IMD20503 Digital Audio and Video

Basic of Sound
How sound works Analog and digital sound technology Sound design

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How sound works

Importance of sound

Sound is essential in communicating knowledge. Sound greatly enhances images and, especially, video or animation. Sound can manipulate the mood of spectators with background music and sound effects. Sound can provide continuity to jumpy frame cuts, but audiences react gingerly to out-of synch dialog and misplaced sound effects. Enhanced MM in the form of voice-overs, narrations and instructions.

How sound works

What is sound?

Sound is basically a vibration. (analog) Sound is a force:emotional, perceptual, physical. It can excite feeling and convey meaning Sound is omnidirectional everywhere. When something makes a sound, it vibrates and emits pressure waves that are received in the human ear. The brain interprets these as sound.

How sound works

Waveform / Sound wave

A waveform or sound wave gives us a measurement of the speed of the air particles and the distance, which they travel for a given sound. Period is the distance between two crests, and measured in seconds. A number of crests (peaks) may occur within a second, so the number of peaks that occur in one second is called the frequency.

How sound works

Noise

Unwanted sound in a recording. Always avoid noise because it makes it harder to hear the message that you want to deliver. Examples: Vehicles (planes, trains and automobiles) Nature (wind, rain, dogs, birds and cats) Machines (computer fans, phones) Electrical (fluorescent light, refrigerator, electrical circuits) Recording errors (cheap microphones, unbalanced audio signals, analog to digital conversion inside the computer)

How sound works

Components of waveform

Acronym : WAVE PFH Wavelength Amplitude Velocity Envelope Phasing Frequency Harmonics

How sound works

Wavelength/ Cycle
Describes a single repeated sequence of pressure changes from zero pressure to high pressure to low pressure and back to zero. Literally, the length of the wave. The length of a wave is measured from one point on the waveform to the exact point of the next repeating cycle. The physical distance through a medium such as atmosphere, that a soundwave travels to complete cycle.

How sound works

Wavelength/ Cycle

A = wavelength
90O

B = degree of phase
180O
360O

270O

How sound works

Amplitude

The amplitude measures the relative loudness of the sound, which is the distance between a valley and a crest. The amplitude determines the sounds volume. High amplitude waveforms are loud and low amplitude waveforms are quiet. The volume of sound or amplitude is measured in decibels (dB). A decibel is the smallest change in loudness that a human ear can detect. Human hearing ranges from 1 decibel, called the threshold of hearing, to over 120 decibels, the threshold of pain.

How sound works

Amplitude

How sound works

Velocity

Speed through the atmosphere. The speed or velocity in air and other gases depends on temperature. Speed of sound increase in warm, moist air and decrease in cold, dry air. Sounds at high amplitude might go father but travel slower which is the opposite for lower amplitude.

How sound works

Envelope
Refers to an imaginary curve that wraps the entire waveform, generated by musical instruments All sound posses a characteristic change in amplitude or loudness as time increases. The features included in an envelope are attack, decay, sustain and release(ADSR).
i. Attack The sudden increase of amplitude to full sound intensity. ii. Decay occurs just after the attack, is a slight decrease in amplitude. iii. Sustain the main part of a note, when it plays for its longest duration or the sound is held. iv. Release which the amplitude fades out (when lifting a finger from a key).

How sound works

Envelope
Attack Decay Sustain Release

A m p li t u d e Duration

How sound works

Phasing

Think of phase as the information our ears use to tell from where a sound originated, because sound arrives at our ears at slightly different times. measured in degrees (0-360), indicates the position of a waveform in a cycle. 0o is the start point, 90o at high pressure, 180o at halfway point, 270o at low pressure and 360o is the end point Types of phase : In phase Out of phase

How sound works

Phase

If the crest and valley are perfectly in phase, they reinforce each other resulting in a waveform, that has higher amplitude than either individual waveform.

How sound works

Phase

If the crest and valley of two waveforms are perfectly out of phase, they cancel each other resulting in no waveform at all.

How sound works

Phase
Sound waves which have varying phase relationships produce a more complex waveform. A complex waveform that represents music, voice, noise and other sounds.

How sound works

Frequency and Pitch
Frequency is the number of cycles that a vibration completes in one second. Measured in hertz (hz) for example a 1000 hz waveforms is 1000 cycles per second. As an object oscillates more rapidly, it creates a high pitch sound, which is registered as a high frequency sound. The higher the frequency, the higher the pitch. A low-frequency sound is produced by a slowly vibrating object, such as the thicker strings on a guitar. Pitch is measured by frequency. Pitch is the relative tonal highness or lowness of a sound. The human ear can perceive a range of frequencies from 20 Hz (Hertz) to 20,000 Hz (Also expressed as 20 KHz).

