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Grand Prize
Noam Guterman

From: Hod Hasharon, Israel il
www.noamguterman.com

noam_guterman
 

Noam Guterman’s Contest Entry

What got you interested in sound design?

“Sound design was a natural progression for me. I always loved music, and started playing the drums since I was 10 (in 2001). I also learned to play the guitar and piano for a few years afterwords. But then around 2005 I got my first computer sequencer – Cubase 3 SX, and was introduced to the world of production. I soon realized that I’ve spent more time in one single day inside Cubase than I was spending playing the instruments in a whole week. In 2013 I decided to transform music from my passion into my career. So I went to a 1 year Electronic Music Production program at the most renowned college here in Israel for electronic music production, and graduated with honors. During my studies, I was introduced to advanced synthesis and audio manipulation for media and I loved it so much that after I graduated, I immediately went on to enroll in an online audio for media certificate program. Nowadays I’m involved in a few game projects but still find the time for research throughout the internet to find new information and techniques in the industry which is constantly evolving, so I’m glad I found Scorbit :-)”

What was your favorite part about the Sound Design Contest?

“I really enjoyed creating the soundscape. My favorite part about the contest was the fact that the only guidance and direction given was the concept art, and everything else had a lot of free hand granted in terms of the audio direction and script. That allowed me to develop the character in my mind and find a direction.”

Grand Prize Package

Sponsored by:
iZotopeLogo_onblack_trans

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  • Digital Performer 8 from MOTU ($499)
  • 4 Hours of One-on-One Mentoring/Training From a Scorbit Instructor ($400)
  • RX 4 Standard from iZotope ($349)
  • One Free Year of Scorbit ($80)
  • A signed print of the contest concept artwork by Kellan Jett
  • A Featured Artist Spot on Scorbit’s Website

Runner Up
Robert Rice

From: North Hollywood, CA • United States us
social-facebook-box-blue-icon Twitter_bird_icon www.robertricesound.com

Robert_Rice

Robert Rice’s Contest Entry

What got you interested in sound design?

“I am inspired by my parents, who are huge supporters of fine art in my hometown of Greensboro, NC. Throughout my life, they have encouraged me to set goals, follow my passion, and pursue a career. There was no clear path to it. Before I found my role in sound design, I spent over seven years developing my skills and learning from hard experience. It is not an easy road, and I am grateful for the family, friends, and leaders who continue to support my growth as an artist.”

What was your favorite part about the Sound Design Contest?

“It’s always fun and challenging to record your own voice overs. Voice acting is a precious skill that requires an open mind. You can edit and rehearse your lines a million ways over, but at the end of the day it’s all about delivering a great recording.”

Runner Up Prize Package

Sponsored by:
iZotopeLogo_onblack_trans

motu_logo

  • BreakTweaker from iZotope ($249)
  • MachFive 3 from MOTU ($459)
  • One Free Year of Scorbit ($80)
  • A Featured Artist Spot on Scorbit’s Website

3rd Place
Josh Zamora

From: Stockton, CA • United States us
www.composerjzamora.com

Josh_Zamora
 

Josh Zamora’s Contest Entry

What got you interested in sound design?

“I started composing music before I did any sound design and when I decided I wanted to get in the game industry I knew I needed to expand my skill set. I’ve always worked with computers and once I discovered all the amazing things you can do with DAWs and software synths, samplers, etc. I started experimenting with sound effects. After working on various projects I just fell in love with the challenge of creating sound effects for media. There is just something immensely satisfying about turning a sound like a toilet flush into some crazy sonic awesomness!”

What was your favorite part about the Sound Design Contest?

“My favorite part of the contest was creating the ‘our choice’ asset. Once I decided on making my character an assassin/mage I knew I had to have some kind of cool magic element in my soundscape. Experimenting with sounds for that asset was really fun and I’m super happy with the way it came out.”

3rd Place Prize Package

Sponsored by:
iZotopeLogo_onblack_trans

motu_logo

  • Stutter Edit from iZotope ($199)
  • One Free Year of Scorbit ($80)
  • A Featured Artist Spot on Scorbit’s Website

The Finalists

Kalle Hahl

From: Helsinki, Finland fi


Brian Brennan

From: County Meath, Ireland ie


Nicolas Maurin

From: Reims, France fr


Christian Steuer

From: Eitorf, Germany de


Honorable Mentions

Will Kohlleffel

From: Houston, TX • United States us


Mike Niederquell

From: Los Angeles, CA • United States us


Pablo Betancourt

From: Vancouver, British Columbia • Canada ca


The Contest

Create 5 individual sound effect assets, and a 10-second character soundscape based on the concept character artwork by Kellan Jett.

