Ethereality News & Weblog

July 21, 2007

Galactic Melee main menu music

Posted in: My Life, Music, Video Games, Latest Works, News, Writing — Rob @ 6:39 pm

NEWS:
Fresh out of the oven is the main menu music I just finished for Galactic Melee (a MMO space shooter I’m composing the score for). It was a struggle to get into the groove on this project, since a bit of hardware and software problems cropped up, but things are looking much better now. The main menu music combines a few different styles (orchestral strings, glitch, industrial, electronic, ethnic percussions), and its purpose is to get you into the mood for some MMO space combat action. For this track I used:

Cakewalk Sonar Producer Edition 6 (sequencing host)
EWQL Symphonic Orchestra Platinum, Edirol HQ Orchestral (orchestral strings)
Best Service Artist Drums (acoustic drums)
Quantum Leap Colossus (electronic drums, ethnic percussion, guitar)
Roland Groove Synth (bass drum)
Native Instruments Absynth 2 (synth pad, lead)
Korg Legacy Cell (synth pad)
Big-Tick Rhino 2 (rhythmic synth sequence)
rgc z3ta+ (rhythmic synth sequence)
Smart Electronix Augur (synth bass doubling cellos)
Ichiro Toda’s Synth 1 (synth lead)
Cakewalk TTS-1 (synth bell doubling synth leads)
Spectrasonics Trilogy (electric bass guitar)
dblue Glitch (glitch effects)
SonitusFX (compressor, EQ, multi-band compressor)
BBE Sonic Maximizer (drums processing)
Lexicon Pantheon (reverb on snare drum)
PSP Vintage Warmer (mastering)

The trickier parts of composing/arranging/mixing this track were:

1) The orchestral strings always require a lot of work to sound good–varying the volume expession so there’s crescendo and decrescendo at the beginning and end of notes, balancing the mix so no one section of the strings dominate (thus killing the harmonic support of the other sections), yet as a whole doesn’t sound too scattered and unfocused. EQ’ing to bring out certain frequencies so it doesn’t get burried in the mix (the lower spiccato cello notes always need a bit of boost in the high mid’s to give it more bite).

2) Experimenting with a lot of different synth sounds/layers to get the right tone for the synth melody.

3) Mixing the heavy guitar just right so it’s not too dominating, but still has enough weight to give enough impact.

4) Mixing/processing the various drum sounds just right to form a cohesive whole that sounds organic and groovy

5) Using the glitch effects just right so they don’t sound accidental, but works as part of the arrangement.

6) Filling in the bottom end with electric bass and synth bass, but making sure they support the general groove instead of causing distraction.

7) Make sure the various effects routing aren’t fighting each other and causing over-processing of certain sounds.

8) Scooping out the low frequencies on some instruments so they aren’t muddying things up, and boosting some instruments in the high mid’s to give them more punch.

9) Fading some instruments out during some parts so there isn’t overcrowding in the arrangement, and raising the volume of some instruments in some parts for more impact.

10) Mixing orchestral libraries can be problematic, as you need to match their sounds (recorded in different settings, processed differently, playing style is different…etc). I had to mix EWQLOR Platinum with Edirol HQ Orchestral (which had more bite or expressiveness in some articulations), and the two sounds quite different in just about every aspect (Edirol HQ OR is a lot more processed and uses digital reverb, while EWQLOR Platinum is recorded with natural concert hall acoustics).

I’m pretty happy with how it turned out, and I definitely learned some lessons while working on this track. The client really liked it, and the various people that’s heard it liked it in general, so I guess I did my job. Now I gotta finish the rest of the score. . ..

WEBLOG:
Elena is back, and life is so much better with her around. I feel sorry for couples that don’t get along, because they’re really missing out life’s greatest gift–a soulmate.

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I’ve read a few zombie novels lately, and the best one so far is Dying to Live by Kim Paffenroth. It takes a more literary approach and has a lot more substance than a typical genre fiction novel, which is rare. Not that all genre fiction is shallow, but there is definitely a huge difference between authors that simply spin yarns, and authors who actually have something profound to say while spinning yarns.

