Thread by @Kablooski1

bit overdue but here's a thread of the most common mistakes I saw while going through #gameaudio entry level #sounddesign reels you guys sent a while
back. Its just my personal take but hopefully some will find this useful...

Audio vets chime in too!!

1. Dead space - a lot of reels contained slow or eventless moments. Replace slow moments for more action and chances to show off your skills. You can show
ambience design, but make it tastefully short

2. Repeat Plays - many segments contained SD (sound design) shown multiple times (repeated creature attack or gunshot). If you want to show any variations, two will be good enough with tasty variation.
I can rewind the reel when I hear something awesome.

3. Some SD I heard was too short, like explos and melee hits. Most sound should have a tail. Add details to everything you make. a crunchy rustle on grass footstep, a squelch
when an orc is stabbed, heavy leathery case tumble after a bodyfall hit. Let sounds breathe.

4. A big one - REDESIGNS ARE OK - you are applying for your first or second gig, how are you supposed to have enough original material? The next few tweets will be on this topic. The key point is you can pull off any
source material you want as long as your video editing is TIGHT

4.a) Post production segments tend to not have much going on unless its an action sequence. By all means do both movie/game redo reels just keep them separate. Avoid showcasing JUST ambience or foley. I look for someone who can design anything, I want the full range
throughout.

4.b) GOOD PACING - dont do tweet 1. Segments need to be action packed and flow. Do COOL stuff with transitions. Make a gunshot cut to a hammer blow on a medieval battle. A body fall to a creature wing flap.
Remove frames here and there to make a sequence rhythmic and tighter.

4.c) Try to keep vid source as up to date as pos. Dated graphics not only cant fully represent your sound but many people subconsciously 'age' their SD to match the visuals. I want to hear awesome audio, the video should be up to scratch. It will help keep you
inspired.

4.d) To help with flow try and stick to action packed cutscenes or trailers. They will have the most opportunities to showcase your skills and also make fun transitions easier to edit. Gameplay can be used but be careful not to do tweet 2.

4.e) I stand by this one...DO NOT LISTEN TO THE ORIGINAL SOURCE. Obviously dont avoid the audio like Dorian Gray but delete the source audio track when you work. make YOUR sounds. However DO check out similar sources...
Inspiration is better than copying.

5. Websites - Some of you said you never get job apps replies and that partly was because we dont know which vid to look at. Make your reel hot as possible and make it the very first thing I see. Its your skills quickcard. I wont have the time to go through everything.

6. Implementation vids should be separate from the reel. Implementation is an expected trait. If your sound wows people then you can nerd out about how to make them work in game in the interview! Definitely
make a blog page of implementation vids if you want.

7. Like the reverse of tweet 3, Many chances for cool Pre sounds were missed. Pres add weight to moments like a comet/missile strike, weapon swing, magical charge up, flybys. Anything thats incoming, make it sound incoming and you
will add so much more movement to your sound.

8. UI Segments - these are risky. The segment must be the COOLEST visuals in order for you to make the COOLEST sounds. Dont include boring navigation/selection visuals...you will make boring sounds for them.

9. BIG TECHNIQUE: Point-Focus. Watch your reel and make a note of everything your eyes fall on. No sound? Give it a sound. Dont force your eyes to look at everything.
covering every important moment will make the picture feel complete. This will make your life easier mixing too

10. Dont put music in the reel. If you want a composer gig then have a dedicated reel for music. Music takes up space in the frequency spectrum, I want to hear every detail. Keep the sound and vid entertaining and the lack of music won't matter.

11. Set yourself a bar - make that bar HIGH. Look up who did sound for your fav game or trailer and study the sound, replicate then discover your own. ASK. Most #gameaudio peeps love to nerd out/help. Keep going until you're near that bar and you'll have a strong chance for sure

12. Last one for now. Dont stop designing. You will improve every time you do it. I've been doing this for 11 years and I cringe at sounds I made a year ago because I learned stuff that would improve them. some of you have already sent me iterations and the improvements were huge

I lied...one more

13. If you have a LOUD PUNCHY splash logo jingle, maybe try a decent length pre sound/whoosh like a volume warning

one of you didn't, my cans were loud. I nearly shat meself.