Video games sound designing: Fmod, Wwise and other similar, which one is the most used?

[sauli]

I'd guess fmod is most popular, but if you are gonna learn two Wwise is pretty straightforward and the documentation is good.

Of middleware solutions I've only used Wwise so I don't know how tricky using fmod can be, but if I was hiring someone I wouldn't care if they know the tools or not, but if they understand how game audio works in general. Part of it you will learn by learning the tools, but most of it comes only thru experience in other words doing sound design for games.

Ability to make good quality sounds is important, but equally important is knowing how to use them and coming up with interactive sound design solutions. For example sword impact sound in film is just a designed sample on timeline, but if you are doing a sword fighting game the sword impact sound is more likely metal impact sound + metal ringing sound + metal scrape sound all mixed differently and with different kind of release times depending of material it hits, velocity, angle of sword and so on. Sometimes designing systems like this is job of a programmer, but imo that's just wrong

[Diego_C]

More clear ideas now. Thanks again.
Anyway better to check directly looking the companies and learn the one more used around your area, or where you are trying to get a job. Tough I got the idea that "Fmod Studio" is better than "Fmod" and "Wwise" is more musician oriented.
Cheers

[Diego_C]

I'd guess fmod is most popular, but if you are gonna learn two Wwise is pretty straightforward and the documentation is good.

Of middleware solutions I've only used Wwise so I don't know how tricky using fmod can be, but if I was hiring someone I wouldn't care if they know the tools or not, but if they understand how game audio works in general. Part of it you will learn by learning the tools, but most of it comes only thru experience in other words doing sound design for games.

Ability to make good quality sounds is important, but equally important is knowing how to use them and coming up with interactive sound design solutions. For example sword impact sound in film is just a designed sample on timeline, but if you are doing a sword fighting game the sword impact sound is more likely metal impact sound + metal ringing sound + metal scrape sound all mixed differently and with different kind of release times depending of material it hits, velocity, angle of sword and so on. Sometimes designing systems like this is job of a programmer, but imo that's just wrong

thanks for your contribute too

but what do you mean with "it's wrong" ? that shouldn't be the programmer job but again the sound designer's job? I may agree but it start to be too much about technical aspect concerning the movement of the object on the screen than preparing the right sound pool for that situation...I mean as sound designer I guess I'm going to prepare all the needed samples for that particular situation, let's say this sword fighting, but should be the programmer to position them in the proper way, or is a cooperation as the sound designer is also there checking the various fx as reverb, 3d positioning, and various other modifications. Or maybe in little team poduction is really the same person doing this: so you prepare the sample or use sample libraries, you position them in the "timeline" of the software, though I know is not a timeline in the traditional meaning, and so on... but if the same sound designer has to do this programming, it means that is no more a sound designer but a programmer too, so a sound designer has also to learn programming language for video games?
start to be too much complex for a single person, I mean it may happen that the same person as to be a Foley artist, a field/ambient recordist, a muscian composer, a sound designer, a programmer, all in the same time for one alary only, so to speak?.... sorry for my naive point of view anyway..I'm new at all this, just learning the mechanism

[bschmidt1962]

As far as which tool to learn (FMOD Studio vs WWise)...

Actually, when doing games that decision is usually made for you, by the game developer. You don't get to choose. So you really need to know both. You may have some influence, or be able to suggest your preference, but at the end of the day, it's not your call (as a composer or sound designer).

There are a couple reasons for that. One is because it is the game developer who pays the license fee to use the product (which can be in the high thousands of dollars per title). Also, the specific programming code that is required is very different between the two. So if a developer is very used to using one or the other, they will probably require you to use it.

So it's very important to learn the concepts behind the tools, probably as much or even moreso than the actual tools themselves.

As teomi points out, Pinnacle college in LA has a great game sound design program.

Also, GameSoundCon, the Conference/Seminar on Video Game Music and Sound Design (http://www.GameSoundCon.com) is in LA this year on November 3-4 at the LA Convention Center. GameSoundCon has classes on game audio concepts as well as hands-on training for both FMOD Studio and WWise. In fact Stephan Szhutze (who created the FMOD course some of the others have referenced in this thread) will be teaching the FMOD sessions at GameSoundCon this year

Brian