Advanced Audio Techniques for Racing Games: Creating Audio for Forza Motorsport2

Speakers: Greg Shaw, Joel Robinson, Mike Caviezel

Track: Audio

Format: Lecture

Experience Level: Intermediate

Description: Next-Gen racing titles are requiring increasingly complex audio systems, as well as vast amounts of audio content. Forza2 was a big game with big audio requirements, but the techniques discussed here can be applicable to any racing title, no matter what the scale.

Topics include:
Making Great Car Recordings - The Forza2 team recorded over 200 cars during the game's development cycle, and learned the hard way about where NOT to put microphones, as well as what factors make cars sound great, and what factors make cars sound like stink. They also recorded transmissions, turbos, superchargers, tires, etc., and they even smashed up a bunch of cars at high speeds to see what that sounds like.

Audio Implementation for Forza2 - of course, getting great recordings is only half the battle. You have to have the toolset and the know-how to get a car that sounds great in the real world to sound great in-game. The Forza2 team shows how they did it by demonstrating and discussing their toolset and implementation techniques.

Idea Takeaway: Attendees learn what the Audio technical and content requirements are for a large-scale racing title.
- How to succesfully source & record content for a racing title.
- How to convincingly implement content to create an immersive audio experience in a racing game.

Intended Audience: This discussion is intended for Sound Designers, Audio Programmers, Producers & anyone else interested in seeing how audio for a AAA console racing title is produced.