Occasional posts on subjects including field recording, London history and literature, other websites worth looking at, articles in the press, and news of sound-related events.
BAD NEWS FOR foley artists in this New Scientist article on advances in computer synthesis of real-world sounds.
For a few years now, even mid-priced animation packages have come bundled with physics modules to simulate collisions, fluid dynamics, wobbling jelly-like objects and rag-doll kinematics. But, according to the article, the sounds that would result from them can now be rendered as well:
Here’s an accompaying video:
It’s hard to imagine a whole street full of sounds being conjured up by software alone. Then again, compare the state of computer animation in a 1992 film like The Lawnmower Man with the CGI sequences routinely churned out today. (Thanks to Nick Hamilton of Lost Steps for the heads-up.)
The balloonist in the desert is dreaming
The Binaural Diaries of Ollie Hall
The Ragged Society of Antiquarian Ramblers
Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology
World Forum for Acoustic Ecology