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I threw about 14 GB of music and videos from my collection onto my brother Dennis’s 30GB video iPod (he’s too lazy to rip his own CD collection or convert videos). This is my first experience spending a significant amount of time with an iPod, and I can definitely see what I missed out on when I decided to go with the competition years ago (Creative Nomad 3 Jukebox). The small size is certainly enticing, and the slick design a joy to look at. The ergonomics is a bit clunky, as you’d have to hit the center button a couple of times to be able to fast-forward on the navigation circle, and if you missed a click, you end up jacking up the volume to painful levels by accident. I would’ve much preferred a separate control for either the volume or fast-forwarding. It’s also kind of annoying the only way to travel in the layers of the UI structure is to go forward or back, instead of jumping to various directories as you please (The Nomad is much better in that respect). The iPod also does not allow you to customize your own EQ settings, and that is just unforgivable to me. Factory programmed EQ settings are almost never useful to me, as the people who programmed them can’t possibly know what headphones or speakers I’m using, and which frequencies need to be cut or boosted for it to sound right. I also couldn’t believe Apple didn’t include a recharger–only a USB connector. I’ve never been a fan of Apple, since their marketing strategies piss me off, they over hype their products to the point of false advertising, and there’s always some glaring hole missing in the feature set, ergonomics, or compatibility with everything else on the market. In the end, I felt like if I ever wanted to upgrade my Nomad 3 to something smaller/sleeker/with larger capacity, I’d probably pick something from Apple’s various competitors again.

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Some people move along in life, never stopping to ask themselves what it is they really want, and what it takes to be truly happy, while others are constantly searching for it. Some feel that happiness isn’t something we should feel entitled to, while others feel it’s something that can be pursued and attained, and there are also those who feel happiness is overrated–simply finding peace is enough. It’s really up to your own expectations and goals, and one man’s happiness might be another man’s nightmare.

The experts say that happiness comes from having control over your life, feeling fulfilled, challenged, and accomplished, although these things can mean drastically different things for different people. A person can be happy because he’s got an OK job that pays the bills and has enough time to play as many video games as he wants, and that is enough for him. Another person can feel happy because he’s been working hard and about to get that promotion to be an account director at some advertising company. Yet another person might be happy because he’s finally getting close to finding the cure for cancer after a lifetime of research. Whether our source of happiness comes from accomplishing something that’s considered noble, or simply mundane pleasures, it only matters that you know what you want, and that you are doing something about it instead of doing nothing and blaming everyone and everything else.

I’ll be thirty-five the end of this year (in December), and at this point in my life, I still don’t have it all figured out yet. This is something I talk about with Elena sometimes. She always points out that even if I do end up doing what I really want for a living (writing/directing feature films, or composing music), I might find out that it’s not quite what I had hoped for. Unseen issues that come with the job can turn the whole experience sour–lack of funding, demands on script changes by the studio, low box-office sales, creative differences, unable to secure desirable projects, forced to work in styles you don’t like, trashed by the critics, misunderstood by the audience…etc. But those are things all creative people face, and if one can’t accept that they come with the job, then maybe it’s better off doing something else. I know for me, the rewards are greater than the risks, but simply getting from here to there in itself is an uphill battle. I guess if you can put yourself in the right frame of mind to enjoy that uphill struggle, then you’re already ahead of the game when it comes to achieving happiness.

Comments (1)

June 9, 2007

Home Alone

Posted in: My Life, Art & CG, Film/TV/Animation, Site News, Latest Works, Dolls & Toys, Books — Rob @ 10:36 pm

NEWS:
Surf’s Up is out, so now I can show the work I did for Sony Pictures:

The reviews are on the average positive, scoring a 74% on rottentomatoes and 64% on metacritics. While doing one of my frequent browsing at Borders (for musician’s magazines like Computer Music, Future Music, Keyboard, Music Tech, Sound On Sound…etc), I saw a bunch of Surf’s Up books, and as I flipped through one of them, I saw some of pieces I did. I’m still debating whether to go see it in the theater or wait for the DVD.

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I also uploaded the coloring work I did on the Spoils for Tenacious Games:

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Wait, there’s more. Here’s a piece I did for Galactic Melee, the same game I’m scoring the music for:

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I painted a couple more BJD’s (Ball Jointed Dolls) a while back, and never got around to posting them, so here they are (the third one is the same Gretel head I posted a while back, but with a different wig):

WEBLOG:
Elena’s out of the country for over a month, so I’m home alone like a sad puppy. We really hate being apart, and this will be the longest we’ve been separated since we met six years ago. Other than the apartment feeling very empty without her, it’s also a pain in the ass to have to deal with household chores when I’m already working non-stop (full-time job and freelancing when I get home). She’s already been gone for a few weeks and there’s still about a month to go. It’s now at the point where we’re whining to each other on the phone. You can see why it’s so hard for us to relate to couples who can’t wait to get away from each other.

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We rarely go to the theater to watch movies anymore, and it’s mostly because 1)annoying teenagers that won’t shut up, and laugh out loud during moments that aren’t meant to be funny–especially emotional scenes that are particularly well written/directed/acted 2)damn cellphones 3)can’t pause to go to the bathroom or kitchen 4)movie tickets are ridiculously expensive, especially when considering how cheap DVD’s can sometimes be 5)we have a 50″ plasma TV at home.

