Final Project : GameAudio
Instruction
Final Project Submission Guides.pdf，作者 tian dongTask:
In the final project, we needed to select a video from a set of game footage and design and produce original game audio.
This project focused on applying the sound design principles we learned throughout the semester, including sound recording, editing, layering, spatial design, and integration into interactive media.
Our responsibilities included planning and recording original sound effects, editing and mixing audio using Adobe Audition, designing ambient sound effects and soundscapes to support gameplay, synchronizing audio with visual events, and clearly presenting the work through documentation and reflection.
Chosen video—Ori and the Blind Forest
Project Overview：
In this project, I designed and implemented a complete and immersive game audio system for the video game Ori and the Blind Forest.
The core objective was not only to create a series of independent sound effects, but also to construct a soundscape through meticulous audio design and post-processing that could enhance the game's narrative, guide the player's emotions, and improve the overall interactive experience.
Game Audio List
Audio Storyboard
I've categorized audio assets into five main groups to ensure coverage of all dimensions of player interaction:
1. Ambient Sound Effects:
As the foundation of the soundscape, these aim to build the spatial sense and atmosphere of the game world. For example, "Midnight Nature Sounds" needs to create a tranquil yet vibrant forest night, setting the emotional tone for the player's exploration.
2. Character Action Sound Effects:
This is the most direct link between player actions and game feedback. From "footsteps on the wooden floor" to "the splash of jumping into water," every sound needs to accurately reflect the texture, force, and result of the action, ensuring real-time responsiveness and feel.
3. Power-Up Item Sound Effects:
These sound effects serve an important reward and feedback function. The sound of "picking up power-ups of various sizes" needs to convey the satisfaction and distinction of power acquisition, while related UI pop-up sound effects need to clearly convey information without interrupting the gameplay.
4. Creature Sound Effects:
Giving personality and life to hostile or neutral creatures in the game. From the rapid sprint of creatures running to the squeaking sounds when they see a character, these sounds are used to shape the behavior patterns and emotional states of creatures, enhancing the tension or narrative of encounters.
5. Interface and System Sound Effects:
Including non-narrative audio such as "MC summons" and "information prompts." These are highly functional and need to be clear, pleasant to the ear, and consistent with the overall sound style of the game, elegantly guiding the player's attention and confirming system status.
Sound effects resource production
Leather Notebook
• Sound Description: A heavy, dry rubbing sound, accompanied by the crisp "rustle" of pages turning and the deep "thud" of the cover closing, full of the texture of knowledge and time.
• Actions: Quickly flipping through pages, slowly stroking the cover, and forcefully closing the notebook.
Wooden Fish
• Sound Description: A crisp, short, and ethereal "tap" sound, with a solid core tone and a subtle wooden resonance, creating a tranquil and focused Zen atmosphere.
• Action: Strike the fish with a wooden mallet at a steady pace.
Comb (Plastic)
•Sound Description:
Plastic Comb: A series of dense, sharp "scratching" sounds, high-pitched, and slightly cheap-sounding.
Wooden Comb: A muffled, softer sound, a "swish-swish" friction sound, with the warm texture of wood.
•Actions: Quickly comb through the hair (simulated) and scrape the comb teeth with your fingernail or another comb.
Glass
•Sound Description:
Tap: A crisp, sustained, and clearly defined "ding—" sound, pure and penetrating with strong resonance.
Rubbing the rim: A continuous, high-frequency, slightly harsh "squeak—" sound, capable of evoking a sense of tension.
Collision: A short, bright "clang."
•Actions: Lightly tapping the glass with a fingernail, rubbing the rim with a wet finger, or gently tapping two glasses together.
Plastic box (with lid)
•Sound description: Hollow, dull "click" sound (opening and closing), and "plop" friction sound (sliding). The sound lacks resonance, has a light texture, and exhibits obvious synthetic material characteristics.
•Actions: Opening/closing the lid, pushing and pulling on a table, tapping the box with fingers.
Keychain
•Sound Description: A series of chaotic, high-frequency, metallic "clinking" and "shaking" sounds, full of everyday life and a sense of noise.
•Actions: Shaking it in hand, tossing it on the table, and colliding with each other.
