Hello,

My name is Kamron and I'm getting close to the end of my bachelors degree in game development and design. I have a few questions about what a audio designer does and how to go about learning some of the life of an audio designer.

• What software/tools are required to achieve best results?
• How do you go about making audio.
• What formats are better as in mp3 or wav.?

Any advice or tips about audio in general will help.

Thanks in advance!

There is a rule here, something like ‘no help with schoolwork’. I'm not sure if this rules applies here but I don't see why it shouldn't.

ED: I think the OP changed the wording of his post after I made this comment, not sure.

@kamronbentz There are tons of tools; no one tool is going to work the best for all cases.

Popular tools for raw audio include freeware like Audacity, as well as pay-for software like Adobe Audition and WaveLab.

Popular tools for sequencing and arranging include DAWs like Ableton, Nuendo, and Pro Tools. (Pro Tools can also double as a raw sample editor pretty well, but it's also the most expensive of the bunch.)

And then, MOST of the magic will actually come from the game integration – you will use some library like WWise or Miles or FMOD, that typically comes with its own authoring system, OR you will use a built-in system like the support in Unreal Engine for sound. This lets you bind events and data in the game (what actor, in what environment, with how much emphasis, how far away, moving how fast …) to affect the playback and even construction of the sound cue.

MP3 versus WAV are apples and oranges. MP3 is a distribution format for music. WAV is a mastering format for sound of all kinds. (There's also AIFF, still, at least on the macOS side.) Which specific distribution format your game engine uses depends on the engine and library used.

kamronbentz said:
what a audio designer does and how to go about learning some of the life of an audio designer.

Engineering courses in audio and music would be good, and music courses about acoustics and recording technologies. Maybe architectural courses about acoustic design for recording studios and large venues. And watch - no, listen to - lots of movies and television.

@hplus0603 I guess depending on what the sound is being used for and with what integration process can really decide the best results, Great answer. I have used audacity before for a class project but I haven't heard of some of the other software you said but will be doing some research on them and even test some of them out. For the class project we used Unreal Engine and it did help me integrate some of the sounds like the volume and the distance of an object and its sound. I even attached the ambiance right to the character to allow to play the sounds from the beginning to the end of the game.

Thank you for this information and appreciate your time

Kamron Bentz

I am not an audio designer as such but i am working with location sound and field recordings and have to clean up audio in preparation for processing

i would have a look at izotope rx for audio repair and restoration but it can also be used creatively for sound design work

spectral layers is a similar tool but i cannot comment on how well it works as i only use izotope rx

i have done a bit of sound design and find that a morphing tool was really useful - melda productions do one that i really like

cheers - buzby

The original question was posted in July. Please pay attention to the date on posts, and please don't necro. Thread locked.