When it comes to sound design for 3D animations, DSP Motion and DSP Action are crushing it. Literally! In this post, we show how by drawing in the two tools we were able to design the sounds of these barrels being crushed by a hydraulic press in mere minutes.
Hydraulic Press
We started by designing the sound of the press. Thanks to the video playback feature, synchronizing our drawing to its motion was straightforward.
- First, we used the Start/Stop Machine patch of DSP Action to create an engine/motor sound. Since it is slow and steady, we drew upward for 500ms on the center of the Sketch Pad then stayed at the same position until the end of the movement.
- We then switched to DSP Motion, and used the Scale Metal patch to add a rusty layer to the sound. Following the movement of the press, we started drawing from the top to the bottom, and then in the opposite direction when the press returns to its initial position.
Tip: After drawing, the curve can be moved around on the Sketch Pad using Ctrl + drag, or rotated using Shift + drag. This is useful when you want to make fine adjustments to the sound while keeping the same motion.
Crushed Barrels
The sound of the barrels being crushed by the hydraulic press is also produced by layering several patches:
- The Merge Metal patch in DSP Motion triggers a big metallic impact when the mouse crosses its center. It was ideal to create the sound of the press hitting the top of the barrels. We quickly drew several sounds on the Sketch Pad and kept two variations – one for each barrel – with the Snap function.
- Switching to DSP Action, the Break Crash patch was used to create a convincing rattling sound by quickly triggering all the metal layers.
- To make the crushing sounds even louder, we also used the Transform Metal patch with the Friction parameter set to 0.
- Finally, to add some squeakiness to the sound, the Rotate Rubber patch from DSP Motion was put to contribution.
Oil Leak
The sound of the oil leaking from the barrels consists of three layers, all generated in DSP Motion:
- For the main fluid movement, we used the Move Organic patch which allowed us to easily follow the motion of the leakage. The level of the Creaking Bones component was slightly lowered, with higher rate and Liquid Density values.
- We also used the Appear Organic patch with its Type set to Splash in order to generate some squishy droplets when the oil reaches the ground.
- Finally, to glue everything together, we used the Rotate Water patch, focusing mostly on its Swirl and Flow components.
With their new synchronized video playback, DSP Motion and DSP Action make it easy to create sounds that perfectly match your animations, simply by drawing. By combining the two tools, it becomes possible to handle a wider range of projects. Discover what you can achieve by checking out our other sound design blogs!