How sound works

Frequency and Pitch
Comparison of frequency range

Name
Human Cat

Low frequency
20 Hz 45 Hz

High frequency
20,000 Hz 85,000 Hz

Dog
Elephant Bat Dolphin

50 Hz
5 Hz 10,000 Hz 1,000 Hz

45, 000 Hz
10,000 Hz 120,000 Hz 120,000 Hz

How sound works

Others

Few objects produce sounds at a single frequency. Most musical instruments generate multiple frequencies for every note, so that the difference between two same-pitch instruments can be noted, e.g. a violin and a flute or a piano and a bass. The combinations of frequencies in an instrument is known as the timbre. A sound wave has a main frequency and minor frequencies, referred as overtones or harmonics. Duration measures frequency, amplitude and timbre over time. Fourier Theorem A sound wave is a combination of sinus waves created during vibration.

How sound works

Complex sound wave
Minor frequency

Major frequency

A complex sound wave showing a main frequency and minor overtones.

Analog and Digital Sound

History

Evolution from analog to digital technology. The analog century begins with a nursery rhyme.

Analog and Digital Sound

In analog and digital audio, sound is transmitted and stored in very different ways. Analog audio using positive and negative voltage Digital audio using zeros (0) and ones (1)

Analog and Digital Sound

Analog sound

Analog means the same as or similar to. Root words analogous and analogy, both of which mean a similar copy. Analog signals are exact replicas of the original sound source. Noise exist in the recording ( not the sound source but part of the analog recording). Analog media : Audio cassette LP record Reel-to-reel tape Broadcast television

Analog and Digital Sound

Analog sound analog media

Audio Cassette

LP record / Vinyl

Reel-to-reel tape

Analog and Digital Sound

Digital sound

Digital means numbered. Using number is often a more precise way of expressing information. The conversion of analog signals into a form that a computer can breakdown. Digital media : Compact Disc DAT MiniDisc

Analog and Digital Sound

Digital sound digital media

Compact Disc

Digital Audio Tape (DAT)

MiniDisc

Analog and Digital Sound

How digital recording works?

Audio becomes digital audio when it passes from an analog source, such as microphone or audio out of a keyboard to you PC.

Analog and Digital Sound

How digital recording works?

The recording process of a digital system takes samples of the analog signals as it enters the system. In order to get good digital recording, it has to have enough : Samples per second Bit depth to accurately reproduce the source material Audio CD quality uses 44,100hz, stereo and 16 bit samples per second.

Analog and Digital Sound

Sample rate

Sample rate indicates the number of digital samples taken of an audio signal each second. This rate determines the frequency range of an audio file. The higher the sample rate, the closer the shape of the digital waveform to the original analog waveform. Low sample rates limit the range of frequencies that can be recorded which can result in a poor recording. To reproduce a given frequency, the sample rate must be at least twice that frequency.

Analog and Digital Sound

Sample rate
Sample rate 11,025 Hz 22,050 Hz Quality level Poor AM radio (low end multimedia) New FM radio (high end multimedia) Frequency range 0 5,512 Hz 0 11,025 Hz

32,000 Hz
44,100 Hz 48,000 Hz

Better than FM radio (standard 0 16,000 Hz broadcast rate)

CD Standard DVD 0 22,050 Hz 0 24,000 Hz

96,000 Hz

High-end DVD

0 48,000 Hz

Analog and Digital Sound

Bit depth

Bit depth determines dynamic range. When a sound wave is sampled, each sample is assigned the amplitude value closest to the original waves amplitude. Higher bit depth provides more possible amplitude values, producing greater dynamic range.

Analog and Digital Sound

Bit depth

Bit depth 8 bit 16 bit

Quality level Telephony CD

Amplitude values Dynamic range 256 65,536 48 dB 96 dB

24 bit
32 bit

DVD
Best

16,777,216
4,294,967,296

144 dB
192 dB

Analog and Digital Sound

Analog vs digital

Which is better? There are differences between analog and digital but neither is better or worse than the other. They are simply different. But now our focus is on digital audio because : We will use digital audio most of the time through software and hardware to create, record and process the sound work. The start up expenses are relatively low compared with purchasing analog gear. Analog systems (recording and editing) are becoming obsolete.

Analog and Digital Sound

Analog vs digital

Today, every sound designer works in the digital arena. Many professional music recordings in the studio are recorded on tape. Usually this recording is digitized, processes and edited in a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) and then sent back to tape or storage medium like a hard drive. Both the analog and digital processes are at work but this is changing.

Sound Design

What is sound design?

