This is something that I have been thinking about a lot lately and have been trying to do with my current project. Create a reference mix to be used through the production cycle on a video game.
Shaun Farley wrote a fantastic post on Dynamic Interference about Ideas for the Use of Loudness Metering in Game Audio that triggered this post. I highly recommend reading that article and his other recent post on loudness metering
I talked about calibrating monitors and a few general mixing ideas in my last two posts here and here. Go read those for a general understanding of level standards if you are new to all this.
So the idea I'm discussing here is creating a reference mix. This is something that I feel would cut down on extreme crunch time at the end of the production cycle, which seems to be inevitable for the audio team. The reference mix doesn't have to be anything crazy. During preproduction (if you get that luxury) create a few simple assets and mix them to the standard level you want to set through out the game. These assets could just be an ambience bed, simple dialogue (enough to get the feel of the mix across), mocked up weapon sounds (if you have weapons), simple UI sounds, and possibly some other common sounds (footsteps and other foley, collisions, explosions, etc.) Once all these assets are gathered do a simple implementation and create a scene. Then mix.
Once you have this mix set you'll have a nice template premix to base everything else off of. As you create real game assets you can level them to the premix. Then during post production it only takes a few quick passes to get the whole thing mixed correctly because you took the time to premix.
There are still, of course, a few issues that come into play here. One is not having the time to do this preproduction step. It's not uncommon for audio people to be brought on at the very end of the project. The other is when your higher ups come back to you at the end and say "turn up the volume." Which is another not-so-uncommon issue within the game audio world since we do not have any officially set standards. These are issues that have to be solved by us audio people getting the point across that audio is important to the project, and so is dynamic range.
I would love to hear what other ideas and comments people have on using a reference mix for game audio.
