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      LIQUONA’s design lead Alex Green shares his thoughts on the impact of great sound design as he reviews a stunning independent animation. 

      If you want to know what Alex has been reviewing, check out the video here (and then come back!).

      Firstly, the animation, modelling, and editing is fantastic. But this video is one where the sound design is as good if not better then the visuals

      Interestingly, the Lamborghini Terzo is actually an electric car. The sound engineers have   replaced the sound with a Formula 1 engine and some V8’s, but we won’t let a little detail like that ruin a good video! 

      Some key points pricked my ears: 

      • For added intensity there has been no fading or mixing between cuts. 
      • Listen how the engine volume changes depending on the distance from the camera. 
      • The score sounds similar to an electric guitar, the use of distortion makes incredible sound and a fantastic option not to, or to compliment a quieter glitch.
      • There are so many whooshes! Some smack you in the face while many are very subtle; the medley of whooshes wouldn’t feel out of place in a Kill Bill film. 
      So how have they intensified a cut? 

      Listen out for the drum beats, and synthetic vibes which are more typically found in Dubstep – this technique is used to great effect ahead of a cut. Moreover, using the visual context, having metal impacts that sound similar to a gear change, used with a bass drop on a cut sounded great. 

      The sound of the car goes from typical combustion, to more futuristic as the video plays, and the visuals from sketch, to more fleshed out and in colour.

      Small Details in Sound

      The sound designer has thought about all the small details. 

      Approach to sound is very much how a 3D designer creates a scene and thinking about how everything should react with each other. For example when something flashes across the camera, there’s a whoosh but also the sound of the car becomes low and muffled as that sound becomes blocked.

      This video and sound should played in full, then once again, and then again stopping, rewinding, playing and just dissecting every little touch, understanding and studying how and why every little piece and its treatment is in there.

      Bottle that sound into a computer game, I don’t think anyone’s heart handle the rush.

      The Takeaways

      For me the big take away from this video is how to approach sound design.

      Okay there’s so many elements and techniques worth picking up there. Anyone can drop the correct sounds in place, but it’s subtle thought and if you like rendering of that sound in your head, mimicking how would the microphone pick that up.

      Should it be muffled or echo’y?

      Is there anything close that would affect the sound? If it was next to a wall, the wall side of that sound would be muffled and slightly echoed aside to and compared to the clear ear.

      If something big passes in front of the sound, quickly or slowly – what would happen to that sound, other than just quietening? How would that sound bounce?

       


      Contact us for an informal chat to see how we could take your communications arsenal from Ford to Ferrari…