I have a really interesting question, where do people get ''average'' sound effects. Like there are certain sound effects that are everywhere and identical. Like the screaming guy from the Terran Academy in StarCraft when you click it. I hear the everywhere on TV and in games. There's others I just can't think of them now. Are these (or at least that sound) in a popular SFX lib or do people just record StarCraft's and use it for their own needs? Thanks for the help,

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Are these (or at least that sound) in a popular SFX lib or do people just record StarCraft's and use it for their own needs?

Recording straight from another game to use in your own game would be severe copyright infringement. There are tons of SFX libraries out there. Some of completely free, others are quite expensive. Try googling SFX libraries and you'll come up with tons of hits. There are even some websites that promote an a la carte method- where you can just select and purchase the SFX you need. The important thing to remember is to pick royalty-free collections. This doesn't mean they're free or that you can give them out to people- quite the contrary! It just means you can use them and not have to pay continuous royalties on them throughout the life of your game.

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Like the screaming guy from the Terran Academy in StarCraft when you click it. I hear the everywhere on TV and in games.

Could you be referring to this scream:
The Wilhelm Scream

This happens when various projects have the same SFX library package. While many try to avoid it, myself included, some projects don't really edit the SFX files. They just pop them in pretty much raw. The result is SFX heard over several different projects- which I feel takes away from the project's uniqueness.

I hope that helps!

Nathan

Hmmm, I don't recall the Willhelm Scream being used in StarCraft, but it's very possible.
I know what you mean, though - I keep hearing an explosion sound I first heard in the original Jedi Knight. It was in a trailer for Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa, and I think I heard it in the trailer for the new Far Cry movie (which, as a matter of fact, looks like crap). I'd be here all day if I listed every time I've heard the same sound effect in multiple, unrelated games or movies.
Anyway, I think it's very, very stupid to just pop stock sound effects in your game (or movie) without editing. Do you really want your game to sound like everything else? Of course not. Even if it means blending two sounds together, the end result is more rewarding. What do you want the player to think, "Wow, that sound effect is just so cool!" or "Gah! Not that sound effect again - I hear it everywhere!"?

As nsmadsen stated, it would be a blatant copyright infringement if people were to take a sound effect from another game and use it in their own - if you hear the same effect twice, it's most likely from a 3rd party library.

Thanks for the help, the scream you mentioned msmadsen is not exactly the one from starcraft, although now that you mention it I have heard it around too. The starcraft one occurs when you click the Terran Academy building, it may be the Wilhelm scream, but heavily distorted and drawn out.

I have another question on the licensing issue. When an individual records a sound, is that sound now his publishers copyrighted material? If so how do the SFX libs get permission to include it in their libs? Do they have to contact studio A for the Wilhelm scream and studio B for the sword clank? I'm just wondering if you find a random sound effect floating around online how you go about acquiring it.

My final question is, how much does a nice full featured SFX lib cost, like how much did yours cost (you don't have to tell me what it is since I know having unique SFX libs are important).

Thanks for the replies,

I haven't bought any sample libraries, but I heard somewhere that Sound Ideas has good stuff:

http://www.sound-ideas.com/index.html

Their stuff is relatively cheap, I believe.

Quote: Original post by axpen
Thanks for the help, the scream you mentioned msmadsen is not exactly the one from starcraft, although now that you mention it I have heard it around too. The starcraft one occurs when you click the Terran Academy building, it may be the Wilhelm scream, but heavily distorted and drawn out.

I have another question on the licensing issue. When an individual records a sound, is that sound now his publishers copyrighted material? If so how do the SFX libs get permission to include it in their libs? Do they have to contact studio A for the Wilhelm scream and studio B for the sword clank? I'm just wondering if you find a random sound effect floating around online how you go about acquiring it.

It depends on the contract you have. I would say in most cases if you are being paid to make sounds for a specific game then that publisher or developer will own those sounds. In that regard you don't get to add them to your personal lib. Most sound designers will record lots of sounds while not being paid by any one so they own them and have something unique. Those they could then license in a none-exclusive fashion to people. If you do find a random sound you like you will have to track down who owns the copyright on it and find out what the licensing costs will be.

Quote: Original post by axpen
My final question is, how much does a nice full featured SFX lib cost, like how much did yours cost (you don't have to tell me what it is since I know having unique SFX libs are important).

Thanks for the replies,

A large SFX lib can cost any where from a couple hundred to as much money as you've got. Sound Ideas is a great company to get a price idea from and have great libs. The 6000 series is probably as close to an industry standard there is in the sound community.

Another great place is sounddogs.com who stock Sound Ideas,as well as many other SFX providers, but allow you to buy single sounds. If you only need a couple things it's great. It's always a better deal to buy full libraries if you need lots though.