Tail Clip (Long Binder Clip)
•Sound Description: The clip produces two distinct sounds during operation: a "click" from the spring when the clip arm is pressed, and a slight "snap" when the metal clip arm contacts the paper. The sound is crisp and precise.
•Action: Pressing the clip arm opens and closes the clip, clamping/releasing a stack of papers.
Necklace (metal chain)
•Sound description: A subtle, soft rustling sound, like flowing sand, occasionally punctuated by the delicate tinkling of small pendants colliding, creating a refined and intimate sound.
•Action: Gently rub the chain in your hands, allowing the pendants to swing and collide naturally, eventually landing on a glass tabletop.
Beaded String (Wood/Stone)
•Sound Description:
Wooden Beads: A mild, dull "clunking" sound, relatively short and sharp.
Stone/Glass Beads: A clearer, harder "clicking" sound, accompanied by a slight rolling noise.
•Actions: Rub the entire string of beads in your hands, tap two beads together, and let the beads roll onto the table.
Chopsticks
•Sound Description:
Clinking together: Short, hard "tap-tap" sound.
Scratching against the rim of a bowl: Rough, potentially unpleasant "squeak" sound.
Falling onto the table: Random "thud" sound.
•Actions: One chopstick tapping another, scraping the rim of a ceramic bowl, accidentally dropping it onto the table.
A set of glasses (filled with water to different levels)
•Sound Description: Rubbing the rim of the glass with a wet finger produces a clear, continuous "humming" sound of varying pitches, like the resonance of magical plants; gently tapping the glass produces a crisp, melodious "tinkling" sound, pure and magical.
•Actions: Rub the rim of the glass in a uniform, circular motion with wet fingertips; gently tap the glass at different water levels with chopsticks or fingernails.
Moist Bathroom Sponge
• Sound Description: When squeezed and kneaded, it produces a soft, moist "plop" sound with the sensation of tiny air bubbles bursting, simulating the thick, soft texture of fungi and its saturated moisture.
• Actions: Gently squeeze the center of the sponge; quickly rub the rough surface of the sponge with your fingers.
Fountain pen (metal nib)
• Sound description: A smooth "scratching" sound when writing on paper; a subtle, sharp "hissing" sound when drawing strokes on paper; a precise "click" when opening or closing the cap.
• Actions: Writing quickly on rough paper, drawing strokes on paper without ink, pressing the clip or unscrewing the cap.
Silk fabric and plastic shopping bag
•Sound description: Rapidly shaking the plastic bag produces a dense "rustling" sound; waving the silk produces a "whooshing" sound.
•Actions: Rapidly kneading or shaking the plastic bag; unfolding the silk fabric and waving it in the air.
Marble/Tile Pieces and a Bowl of Water
•Sound Description: When struck in the air, they produce a crisp, hard "click" sound; when immersed in water, they produce a deep, diffused "thump" sound with a bubbly aftertaste, like the mysterious resonance of underwater magic stones.
•Actions: Tap two stones together on a table; then, fully immerse the stones in a bowl and tap them underwater.
I used a parametric equalizer for targeted frequency removal.
A typical approach is to apply a low-frequency roll-off of approximately 100Hz or lower to almost all raw footage recorded in indoor environments.
This effectively removes unavoidable low-frequency resonances such as air conditioner hum and circuit background noise, allowing the main sound elements—whether it's the clanging of metal or the tapping of wood—to stand out clearly against a clean acoustic background, avoiding the muddiness caused by low-frequency buildup after mixing multiple sound effects.
Multitrack processing
I believe multitrack editing and mixing is the core methodology of this project.
All complex sound effects are not generated all at once, but rather built layer by layer in multitrack sessions, like building blocks.
For example, when creating the "picking up props" sound effect, I placed the processed key sound and water bottle impact sound on separate tracks and added equalization, reverb, and pitch shifting to each independently.
This method allows us to precisely control the volume, panning, and effect delivery of each layer of material. Through layering, alignment, and mixing, we ultimately merge them into a rich, three-dimensional composite sound effect.
This working mode provides a crucial technical foundation for creating sound effects with depth and evolution (such as "biomass transforming into energy").
