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Spatial Audio Design / Final Project

17.6.2025 -  27.7.2025 / Week 9 - Week 14
Bong Sue Zhiun / 0366866
Spatial Audio Design / Bachelor of Design ( Hons ) in Creative Media
Final Project: Game Audio


TABLE OF CONTENTS





LECTURE

Week 8

In this week’s class, Mr. Razif taught us how to clean up a sound recording by getting rid of unwanted background noise. The notes below highlight the key steps.

Step 1: Removing Background Noise from an Audio Track

1. Capture a Sample of the Noise

  • First, play the audio and observe the waveform to locate a section with just background noise (no speech).

  • Select this portion.

2. Capture the Noise Print

  • Go to Effects > Noise Reduction / Restoration > Capture Noise Print.

  • This tells Adobe Audition what noise to remove.

3. Select the Entire Track

  • Use Cmd + A (Mac) to select the full audio.

4. Apply Noise Reduction

  • Go to Effects > Noise Reduction / Restoration > Noise Reduction (process) 


5.  Adjust Noise Reduction Settings

  • Increase the Noise Reduction percentage to remove more background sound.

  • Use the Reduce By slider to set how much noise is removed.

  • We can also fine-tune the frequency spectrum if needed.


6. Reduce the Noise Floor

  • Make sure the noise floor (background sound level) is as low as possible.

  • The voice should be much louder than the noise.


Step 2: Identifying and Fixing Audio Issues

Check for Volume Spikes or Problem Areas

  • Look at the waveform for sudden spikes (too loud) or dips (too soft).

  • Listen for unwanted sounds like breathing, lip smacks, or overly emphasized syllables.

Lower Harsh Sounds

  • If a word or sound is too strong, lower the volume or reduce the harshness by adjusting the frequency.

1. Remove Breathing or Soft Sounds Using AutoGate

  • Go to Effects Rack > Amplitude and Compression > Dynamics

  • Turn on AutoGate

Adjust these settings:

  • Threshold – Lower it until breathing can be heard, then raise it a little until the breathing is gone.

  • Attack – Controls how fast the gate opens when sound starts.

  • Release – Controls how fast the gate closes when sound ends.

    • Too fast = some words may get cut.

    • Too slow = background sound might remain.

  • Hold – Decides how long the gate stays open before closing.


2. Make the Volume More Even Using Compression

In the same menu, turn on Compressor:

  • Threshold – The level where compression starts.

  • Ratio – How strong the compression is.

  • Attack – How quickly the compression starts.

  • Release – How quickly it stops.

  • Make-Up Gain – Brings the volume back up after compression.


3. Reduce Sharp ‘S’ Sounds (Sibilance)

  • Go to Amplitude and Compression > DeEsser

  • Adjust the Threshold to reduce the sharp 's' sounds.

If needed, use EQ:

  • Lower the frequencies between 5,000Hz to 8,000Hz to reduce harshness.


Step 3: Limit the Overall Volume to Prevent Clipping

  • Go to Amplitude and Compression > Hard Limiter

  • Set the Maximum Amplitude to -0.9 dB

    • This stops the audio from being too loud or distorted.


Week 10

Final Project Briefing

The first step in the pre-production stage of this project is to identify the necessary sounds.
In linear media like film, sound is carefully planned. We already know:
  • When the sound will happen
  • What type of sound it is
  • How loud or soft it should be
However, sound in games works differently because the experience isn’t linear.
In games, sound depends on the player’s:
  • State
  • Choices
  • Actions
This makes the process more dynamic. To handle this, we use event mapping—a way to list out every possible situation or interaction that might need a sound or a change in the sound environment. These are often referred to as triggers, cues, or events.

Week 11

In this week’s tutorial session, Mr. Razif asked us to practice editing sound effects (specifically magic spells) for our final project. For this exercise, we’re allowed to use audio tracks found online.

Below is the result of my work.

Fig.1.1 Magic spell in the multitrack session, Week 11, 1.7.2025






INSTRUCTIONS





PROJECT 


Final Project: Game Audio

For this project, we are required to create original sound effects for a game. Unlike our previous project, where all sound effects were sourced online, this time we will be recording and editing the sounds ourselves. As a Spatial Design student, I am using a different game than the Sonic Design students—the game is called Unity Learn | 3D Game Kit. Before starting, I downloaded Unity and the game file from the Unity Asset Store, following the tutorial provided by Mr. Razif to complete the installation.



Fig.3.1 Unity Learn  | 3D Game Kit, Week 9, 17.6.2025 


After that, I played the game to get more familiar with it. While playing, I identified the sound effects I needed to create and wrote them down in my asset list.


1. Game Audio Asset List



2. Sound Recording

I booked a slot to record the game sounds in the Broadcasting Room. I’m grateful for the opportunity to use this space—without this assignment, I probably wouldn’t have had the chance to go in. I brought along all the items I thought would be useful for creating sound effects and recorded them based on my asset list. I also did some recordings at home, but since there was background noise, I had to clean the audio during the editing process.


