Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1546054
70 M PS E . O R G Capturing massive impacts for Battlefield 6. Above: The audio team takes cover during a 30-foot drop of a massive cargo shipping container. Below: A concrete K-rail crashes into a metal shipping container from 30 feet up, providing the perfect mix of metal and concrete destruction sounds. Notice the microphone blimps positioned in both setups. want close weapon fire sound effects, that's fairly easy. But if we also want environment reflections, it becomes a harder search. A further consideration is the time of year. You want the time of year that offers the least amount of birds and insects but also has the lowest chance of high winds or rain. It's a tough challenge to solve, but it really pays off when you get it right. You recorded firearms, vehicles, destruction, debris, and environmental material across multiple locations. What were some of the most memorable or technically challenging recording sessions? Jeff Wilson: We're always looking for new and unique field recording content. On Battlefield 6, we had a very large audio team spread out across North America and Europe, and we were able to bring everyone together for a large field recording session in Southern California. The first goal was to capture very high-quality sound effect assets, but the second goal was to bring everyone together to share in the experience. We wanted to use field recording to create a strong and cohesive audio team. For these sessions, we visited four locations, recorded firearms in roughly nine different environment types, did a studio session for weapon actions, and captured a large material destruction session with many different material types. The size and scope of these field recording sessions were the largest we've ever done, and you can really hear the impact of this content in-game. Mari S. Minto: There were a lot of memorable recording sessions throughout the project. First and foremost, we were there to capture great content; sounds we had been thinking about for years, sounds we felt were missing from our library, and areas where we thought we could do better. Experiencing these sounds in real life was just as important. Loud, violent, physical sounds in different environments. Feeling the movement of air from a jet passing overhead. Hearing how weapon fire travels across a landscape and reflects back from the environment. That's where the real learning happens, by listening, really listening. Take tree destruction, for example. We've designed these sounds for several Battlefield games, but never felt we'd truly nailed them. Why not record some content for it? And so, we did. It's not until you hear a large tree fall that you really understand the sonic narrative of an event like that: the movement, the whoosh, the loudness of the impact, and how they relate to one another. The military exercise in winter was another great example. Not because we were chasing a specific recording, but because it helped us better understand the experience we were trying to create. Hearing multiple weapons being fired at once. Understanding firing patterns, communication, distance, and falloff. How these sounds relate to one another and how they travel across a large environment. That's what makes those sessions memorable for me. Not just the recordings we bring home, but the understanding we gain while we're there. David Jegutidse: Adding to this, when we record for our libraries, we have short- and long-term goals. Short term,