So what kind of movie would get me into a theater? The kind that I suspect might knock off a film from my top 50 all-time favorites list. I’m a huge zombie fan and I loved 28 Days Later, so it made sense to spend the money on the sequel, although I knew it was a different director this time around. The film didn’t quite live up to my expectations, but it wasn’t a disaster either. The character development was a bit thin, and there were major missed opportunities the writer could’ve taken advantage of based on the premise (for example, the reuniting of the mom with the rest of the family). The snipers on the roof were probably the best thing about the film, and I have to wonder if that helicopter blades kill was ripped off from Max Brook’s World War Z (which is a great book, BTW).

Comments (9)

April 22, 2007

Game score project - Day 1

Posted in: My Life, Art & CG, Music, Film/TV/Animation, Video Games — Rob @ 9:32 pm

NEWS:
Today I officially started composing the score for the MMOG space shooter I mentioned before (essentially a direct descendant of the classic Subspace/Continnum). I just designed and painted a space girl character for the game too, and I should be able to show it as soon as the game site goes live.

I’ve managed to put in some time organizing the studio (been totally swamped with the new job and freelance work) this weekend. It’s still missing a few things (acoustic treatment, for one), but I’m at least able to get some work done in its current state:

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Spiderman 3 finally hit the screens, so now I can show the pieces I did for Sony Pictures:

I haven’t seen the film yet, and I’ll probably wait until the DVD is out.

Surf’s Up (also Sony Pictures) will be released in June, so still a few weeks until I can show those pieces.

Comments (0)

March 11, 2007

Getting back on track

Posted in: Photography, My Life, Video Games, News — Rob @ 11:23 pm

News:
Just a quick update so that no one thinks I’ve died or something. It’s been extremely hectic lately–new job, new apartment, and basically, trying to organize my life back into some semblance of normality. I wanted to wait and do a proper update, with exciting photos and all that, but it’s one of those situations if I don’t find fifteen minutes to update now, I’ll just keep putting it off until I felt like my life was back on track–that can take weeks more than it already took.

So the short version is, I just accepted a job offer from a casual game company in the Bay Area, and am now their games art director. It’s going to be interesting working on games that don’t require long production periods or cutting-edge machines to play, and targets a whole different segment of the market as opposed to the typical male teen to adult audience. I personally believe the casual game space has not reached its real potential yet–too many people are still thinking inside the box of what casual games can be. It’ll be interesting to help contribute to the growth of casual games.

Weblog:
Elena and I finally found an apartment we liked. It’s located close to downtown San Mateo (Bay Area, California), about 1,000 square feet, with two bedrooms, living room, dining room, kitchen, and two baths. There are three Japanese styled sliding panes that separate the den from the living room, and that was one of the main reasons we picked the place–it would give me a lot of flexibility when I do studio photography at home. Basically, I get to remove an entire wall at will and open up the shooting space for more creative light and camera placement. Once we get settled, there will definitely be a stream of new photography coming, and I’m not talking about the casual shooting I’ve been doing so much of in the last year–it’ll be some pretty exciting studio photography.

Unpacking all of my crap from six years ago (when I packed up everything and put them in storage, and then went off to see the world, sort of) was a real shock. I knew I had a lot of crap, being a bit of a pack rat, but after two weeks of unpacking and still not finished, I must admit I have a problem. Admitting you have a problem is always the first step, right?

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The new job takes a bit getting used to. I’ve art directed before, both in games and in CG animation, but this is the first time I’ve been officially designated “senior management,” and have to attend more meetings than I think is normal. I’m probably the only guy in senior management who doesn’t have the title of VP, but because I oversee the art direction of all the games the company develops and publishes, I’m by default the head of a department, and that makes me senior management. When I was the creator/writer/director/art director at a CG animation studio, I was juggling a lot more responsibilities, including wearing the hat of the audio director, and even with all that going on, there were never so many meetings like now. I guess every company’s got it’s own culture. The meetings themselves are actually quite productive; no wheels are spun–everything is to the point, well planned, and efficiently executed. I’ve sort of walked into a burning building in a way though, since they haven’t had an art director for…ever, so I really had to go in there and rescue a lot of stuff that desperately needed an art director. It’s been pretty crazy, and I have a feeling it’ll only get worse before it gets better.

