Pursuing Better Reverb in Games Sparked A New Interest
As the audio lead on Team Honeycomb developing Vesna, I knew that Vesna had to have a great reverb.
Reverb
Creating A Virtual Space
Creating sound for a game is more than just making enough assets for all the actions in a game. Game audio has to enhance and fill out an entire experience.
In Vesna, you control a single character, alone within a giant, foreboding factory. This character is alone, and with no help from the outside, must escape the factory while avoiding the many dangers within. The audio has to do its part to create that feeling. I chose to focus on the reverb to support the lonely and dark atmosphere of the factory.
In Vesna, you control a single character, alone within a giant, foreboding factory. This character is alone, and with no help from the outside, must escape the factory while avoiding the many dangers within. The audio has to do its part to create that feeling. I chose to focus on the reverb to support the lonely and dark atmosphere of the factory.
Early on, I discovered that the stock FMOD Studio reverb plugin doesn't sound very good, and since I was routing almost all of my sound effects and ambience through it, it was making my audio sound crunchy, tinny, and unimposing. With only a bit more processing power, I could fix my issue with FMOD's convolution reverb plugin, which simulates a sonic space much better than the stock plugin.
As I explored this idea, I quickly became fascinated with the idea of capturing a space using audio. To me, capturing a space with an impulse response is like taking a photo to remember a moment in time, a feeling, or a place. Having an impulse response is like being able to travel back to anywhere and revisit a snapshot of life.
With a little free time from my studies, I gave myself a project to experiment with some audio impulses.
As I explored this idea, I quickly became fascinated with the idea of capturing a space using audio. To me, capturing a space with an impulse response is like taking a photo to remember a moment in time, a feeling, or a place. Having an impulse response is like being able to travel back to anywhere and revisit a snapshot of life.
With a little free time from my studies, I gave myself a project to experiment with some audio impulses.
My journey to capture a response started with building some tools.
I built two clappers made of wood and hinges that would hopefully make a crisp snap.
I also experimented with some balloon popping and some Sine Sweeps.
I built two clappers made of wood and hinges that would hopefully make a crisp snap.
I also experimented with some balloon popping and some Sine Sweeps.
What Spaces To Capture?
I knew for Vesna, I wanted a space with a long, dark sounding reverb. I decided upon a parking garage near me. As a backup, I also chose another parking garage a little further away.
At these two locations, I used both clappers at different distances away from my mic and at different positions around the garage.
At these two locations, I used both clappers at different distances away from my mic and at different positions around the garage.
At these locations, I also did some frequency sweeps to deconvolve into impulse responses.
How do they Sound?
The answer is pretty good.
For use in games, the frequency sweeps are definitely better, as they record a response of the entire frequency range. When I put one of the responses from the clapper into FMOD, there was a ringing from the frequencies presented strongly by the clapper. It made my whole game sound boxy. Using one of the clapper responses for a specific instance, like in a single area or for some voices from the beyond in a game, would be fine.
For regular sound design in animations and film production, most of the responses I got sound great. I'm amazed that DSP like this exists and I was surprised at how easy it is to get great reverb out of simple tools. I'll definitely be wary of using them, however, as some of them are pretty boomy.
For Vesna specifically, I like the impulses from deeper within the garages, as they've got more low end and a longer tail. Some of the responses I took near the entrances and exits of the garages were tinny and had some comb filtering anomalies in them. I also prefer the deconvolved frequency sweep for my large factory ambience, as it doesn't emphasise any unwanted frequencies.
Here is a demo of how some of them sound:
For use in games, the frequency sweeps are definitely better, as they record a response of the entire frequency range. When I put one of the responses from the clapper into FMOD, there was a ringing from the frequencies presented strongly by the clapper. It made my whole game sound boxy. Using one of the clapper responses for a specific instance, like in a single area or for some voices from the beyond in a game, would be fine.
For regular sound design in animations and film production, most of the responses I got sound great. I'm amazed that DSP like this exists and I was surprised at how easy it is to get great reverb out of simple tools. I'll definitely be wary of using them, however, as some of them are pretty boomy.
For Vesna specifically, I like the impulses from deeper within the garages, as they've got more low end and a longer tail. Some of the responses I took near the entrances and exits of the garages were tinny and had some comb filtering anomalies in them. I also prefer the deconvolved frequency sweep for my large factory ambience, as it doesn't emphasise any unwanted frequencies.
Here is a demo of how some of them sound:
The Takeaway
I had a lot of fun exploring this topic, and I'll definitely revisit it in the future.
One thing I had a lot of trouble with was background noise. I made my recordings in the middle of the day in a semi-high traffic area, so I was battling car noise and rogue teens on skateboards for quiet moments. A few of my recordings had droning airplanes and things in them, making the response no good. The only way to fix something like that is to come back and do it again at night.
One thing I had a lot of trouble with was background noise. I made my recordings in the middle of the day in a semi-high traffic area, so I was battling car noise and rogue teens on skateboards for quiet moments. A few of my recordings had droning airplanes and things in them, making the response no good. The only way to fix something like that is to come back and do it again at night.
Additional Impulses
With my newfound power and a little extra time, I decided to record some extra responses for my personal collection.
I took a day to climb to the Peak of Mt. Si in North Bend Washington and record some forest impulses, as well as the open air sound at the top. (Also some nice wind in the trees ambience for later projects)
I took a day to climb to the Peak of Mt. Si in North Bend Washington and record some forest impulses, as well as the open air sound at the top. (Also some nice wind in the trees ambience for later projects)
I also visited another parking garage near me which has a very strange sound deadening insulation I just had to capture. I was very surprised at how well my impulse response represents the space.
Another space I tried was an outdoor park. Those IRs turned out mostly the same as the mountain top ones with a little warmer of a sound and some stronger echos.
Another space I tried was an outdoor park. Those IRs turned out mostly the same as the mountain top ones with a little warmer of a sound and some stronger echos.