Creating Foley for Games
Speaker: Mark Petty (Sound Design, Gearbox Software)
Date/Time: Wednesday (September 17, 2008) 1:30pm — 2:30pm
Location (room): Room 10
Track: Audio
Format: 60-minute Lecture
Experience Level: Intermediate

Session Description
Foley techniques in today’s games can often be the catalyst to creating real world environments for the player, immersing them in a moving sound experience that feels realistic, massive and true to real life. This session discusses Foley recording, asset creation and implementation during the development of Gearbox Software’s most recent title, “Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway.” Utilizing numerous examples from the highly anticipated game, I will focus on everything from how the BiA sound team worked through the iterative process of asset creation and implementation to the pros and cons of outsourcing vs. in house content creation. Intended for sound designers and audio directors of all experience levels, this session aims to show that you needn’t be saddled by Hollywood budgets to get Hollywood-level Foley effects in your next game.

Idea Takeaway
This lecture would take a look at building foley from the ground up. Starting at portable foley pit construction, requirements for finding a foley artist, Mic technique and the challenges faced, Plugin processing tips, naming convention and editing, and implementation in the 5.1 field. Mainly using all these processes to capture player and NPC movement sounds.

Intended Audience
Intended for sound designers and audio directors of all experience levels.