Since multiple people have asked. The following thread will be about the creation of the sound for “Breaking Glass” in the #TheLastofUsPart2. This was one of the first systems I dove into at ND. 1/23 
The system for glass is made up of many different layers and a few systems that interweave together to give the unique sound and the right feeling. Thank you to @robkrekel l for letting me run with this so early on. 2/23
Getting the right sound for the glass was only the first part of the job but the “feel” of breaking the glass was what I spent most of my time on. I felt the glass needed to be separated into layers to have the glass feel as realistic as possible. 3/23
The first layer was the initial impact. I used a mixture of a small piece of glass cracking from a windshield and a short electricity zap (processed) to give the “crack” I was looking for. 4/23
Third was a delayed glass “breaking or cracking” sound that would play a few times and the timing was randomized. This helped give a realistic feel of the glass breaking all around you. 5/23
Fourth was the “Thump” layer. This was a low sub like sound that was on the initial impact to give the feel of power and strength as you break the glass. This helped add to the explosive feeling of breaking a window. 6/23
Fifth and most important was “Debris”. I spent the most time on the debris. Making sure it had a nice long tail. This was my glue. The right debris tail gave me the realism I was looking for. 7/23
(The Debris layer and Thump layer I added after referencing some glass shattering I liked in the Movie John Wick. In the opening house gun fight scene John Wick throws someone through the window. You hear a nice explosive impact along with the glass layers. 8/23
After that a very nice subtle glass debris rolled on the ground. This extra layer of detail gave not only the feeling of breaking glass, but the consequences that there is now glass all over the ground. 9/23
This was great storytelling that I felt we needed. You as the player are choosing to break the glass. Breaking glass has its consequences. An enemy could hear it and be alerted as well as when you walk on glass you make more noise and can be discovered much easier). 10/23
To add to this realistic consequence of breaking glass. Our amazing Senior Sound Designer @neiluchitel was able to create the sound of walking on the glass after being shattered on the floor. This was a huge ad that gave us an even stronger depth of detail. 11/23
Neil had different sounds for different sizes of glass. From a large pane to a smaller piece to the small shattering left on the ground. You get a very nice crunch as you walk over it, and it is so satisfying. 12/23
Physics were next. When you break a pane of glass not all of the glass will always break off. Some are still “left behind” (pun intended 😉 ) This means as you jump through the window (after breaking it) you will break more pieces off making more noise. 13/23
You will kick pieces on the ground which will also make noise to give away your position. These elements were split into 2 different sounds. “Piece breaks” and “Physic -Impact” sounds. 14/23
I had to make a ton of small glass pieces breaking off from each other. I ended up using very thin glass pane breaks. And added more electricity I had that felt as if you were ripping the glass apart. 15/23
The glass would then fall and hit the window sill, the floor, your body, etc. Glass will make an impact sound during these events based on the velocity of the impact. 16/23
After all of the designing and building the system is when I went to one of our brilliant programmers Jaroslav Sinecky. Jaros helped give me options that would help allow for the glass to keep its same feel and sound while still being super efficient. This process took time.17/23
We were able to come up with some really great systems to put in place to achieve this goal. This is a large reason we were able to get so detailed. 18/23
Car windows. The pane sound was eliminated and a larger explosive burst was added. This gives a great feeling when an enemy shoots a window out near you. It feels as if the window explodes right on top of you. Setting in the fear that you are pinned down. 19/23
I also added some debris scattering in the car and on the seats as well to give a more realistic feel of safety glass shattering. 20/23
In conclusion I am very happy with how the glass came out and I feel very grateful to have worked on this section of the game. Sonic consequences in this game were very important to us as an audio team. 21/23
This world can be so quiet the smallest sound could set off a group of infected or a group of Militia to come after you and ruin your stealth. To have the glass not only sound/feel correct but to add to the gameplay experience was the goal we set out to achieve. 22/23
Thanks again to @robkrekel, @neiluchitel, Jaroslav Sinecky and the rest of the audio team @Naughty_Dog for being supportive through the development of this game. It cannot be done without a team as passionate and dedicated as the one have. #TheLastofUsPartII 23/23
