Karim Hubbard
Sound Designer for Games
Creation Process
Kraktoh Ambience- The image to your right was created using a home blender. I lowered the clip gain by 3db. I slowed the audio down to drop the pitch, by using the time compression elastic tool (TCE), with varispeed. I then added an D-verb on it to take out distortion and rumbling. I copied the asset twice,added a fader on it and committed the middle region for a seamless loop and to get the final product I deleted the left and the right regions.
DKuk Ambience- The image to your left was created using hair clippers. This asset created a bit of a wobbler effect, so I smoothed out the rough edges by using a reverb. I increased the decay by 59.5 seconds. I then used varispeed to slow it down. The audio went from low to high, so I used a reverse on it and added reverb once more. This evened out the sound on both ends. Copied the asset twice, committed the center region for a seamless loop, and deleted the left and the right side. The client has realized that this asset had clicking while it was looping so I redid the asset to remove all clicking.
Vaporizer- The image to your right was created using a battery operated toothbrush. To create a vaporizing sound effect I stretched the audio to about 3 seconds long. I then changed the frequency up and down to get a pulsating sound. Added the harmonic multi-channel frequency shifter. I increased the feedback and the mixer too get a zapping type of sound effect.
Engine- The image to your left was created using a neck trimmer. I wanted to create a rhythmic pattern for this audio. I used the frequency pitch plug in. Turned the feedback way up to 50 percentile. Using the up and down mode while turing the mix down. I then used the triangle pencil to give it the gas engine effect.
Teleport In and Out- The two images to your right was created using a bags zipper. I used a zipper recorded audio asset and consolidated 2 of the zipper effect together. I then used an air phaser multi channel plug-in to get the teleport sound effect. I slowed the audio down by using the varispeed plug-in on the teleport in. For the teleport out i just reversed the audio and applied the same effects within this paragraph to get the same outcome. The client has realized that these two assets had a low frequency noise that was clipping. I then used a high pass filter to roll off the low frequency also I applied a short fade out on each asset. The client also noticed that these two assets had a high end distortion sound so I helped mitigate this with a low pass filter.
Barnaby- The image to your left was created using a cougars growls found from the westar library sound bank. A barnaby is an ugly creature that lives on the planet Kraktoh. I used a real life cougar growls sound effect to create the barnaby sound for the game. I listened to the whole clip and chose the three best sounds for the barnaby creature.On the first clip I chose, i added a fader on the beginning, and the end of the sound. Committed it to lock in the fader. I used varispeed to stretch the audio out just a little. I then added a multichannel plug in, which was the air low effect. This then created the sound of the barnaby being zapped away by the vaporizer. I activated the auto button, so I can plug in automation on the sample rate. I then used the line pencil to draw in the sample rate. Now the barnaby sounds demolished from the vaporizer. I used the same techniques for the last two audio assets for a total of three different barnaby sounds. The client realized that this asset was a bit loud so i brought the levels down.
Fnoon- A Fnoon is a ugly pig like creature that live on the planet Dkuk. The three images to your right was created using wild boar grunts, found from the waster library sound bank. I used real life wild boar grunt sound effect to create the Fnoon sound effects for the game. The same technique used to create the barnaby creatures was used here to create the fnoon creatures as well. The client has realized this asset was a bit on the loud side so I brought the levels down. The client has realized that the noon creatures were identical in sound, so I found three different sounds of this animal so I could make different vocalization but they are sonically related. Because three identical sounds is a waste of memory in a game.
All of the audio was recorded using my ZOOM H5 handy recorder. With the use of house hold items. Then inputed into Pro-tools with the use of plugins to manipulate the sounds into something else.