It’s another beautiful day in our fine city, and I’m getting settled in here at GDC, where I just got back from a killer panel on next-gen audio. Going in, I thought I would probably be hit with a heavy debate on file formats and standards (not that we at Mix don’t love our tech specs, but hey-girl just got here!), but was instead treated to a lively philosophical discussion on the role of audio in the development process, in the advent of new technologies.
Some big questions were posed here: First, how do we use audio to tell the best story to get an emotional response-just like in any other field? And, the universal concern…is technology allowing us to do more, or limiting us? In other words, are we using a tool for the sake of the tool, or in a manner that is creative? Just like in any audio production situation, it was agreed that a technical feat does not equal emotional content. And it is incumbent on the audio pro to recognize the difference. The catchphrase “a pixel never made me cry” is a popular one here in game world…it was agreed that creating emotion doesn’t drive the next-gen technology, per se, but it is certainly a major goal.
Another issue on everyone’s minds is getting better quality audio on the radar of game producers everywhere. How to get support from senior management? Invite them to a scoring session. Take them to a Foley stage. Show them that audio is fun. Make them a FAN.
The panel of gurus, led by Dave Murrant, acknowledged that they were preaching to the choir here. A logical next step might be a multidisciplinary session here at the show-get the producers and designers involved in a larger dialog, because after all, it’s a win-win situation…

photo caption: GDC showgoer toodling around the floor on his Segway

photo caption: Tuur and Stefan from Sonic Picnic
Stefan Leertouwer and Tuur Hendrikx showed me their impressive website showcasing their compositional and sound design works for games, film and Television. The duo are showing at the GDC for the first time which brings me to an observation that the GDC is fast becoming a big time audio show. Not many of the big players are here but Mix Editor Tom Kenny, Sarah Jones and myself were musing that the next few years at the show should be more and more about audio.

photo caption: Brandon Ryan (Cakewalk) and Tommy Tallarico
Brandon Ryan of Cakewalk, a fixture at trade shows as the SONAR evangelist, teamed up with “the-man-is-everywhere” Tommy Tallarico for a highly informative panel on the use of workstations in multicore environments. SONAR, with its unlimited track count, is fully native 64-bit and Vista compatible, and in this demo was running a 150-track orchestral piece with a combonation of live and MIDI tracks, loaded with fx (some in 32-bit running off of BitBridge). After a brief rundown of the new capabilities in SONAR 6.2, they played a Tallarico composition form Advent Rising with 72-piece orchestra, 100-voice Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and 120 tracks of mixed MIDI (Tommy likes the percussive hits in MIDI, same as some of his brass punch). Tallarico was a SONAR 2 user way back, then switched to Nuendo, but has switched back for the MIDI-audio power and recording power of the new release. He also took time to praise Cakewalk and Intel for taking the time to really work together in developing applications for new generations of native hardware. This, he said, is how all development should work. Never a hiccup in this demo.

I snapped this picture of a G5 on the go directly across from the Moscone West Hall. Although it wasn’t Lance (made you look!), I thought it was an interesting take on “mobile” computing.

photo caption: Peter Harrison of Creative between demos

Creative was showing OpenAl, a cross-platform 3D Audio API designed for games, music and multimedia applications. I recorded a Podcast with Carlo Vogelsang and Susie Hayne from Creative that is a must-hear. Check it out on the Mix website tonight.

photo caption: Michael Sojda from Noren and his whisper-quiet isolation cabinet
I was walking down my first aisle in the Expo hall and what should I see? An AcoustiLock isolation box. I thought was having AES flashbacks and then realized that products like these work for gamers as well as studio pros. The box can be ordered with up to 24 rack spaces and is amazingly quiet. It features rear cable ports and temperature control. The box in the picture above goes for about $3200

photo caption: Tommy Tallarico (G.A.N.G/VGL), Kevin Becka (Mix) and Paul Lipson (ex’pression/G.A.N.G)

What would the GDC be without a Tommy Tallarico sighting? The wrong show! Tommy was doing his best “drop of water on a hot griddle” routine making the rounds and letting everyone know that the Video Games Live show this Friday at the Nob Hill Masonic Center will be an event to remember. Paul Lipson from G.A.N.G. and ex’pression College was also there. Check out the Podcast up tonight on the Mix website

photo caption: Graham McKenna and the Razer Mako 2.1 system

THX was showing a very slick looking 2.1 system called the Razer Mako that features downfiring speakers. The THX-certified speakers (go figure!) are connected via Cat-5 cables and feature bi-amped satellites (50W x 2 per speaker), 100W sub, and Digital DSP control. The idea of the downfiring speakers is that the listener need not be in the sweet spot to benefit from a full-blown audio experience.

Want a piece of the $13 billion game industry? Network with the talent behind today’s hottest titles and technology at the Game Developers Conference 2007 (March 5-9), taking place in San Francisco. GDC is the world’s largest game creation event, and Mix will be on the scene, reporting up-to-the-minute news from the show! Stay tuned for Blogs and Podcasts, but cruise through the site now for Mix editors’ inside tips on navigating through the city — restaurants, entertainment, getting out of the convention hall for a bit and much more!

See you on the show floor!

The Mix Editors