Game Audio Institute (GAI) has announced the release of a new 8 week course on Audio for Virtual and Augmented Realities.
Composers, sound designers, producers and audio professionals will take a deep dive into the world of audio for VR and AR games and get comfortable with the unique workflow associated with sound for games and interactive environments.
As the fields of Virtual and Augmented Reality continue to grow rapidly, so do job opportunities for audio professionals. This course will greatly enhance audio skill sets and open new options for anyone interested in taking the next step in their game sound career. Over the past decade GAI has educated many hundreds of students, many of whom have gone onto jobs at top flight companies like, DISNEY, LUCAS, and RIOT among others.
The VR and AR Audio Concepts and Practice In Unity course will cover audio concepts within the rapidly changing game audio technology and give students ample opportunities to practice the craft. Instructor Scott Looney, who has taught at Ex’pression College, Cogswell College, Pyramind Training, UC SantaCruz, City College SF, and SF State University, says: “You’ll get hands on experience designing and implementing spatialized and non-spatialized audio and music for a VR game using Unity and Steam Audio.”
The course is limited to 10 students to ensure lots of personal attention to each attendee. Students will walk away from the course with a game that features their original soundscape and a thorough, up-to-date understanding of the industry.
Expected Learning Outcomes:
- Develop familiarity with concepts surrounding AR/VR.
- Review the latest developments in the field.
- Explore the development of spatialized audio.
- Work hands-on with GAI custom Game Lessons.
- Work in Unity with spatialized audio via Steam Audio.
- Implement regular and spatialized audio in a VR based Unity Game Lesson.
- Create a playable game for your resume and demo reel.
Steve Horowitz, co-founder of GAI, states:
“Our goal is to educate a new generation of game audio professionals who are able to understand and integrate their own designs into actual game levels. Imagine the power of this proposition. The audio director at a game or interactive media company is handed two demo reels, one showing off someone’s work inside a game in real time, the other a linear QuickTime or Youtube movie. Which demo do you think would better demonstrate that the prospective candidate understands game sound?”
Steve is teaching scoring for games at SF State University, and he is probably best known for his original soundtrack to the Academy Award-nominated film “Super Size Me.” He is also a noted expert in the field of sound for games, having worked on hundreds of titles, including a twenty year run at Nickelodeon Digital, where he has had the privilege of working on projects that garnered both Webby and Broadcast Design awards.
Priced $499 USD, the course will be offered online via ZOOM and Canvas LMS, May 31st-July 18th, 2022. The included game lesson, EagleDiveVR, will work without a VR device, but is also compatible with SteamVR capable headsets (VR headset is not required).
More information: Game Audio Institute
