Final - Sound Design

Abstract:

I entered this project originally as a modeler, but given the abundance of modelers in our group I ran out of work to do quickly.  As a result I took on a task that we hadn't even thought about previously: sound design.  Having sound in this animation brings the final product much closer to a completed, professional project.  The addition of the sound makes the animation a little bit more lifelike, since it allows the audience to feel a bit more immersed in the environment.  To achieve this, I used the software instruments in Logic Pro and sound samples from freesound.org.

Planning:

Prior to beginning any work on this, I spoke with Kevin about musical direction and he said jazz, to reflect the semi-imaginary setting our animation takes place in.  Other than this, the entirety of the planning depended on the animation.  I would have to match up sound samples to certain visual cues, and the mood of the music to the events taking place.  This took some studying of the story itself to ensure that it meshed well together.

Production Log:

The bulk of the sound design can't be done until the final animation is rendered.  This is needed to correctly sync up the timing of the audio and video events.  Since I began the sound design well before the final animation was complete, I began by writing some music in Logic to use.  As I wrote the music, I showed it to Kevin to get his feedback.  This resulted in a lot of music that ended up being scrapped for the scene I was working on.  This was helpful, however, because I ended up with a lot of music to choose from for the other scenes by the end.  All the music was done with midi software instruments, which I programmed in the piano roll.

We found a way to get the movie without spending the time rendering it using the Powerblaster tool.  This exports a video of what the camera view looks like before rendering.  Using this I started to add sound effects for the events taking place.  Since I started with the last scene, all I needed was some ambient city noises, party noises, and a kiss sound.  The ambient sound was easy as I could simply drop in the file and loop it if necessary. The kiss sample was a bit more difficult.  The only sample I could find was very short, and the kiss in the animation was a lot longer.  To fix this I used the sample editor to extend the duration of one part of the sample to make it line up.  I also changed the pitch of the sound because the original was too high and sounded a bit cartoonish.

The rest of the animation was done very similarly.  I used the music that I had written earlier and just edited to fit the time.  I used the same ambient noises, which were long enough to fill the entire time they were needed without looping.  The other samples I added were for the can being kicked, the door being slammed shut, and the curtains being drawn.  I edited these in the same ways as the kiss sample to get the sound to match the actions.  The can sound consisted of two samples: a beer can being tossed into a recycling bin, and another can rolling on a floor.  I lined them up so the can bounced then rolled, and edited the bounces so that they would line up.

Throughout the process I was editing the mix of the sounds, to ensure that volumes were appropriate and that no sounds clipped, which causes audio distortion.  After this I adjusted the automation, which means adjusting volume and panning (left and right) in relation to time.  This adds to the realism of the final product as it makes it seem as though the sounds are coming from a certain direction or from a distance.  Finally, I exported it to a .wav file, which we would later bring into Final Cut Pro, and edit together with the final animation.

Conclusion:

The result is a combination of music and sound collage that - I think - adds a lot to the final animation.  Everything with this was reasonably successful.  I was able to find the samples and create the music I need, and get everything to line up and mesh together well.

Self Evaluation:

While I am very happy with the final results, I believe this could have been a bit better.  The result I've gotten sounds very good, but I don't think its quite professional quality.  I wish I could have spent more time working on the music, and I think that some of the edits could have been more exact.  Also, since I was limited to free samples, the samples I got were all of various qualities coming from differing recording techniques.  I'm sure professionally made sample packages would be much higher quality, or more suiting.  In some places, I feel that the samples did not quite match the sound of what they were representing, but I had to use them because they were all that was available.  In a perfect world, I'd have the time and resources to make my own samples to use, then I could avoid payment, copyright issues, and quality issues.  Overall, I'm happy with my work, but there is still room for improvement.