PR Editor
Regarding video editing in Premiere Pro, all audio effects can be directly imported into the timeline of software such as Adobe Premiere. Their precise lengths, clean attack points, and controllable levels ensure rapid audio-visual synchronization without the need for additional trimming or volume balancing.
The pre-processing of the audio design—including noise reduction, dynamic control, and frequency shaping—fundamentally improved the purity and compatibility of the source material. This allows for clear, prominent, and non-interfering professional-grade audio results when embedding complex ambient sound effects or transient UI sound effects in the video.
Audio Journal
Asset:SoundSources
SoundSources:
● Environment: Midnight Nature Sound
● Character - Actions: Footsteps on Wood, Falling on Ground Thump, Footsteps on Floor, Falling on Floor, Climbing Rock, Jumping Up, Jump into Water Splash, Jump Out from Water Splash,Health Damage, Fire Whoosh
● Objects: Leaves Rustling, Wooden Plank Bounce,Wooden Plank Bounce on Water, Walking Through Mushrooms
● Character - Power Ups: Grabbing Big Power Ups, Grabbing Small Power Up, UI Pop-up of
Power-up Information
● Creature: Creature Run, Creature Crashing into Rock Piles, Big and Small Rock Rubble Falling, Chittering Upon Seeing Character, Creature Transfer to Energy, Rock Crack Out
● SFX: MC Summoning, Release Power Up, UI Destination Title Pop-up Sound, Information
Reminder
1. Capture small gain sound effects
[Asset]
• The clinking sound of a metal necklace
• The clinking sound of a glass
[Description]
This section aims to design the feedback sound effects when a character in the game receives a small boost. Using recorded sounds of a metal necklace jingling and a glass clinking as base material, the plan is to layer and blend these sounds to create a crisp, light, and responsive sound effect, enhancing the player's enjoyment and sense of confirmation during interaction.
[Audio Processing (Effect)]
The following are the main effects used in the processing and their parameter settings:
1. Parametric Equalizer
o Function: Precisely adjusts the frequency response of the audio, enhancing or cutting specific frequency bands. For example, boosting high frequencies (2kHz-5kHz) makes the sound of metal brighter and sharper, while cutting low frequencies (around 100Hz) prevents unwanted low-frequency booming.
o Application: Applying a high-pass filter to the keychain sound, attenuating it at 120Hz with a 24dB/oct slope to eliminate noise from handheld recordings.
Simultaneously, a +4.5dB bell boost (Q=1.8) at 3.2kHz significantly enhances the crispness and distinctiveness of the metallic clash.
2. Studio Reverb
o Function: Adds spatial depth to audio, simulating different physical environments (such as a hall or room), making the sound more three-dimensional.
o Application: Adds a short, sharp room reverb to the metallic sound. The room size is set to a small wooden room, the decay time is 0.9 seconds, and the pre-delay is 35 milliseconds. This adds a natural spatial atmosphere to the sound while avoiding an excessively long tail that could affect the response speed.
3. Pitch Shift
o Function: Adjusts the pitch of the audio, adding dramatic or subtle variations.
o Application: Lowers the overall pitch of the clinking of water glasses by 3 semitones. This adjustment gives the sound a thicker, fuller volume, making it more suitable as a secondary layer to contrast with the high-frequency body of the metal.
4. Flaring Effect
o Function: Modulates the phase of the audio signal to create a metallic, sweeping sound effect, enhancing the vitality and layering of the audio.
o Application: Apply a flanging effect to the sound of a water bottle colliding after a pitch shift. Set the base delay time to 8 milliseconds, modulate with a 0.5Hz sine wave, and set the depth to 25%. This produces a slight phase fluctuation, simulating the dynamic sound of water sloshing inside a bottle.
5. Hard Limiter
o Function: Prevents the audio signal from peaking too high, avoiding distortion and maintaining audio balance by limiting the maximum volume.
o Application: Set a hard limiter on the final output bus, setting the maximum amplitude (ceiling) to -1.2dB. Ensure that the mixed sound effects do not exhibit clipping distortion under any playback environment, and output a uniform loudness that conforms to game audio specifications.
