Spatial Audio Design/Task 4/Game Audio
16/11/2025-25/11/2025(Week10-Week14)
Cai Zihan / 0378043
Spatial Audio Design / Bachelor of Design in Creative Media / Taylor's University
TASK 4/Game Audio
TABLE OF CONTENT
INSTRUCTIONS
TASK 4
FEEDBACK
REFLECTION
INSTRUCTIONS
TASK 4
This course assignment was undertaken collaboratively by a three-person team, with the core mandate of crafting and curating a full suite of audio assets tailored for a Unity game. Our primary objective was to ensure that every audio element—ranging from character action sounds to environmental interactions and combat feedback—aligned realistically with in-game events, thereby enhancing the overall immersive experience for players.
During the initial phase of production, our team opted to utilize home-recorded audio for game voiceovers and sound effects, which we then imported into the Unity engine for preliminary testing. While this approach offered convenience in the early stages, allowing us to quickly iterate on ideas without studio access, feedback from our instructor highlighted critical shortcomings. The home recordings were plagued by prominent environmental noise, fluctuating background interference, and inconsistent sound quality. These issues became particularly glaring during in-game testing: when the audio assets were triggered repeatedly (such as frequent character attacks or footstep sounds in fast-paced gameplay), the ambient noise became distracting, significantly undermining the game’s immersive quality and compromising the overall standard of the assignment.
In response to this feedback, our team conducted a thorough review of our audio production workflow and made a pivotal decision to re-record all sound effects in the school’s professional recording studio. Unlike the home environment, the studio provided a controlled, low-noise space equipped with high-quality, stable recording hardware—conditions that enabled us to capture cleaner, more consistent raw audio tracks. This shift not only resolved the noise issues but also laid a solid foundation for subsequent post-production processing, making it easier to refine and polish the audio assets.
During the studio recording sessions, our team worked collaboratively to capture a comprehensive range of gameplay-related audio.Importantly, not all recorded takes were used directly; we subjected each audio clip to rigorous post-production review and in-game testing, carefully selecting the most realistic and contextually appropriate versions to integrate into the final game project.
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| Fig. 1.1 Studio recording |
Production process
We put the recorded audio into the Au input method for tuning.
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| Fig. 1.2 Track 'Spectrum Observation and General Assessment' |
After importing the audio into Audition, my team and I first listened to the track using spectrum analysis. The spectrum visually highlights areas that require special attention, helping us accurately identify residual background noise, low-frequency hum, and abnormal peaks. This avoids aimless adjustments and ensures that every step of the processing is targeted and effective.
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| Fig. 1.3 Track 'Basic EQ Adjustment' |
After accurately locating the problematic frequency band in the audio through spectrum analysis, my team and I immediately began the first round of equalization processing. Addressing the muddiness caused by excessive low frequencies, we appropriately reduced the redundant low-frequency components using the equalizer. Simultaneously, we paid special attention to preserving the integrity and texture of key frequency bands such as vocals and core sound effects. After these adjustments, the audio's layering was further enhanced, resulting in a more focused and clear overall listening experience, perfectly suited for the game's use cases where multiple sound effects run concurrently and core sound information needs to be highlighted.
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| Fig. 1.4 Track 'Frequency Fine-Tuning and Sound Differentiation' |
The basic equalizer adjustments laid a clean foundation for the audio. Building upon this, my team and I further refined and optimized specific frequency ranges. The core idea was to "delineate dedicated auditory territories" for different types of sounds in the game: we moderately enhanced the mid-to-high frequencies of combat sound effects to make the crispness of skill releases more prominent; we softened the low frequencies of environmental sound effects to prevent them from interfering with core interactive sound effects; and we precisely preserved the mid-frequency frequencies of character dialogue to ensure the clarity of story conversations. Through this targeted tuning, even in complex game scenarios with densely triggered sound effects, such as team battles and scene transitions, various sounds can be delivered to the player with distinct layers, completely eliminating "sound clashes" and significantly improving the game's auditory experience.
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| Fig. 1.5 Track 'Dynamic Range Control' |
For sounds with strong transients, such as skill bursts and weapon impacts in the game, my team and I specifically adopted a dynamic processing approach to precisely control the peak level of the audio. We used a light compression processing strategy, which effectively smoothed out abrupt level fluctuations in the sound signal and avoided the problem of fluctuating volume; at the same time, we deliberately preserved the impact and feedback intensity that transient sounds should have, so that when players trigger these sound effects, they can experience a clear and stable listening experience without losing the sense of presence brought by skill hits and item collisions.
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| Fig. 1.6 Track 'Further Tonal Adjustment' |
Based on the different roles of various sound effects in the game, my team and I made additional tone adjustments. For key sound effects that directly reflect player actions, such as jumping, attacking, and skill triggering, I optimized the tone to give them a stronger presence, allowing players to receive clear auditory feedback for every action. Meanwhile, non-core sound effects such as ambient background sounds and auxiliary interaction sounds were adjusted to be softer, which both enhances the atmosphere and avoids distracting the player's gaming experience due to overly prominent sounds.
