MPSE Wavelength

Fall 2024

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promote inclusivity, encourage learning and growth, and create a supportive environment. It's about community, not competition; lifting the voices of the unheard, giving purposefully specific recognition and credit to those who do the work; and, advocating for transparent and fair contracts and compensation for the talented resources that serve our community. With nearly 40 years of game production and voice-over experience between us, we set out to bring about awareness and inclusivity for those working in this discipline. In April 2018, Julia Bianco Schoeffling and I contacted Brian Schmidt, Executive Director & founder of GameSoundCon, seeking information about the apparent lack of voice-over and performance capture- specific offerings at the conference. Brian acknowledged the importance of having representation from the voice-over community at the conference. After all, high-quality dialogue and performance significantly contribute to immersive storytelling and player engagement. He commissioned us as co-chairs of the yearly event's newly formed Dialogue and Performance track. Our task was to curate a series of panels and talks focused primarily on game dialogue, motion capture, performance capture, and all the surrounding ancillary services closely attributable to all BYPERRY LaMARCA MPSE 16 M PS E . O R G Anyone paying attention should be aware that the video game industry has evolved tremendously over the past few decades, with technological advancements leading to increasingly immersive gaming experiences. While many game developers, publishers, and fans focus on engaging gameplay and beautifully artistic environments, game audio remains a critical yet often overlooked component of this evolution. Sound effects, music, and dialogue create engaging and believable game worlds, often more so than visual elements alone. For game audiophiles—whether you're a sound designer, musician, actor, or hold any of the myriad of roles in the game audio profession—where can you learn more about the craft you love? Enter GameSoundCon (GSC). Established in 2009, GameSoundCon has become essential for fostering innovation, collaboration, and education within this niche, yet vital aspect of game development. Initially rooted in sound design and music, the conference started as a single room of audio leads, designers, musicians, developers, and a few publishers. As it grew in popularity over the years, a need emerged to expand and diversify the conference session tracks, reflecting the broadening scope and importance of game audio. The Halp Network, of which I am a CEO and co-founder, along with my friend and COO, Julia Bianco Schoeffling, is a post-production audio resource company providing experienced and talented freelancers to the game companies who need them. It was founded on the simplest of missions. We emphasize collaboration, support, and unity over rivalry and individualism. Our intent is to foster alliances, strengthen relationships, GA M E AU D I O One Event's Dive Into Dialogue and Performance for the Video Game Industry and the Audio Community BY WILLIAM "CHIP" BEAMAN things voice-over. This track is designed for audio leads, dialogue specialists, voice and casting directors, actors, and anyone interested in the creation and implementation of spoken content in games. It often highlights the latest advancements in performance capture and interactive dialogue systems. Among the very first sessions were: •The Evolution of Voice-Over in Game •Dialogue Editorial/Mastering for Video Games •Audio Techniques in Facial & Motion Capture •Get Your Dream Voice Cast: Unboxing the Interactive Agreement from SAG-AFTRA We featured notable speakers from Riot Games, Rocket Sound, Sony Santa Monica, SAG-AFTRA, Faceware, alongside MPSE's own Garrett Montgomery and popular actors Cissy Jones, Sarah Elmaleh, and Crispin Freeman. Session content is varied and has evolved over the years. Some subjects that have been covered include effective voice acting methods, narrative writing structure and design, best practices for recording high-quality dialogue, tips for directing voice talent to achieve the desired performance, insights into performance capture technology and its integration with voice acting, challenges and strategies for localizing game dialogue for different languages and cultures, and implementation of branching dialogue systems. This track provides a comprehensive understanding of the entire process, from casting and recording to editing and integrating dialogue into the game, and includes localization, writing, performance, and motion capture, as well as AI (artificial intelligence) and other technological GAMESOUNDCON "[Everyone] shares all their ideas and collaborates, because we all know we're going to work together at some point [laugh]."

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