2. Capture large-gain audio effects
[Asset]
• Processed "Grab a Small Gain" Sound Effect
• Spoon Tapping Glass
[Description]
This section requires designing sound effects for when a character gains a significant ability or a large gain, conveying a sense of power, weight, and accomplishment. We synthesized and reprocessed a pre-processed light gain sound effect with a heavy metallic impact sound, aiming to create a rich, solid, and impactful audio feedback.
[Audio Processing (Effect)]
The following are the main effects used in the processing and their parameter settings:
1. Parametric Equalizer
o Function: Precisely adjusts the frequency response of the audio to shape the texture and clarity of the sound.
o Application: Processing the "spoon tapping" sound. A +5dB wideband boost at 180Hz (Q=0.7) to enhance the impact and low-frequency volume. Simultaneously, above 6kHz, a gentle attenuation of -4dB suppresses overly harsh high-frequency transients, giving the sound more weight.
2. Pitch Shift
o Function: Adjusts the pitch of the audio to change the emotional color of the sound or its harmony with other sound effects.
o Application: Downshifts the pitch of a "small gain" sound effect, which acts as a base layer, by 4 semitones. This transforms its originally light and cheerful sound into a deep, solid energy tail, providing sustained power for achieving large gain.
3. Studio Reverb
o Function: Adds spatial depth to the audio, simulating sound reflections in different environments.
o Application: Adds a large hall reverb to a "spoon-tapping" sound. Set the room size to a large auditorium, the decay time to 2.3 seconds, and increase the intensity of early reflections. This creates a grand auditory experience, with the impact sound echoing and dissipating in a vast space, reinforcing the importance of the event.
4. Multi-band Compressor
o Function: Independently controls the compression of different frequency bands of the audio signal to balance the overall frequency energy and prevent overloading of certain bands.
o Application: Use a multi-band compressor on the final mixing bus. Focus on gentle compression of the low-frequency range (80Hz-250Hz) (ratio 2:1, threshold -18dB) to ensure stable, focused, and unblemished low-frequency energy in the synthesized signal, resulting in a solid and clear final sound.
3. UI destination pop-up sound effect
[Asset]
• Processed "Grab Small Gain" sound effect
• Processed "Glass" sound effect
[Description]
This project designs the sound effects for unlocking destinations or completing tasks in the in-game UI. The goal is to create a short, easily recognizable, pleasant-sounding sound effect that doesn't interfere with the main gameplay experience.
Existing materials are reassembled and tuned, emphasizing clarity, brightness, and a positive emotional response.
[Audio Processing (Effect)]
The following are the main effects used in the processing and their parameter settings:
1. Pitch Shift
o Function: Adjusts the pitch of the audio to create melodic variations or increase recognizability.
o Application: First, the "Glass" sound effect undergoes a second pitch processing, raising its overall pitch by a perfect fifth (7 semitones). This makes its pitch more prominent and bright, ideal as a guiding transient for cue sounds.
2. Parametric Equalizer
o Function: Precisely adjusts specific frequencies in the audio to enhance a particular characteristic of the sound or eliminate problematic frequency bands.
o Application: Refines the "glass" sound effect after pitch shifting. A high Q-value (Q=3.0) bell boost is applied at 3.5kHz, with a gain of +6dB. This greatly focuses and sharpens its high-frequency resonance, making the "tinkling" sound extremely distinct and penetrating.
3. Studio Reverb
o Function: Adds an environmental feel to the dry sound, making it sound more natural and integrating it into the game's world.
o Application: Applys a light global plate reverb to the overall mixed sound effect on the bus. The reverb time is set to 0.7 seconds, and the mix ratio is strictly controlled at 18%. This adds a touch of airiness and spatial width to the sound effect, preventing it from sounding dry, while ensuring a clean and crisp finish without affecting subsequent audio.
4. Limiter
o Function: Controls the maximum output level of the audio, preventing overload and matching the target loudness.
o Application: Using a limiter before output sets the output ceiling to -3dB and moderately increases the gain, stabilizing the short-term loudness (LUFS) of the sound effects at around -16 LUFS. This ensures that the UI audio effects are clearly audible without being too loud and interfering with the game's main volume.