Fig.3.2, My friends helped me arrange the audio tracks, Week 15, 22.7.2025 


Fig.3.3, Inside the sound recording room, Week 13, 15.7.2025 



3. SFX Production Journal


Sound Effects #1 : Ellen_Weapon

Description: The sound made by Ellen’s weapon during an attack.

Props:
  1. Racket
  2. Fork, knife
  3. Two mugs

Recording Technique:

  1. Swing the racket to make the whoosh sound.

  2. Rub fork and knife together for a sharp metallic sound. 

  3. Gently clink two mugs for impact.

Editing:

1. Remove background noise from all three raw audio tracks.


2. Import the cleaned tracks into a multitrack session and layer them together.


3. Duplicate the Rub_fnk audio and reverse the duplicated track.


4. Apply audio effects:

  • Racket_swinging: DeNoise, Adaptive Noise Reduction, Parametric Equalizer, Studio Reverb, Pitch Shifter, Amplify


Fig.3.4, Effects used for Racket_swinging, Week 14, 22.7.2025 

  • Rub_fnk (reversed): Analog Delay, Studio Reverb, Parametric Equalizer

Fig.3.5, Effects used for Rub_fnk (reversed),Week 14, 22.7.2025 


  • Rub_fnk: Parametric Equalizer, Amplify

Fig.3.6, Effects used for Rub_fnk, Week 14, 22.7.2025 

  • Clink_mug: Parametric Equalizer, Studio Reverb, Flanger

Fig.3.7, Effects used for Clink_mug, Week 14, 22.7.2025 


5. Increase the volume of Racket_swinging, Rub_fnk, and Clink_mug.

6. Add fade-in and fade-out effects to the reversed Rub_fnk track.

7. Send all tracks to a bus and apply the Tube-Modeled Compressor effect.

Fig.3.8, Tube-Modeled Compressor effect, Week 14, 22.7.2025 

Fig.3.9, Mulitrack for Ellen_Weapon, Week 14, 22.7.2025 







Sound Effects #2 : Destructible_Box

Description: The sound of breaking a wooden crate.

Props: Wooden sticks, paper box

Recording Technique: Throw wooden sticks into a paper box to create a crashing, wooden break effect.

Editing:

1. Remove background noise from all raw audio tracks.


2. Duplicate the cleaned audio into two layers and trim each one at different positions to create variation.


3. Duplicate one more clean track and reverse the duplicated audio.


4. Arrange and layer all tracks based on their timing to match the intended sound effect.


5. Apply audio effects:

  • Destructible_box 1: Parametric Equalizer, Pitch Shifter
Fig.3.10, Effects used for Destructible_box 1, Week 14, 22.7.2025 

  • Destructible_box 2: Pitch Shifter
Fig.3.11, Effects used for Destructible_box 2, Week 14, 22.7.2025 

  • Destructible_box 3: Pitch Shifter, Analog Delay
Fig.3.12, Effects used for Destructible_box 3, Week 14, 22.7.2025 

6. Adjust the volume of each track and add fade-in and fade-out for smoother transitions.

Fig.3.13, Multitrack for Destructible_box, Week 14, 22.7.2025 



Raw Audio: Destructible_box

Final SFX



Sound Effects #3 : Door_Open

Description: The sound of a door unlocking and opening when triggered by the player.

Props:
  1. Paper box
  2. Wooden stick, paper box
  3. Wooden sticks, paper box, hand

Recording Technique:

  1. Use hand to punch the paper box for a sudden door impact.

  2. Scrape a wooden stick across the surface of a paper box to mimic the sound of a door slowly opening.

  3. Throw wooden sticks into a paper box to create a crashing, wooden break effect.


Editing:

1. Remove background noise from all raw audio tracks.


2. Reuse the Destructible_Box (reversed) track as the second layer.


3. Extend the duration of Door_02 by duplicating a section and looping it.


Fig.3.14, Extending the duration of Door_02, Week 14, 22.7.2025 

4. Duplicate Door_01 to create a fourth layer.


5. Arrange and layer all tracks according to their timing to create a realistic door unlocking and opening effect.


6. Apply audio effects:

  • Door_01: Pitch Shifter, Parametric Equalizer, Tube-Modeled Compressor, Amplify

Fig.3.15, Effects used for Door_01, Week 14, 22.7.2025 

  • Destructible_Box (reversed): Pitch Shifter, Parametric Equalizer

Fig.3.16, Effects used for Destructible_box (reversed), Week 14, 22.7.2025 

  • Door_02: Pitch Shifter, Parametric Equalizer

Fig.3.17, Effects used for Door_02, Week 14, 22.7.2025 

  • Door_1 (duplicated): Pitch Shifter (twice), Amplify, Parametric Equalizer, Chorus

Fig.3.18, Effects used for Door_01 (duplicated), Week 14, 22.7.2025 

7. Adjust the volume of each track and apply fade-in and fade-out for smoother transitions.

Fig.3.19, Multitrack for Door_Open, Week 14, 22.7.2025 



Raw Audio:

Final SFX




Sound Effects #3 : Healthbox_Open

Description: The sound effect triggered when the player opens a health box.

