Digital Audio (formats)

In this section I will be focusing on Digital Audio and what happens when an analogue signal is converted to a digital format, the factors that should be considered when choosing the correct format for your particular needs.
I will also look at how digital formats differ, and try and give you an idea of how there differences are going to effect your audio...

the subjects I will be starting on are:
Popular Digital Formats:
A quick look at the most popular formats, their typical usage.

• Lossless (wav)
• compressed (MP3, OGG, WMA etc)

DA/AD Processes

• overview & notes on fileaize.
• Bitrate & Frequencey
• Encoding stage (with regards to hardware)

Format Comparrison
 MP3 vs WMA (compressed vs. compressed).
WAVvs MP3  (lossless vs compressed)


*check back soon for this part - I'm still in the middle of writting it*

Sound Design for Video Games

I was originally going to call the section 'recording vocals for video games, however I realised most of the main points of interest also ralate to other sources of audio ...so...

At first glance sound design for games might not seem any different from that of film, music production or even for TV/radio however vdeo games place a set of unique contraints on the sound designer that can either hinder or help the creative process.

• First thing to consider if the playback medium and its capabilities, namely what bitrate/frequency formats can the system (or console) handle?
• Secondly is there a limit on the number of simultanious sounds that can be played back (polyphony range).
• How is the sound output? Is it a device that uses headpones or proprietory speakers? Is the device likely to be plugged in to a larger amplified system such as home surround sound playback system? ...and how will all of these factors affect the gaming back experience?

To use an extreme example;

Imagine creating a score for LOTR for the Playstation 3 (or PC), now Imagine trying to transfer that gameplay experience to a gameboy (original) with all its polyphonic and format related limitations.

Each consol (or playback medium) will offer up its own set of contraints with regards to what audio formats are acceptable and this should be taken in to account as early on as possible to avoid wasted time/effort. ..For example it may not be worth while recording a vocal (eg shout) using an ultra-precise microphone at high resoltion if the format used to play back is limited to 22.05Hz . Each situation should be assesed to see what is possible and what is not, especialy where console gaming is concerned (or portable devices). ...memory allocation may also be limited!