Definition
In film and video games, sound design covers everything that is neither music nor dialogue (and often coordinates their relationship): sound effects (SFX), ambiences, Foley, “impossible” sounds (creatures, futuristic weapons, magic), interfaces. The term “sound designer” as a film credit is associated with Walter Murch for Apocalypse Now (1979); Ben Burtt created the sounds of Star Wars (1977): the lightsaber comes from the hum of a projector motor combined with television interference picked up by a microphone, and Chewbacca's roar from animal vocalizations (bears and others) edited together.
The categories of sound for picture
- Dialogue (production sound, ADR/dubbing).
- Foley: “human” sounds recreated on a stage in sync with the picture: footsteps, clothing, objects (the name comes from Jack Foley, a pioneer in the 1920s–'30s).
- Hard effects: synchronized sounds of events (doors, cars, weapons, impacts).
- Ambiences (backgrounds, room tone): the “bed” that places the scene.
- Design (created sounds): creatures, sci-fi, transitions, stylized impacts.
- Music: with which the sound design must dialogue, each leaving room for the other.
Key film concepts
- Diegetic / non-diegetic: sound that exists in the world of the story (a radio in the scene) or outside it (the score).
- Synchresis (Michel Chion): the brain binds a sound to an image if they arrive together; this is why a smashed watermelon can become a believable punch.
- Worldizing (Murch): playing a sound back in a real environment and re-recording it to give it natural acoustics.
- Layering: a cinematic “punch” = crack (high) + impact (mid) + boom (sub) + clothing Foley.
- Silence and dynamics: removing sound before an event increases its impact.
- Loudness: the reference standard for many platforms is the dialogue measurement; for example Netflix specifications call for −27 LKFS ±2 on dialogue (speech-gated) and a true peak of −2 dBTP; theatrical films are mixed at calibrated levels (85 dB SPL reference in the theater).
Video games: interactive audio
- Sound is not linear: it depends on the player's actions.
- Variations: every footstep, hit or repeated sound has several versions (round robin), with pitch and volume randomized by ±1–3 semitones / ±2–3 dB to avoid the “machine gun” effect.
- Real-time parameters (RTPC in Audiokinetic Wwise, parameters in FMOD): a car's speed → engine pitch and filter; character health → low-pass filter on the mix.
- Adaptive music: vertical layering (layers that enter and exit with intensity) and horizontal resequencing (sections that chain together according to the game state). Music is covered in the lesson “Video game music”; the sound designer manages the priority among music, SFX and voices.
- Spatialization: 3D, distance attenuation, occlusion (filters when there is a wall), zone-based reverbs.
- Middleware: Wwise, FMOD; the Unity and Unreal engines have built-in audio systems (MetaSounds in Unreal).
- Loudness: industry guidelines (for example those of Sony's ASWG group) indicate values around −24 LUFS for consoles and higher for mobile; treat them as indicative and check the client's specifications.
Production tools
Portable recorders and microphones (shotgun, contact, hydrophones), libraries (Boom Library, Sound Ideas, Pro Sound Effects), transformation plugins (pitch and formants, granular, convolution, Krotos Dehumaniser for creatures, iZotope RX for cleanup). In FL Studio you can do sound design for video by loading the video with Fruity Video Player 2 and syncing events to the Playlist.
Practical example
Sound of a “sci-fi door” for a short video: 1) Foley: a cup dragged across a table (sliding), recorded and slowed by 50%; 2) pneumatic: white noise with rising HP (hiss) of 400 ms; 3) mechanical: a pen click slowed down and transposed −12 semitones; 4) design: A2 sine wave falling an octave in 300 ms (motor); 5) final impact: synthesized kick + struck metal + short reverb. Sync to the frame (at 25 fps one frame = 40 ms) and create 3 variants with different pitch.
Common mistakes
- “Too clean” sounds: they lack layers and ambience.
- Music and SFX in the same band at the same time.
- In games, repeated files with no variation.
Exercise
- Strip the audio from a 30-second action scene and redo it with Foley, hard effects and an ambience.
- Create 5 variations of a footstep on gravel and test them in a loop: can you hear the repetition?
Related topics
“FX, risers, impacts”, “Layering sounds”, “Granular synthesis”, “Video game music: loops and adaptive music”, “Spotting and hit points”.