[Sound Challenge] Competition #2 - Attack of the intro scene!

Hey everyone!

So after our last successful sound challenge, where we made sweet sounds for a short clip from a game. I thought it would be cool to have another short challenge!

So... the rules:
1. EVERYONE can join, you don't need to be a musician or have a sound engineering degree. Lets face it, we all need sound effects for our games and most of us are pretty terrible at it (I know I am). So lets practice using any software out there! (See below for some suggestions)
2. Once you have made your entry, post a link here. Or just post the whole thing here if you are scared of run-away threads.
3. Stick to the theme. Or don't. We don't really care either way, just join in!
4. Finish the project by Monday the 15th of rOcktober.
5. Did I mention EVERYONE can join in? We like silly gimmicks and I-made-this-with-my-phone-and-a-box-of-nails type entries so there are plenty of excuses to take part!

The theme:
This time I thought a cool theme would be to add sound effects/music/both to an intro sequence for a game.
If you have an intro to a game you are working on or have worked on in the past, post it here!

For those needing a fresh platform to work on, here is the intro to Dustforce!

Either strip off the old audio or add to the original to make something new, fresh and exciting!
Here is the video in downloadable form:
1080p in .mp4 format
720p in .mp4 format
Glorious 480p in .flv format.
Edit: Handrake is a handy tool if you need to convert to a different codec/format (I had to convert the video last time for Ableton).

Software advice:
So here is a handy list from pixel prospector for music software.
Procedural music generators like Otomata and January are really cool, so you could try make some music with them!
For sound effects I would recommend bfxr or sourcing sounds from freesound.

So who is keen? Any thoughts or comments?

[Update:] The votes are in! Check here to see where you came :)

Comments

  • I've forwarded this on to Andrew Smith who lectures the students studying sound at Wits.
    Thanked by 1creative630
  • Ooh rad, will definitely take part in the challenge to do some music for an intro!
  • I'm so down with this! :D
  • Ok... just checking if this is meant to be a video/Intro or just audio? I have got some concept Credits(end of the game....)? I could post?

  • @Gareth_Starstreem Its mostly audio focused, so sound effects/music. However, if you have something cool to show off or would like some constructive criticism then please go ahead and post it.
  • Ok this would be my first "music" entry :),

    http://www.starstreem.com/downloads/6 Credits Music.mp4

    Clip of something for a project im working on.
  • @Gareth_Starstreem That's excellent! I can't really give too much critisism. I felt like it was building up quite nicely until the abrupt stop at 36 seconds. Are you going to extend/enhance it in anyway? It felt like it was building up to a nice melodic melody or something which could carry it further, but then maybe the credits aren't meant to be too long? I would love to hear more about it and how you made it :)
  • edited
    @creative630 Thanks for the feedback, I only posted a short clip, as I am using a Fruitloops type app and was doing a style versus publishing a complete mix :), guess it would help maintain IP.
  • Awesome challenge! Will get on it soon, got some other compositions and sfx things to try finish off quickly first! :D I'll post it within the month!
  • Er, did you mean FruityLoops or is it some music app thing you use while eating breakfast? ;) I wouldn't be so concerned about IP and such, though...no one is trawling forums like this to steal work.

    Ben asked on Tuesday that I take a stab at this so I guess I will! The original's pretty weird/ineffective, imho...could do with a makeover.

    [Not really related: a while ago, I bought myself a box of Fruit Loops on a nostalgia-whim; was so excited and then so disappointed :( ]
  • Lol ok fruityloops :-)
  • On it!! Awesome game so im gonna do my best to do it justice!
  • Are we allowed to collaborate with another person, or does it all have to be our own stuff?
  • edited
    I would imagine that collabs are totally fine :)

    This is supposed to be a learning exercise to help people produce stuff, if collabs help that, then awesome!
    Thanked by 2creative630 hanli
  • Collaborating sounds like a good idea - you could have one person handle the music and one handle SFX for example.
  • What format does the video have to be to be uploaded?
  • I'd say, put it on Youtube (or something similar) and then link to it here.
    YouTube can automatically convert all these formats when you upload:
    .MOV .MPEG4 .AVI .WMV .MPEGPS .FLV 3GPP WebM
  • yes im in! theres still time :) yay!
  • hey all.

