How to Break Into the Video Game Industry? Listen Up
It’s incredible, isn’t it? Dim light, controller in hand, headset on, superfast internet, stunning visuals, realistic motions, and the sound… the INCREDIBLE sound that sinks you right into the role of the character that you’re maneuvering through the game’s map. It’s the edge of your seat excitement that pulses through you and lets you really become part of the game!
Very few people truly reach the depth of game-play as “real” gamers. Gamers have a HUGE appreciation for every aspect of the all-enthralling game. Gamers spend tons of time, and money, researching controllers, consoles, video cards, and televisions/monitors. Even so, most “real” gamers do not grasp the depth of what goes into the game that they enjoy. Game developers spend Hollywood budgets on the visual aspect of their games, to create life-like environments that gamers get sucked into. Developers spend months, if not years, developing the game’s story line, in hopes of creating a storyline that will bleed into the next game. Developers work with manufacturers to develop technologies that allow for lightening fast processing, creating fluid movement of characters and environments. All that said, very few gamers take into consideration the depth of the AUDIO in the game they’re playing. Some don’t even consider that the life-like sounds, or newly imagined sounds, are meticulously placed in to the game to enhance the gamer’s experience.
Video Game Audio is a CRITICAL part of any video game. Seriously… When was the last time you played a video game with the sound OFF? Video game developers, with their dedicated Audio Departments, utilize fantastic technologies, like Wwise, to integrate audio into their games. These Audio Professionals use techniques found in Recording Studios, Broadcast Centers, Live Sound Venues, and Post Production houses, trying to create, and deliver, sounds that are captivating and that will keep the gamer playing!
See, it’s not magic. Every aspect of every game you’ve ever played was well thought out. The truth is that because the videographic side of video games is so “resource hungry,” very little of your computer/console’s processing power is dedicated to the Audio component of the game. Because of this, The Audio Engineer tasked with the SOUND of the game has to get creative with the limited processing given to him for the entirety of the game. Every foot step has to change when the character goes from stepping on concrete to running on dirt. Space ships have to change pitch and amplitude as the travel across your ears and monitor. Monsters aren’t really scary until these Audio Engineers manufacture a blood-curdling sound that gives you goosebumps!
This area of the video game world isn’t something you can just stumble into, as an audio professional. YOU have to have a HUGE understanding of every discipline of the Professional Audio Engineering industry. Seriously, knowing how to deal with a Recording studios acoustics, knowing microphone polar patterns, knowing microphone frequency responses, knowing how to route audio to and from a recorder, knowing how to create sounds that don’t exist, knowing how to distribute those sounds, being able to take a limited amount of processing power and still make it all happen? Yeah… that takes EDUCATION.
At the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences (CRAS), we pride ourselves in being a long standing tradition of EXCELLENCE in the Professional Audio Engineering world. In 36 weeks, CRAS prepares students, just like YOU, to launch into their chosen field in Audio: Music Production, Post Production, Video Game Audio, Live Sound Reinforcement, and Broadcast. Truth be told, our students are ready to take on the world in each of theses disciplines, because our FOCUS is to prepare YOU for the ENTIRE AUDIO INDUSTRY. After an immersive 36 week curriculum, in 13 World Class Studio, and 17 Industry recognized Certifications, our students are hand delivered into the industry by way of their 280 Hour Internship, in the city of their choosing, anywhere across the U.S.! CRAS’ reputation in EXCELLENCE has international appeal, and students come from all over earth to study their PASSION with us.
We have Admissions Representatives ready to connect you to the industry and GET YOU IN THE GAME!