Since the game audio community is abuzz with popular excitement about the impending arrival of virtual reality systems, I’ve been periodically writing blogs that gather together top news about developments in the field of audio and music for VR. In this blog we’ll be looking at some resources that discuss issues relating to artistry and workflow in audio for VR:
- We’ll explore an interesting post-mortem article about music for the VR game Land’s End.
- We’ll be taking a closer look at the 3DCeption Spatial Workstation.
- We’ll be checking out the Oculus Spatializer Plugin for DAWs.
Designing Sound for Virtual Reality
In these early days of VR, postmortem articles about the highs and lows of development on virtual reality projects are especially welcome. Freelance audio producer and composer Todd Baker has written an especially interesting article about the audio development for the Land’s End video game, designed for the Samsung Gear VR system.
Here, you see me trying out the Samsung Gear VR, as it was demonstrated on the show floor at the Audio Engineering Society Convention in 2015.
Todd Baker is best known for his audio design work on the whimsical Tearaway games, and his work as a member of the music composition team for the awesome LittleBigPlanet series. His work on Land’s End for Ustwo Games affords him an insightful perspective on audio for virtual reality. “In VR, people are more attuned to what sounds and feels right in the environment, and therefore can be equally distracted by what doesn’t,” writes Baker. In the effort to avoid distraction, Baker opted for subtlety in regards to the game’s musical score. Each cue began with a gentle fade-in, attracting little notice at first so as to blend with the game’s overall soundscape in a natural way.