The Prizes

Grand Prize

  • Digital Performer 8 from MOTU ($499)
  • 4 Hours of One-on-One Mentoring/Training From a Scorbit Instructor ($400)
  • RX 4 Standard from iZotope ($349)
  • One Free Year of Scorbit ($80)
  • A signed print of the contest concept artwork by Kellan Jett
  • A Featured Artist Spot on Scorbit’s Website

Runner Up Prize

sound_design_contest_RU

  • BreakTweaker from iZotope ($249)
  • MachFive 3 from MOTU ($459)
  • One Free Year of Scorbit ($80)
  • A Featured Artist Spot on Scorbit’s Website

3rd Place Prize

sound_design_contest_3P

  • Stutter Edit from iZotope ($199)
  • One Free Year of Scorbit ($80)
  • A Featured Artist Spot on Scorbit’s Website

Conference Partner

We are thrilled to announce that Game Sound Con has partnered with Scorbit to sponsor the Sound Design Contest! The 50th person to download the Sound Design Contest Package will receive 1 free pass to Game Sound Con, valued at $695!

GameSoundCon 2014, the leading conference on video game music and sound design, has announced early bird discounts on all registrations until September 1, 2014. The organization’s 10th conference will be held October 7-8 at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles and feature two days of sessions, panel discussions and hands-on workshops from over twenty of the game industry’s leading composers, sound designers and audio directors. Find out more →
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UPDATE (9/1/2014):

Henning_Riez_profileCongratulations to the recipient of our conference partner promotion! As the 50th person to download the Sound Design Contest Package, Henning Riez of Hamburg, Germany will be going to this year’s Game Sound Con! Listen to Henning’s music here.

Concept Art

Sound designers often create their first assets based solely on concept art. The concepts could be storyboards, characters, environments, or other elements that will eventually be part of a game. Being able to bring a character aurally to life, whether a game or animation character, concept art or fully playable, is a crucial skill for any sound designer.

The Artwork


click image for higher resolution view

The sound design assets you create for the contest will be for the character depicted in Kellan Jett’s artwork. Imagine that this character will be in a game, and it is your job to bring him to life aurally.
Find Kellan Jett online at jettpack.tumblr.com

Your Sound Effect Assets

For sound designers, an asset is one audio file representing one playable sound effect. You must submit 5 assets, which will be from your final soundscape, of the following type:

1.) Character voice over Provide one line of dialogue scripted by you. It could be the character muttering to himself, speaking to his horse, or to allies or enemy combatants. Get creative and get inside the character’s mind. What would he sound like and what would he say?

2.) Character movement Provide an asset for when the character is in motion. This could be body movement sounds, the sound of the character’s uniform, or of anything he’s carrying.

3.) The horse The horse is an important part of bringing this character to life, and therefore must be aurally represented. This asset could be the horse walking, breathing or vocalizing (neighing, grunting, exhaling, etc.).

4.) Ambience Provide an asset for the environment in which this character exists. Pay close attention to the concept art for inspiration. It should match this environment. Ambience assets could be a grouping of several different audio files, but for this contest, your ambience asset will be 10 seconds, making up the entirety of your soundscape.

5.) Your Choice Provide one additional asset from your soundscape. It could be an additional line of dialogue or more character movement, or something else entirely. Again, get creative.

Your Soundscape

This is the main element of your contest entry. Mix together a montage which includes the 5 assets, and any more sound design elements that you feel are necessary. For the soundscape, you are not limited to just the 5 assets, but it must contain at least those 5. Get as creative as you like!

NOTE: Do not compose music or score your soundscape. This is a sound design contest, not a composition contest. Any entries that include a musical score will be disqualified.

Your Contest Entry

The entry submission link is included in the contest download package. The contest deadline is October 27, 2014 at 11:59pm. Your entry will be a compressed folder (in .zip or .rar format) of 6 audio files. Your 5 assets, and your 10 second soundscape. Name the assets as follows: Your_Name_SFX1_Description where the SFX number will be 1 through 5 for the five assets, and the description will be what the asset contains (character voice over, footsteps, movement, ambience, etc.). Name the soundscape asset as follows: Your_Name_Soundscape.

Contest Rules & Regulations