L.U.R.K. 1.2 Sound Design Dev Diary 2 news

Good evening everybody,

I thought I'd take a moment to update you all on how the audio is developing, and, more importantly, when I get to bust out all dem guns for your listening pleasure.

Recording gun "reports" (the bang) isn't an easy task - it actually requires a lot of planning and very particular equipment set-up in a very particular way in order to come out with good files. The total cost to purchase the equipment I have sought out is well over $14,000 USD. Yea, surprised me, too. So. I will be renting it instead for much, much less.

I was hoping to have some gun recordings done for you guys this month, as you are well aware by my last video, but I need to push it back, unfortunately. I am shooting for (pun intended) March, now. This has to do with a few things:

1) I live in the mountains and I need a non-windy day to record.
The weather up here is very unpredictable. Storms from the 14er's pass over my cabin all the time with little or no notice. Last week we had 140mph gusts. 140, wtf! I need a day with little to no wind, because wind shields can't block out everything (and they are expensive!). The other option is to head down to a public shooting range, but I won't have as much control over outside audio (other people might be shooting nearby) and it will cost more.

2) I need to find/acquire all of this rental equipment.
I've got some very specific equipment I need to get my hands on, and it is hard to come by. I have a few leads I am waiting to hear back from. Rental equipment is paid for on a per day basis, as well, so I need to have all of this well-planned out so I can get as much done as possible with a single day's rental period to maximize value.

3) I need a group of volunteers.
I can't set up all of this stuff and monitor it by myself. I need a shooter on deck and someone monitoring levels at each recording station. I will probably need about six people to get this done. Considering that each delay will literally cost me in rental time, it is important to be organized and on-the-ball. I've got plenty of friends in the area that are interested in helping ...the difficulty is getting them all up here at the same time for a full day's work. When it all comes together, though, it will be awesome.

So, with all this stuff going on, how am I staying organized? I've authored these two documents (I will update them shortly to make them a little easier to read to outsiders). I am using them to stay on track, set milestones and let folks know what I'm working on. I've also been able to distill whatever I have been reading from various sound-engineering books into these docs. They are continually updated by me and are open to editing by the other team members. I've opened them up for viewing for any interested parties. So, have a look!

I've also started a new forum thread for you guys to directly ask me audio-related questions if you feel so inclined. This is an effort on my part to provide information and updates on a more consistent basis in addition to the bigger news posts.

A lot of my time has been spent learning the ins-and-outs of the XRay engine, and it is a cruel mistress, indeed. It is cumbersome to make some of the most basic things work. Still, we do what we can with what we have, and I have been getting more proficient with it. Implementing things like sound occlusion boxes and EAX environments has been a pain, to be honest. If they continue to be a such a time-sink and refuse to work properly, there is a chance they will just be cut out completely so I can focus on foley and probably the most anticipated part of the audio overhaul - recording new gunfire.

I would love for them to work, of course, despite all of the effort that they entail. Hand-placing everything with such a rudimentary SDK is a challenge in and of itself. However, when and if it all works right, it really has the potential to pay off. I am getting to the point, though, were I will be spending less of my time trying to work with the SDK and more time out in the field recording and, subsequently, editing my new stuff. I can pretty quickly add new sounds to the game, in various forms, and re-organize the entire sound directory structure. The pace has quickened, so to speak, as I am fumbling less and less.

I'd love to post a video of a working sound environment for you guys, but, the issues are endless. I'll find some stuff to throw up here soon.