    Check this out - my friend ridhojeftha did the animation and the game (to which this is the intro) and i did the intro music.
    Enjoy! If i get enough time before the 15th ill send in an entry with music for dustforce :P

  • I really wanted to put an entry through for this but I've been so busy with Masters and SFX I haven't been able too ;/ I'll try do it for my own sake after rage is over!
  • edited
    @Tim_Harbour You still have until the 15th of October!

    @Muffin91mAn That is really awesome! The sound effects fit in really really well. I also really like where you are going with the music but it feels a little disjointed to me for some reason. Its like the instruments are just doing their own thing and aren't gelling well together. I'm trying think about how I would probably add to it... Hmm, I think it maybe needs to slow down a little? The bass is really fast and doesn't drive music like it should (it just sounds a little over-complicated and disconnected to me). The main melody that comes in near the end also seems to stick out a little (not sure how I would solve it). Otherwise, this is going be a hard act to follow!

    @gvrmai001 That's pretty cool! It makes me think of a Tool music video (in the good kind of way). I think the Four D logo kind of hangs there for a little too long but otherwise its really cute/creepy and awesome! In terms of the music I think the mood and style really suites the video, but I feel it doesn't really build up in the same way. It feels like it builds up on slow sections of the video and the dramatic sections are really soft and not much is happening. I think if you build it up more consistently with the visuals it would immerse you into it quite a bit more?
    [Edit:] Hmm after watching it again, I think maybe its just sometimes anti-climactic in certain points, otherwise you are more in-sync with the visuals then I had previously thought.

    This is the Tool music video I was thinking of. The beginning of the video is similar in feeling to what you are going for and it illustrates the buildup I was talking about (while still not completely illustrating what I want it to :P).


    [Edit 2:] Take my opinions with a pinch of salt, and feel free to do the same when I submit mine!
  • edited
    thanks for the comments :D (cute and) creepy was what we were going for!

    @creative630 just a reply on the "Four D" logo at the start bit: the video was used for our game menu screen. so that first part would basically be looping while the menu is showing. The rest would play after selecting.

    EDIT: animation was sourced from hitRECord.org and remixed by me (but that's a story for another thread).
  • edited
    @Muffin91mAn: Catchy stuff and cool work with the sound effects, those seemed to fit really well with the visuals

    @gvrmai001: Suitably creepy and atmospheric, as Creative640 mentioned it did feel like maybe there could be a bit more build-up, but if it's menu music then could work as is
  • hey guys :) thanks for the tips - i also feel more build would be good - it just loops and doesn't go anywhere :P am working on a dustforce track, i should be done in time before the challenge closes, im about half way :P whoot whoot!
  • @creative630 My friend and I collaborated on it, he wrote the music and then i ran it through different synths. I hope it really does go somewhere though. :)
    Thanked by 1creative630
  • Alrighty, here's my entry for challenge #2



    Felt the original intro music wasn't quite frenetic enough when matched with the visual action, so I tried a more cinematic-rock approach. Aimed as much as possible to match the timing of the music to the visuals but I think it's a bit misaligned in places.

    I haven't added much in the way of SFX so this is mostly for the music side of things.

    Cool video choice @creative630 :)
  • @Gibo That's really really cool! I really liked the guitar and melody, is it all synth? If it is it sounds fantastic. The only thing I would change is that the beginning/buildup comes in a little late to the action (during the sweeping scene). Though I think a good sound effect could fill that gap perfectly :)

    I will hopefully be submitting soon too. Just adding the last sound effects (sound effects take so long!)
  • edited
    @creative630: Yup all synth for this one. Thanks man, and agreed a decent sound effect would do the trick for the beginning part :)
  • edited
    So here is my entry! Let me know what you all think.



    [Edit:] I should probably mention I made it in Ableton Live with the Chipsounds plugin and sound effects sampled from www.freesound.org
  • Hi Everyone, So I actually finished this a long time ago but only really had time to put it up now...I hope you like :)
    @Creative630 I like the 8-bit feel, Sound FX are also pretty cool and you are obviously also taking the path of animative music. May I suggest that because this is a Game-intro you could beefen up some of the FX a bit and give it a bit more impact (eg. broomwhips, explosions). It would definitely help selling the product to young kids that want to see stuff snap, crackle and pop!