4. Unleash the boost sound effect
[Asset]
• Character Summoning Sound Effect
• UI Destination Sound Effect
[Description]
This sound effect is used to represent the moment a character releases a buff or ability. It needs to contrast with the "Gain Buff" sound effect to convey the feeling of energy release, diffusion, or transfer. By processing the character summoning sound and UI sound effect, and focusing on the design of frequency separation and spatial motion, a spacious and expansive auditory impression is created.
[Audio Processing (Effect)]
The following are the main effects used in the processing and their parameter settings:
1. Pitch Shift
o Function: Adjusts the pitch of the audio to differentiate different sound effects on the frequency spectrum, avoiding masking effects.
o Application: Significantly shifts the pitch of the "UI Destination Sound Effect" upwards by 7 minor seconds. This shifts the fundamental frequency to the high-frequency range, thus clearly separating it from the rich, mid-low frequency "character summoning sound effect" in terms of pitch, creating two distinct layers.
2. Parametric Equalizer
o Function: Shapes the spectrum of the sound effect, ensuring that each element is clearly distinguishable in the mix.
o Application: A +5dB wideband boost (Q=1.2) is applied to the UI sound effect after its pitch is increased, enhancing its "electronic feel" and penetration. Simultaneously, a -3dB attenuation is applied to the summoning sound effect at 400Hz, making room for the mid-range of the UI sound effect and further ensuring no frequency conflict when both are played simultaneously.
3. Chorus Effect
o Function: Creates a richer, wider, and more dynamic sound by copying and slightly distorting the original signal.
o Application: Apply a chorus effect to the UI sound effect.
The bitrate is set to a slow 0.4Hz, depth to 30%, and blending to 40%. This produces slow, wide pitch fluctuations and stereo image movement, simulating the feeling of energy spreading and rippling outwards from the center point.
4. Hard Limiter
o Function: Ensures that the final output audio peak does not exceed the system's tolerance range, guaranteeing playback safety.
o Application: Using a hard limiter at the bus stage, the maximum amplitude is set to -1dB. This strictly controls the transient peaks that may occur at the moment of release, ensuring a powerful, smooth, energetic, and distortion-free overall sound.
5. Sound effects of biological energy conversion
[Asset]
• Character Summoning Sound Effect
• UI Destination Necklace Sound Effect
[Description]
This sound effect is used to represent the crucial process of a creature's transformation into pure energy in the game. It needs to possess a sense of mystery, smooth transition, and a final feeling of energy. Through complex timing and effect processing of the summoning sound effect representing the "life form" and the necklace sound effect representing the "energy crystal," the aim is to tell a complete auditory story of transformation.
[Audio Processing (Effect)]
The following are the main effects used in the processing and their parameter settings:
1. Pitch Shift (Automatic)
o Function: Dynamically adjusts the pitch of the audio to create a sense of emotional or morphological transformation over time.
o Application: Applys automatic pitch shift to the "Character Summoning Sound Effect." Within 2 seconds, the pitch is slowly and linearly shifted from 0 to -5 semitones. This processing simulates the process of a living organism sinking, dissipating, and transforming into basic energy, audibly shifting from real to ethereal.
2. Delay and Reverb
o Function: Creates a sense of space, depth, and temporal continuity, often used to create atmosphere or grand scenes.
o Application: Applying a long-decaying cave reverb (decay time 4.5 seconds) and a distinct mono echo (delay time 350 milliseconds, feedback 35%) to a descending summoning sound effect. This creates a distant, spacious dissipation trajectory, enhancing the mystery and ritualistic feel of the transformation process.
3. Parametric Equalizer and Pitch Shift (Multiple Examples)
o Function: Shapes and creates a series of high-frequency fragmented sounds, symbolizing the generation of energy fragments.
Application: Duplicate the "UI Necklace Sound Effect" track and apply different high-pass filters (cutting out frequencies below 1kHz) and pitch shifts (up an octave, twelfth, etc.) to multiple instances. Automated control of these tracks allows them to gradually inflate and increase in density after the summoning sound dissipates, simulating the auditory image of energy fragments constantly generating and converging.