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As multiple sound effects were created, we checked and standardized the effect parameters to ensure auditory and stylistic consistency across all sounds and avoid perceptual breaks.
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| Fig. 1.8 Track 'Final Adjustments before Export' |
Before exporting, my team and I completed the final pitch check and balance adjustment. We simulated scenarios where multiple sound effects played simultaneously in the game, verifying the pitch coordination and volume ratio of each sound effect one by one to ensure that the core sound effects stood out, the auxiliary sound effects did not overstep their bounds, and the background sounds did not interfere. This final step effectively ensured that all sound effects maintained a clear hierarchical structure when played in layers, allowing players to quickly distinguish key sound information in any game scenario and avoid auditory confusion.
FINAL Game Audio Submission
Google Drive Link
Recording live sound and post-production sound effects：
Experience
This game audio production assignment was a comprehensive practical exploration for our group, covering initial home recording attempts, a strategic shift to a professional studio after bottlenecks, and multiple rounds of refined post-production in Adobe Audition; initially, we opted for home recording for convenience, capturing basic sound effects like character movement feedback and ambient sounds, but the lack of professional acoustic treatment led to ambient noise, appliance hum, and echoes, while unstable equipment caused level fluctuations, distortion, and detail loss—making us realize post-production alone couldn’t fix flawed source recordings, and that the recording environment is a core determinant of audio quality, so we re-recorded in a professional studio, where its acoustic soundproofing, high-quality gear, and engineer guidance drastically improved audio clarity, isolated noise, preserved sound details, and eliminated level fluctuations, underscoring the importance of "source control" as high-quality raw recordings lay the foundation for targeted, efficient post-production, and during post-production in Adobe Audition, we focused on key steps including noise cleanup, spectrum analysis, equalizer tuning, dynamic range control, tonal adjustments, and volume balancing, such as balancing clarity and impact in character skill effects by avoiding over-reducing low frequencies or over-boosting highs and calibrating volume levels for overlapping sounds to prioritize core feedback, which reinforced that post-production is not mere editing but a systematic process to enhance professionalism and immersive gameplay.
Observation
This game audio production assignment was a comprehensive practical exploration for our group, encompassing initial home recording attempts, a shift to a professional studio after encountering bottlenecks, and multiple rounds of refined post-production in Adobe Audition. We initially chose home recording for convenience to capture basic sound effects like character movement feedback and ambient sounds, but its lack of professional acoustic treatment led to ambient noise, appliance hum, and echoes, while unstable equipment caused level fluctuations, distortion, and detail loss—making us realize post-production alone couldn’t fix flawed source recordings and that the recording environment is a core determinant of audio quality. We thus re-recorded in a professional studio, where acoustic soundproofing, high-quality gear, and engineer guidance drastically improved clarity, isolated noise, preserved details, and eliminated level fluctuations, underscoring the importance of "source control" as high-quality raw recordings lay the foundation for targeted, efficient post-production. During post-production in Adobe Audition, we focused on key steps including noise cleanup, spectrum analysis, equalizer tuning, dynamic range control, tonal adjustments, and volume balancing—such as balancing clarity and impact in character skill effects and calibrating overlapping sounds to prioritize core feedback—reinforcing that post-production is not mere editing but a systematic process to enhance professionalism and immersive gameplay.
Discovery
This game audio production assignment was a comprehensive practical exploration for our group, involving initial home recording attempts, a shift to a professional studio after encountering quality bottlenecks, and refined post-production in Adobe Audition; home recording, while convenient for basic sound capture, suffered from noise, echoes, and equipment instability that flawed raw audio—beyond post-production repair—making us recognize the recording environment as a core determinant of quality, and studio recording, with professional acoustic treatment, high-quality gear, and engineer guidance, drastically improved audio clarity, noise isolation, and stability, underscoring the importance of "source control" for efficient post-production. In Audition, we focused on key post-production steps (noise cleanup, spectrum analysis, equalizer tuning, dynamic range control, tonal adjustments, and volume balancing), such as balancing clarity and impact in skill effects and calibrating overlapping sounds to prioritize core feedback, reinforcing that post-production is a systematic process to boost professionalism and immersive gameplay. Additionally, the assignment deepened our systematic understanding of game audio production, revealing two key findings: high-quality game audio relies on the combination of high-quality recording and systematic post-production (with standardized parameters, real-time spectrum monitoring, and strict volume control ensuring clear sound hierarchy and avoid auditory confusion), and effective teamwork with clear task division (scheme design, post-production, sound calibration, and overall compatibility oversight) ensured efficient progress, thorough audio refinement, and enhanced work quality through collaborative problem-solving.
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