[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 :)
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
http://www.starstreem.com/downloads/6 Credits Music.mp4
Clip of something for a project im working on.
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 :( ]
This is supposed to be a learning exercise to help people produce stuff, if collabs help that, then awesome!
YouTube can automatically convert all these formats when you upload:
.MOV .MPEG4 .AVI .WMV .MPEGPS .FLV 3GPP WebM
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
@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!
@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).
@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
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 :)
I will hopefully be submitting soon too. Just adding the last sound effects (sound effects take so long!)
[Edit:] I should probably mention I made it in Ableton Live with the Chipsounds plugin and sound effects sampled from www.freesound.org
@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
@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 :)
@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 :)
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!
Everyone's stuff has awesome personality! :D
@Droof Sure, you can still change it. I will set up the polls late tonight so that voting can begin tomorrow.
@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.
@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.
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 ;)