    @Gibbo Very cool idea with the rock-strings approach and your melodies are really awesome dude! I just might add that you leave out some of those last guitar notes during the logo at the end? It seems like they are there just to fill up the rest of the video :D

    I hope Im not being to judgemental!

    Heres my entry:

    http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqBwTtzwpDk&feature=youtu.be
    Thanked by 1creative630
  • @creative630: Nice one man, sounds like you're getting some good use out of Chipsounds, and some cool SFX there (I tried looking at freesound.org but not really sure where to begin with finding the right sounds)

    @Mexicanopiumdog: Punchy sounds there, feels like quite an energetic intro - cool stuff! Thanks for the feedback, the guitar solo at the end is partly filler (timed with the Hitbox logo) but was also a bit of fun as a musical cue to the title :)
  • edited
    @Mexicanopiumdog Yours is really good! Thanks for the feedback, it was my first attempt at sound effects, so I definitely think there is room for improvement. I can see what you mean about snap, crackle and pop sound effects in yours :)

    @Gibbo Thanks, the SFX were really butchered out of samples from freesound.org :P. It took me ages to search for sounds that could vaguely fit in the context (lots of transposing, speeding up and bit crushing too). I would love to get my hands on a professionalish library of sounds to sample :)
  • BOOM... Here we have ATTACK OF THE INTRO! My first attempt at 8bit and my first at sound fx~ Hope you like.

  • ps got most sounds online - thanks for the links above.
  • @gvrmai001 Nice! Feels very comical and music suits the video well! Sound FX would need a bit more work but it definitely sells!

  • @gvrmai001 Awesome! I love the feel of the music and sound effects you have created. I feel like it could have a little more going on to help connect everything together, but otherwise great entry :)
  • soooo who's the winner? it says monday the 15th is the end... but its actually monday the 14th today?... anyway :P just checking :P
  • edited
    Well this is it, a few hours later... need some work on the music but considering my experience and what I had to work with this didnt come out too bad.

  • @Droof Excellent! Quite a different entry. I really like the style, it faded in oomph a little toward the end, but a very good entry!

    So I think we can safely close the competition? I will put up an on-line poll sheet a little later and we everyone can start voting!
  • I was doing an a capella one, and then iMovie (the only thing I have available at the moment) told me it can handle 3 tracks max and I just couldn't manage with 3 tracks max :P

    Everyone's stuff has awesome personality! :D
  • @creative630 yea I wanted to add more of a climactic drum-loop for the end character screens for more "oomph" but ran out of time, might just fix that up tonight and re-upload if that's allowed?
  • @Tuism We can hold off the voting if you want to submit still?
  • Nah it's fine, I don't see me being able to finish it without the proper softwares and that's just gonna be a pain the butt. Go ahead please! :)
  • @Tuism Next time :)

    @Droof Sure, you can still change it. I will set up the polls late tonight so that voting can begin tomorrow.
  • Just gave these a listen and cast my vote, sorry I don't have detailed feedback for everyone, having to sneak this in between other responsibilities.

    @Mexicanopiumdog: Well done you got my vote. What I especially appreciated was that whilst the music wasn't as strong compositionally as some of the others the interplay with the sound effects is just lovely! Also, lesson for everyone here, pay attention to your levels and invest a little time in learning about audio mastering. It's a very deep subject but the basics go a very long way. The final electric spark on the title gave me nice feels from Invader Zim's intro. Only effect that felt slightly out of place was the helicopter on flying girl. Nice idea just the placement may have been a bit off.
  • [Update:] The votes are in! Check here to see where you came :)

    @TheFuntastic How would you recommend we start learning audio mastering? I've been wanting to learn how to, but I have no idea where to start.
  • @creative360 Oh dear, it's been many a year since I learnt myself, so not sure what the best resource would be. Have to imagine the youtubes would have lots on the subject these days. Also sound on sound always had very in depth and beefy articles.

    The main thing I think you need to know to begin with at least is how to use the tools in your audio package. They all adhere to mostly the same principles, but I'd probably start with learning what options you have for compressor and limiter plug-ins and finding a guide on how to use those. Also feel free to ask me at meetups about anything you'd like to know ;)
    Thanked by 1creative630
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