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Sound Design is creating and producing soundtracks for a variety of different projects like games, shows, and even things like sound affects on websites. It's important in media because it helps enhance the narrative, evoke emotions and create a more immersive experience for the audience as well as adding depth.

The role of a sound designer is to collect, edit and create sound effects and ambient sound effects. They also control the music for things like video games, applications or any other form of interactive media. The sound designer is responsible for creating all sound and audio for a production, or whatever they may be working on.

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There is a variety of different roles some of them include

-Production sound mixer

A production sound mixers work starts during preproduction where they are responsible for planning, requirements, microphone and recording equipment selection. Skill wise they are needed to have engineering and mixing experience. They should have the ability to fill in for anyone on the sound team. They are also responsible for recording all sound, quality control and making detailed notes.

-Boom Operator

A boom operator brings knowledge of microphones to the audio team, they assist other audio roles like the production sound mixer with capturing dialogue and providing the best mic placement. They also have to make sure to stay out of the shot which can require moving around with the camera to stay hidden. Its also an important for them to read the script being shot that day and note any movement.

-Sound assistant

The sound assistants role is to help sound crew, they report to the production sound mixer and boom operator. Their responsibilities include setting up microphones, maintenance, cable runs and tear down. This is a good starting point for newcomers and offers exposure to a lot of skills that is needed in the field.

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Many different methods are used and applied when creating sound design some of these methods include

-Layering sounds

Layering sounds is when you combine multiple different sounds on top of each other to create a new more complete sound. It helps add depth to tracks making them sound fuller.

-Sound Capture

Using microphones to record real-world sounds like environmental noises, creating sound effects, footsteps etc. Or creating sound with instruments.

-Sound Manipulation

Filtering, editing and applying effects like reverb, delay, distortion and compression to the sound to help add depth and shape it.

-Synthesis

Synthesis is where you generate sound electronically using synthesizers including subtractive, additive, FM and wavetable synthesis techniques.

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This week we learnt about the importance of sound design, sound, softwares, techniques and methods and also the different roles of within sound design. To start off the week I did research into sound design. Then I did more research into different audio roles, techniques, methods and software that is used within sound design. After I completed the research I moved onto the next task, we had been given three different video clips, being tasked to put different sound effects that we thought would fit onto the clips. I find this task challenging at first as I had used a program I never had before, After Effects, struggling to grasp the layout. Eventually understanding it enough to complete one clip but swapping to Cap cut to complete the rest of the clips. I also struggled slightly to find the audio clips, or sound effects i wanted often finding it hard when looking for a specific sound and not being able too find it, though overall i didn’t find the task too difficult but would like to refine my After Effects skills.

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To start this week, I began by researching lip-syncing techniques and uploading them onto Padlet. After I completed my research, I listened to the audios given to us, choosing to do my project on the second audio. I chose one of my original OCs to animate to the sound. I began working on my animation, roughly planning it out. I imported the sketch into Capcut as I went to check if it was long enough and if the mouth lined up with the audio. After I was happy, I went back through once, satisfied with the sketch and going back over adding details.

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I continued to work on my animation, finishing it, going over it, and adding in the details, making sure I was happy with how the mouth lined up to the audio and making the animation look cohesive. After I had finished the animation, I imported the outcome into CapCut, making sure it lined up correctly with the audio, importing it and editing in CapCut before exporting it. After I finished, I uploaded my outcome onto my website and wrote my Final evaluation.

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There is a large variety of software that can be used in creating sound design, there are options from free to widely expensive. Some of these include

-Adobe Audition

A digital audio workshop that was developed by Adobe, it features a multitrack, non-destructive mix/edit environment and a destructive approach waveform editing view.

-BitWig Studio

BitWig studio is a digital audio workstation that your able to compose, record, mix, and preform music. It has features like Automation, Workflows, Hardware integration, collaboration, interface and support.

-Audacity

Audacity is a free open source software application that your able to record, edit and covert audio. It has features like being able to record audio, edit sound files, make music, create podcasts, do voice over work and record memos

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Lip syncing techniques in animation include, breaking down speech into phonemes, distinct sounds, and then matching those sounds to the corresponding mouth shapes, creating key frames for the most important phonemes. Drawing key frames is another important technique, creating the essential mouth positions for key phonemes in dialogue. Another important technique is facial expression, making sure that they match the audio, conveying the emotion the sound is portraying. It’s important to use eyes, eyebrows and mouth to help portray emotion as each feature helps in its own way to show emotion. Another technique that you can use is to reference footage of actors, videos online or even yourself saying what you want to animate to see how the mouth moves. You can also draw over it to help break down shapes if you need extra support understanding. Exaggeration is another good technique slightly enhancing the lip movement or mouth movement to make it more clear and expressive is a widely used technique, and often makes it more interesting as a viewer.