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February 10, 2007

Welcome to Black Mesa

Posted in: My Life, Art & CG, Film/TV/Animation, Video Games, News — Rob @ 9:17 pm

News:
I have just officially joined the Black Mesa team. I’m very excited to be involved, as Half-Life is one of my all-time favorite games, and it’s also the game that changed my life (turned me into a serious gamer, and established my love for FPS games). What the Black Mesa project is, is essentially fulfilling the promise that Half-Life: Source didn’t. All the Half-Life fans thought HL: Source was going to be a complete update of the original game, with all brand-new graphics, enhanced level designs..etc, just like Counter-Strike: Source, but it wasn’t–only the physics engine was updated to the Source engine, the rest remained exactly the same. So what the Black Mesa team is doing is trying to fulfill that promise, by doing a total remake of Half-Life as a Half-Life 2 MOD, with the Source engine, all brand-new graphics, updated level design and characters, new music, new voice acting..etc. So far, it’s won the best anticipated MOD of the year twice, and gotten some great media exposure. Even Valve has mentioned the game on Steam and said they’re looking forward to playing it just like everyone else. For those of you who are Half-Life fans, you can see why I’m all excited like a little school girl. I have always wanted to join a MOD team to work on something I’d really enjoy being a part of (I have never worked on a game I’d actually buy as a gamer in my entire game industry career so far), and I couldn’t have asked for more than working on the game that made me a gamer all those years ago.

Some screenshots from the Black Mesa MOD (look at the embedded comparison images from the original game–the improvement is startling–as it should be with today’s technology and overall raised bar for excellence across the industry/fandom):

Weblog:
Elena and I have been hunting for a new apartment, and after looking at a few places, we realized that we absolutely need a place that’s at least 850 square feet in order to not feel like we’re suffocating. The main problem is really me though, as I need space for my home recording studio. In the Bay Area, you’re looking at around $1,500 a month for a two-bedroom apartment of that size. This might sound ridiculous to those of you living in areas with cheaper housing, but that’s just how things are here.

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While waiting for our food at a pizza joint the other day, we saw some infomercial about natural cures for health problems that sounded too good to be true (don’t they all?), and out of curiosity, I did a bit of googling. I didn’t have to look far, since the charismatic con-man by the name of Kevin Trudeau is all over the internet, and most of it is about his criminal history as an unscrupulous fraud. This article from The Salon is a good read to find out more about this piece of shit who should be locked up.

I personally have an intense hatred for people like Kevin Trudeau–people who are certainly very intelligent and charismatic, but use those qualities for fraud, selfish greed, and exhibit an obvious contempt for all that is true and just in this world. These opportunists without scruples are exactly the kind of people that I’ve seen too many of while living in China–they have turned China into a festering cesspool filled with corruption, greed, lies, and disrespect for human life.

The older I get, the less faith I have in those with power. If I really want to see the ugly stains on humanity, I only have to look to our own government, corporations, and in some cases, organized religions. It’s truly a wonder how we, as a species, can even last as long as we did, when so many at the top of the food chain are exactly the same type of people like Kevin Trudeau. How did we ever allow someone like Bush Jr. to con his way into the White House? When will we have another leader that can instill a sense of hope, idealism, and faith in the goodness of mankind? We desperately need a leader that can inspire the goodness in us–someone much like Bobby and John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr, Mahatma Gandhi, or Nelson Mandela.

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A couple of quickie film reviews:

Marie Antoinette - I respect Sophia Coppola’s creative decisions, but I feel her choice of material was a letdown. If she had applied the same creative decisions to a different historical figure, the result would’ve been far more meaningful. With Marie Antoinette, I don’t feel that as a person, there is anything about her that’s worth a whole film to show in a different light–even in the way she was flawed is very mundane. Maybe the contrast between her mundane existence and her extravagant environment was part of the message, but it does make for a very boring message.

The Prestige - I liked this better than The Illusionist, although I really disliked Christian Bale’s character. The plot twists in this film weren’t nearly as predictable as in The Illusionist, and the performances were in general stronger (although I can’t say I’ve ever warmed up to Scarlett Johansson’s acting. She was appropriate in Lost In Translation, that was it). Seeing David Bowie was a real treat, as I think the last film I ever saw him in was Labyrinth.

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Finally finished playing Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, and I’m glad I didn’t give up on it as I almost did about a third into the game. Although the writing never got much better (you could totally see the plot twist right in the first chapter of the game!), it does have a lot of fun moments of gameplay. I’ve always wanted to play a good fantasy based FPS, and now I have. The melee combat was fairly satisfying, although I wanted more of a fighting game type of combos and upper/lower attacks. I mean, what kind of melee combat doesn’t allow you to sweep the feet of your opponent or kick him in the knee? What about grappling? Maybe one day a developer will finally make the ultimate FPS fantasy game, with sophisticated fighting like that of the fighting genre, the immersive perspective of a FPS, and the inventory/storytelling of RPG’s and adventure games. A boy could always dream, right?

I’m getting really excited about Mass Effect. Bioware is a company I trust (although I could never get into Neverwinter Nights), and what they’ve shown to the public so far is nothing short of stunning. If there’s a compelling portrait of next-generation gaming, that is it. Other titles I’m looking forward to off the top of my head are Alan Wake, Stalker, Dark Sector, Unreal Tournament 3, and Bioshock.