4. Flanging Effect (Automatic)
Function: Generates a phase modulation effect, adding a flowing, futuristic, or unstable texture to the sound.
Application: Apply a light flanging effect to the final mix bus and automatically control the modulation rate, slowly accelerating it from 0.2Hz to 1.5Hz. This adds a flowing, phase-changing texture to the end of the transition, symbolizing the activity and instability of nascent energy forms, ultimately returning to calm.
Original recording
Original Sound Recording(Edited)
Final Sound Resourse
Final Video
Reflection
Research Findings
In this project, I gained an in-depth understanding of the specific process of game audio production. A key takeaway was that good game sound effects don't necessarily require specialized recording equipment; the key is to make the sound fit the game's setting and feel.
I experimented with recordings using everyday objects like keys, water bottles, and cups. Then, by adjusting pitch and adding echoes, I made these ordinary sounds sound like magical items or special effects from a game. This made me realize that sound design is about using technology to alter the original context of sound, giving it a new purpose.
Another important lesson is the essential importance of planning and organization. Initially, I wasn't clear about the steps and was a bit overwhelmed.
Later, I referenced video production methods and created a detailed "sound requirements list" for the game visuals, specifying which type of sound and source material was needed for each scene. This significantly improved my efficiency and ensured perfect timing alignment between sound and visuals.
I also encountered a specific technical problem: when processing many sound effects and effects simultaneously in audio software, my computer would lag, and the software would even crash.
To solve this problem, instead of piling all the work into one file, I processed different types of sounds (such as ambient sounds and interface sounds) separately, and then combined them together to adjust the volume. This method made the work smoother and also taught me the importance of organized division of labor when handling complex projects.
Observation
While working on the project, I clearly saw that sound can directly change a player's perception of a scene. For example, the same tapping sound, when its pitch is lowered and a long reverb is added, no longer sounds like it's indoors, but rather like it's in a large cave or palace. This made me realize that effects like reverb and echo actually control the auditory perception of space size and texture.
I also discovered that learning to use professional audio software takes time, from unfamiliarity to proficiency. When I first started using the equalizer, I only knew how to increase the volume to make the sound brighter.
But later I learned more refined operations, such as finding and reducing harsh noise frequencies, or attenuating the low frequencies of certain sounds to leave clear space for background music. This experience taught me that good sound processing aims to ensure all sounds coexist clearly and harmoniously, rather than abusing effects.
Furthermore, during the sound recording process, I discovered that sometimes the most suitable sound source can be quite ordinary. For example, crumpling bubble wrap can mimic the sound of flames, and tapping the same object in different ways produces completely different textures. This has made me more attentive to the sounds made by various objects in my daily life, considering whether they can be used in projects.
Experience
This project allowed me to fully experience all aspects of sound recording and production. The recording stage was like conducting experiments; I tried waving a clothes hanger to mimic the sound of wind and squeezing a plastic bottle to create sound effects. Each time I simulated the desired effect using ordinary objects, I felt a great sense of accomplishment. This convinced me that carefully listening to the sounds around me and experimenting is the foundation of good sound design.
When editing sound, I experimented many times before finding the right method. Complex sounds can be broken down into several simple steps, created layer by layer, and then recombined.
Troubleshooting software lag issues also proved beneficial. To solve this problem, I learned how to better configure software engineering and how to pre-process some audio tracks to conserve computer resources. This problem-solving process actually made me clearer about how to manage a large audio project.
Conclusion
Overall, this project allowed me to systematically practice designing and producing all the sounds for a game. It wasn't just about learning a few software operations; more importantly, it helped me understand how to use sound to complement visuals, create atmosphere, and convey information.
The various problems encountered in the project, such as creative blocks, unfamiliarity with software operations, and chaotic project management, all honed my ability to solve practical difficulties.
Now I understand more clearly that sound in a game is a holistic system. Even the subtlest footsteps or button clicks have a real impact on the player's gaming experience. Sound is a crucial factor in making players believe in and immerse themselves in the game world.
Through this project, I mastered a complete workflow from analyzing requirements, finding materials, processing, to final debugging.
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