Props:
  1. Wooden stick, paper box
  2. Coins, mugs

Recording Technique:
  1. Throw wooden sticks into a paper box to create a crashing, wooden break effect.

  2. Throw coins into mugs to create a metallic clinking sound.


Editing:

1. Remove background noise from all raw audio tracks.

2. Copy Destructible_Box 1 from the Destructible_Box sound effect and layer it together with the Throwing_Coins track.

3. Apply audio effects:

  • Destructible_Box: Two Pitch Shifters, Parametric Equalizer

Fig.3.20, Effects used for Destructible_box, Week 14, 22.7.2025 

  • Throwing_Coins: Pitch Shifter

Fig.3.21, Effects used for Throwing_Coins, Week 14, 22.7.2025 

4. Adjust the volume of Destructible_Box and add fade-in and fade-out.

Fig.3.22, Adjusting volume, Week 14, 22.7.2025 


Raw Audio:

Final SFX



Sound Effects #5: Weapon_pickup

Description: The sound cue triggered when the player collects or picks up a weapon.

Props:
  1. Mug, coins, teaspoon
  2. Keychain

Recording Technique:

  1. Grab the mug with coins quickly and let the coins clink against the teaspoon inside to create a sudden metallic pick-up sound

  2. Shake the keychain for jingle sound.


Editing:

1. Remove background noise from all raw audio tracks.

2. Trim each audio file to keep only the needed parts.

3. Layer the Coins_Mug_Spoon and Keychain tracks together.

Fig.3.23, Layer the two tracks, Week 14, 22.7.2025 


4. 

Apply audio effects:

  • Coins_Mug_Spoon: Pitch Shifter
Fig.3.24, Effects used for Coins_Mug_Spoon, Week 14, 22.7.2025 

  • Keychain: Parametric Equalizer, Studio Reverb, Flanger
Fig.3.25, Effects used for Keychain, Week 14, 22.7.2025 




Raw Audio:

Final SFX




4. Unity

After finishing all the audio editing, I started replacing the sound effects in the game. I began by changing the game music—since there are four tracks in the Level01 Music, I changed the first one to my Ambience track and set the other three to Silent.

Fig.3.26, Replacing game music, Week 14, 22.7.2025 


The Dropship ambience sound was replaced with my own recorded and edited sound effect.

Fig.3.27 Replacing Dropship sound, Week 14, 22.7.2025 


I changed the Firefly sound in the game to my edited Fireflies sound effect.

Fig.3.28, Replacing Fireflies sound, Week 14, 22.7.2025 


The sound sources for the main character (Ellen) were updated under the Ellen Audio Source folder. This includes Hurt, Footstep, Landing, Emote Landing, Emote Death, Emote Attack, and Emote Jump.

Fig.3.29, Replacing Ellen's sounds, Week 14, 22.7.2025 


For the enemy (Chomper), the Attack, Frontstep, Backstep, and Death sound sources were replaced under the Chomper Audio Source folder.

Fig.3.30, Replacing Chomper's sound, Week 14, 22.7.2025 

The sound for the Destructible Box was replaced with a newly recorded and edited sound effect.

Fig.3.31, Replacing Destructible box sound, Week 14, 22.7.2025 


The HealthCrate sound was replaced with my own recorded and edited sound effect.

Fig.3.32, Replacing HealthCrate sound, Week 14, 22.7.2025 


The Door Huge was replaced with my own recorded and edited sound effect.

Fig.3.33, Replacing Door Huge sound, Week 14, 22.7.2025 


The Weapon Pedastal was replaced with my own recorded and edited sound effect. Additionally, the Weapon Pick-up sound was updated to play when the player collects the weapon.

Fig.3.34, Replacing Weapon sound, Week 14, 22.7.2025 



FINAL OUTCOME









REFLECTION


This project was quite difficult and challenging because the whole process required a lot of time and patience to test different things until they finally worked. The most challenging part, surprisingly, was replacing the audio in Unity. As someone who had never used Unity before, I found the software quite complicated and didn’t know how to get started. I spent a lot of time exploring the interface and watching the tutorial Mr. Razif provided, but even after following the steps carefully, things still didn’t work as expected. In the end, I asked a friend who had experience with Unity to help me, and together we managed to sort out the problems.

Through this module, I got the chance to learn two software programs—Adobe Audition and Unity (although only at a basic level without coding). I also came to realise how difficult it is to build game audio. Every single track I created took a lot of thought, time, and effort.

Overall, I’m grateful that I managed to complete everything within the given time. I truly appreciate the support from Mr. Razif and my friend—it really helped me finish this project successfully.


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