How does Riot create their sound effects for abilities/etc?

FirePower247··1 votes·8,728 views

I'm not one of those people who know a lot about the process of making game things, so i was wondering how the sound effects are made. Do you start from scratch or get a base sound then modify it? Just a simple question.

18 Comments

RiotRiot Eno4 votes

Firstly, thank you so much for your interest in the sound design aspect of LoL!

The answer to this question could be insanely long, so I'll try to distill it down a bit.

Much the same way that concept artists, animators, VFX artists, etc at Rito approach any new piece of content that goes to players, it all starts with a WHOLE lot of love. We're gamers and we try to think like gamers.

Sound designers are afforded the awesome opportunity to be in on the ground floor of any new Champ or skin, and it all starts with group brainstorming around trying to define who and what we're trying to create. From a sound perspective, we treat sound design very much as an iterative process, trying new things, recording new things, putting things in game, realizing what works, what doesn't and building on that. We play-test quite frequently, trying to understand what might get annoying in any phase of the game, and trying to optimize for that.

That always involves recording original content that we can slice and dice to use as pieces/parts for the sonic palette that will eventually define who and what a Champ or Skin is. Sometimes, those single recordings alone are enough to sell the fantasy of that character, but more often than not, it requires layering those recordings with other bits we have that might not have made the cut on an earlier Champ or skin.

For something like Bard, he was such an unknown entity in the the League universe, and as such, his sounds were primarily constructed out of new content created specifically for him. For Champions that come from factions that are more established, some of their sounds might evolve out of earlier recordings created for a previously released Champ from the same faction, but might not have worked out for their kit and share similar tonal qualities that lend themselves to the new Champ. Those sounds get re-worked and sculpted alongside new recordings that are unique to that Champ.

Does that shed some light on it? I'd be happy to try and elaborate on any particular questions you might have. =)

  • EDITED FOR TYPOS
Colonel Lapoose2 votes

Was celery used for Sion's neck crack during his recall?

RiotRiot Eno1 votes

I defer to C3Sound on that one - C3, did you use any celery breaking for this???

RiotUtora1 votes

[{quoted}](name=Colonel Lapoose,realm=NA,application-id=aAJWt2b9,discussion-id=5fE6jdpL,comment-id=00000000,timestamp=2015-04-27T03:28:44.391+0000)

Was celery used for Sion's neck crack during his recall?

Just spoke with Sion's audio designer (C3Sound) and while he doesn't remember what he used it was not celery. However, snapping fibrous and thick vegetables are a great source for combat / bone breaking sounds are a very common element in sound design.

Laurgon1 votes

UTORA

SPEAKING OF SOUND

YOU OWE ME

YOU PROMISED :(

RITO PLS

RiotUtora2 votes

{quoted}

UTORA

SPEAKING OF SOUND

YOU OWE ME

YOU PROMISED :(

RITO PLS

Yeah man. Thanks for calling me out on that. I think about it all the time and how I haven't done it yet. It makes me sad because I can hear the finished product in my head and I think it's really cool. Then Bard came along and I got all caught up in the craziness that was designing his voice and sounds. I need to do one for Bard too! UGH!

You're awesome man. Thanks for remembering. I will deliver on it. I promise.

Laurgon1 votes

I know you guys are busy, it's okay. Getting some insight into Bard's sound design would be awesome as well, though. I'll be watching.

LittleBlast1 votes

How did you make zacs sound effects

RiotRiot Eno2 votes

Aww c'mon now....everyone knows that at this point!. xD

LittleBlast1 votes

Where can i find it then >.>

LittleBlast1 votes

Found it! My question is now who came up with that idea ;-;

FirePower2471 votes

Thank you for replying, i am sorry if i missed anything but is there a specific program you use to edit the sounds / get the sounds from or do you guys record the sound personally?

RiotRiot Eno1 votes

When it comes to recording new sounds, that usually either happens in the studio or out in the field.

For recording sounds in our studio, we use Pueblo and Avalon mic preamps and an assortment of different microphones from Neumann, Sennheiser, Earthworks, etc.

For recording sounds in the field, we use Sound Devices field recorders, Fostex and Zoom field recorders and an assortment of different microphones.

When it comes time to edit all of that material, our team uses a variety of different DAW software, all depending on the personal preference of the sound designer. Those programs include Pro Tools HD, Nuendo, and Reaper.

We also use a great program called Soundminer to catalog all of our recordings, and organize them into custom libraries that we can re-visit for future projects.

=)

SSLRranma1 votes

This might help. It's weird al making one of his albums. In there it shows the foley work they did to make the sound effects for "weasel stomping day".

http://www.vevo.com/watch/weird-al-yankovic/Behind-The-Scenes-Featurette-on-the-Making-of-Straight-Outta-Lynwood/USZM20800703

RiotUtora1 votes

{quoted}

This might help. It's weird al making one of his albums. In there it shows the foley work they did to make the sound effects for "weasel stomping day".

http://www.vevo.com/watch/weird-al-yankovic/Behind-The-Scenes-Featurette-on-the-Making-of-Straight-Outta-Lynwood/USZM20800703

whoa this video is awesome. thanks for sharing!

RiotRiot Eno1 votes

I freaking love Weird Al, and I've never seen this! Thanks!!!!!

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