What is sound design? How important it is to a visual and nonvisual experience? Where does it all begins? Sound design is a technical/conceptually creative field. Sound Design can also be defined as: "The manipulation of audio elements to achieve a desired effect." It covers all non-compositional elements of a film, a play, a music performance or recording, computer game software or any other multimedia project. A person who practices the art of sound design is known as a Sound Designer.

Sound Design

What is sound design?

Area that uses sound designer : 1. Theatre Use large mechanical devices to produce sound effects. Now, there are 2 roles of sound design in theatre : Technical Sound Design Design sound system Conceptual Sound Design Design what sound to be used to create mood and setting of the play. 2. Radio Use large mechanical devices then better technology allows sound effects to be recorded and library of sound was created.

Sound Design

What is sound design?

3. Film Originally the sound effects was recorded live as the film was being projected onto a large screen in a recording studio. Now, sound effects track is complied of many tracks layered together and mixed to form a dynamic soundtrack. Foley sound effects create sound effects in the studio by Foley artists. 4. Music Involved in the creation of the overall sound of a recording and sometimes live performance.

Sound Design

What is sound design?

Sound Design
Name R2D2

Sound effects design in Star Wars

Effects Half of the sound are electronic and the other half are vocalization, water pipes and whistles A machinists punch press along with the sounds of bicycle chains dropping on cement.

Imperial walkers

Light saber

An old tv set along with the hum of a 35mm projecter mixed together.
A hammer hitting the wires of a radio tower.

Laser blasts

Sound Design
Name Tiefighter Speeder bike

Sound effects design in Star Wars

Effects An elephants bellow altered in various way. A P-5 Mustang airplane and a P-38 Lockheed Interceptor combined and mixed.

Luke Skywalkers The sound of Los Angeles Harbor Freeway through a vacuum landspeeder cleaner pipe. Chewbacca Ewokese language The sounds of walruses and other animals combined together. The combination and layering Tibetan, Mongolian and Nepali languages.

Sound Design

Stages in sound design

1. Pre production Story, design document, proposal Spot for sound effects Defining sound effects and sources Sound blueprint and approval process Technical playback considerations 2. Production Sound asset collection
Inventing original sound Sound processing

3. Post production

Sound Design
Pre production

Story, design document, proposal The sound design process starts with a working concepts. Can be anything from a design document to the mood of the director or producer has in mind. Need to get a feel for what the message is going to be in the project. If it is a script, the text need to be reviewed for the sound conceptualization.

Sound Design
Pre production

Spot for sound effects Spotting for sound is simply gaining some ownership to the design document or screenplay. It is a process of literally writing down aural ideas as the reading occurs. The processes include: the first impression of the target sketch out rough sound map with the outcome expected from the project. Write down as many ideas as can fit on the page because it will save many hours of planning.

Sound Design
Pre production

Defining sound effects and sources Details on what the sound are and where they are to be found such as at sound libraries and live recording. Sound designer need to be familiar with sound libraries and recording techniques. There are also many online sites that have free downloadable sounds and fee-based sound for usage and collection not of high quality sound. A good tips is to start collecting sound your own sound library even if you do not need them in projects because we can use them in future works.

Sound Design
Pre production
www.soundrangers.com

Sound Design
Pre production
www.partnersinrhyme.com

Sound Design
Pre production

Sound blueprint and approval process Need to get approval for the work. Categorize the sound based on frequency ranges, types of sound used and any other characteristic that can be defined.

Sound Design
Pre production

Technical playback considerations When creating the initial plan for the sound design, consider : What the playback device will be? What platforms? If it is for the Internet, the bandwidth and the average playback system need to be decided. Compression formats In film, need to consider theater or cinema standards ie Dolby, THX, DTS

Sound Design
Production

Sound asset collection Start collecting the sound asset based on the preproduction stage. The sounds can be from sound libraries or source recordings. Sound object falls into two types: Single sound Mixed sounds

Sound Design
Production
Inventing original sound Originally recorded sounds are better, more fitting for the scenario and more original. 2 types of sound effects: Small subject sounds Glasses clinking, paper being crumpled, door squeaks, footsteps, cloth movement and human noises (sneezing, coughing). Recorded in a studio or by Foley artists. Big subject sounds Sounds that need to be recorded outside such as explosion, gunfire, crowds, cars, planes, trains and machinery.

Sound Design
Post Production
Sound processing Altering and enhancing sounds to fit the scenario. The final stage is mixing and mastering the sound objects. In film, the re-recording process integrates all of the elements together and mixes them into a composite soundtrack. Soundtrack consists of the dialogue track, music track and sound effects track. The three entities need to be properly mixed and placed in order to be effective. The soundtrack should support the visual content and storyline.

Summary
How sound works Definition Terms : WAVE PFH Analog and digital sound technology Analog vs digital Sound design Definition Stages in sound design; pre production, production and post production. \\10.36.1.174