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These are the results of adding sounds to three different video clips. I initially started the task on After Effects; however, I ended up switching to Capcut after completing the first video in After Effects as I struggled with the program and its mechanics, even after watching tutorials, struggling to grasp it completely. I also mainly used sound effects I found and downloaded rather than the college library, and I had a particular sound I wanted to look for. However, I still struggled to find the exact sound effects I wanted, and often had to settle for something similar but not quite what I wanted.

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For my lip-syncing Animation, I chose the second sound. I also decided to use my OC Euros in the animation. I chose her because I found her to be the most fitting for the sound I picked. I picked the character after the sound instead of the other way around. I plan to use Procreate to create my animation as its the program I'm most familiar with and understand the most.

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This is the incredibly rough version of my animation. when I first went through it, I kept it as simple as I could, focusing on the shapes of the animation. I rather stupidly admittedly didn't include the most important feature, the mouth, in these rough sketches, causing me to struggle later when it came to drawing the details in.

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This is my storyboard for my animation. I kept it very rough and did minimal detail as I had a strong idea of what I wanted to do. I didn't feel the need to storyboard, as I also knew it would be a rather simplistic animation. Though I laid out the rough movements to use as a guide and to help keep my vague ideas clear.

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This is me using CapCut, trying to make sure the sketch aligned with the sound, so when I went to drawing in the details, I didn't have to worry about it aligning. I found CapCut to be easy to use, as I have used it multiple times on a variety of projects. I imported both the sound and the sketch into the program, dragging them into the timeline and moving them to align with each other and get the timing I wanted.

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This is my lip-syncing animation. I'm overall happy with the outcome, though I did struggle in finding the correct mouth shapes and making the animation line up with the audio. This animation includes my own original OC called Euros. I went with my character as I'm familiar drawing them, however, I did simplify her design slightly to make it more animation-friendly, removing smaller, harder to animate detailing. I created the animation using Procreate as its the program I am most familiar with and use, creating the sketch to final production on it, exporting it into Capcut to add the audio and edit it accordingly.

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When first approached with Sound and Vision, I was hesitant and unsure, I wasn't particularly familiar with the brief. However, in this project, I learned the importance of sound design and the role that sound can play in animations and media. I learnt about the variety of roles within Sound. The project started with research in Sound design, software techniques and methods that helped me understand each part of sound design and its role.

After the research was completed, I moved on to the next task, adding sound effects to three different clips. I found this challenging, unsure of what sound effects to add and what to search for, though with trial and error, I got more comfortable with the task and eventually began to gain confidence. I completed this task on Capcut, a program I had used before and knew how to navigate confidently. Although I initially started the task on After Effects, I found it difficult to navigate and confusing at times as I hadn't used the program before. I had to teach myself how to import audio and cut and shorten audio. Due to not having access to the program at home, I was ultimately forced to switch to Capcut, though I did find it easier. Once I had switched to Capcut, I found the task easier. I mainly used sound effects that I searched for and downloaded, but I also downloaded sounds from YouTube and converted them into sound effects. Once I completed these, I uploaded them onto my Padlet. I found this task challenging at times, but overall, it taught me to think about what sound could be applied and to think of sound design as well.

The next task was to research lip-syncing techniques. After I added my research to my Padlet, I moved onto the next part of the task, animating a scene to a chosen audio. I chose the third audio out of the three. I decided to animate my OC Euros to the audio as I felt it was fitting, and I was familiar with her design and how to draw her. However, I did take smaller detailing out of her design and changed it slightly to make it easier to animate. I animted on Procreate, animating in 5FPS, which in hindsight is something I would change, instead raising the frame rate to try and make the animation smoother. I first did a rough storyboard of my general idea. After completing that, I began to make a rough animation of just guidelines of what movement I wanted the animation to have. I kept this very rough, regretfully not even adding in rough mouth shapes. Something I should have done was when it came time for me to animate the mouth, I struggled not having a loose guideline to follow. When I had completed the rough sketch, I went back to sketch over that, adding in the details and focusing more on the animation. I completed a second's worth of animation, then imported it into Capcut to make sure the mouth movements lined up with the audio. After making sure and seeing what needed to be changed, I went back to Procreate and continued my animation, continuing to import it back and forth into Procreate to make sure the timing was correct. I did a mixture of copying and pasting the frames and redrawing them completely, often copying and pasting the fact as it remained constant but changing the body as it moved angles. After completing the whole animation and adding on final touches, I imported it into Capcut to edit it together. I once imported it into Capcut and realised I wasn't quite happy with the animation and wanted to change some detailing on the animation, making it more consistent and making the mouth match the audio more. Once I was finally happy, I imported it again and finally edited it, then exported it and uploaded it onto my Padlet.

Overall, this project has taught me a variety of skills. It has taught me the importance of sound design in media and animation, the roles of sound and the techniques and methods that play apart in it. Ive also learnt lip syncing techniques and how to apply them into animation, and how the move moves with each sound. Overall, I am happy with my outcome, though I struggled with it and felt like I could have added more sound effects into my videos, as at parts they sound empty, and could have added more detailing into my animation.