What are some tools and software that you use for sound design for animation?

Sound libraries are good for a lot of sounds that may be hard to record locally, but I find there's a lot more joy and fun in the work when I get to use my microphones. In the very least, they can be useful to prototype your sounds, and use as placeholders, though ultimately, creating your own personal sound library over time can be very rewarding and show you your own sound design style.

It's also important to use a sound library management software (soundminer, soundq etc) to get creative with your library. There are other tools too, like some plugins produced by krotos audio.

I try to use sounds from ready-made libraries as sound layers. It's very nice to create new, unique sounds rather than using ready-made sounds. I really love libraries Epic Stock Media and Boom Library. And of course it's very important to systematize your sound library. There are various platforms like Soundly for this. It speeds up your work a lot when you know where a particular sound is located.

Sound Libraries are a wonderful way to mock up designs and iterate quickly, but if you have the time and budget, creating custom sounds and soundscapes can elevate experiences in unique and memorable ways.

Your sound design is only as good as the source material you're using - often from a sound library. And your sound library is only as good as your ability to FIND and USE the RIGHT sounds, fast. Here are the top things to look for in a sound library: 1. High quality, human-tagged, UCS-optimized metadata 2. Diverse coverage across all categories with multiple variations 3. Recorded by reputable, elite sound artists 4. Curated and licensed by legitimate copyright owners.

When choosing which DAW to use in relation to sound design for animations, it's important to consider the video playback capabilities of the DAW. Frequently, you'll find yourself playing a recording of an animation, and in order to synchronize your audio properly, choosing one that can actually play video well is important. If you're doing video game sound design and syncing with animations, I would consider using Reaper, as it has a lot of flexibility in general, for ambisonic setups in particular, and comes pre-packaged with video playback capabilities. If you find yourself familiar with another DAW, you may just need to find the right plugin or codecs to run video in a DAW like Ableton Live.

Also consider which DAWs to use for which situation. Often times it's not a one size fits all solution. For example, when creating sounds that call for a lot of variation, batch processing these tasks can save time and money. The right DAW for your project is often times a combination of multiple DAWs, depending on the task.

Your choice of DAW is often not the most important thing. In fact, use any DAW you like, as long as you're comfortable and fluent with it. The DAW - like any tool in sound design - should act as an extension of your creativity. If you know how to wield it, you'll be able to achieve your desired result.

When I create sound design, I like to use different types of sound synthesis, especially granular and wavetable. Lately I've been loving using Tsugi tools. These are plugins that allow you to “draw” sound. In real life I can't draw, but in sound work my scribles help me create unique sound layers for future effect.

There are many great plugin and effects that are built into most DAWs. This a great place to start before spending time and money 3rd party plugins. For example, Ableton Live is geared toward creative exploration, where Pro Tools may be geared more towards linear based projects like musical arrangements. Personal preference is key to finding the plugins and effects that work for your specific sound design goals.

For a long time I had a Korg Kross synthesizer. At first glance, it is more intended for keyboard musicians for performances. But this synthesizer has huge potential for sound design. From any musical instrument you can create a unique, unlike anything else sound. You will never guess what musical instrument it was made from. I created these sounds directly on the synthesizer, without connecting it via MIDI, saved it to a flash drive and used it in my sound design.

Synths and samplers are a great way to add color and character to your sound design. Virtual synths are easiest to configure and usually have presets which can be a great place to start if you're looking for sonic inspiration.

In some cases, 95% of the audio you hear in a feature film is recorded in post production. With virtually zero production sound, it means HEAVY reliance on ADR and Foley, as well as sonic world-building with sound design. Partnering with talented Foley artists and ADR/dubbing mixers is key for these types of productions. This is especially true to animated content, as well as gaming where the story is non-linear and there's little to no live action.

I've found reference material can be great, but is no replacement for your own unique style. For instance, creating sounds for fictional items, you may not have a good 1:1 reference, but if a magic blast makes a good explosion, referencing explosion sounds can help you understand the fundamental characteristics of that sound more deeply, then when you make your original sound, it will sound both recognizable, and uniquely yours.

It's always a good idea to create and save templates in your DAW, especially if you have projects that are repetitive in nature. This is an invaluable way to save time and energy. It also gives you the ability to stay in a creative headspace, and not have to think about any of technical hurdles and repetitive tasks of creating a project from scratch for each design project.