Sumthing Else Music Works Releases Borderlands Original Soundtrack
To listen and purchase the soundtrack, please head over to the Sumthing Digital site.
GANG 2009 Winter Summit Uncharted 2
On December 3rd at Pyramind Studios in San Francisco, the 2009 Winter GANG Summit was held, featuring the audio team that worked on the award winning game, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. Amongst those on the panel were composer, Greg Edmonson, Skywalker Sound’s Director of Music Recording and Scoring, Leslie Ann Jones, SCEA’s Jonathan Mayer, Scott Hanau, Mark Senasac, and Joel Yarger.
GVAC, a new revolution for voices in games
If you haven’t been to Audio Atrocities, (http://www.audioatrocities.com/) you should hit it. The site exploits the now infamous usage of horrid voice acting in games. This phenomenon is still with us and is one of the greatest areas for improvement in our great industry.
To answer this need, the Game Audio Network Guild (G.A.N.G.) (www.audiogang.org) has formed the GANG Voice Acting Coalition, aka GVAC. Launched at this year’s GDC, this branch of G.A.N.G. was formed to address the needs of dialog professionals in interactive entertainment – and is here to assist in developing policy, highlight important issues, create communication channels, and evangelize the unique needs and issues surrounding the professional dialog production pipeline.
The GVAC steering committee is comprised of experienced professionals from many different disciplines of game audio, from acting to integration to casting to direction.
Just what are the issues?
GVAC is in talks with union representatives from both the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the American Federation of Film and Television Artists (AFTRA) concerning contract negotiations and the many issues and questions surrounding union involvement in game projects.
GVAC seeks to educate the industry about current techniques such as ensemble recording and mocap + dialogue capture and new ADR techniques to deliver more compelling use of voice. Recent developments in such games as Mass Effect, Uncharted 2 and the upcoming Alpha Protocol demonstrate the need of a robust and effective process both for workflow and technology to allow for the greatest expression and dramatic impact from a game’s characters.
Is text to speech a viable technology? Is it even conceivable to synthesize voice in the near future?
These and more are being tackled by GVAC. Want to get involved? You don’t have to be a voice actor. Producers, designers, and directors alike are all affected by the issues surrounding voice in games. Join G.A.N.G. and be a part of this new initiative. (more…)
