments, and then everyone crosses their fingers, hoping I nail everything perfect in the first try. In this case, I wrongly assumed the "freeze ray sound" would be something magical sounding. Even if he didn't know what he wanted, we could have discussed possible ideas that got us to the organic concept faster or eliminated my initial magic ideas before I'd invested any time into them.
2. It made me reflect on our contract. I'd simply agreed to provide the specific assets on his list, but there were no limitations on how many variations I would create for him. This is a very tricky subject worthy of another article, as the developer doesn't want to be stuck with sounds they don't want to use, and the sound designer doesn't want to be taken advantage of -- especially if we're working for cheap and under deadlines. But if we'd agreed to, say, no more than two revisions of the same sound before additional pay kicks in, there might have been more concern on both sides to make sure our goals were mutually understood before I went to work.
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"I've lost gigs explaining to indie developers three minutes of epic orchestral music created in my home studio is far too much work for $100, yet my rate is far cheaper than hiring a full orchestra for tens of thousands of dollars!"
I don't think most who aren't involved in music understand how much time it takes not just to compose something, but to *learn* how to compose it, to find inspiration, and to constantly revise a piece and build on it until you have something that's actually good... and that's not even counting the recording, mixing and so on, which also takes potentially dozens or even hundreds of hours. There's an understanding that music "just happens", and those who don't play it themselves rarely understand how much knowledge work is involved as well as intuitive creative skill.
You offer good advice for folks working with audio-illiterate devs. However, that's the first time I've heard anyone say that film sound folks have it better than game sound folks. If there was a competition to be the most disgruntled industry audio personnel, I'm pretty sure the film folks would put up a good fight.
"This differs from filmmaking, where by necessity sound is essential on the first day of shooting..."
You're right, of course, that the recording of production dialogue on a film set is absolutely a necessity, but it's generally considered a necessary evil. It's a bit of a stretch to imply that because dialogue gets recorded during production that the use of sound in film is anything other than an after-thought in the vast majority of productions. Randy Thom’s writing on this issue is insightful:
http://www.filmsound.org/articles/designing_for_sound.htm
"musical ideas are often planned early in the process. For example, composer Trent Reznor sent film director David Fincher music while he was shooting The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo."
Citing one exceptional example doesn't make it the norm. There are examples from games too, such as Austin Wintory (a free-lancer, not an in-houser) working on the score for Journey for much of its development (the results of which, I think it’s fair to say, speak for themselves), but that doesn't make it the norm in games either, right?
I think there’s a danger that some people might read your article and think “game audio development = terrible, film audio development = pure ecstasy”, which is both untrue and simplistic. There’s a massive spectrum of audio development experiences to be had in both industries. If we were to generalise then the closest we could get to a truism is “people are generally ignorant of all aspects of audio other than perhaps a naïve understanding of music as an emotional signifier, blinkered by their own limited musical experiences” – the industry at hand is, arguably, irrelevant.
Rob Bridgett’s thoughts (inspired by Randy Thom’s) on the collaboration between game audio personnel and the other development disciplines are relevant to this discussion:
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/130733/designing_a_nextgen_game_for_sound.
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It’s quite tempting to dismiss Rob’s "manifesto" as only being applicable to AAA game development. But “indie = audio ignorance, AAA = collaboration-gasm” is equally untrue and simplistic – brilliant collaborations and great work happen at all development scales and budgets, even if they are the exception.
But the main thing I’d like to draw your attention to from Rob’s article is this:
“Another advantage in game sound is that the game development process, and the roles of game development staff, are more mercurial than those working in the movie development process - the motion picture industry, particularly at the Hollywood level, has solidified into very rigidly defined jobs at very specific times whereas the game development model is still so young, experimental and flexible in terms of structure that it gives a good chance of getting this right before the development process solidifies.”
On a related note:
http://www.criticalpathproject.com/?v=38403565
For now, there is more opportunity in game audio than in film audio. That’s why I think the film folks would win the “most disgruntled industry audio personnel” competition. And, frankly, they’re welcome to that prize :)
I've found that the iterative process is really necessary for producing great results. If an artist wasn't willing to put in those iterations, then I can't imagine even approaching that same level of excellence. Iteration is communication in a sense., between designer and artist. That said, the more of that communication about feel, aesthetics, and experience that happens in actual words, the less waste there will be.
One tactic that I've picked up for both sound and art is to ask for 2-3 different pieces of really rough work that takes the same time to produce of a single iteration. By favouring parallel over series iteration, the differences and nuances that are created really speed along the collaborative process.
Something else that I've started doing is trying to ensure that communication and production lines stay open between all teams. For example, in my tactics game, I've got four separate factions, each with different look and feel. While developing the primary gameplay prototype using paper and canvas, we were developing the broad story for the world and the four factions. There wasn't much cross-over at that point. Eventually, we began to have problems with our writing and concept art teams; what did the factions actually do, look like, feel like? As we headed into producing our first build, the game design team had some time to work on specific strategies and abilities for each faction, referring back to the writing for inspiration. With a few more iterations of those new mechanics, we were back on track; we had defined a strategic feel for our factions and so we could now use that to fuel our story, art, and sound.
In all honestly, it was a fairly messy process and I would certainly do a better job of it next time. I do believe that it is key to ensuring that your narrative and gameplay levels are in sync - which many companies seem to ignore for the most part. From what I've come to understand from talking to my sound and art guys, it's fairly common for sound to come in at the very end o f the development process and then art somewhere in the middle. Maybe that works for some teams. I'd really love some advice on how to steam-line a team in a fashion similar to how I've been doing it.
Back to the point though, I think it would be greatly beneficial to talk to other members of the production team in those contract situations. Usually the artists will have a richer vocabulary and also be in tune with the artistic vision of the project. Adding them to the conference call with the creative director might just make all the difference. Having that conference in the same room together - with youtube access - will certainly help as well. Being able to hear and discuss something together is invaluable.
Speaking of which, I can't wait for my next audio session with my own lead.
I love Trent Reznor.
As a gamedev/software-engineering student, you make me realise that audio may be harder than it first appears, and have inspired me to put more effort into discovering the in's and out's.
Thanks for that.
If a sound designer is brought in early, I would expect them to play the latest builds as they come out and work on a living sound asset list with the design team, billing within a budget on a per-asset basis if needed. It's good know up front what's expected, but a more customized, flexible and communication driven approach is needed than a hands-off contractor approach if we as an industry expect audio to take a more prominent role.
The message for developers seems clear:
Think hard about what you actually want from your sound and audio, and write that stuff down, and re-read it and tweak it to try and make it clear and precise. Then give it to your sound designer, and after they read it, *ask them questions about it* to confirm that their understanding of the requests seem to be aligned with yours. You may be busy, but if you don't want the sound designers to waste a lot of their time (and your money) making the wrong assets, you need to engage with them enough to efficiently steer them towards the result you want. If you reject an asset they made because it doesn't feel to you like it "fits" with the rest of the game, then its a sign that they don't quite understand what you want, and you need to give them clear feedback that they can act on.