Sources for Game Audio SFX Reference?

Making all the sorts of sounds in games
Post Reply
twentyfivelives
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Sep 09, 2022 2:08 pm
Location: Brooklyn, New York
Contact:

Sources for Game Audio SFX Reference?

Post by twentyfivelives »

Does anyone have any go to Youtube channels or other sources for gathering game sfx reference?

I'm trying to include gathering references from other games in my practice/redesigns. I often struggle to find good *clean* reference (no music/dialogue to compete with in the mix, clear camera angles showing the subject). Capturing reference for myself can be ideal, but its time consuming and I certainly don't have access to all of the games I would like to learn from.

The only one that I reliably go to for sfx isolated videos is Weapons From Games (https://www.youtube.com/c/WEAPONSFROMGAMES/videos)
but they only have videos of guns/weapons in games.

There are other channels like Ability Preview (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCv2OBf ... w/featured) that provide great reference for animators (also a great place to get clean video for your own redesigns from), but they play music from the games' OST over every video, so the sfx reference isn't very usable.

Does anyone have any recommendations for game audio sfx reference gathering? Also...does anyone use a reference gathering stage in their regular practice?

***BONUS QUESTION***
What would you want out of a Youtube channel that was dedicated to providing in-game reference for sound designers?
chrob
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Sep 09, 2022 9:39 pm

Re: Sources for Game Audio SFX Reference?

Post by chrob »

At the risk of sounding like a shill, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate has become my #1 resource for this. The library is large and data is cheap enough that it's perfectly fine to just download titles and sample a variety of games. Certainly takes longer than just trawling youtube, but it's definitely more reliable sometimes (if the genre of game you're trying to reference is on there at least). The xcloud streaming feature makes it even faster to get to what you're lookin' for. Highly recommend if you haven't tried it.

I definitely create a list of media for gathering reference but I'm basically limit it to writing notes for myself. I find that if I record stuff I get too set on trying to crack other people's sound design instead of doing my own.
Chris P
Sound Designer
joemarchuk
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Sep 09, 2022 12:07 am

Re: Sources for Game Audio SFX Reference?

Post by joemarchuk »

It's tough to say what I would want out of a channel specifically for sound design references, because what I need can vary so much from one day to the next. Sometimes I want to hear a specific kind of sound in a specific style, completely isolated. Other times I want to hear a more general variety of sounds, maybe within a certain genre but not a specific style of sound design, maybe in context of chaotic ambience. Gathering reference material myself usually just comes down to trying to remember specific games that come close to what I want to hear, and then looking for "no commentary" playthroughs online. That's assuming I don't have access to the game myself to play and/or record it
Sound Designer @ Overworld Audio
He/Him
david guinot
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Sep 09, 2022 5:41 am

Re: Sources for Game Audio SFX Reference?

Post by david guinot »

I would add the youtube channel "games without music" https://www.youtube.com/c/GamesWithoutMusic
quite practical for enviro/ambient refs I think.
Sound Designer @ Amplitude Studios
Post Reply