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Chapter 11 Animation Composition
Sound synchronization must occur with both voice and background
sounds. Synchronization is very important for a scene. If there is even a slight
delay, the player will likely notice the misalignment of the sound file. There are
two basic areas where sound synchronization must be addressed:
• character synchronization
• effects synchronization
Character Synchronization
There are many examples of where sound and character movement must be
synchronized. The most obvious synchronization of sound and character movement is
matching voice to lip movement, called lip syncing. The animation of the character’s
lips must match the words the character is speaking, as shown in Figure 11-19. Playing
a video game that has poor lip syncing is frustrating and causes a loss of immersion.
A character’s other movements also need to match the sounds in the game.
When a character walks, the sounds of the footsteps need to match when the feet
touch the ground in the animation. For machinery like a car, the sound of the wheels
chirping around a corner, squealing during a burnout, or screeching to a stop all have
to match the movement of the car. The animator often must make many adjustments
to the animation before it is in sync with the corresponding sound.
Green Gamer
Take empty ink or toner cartridges to a local office supply
and see if they will refill them. Recycling printer ink
cartridges instead of buying new ones is a way to save
money and help the environment.
Figure 11-19.
Goodheart-Willcox Publisher; model Autodesk
Lip syncing involves matching the character animation to the recorded sound.