Here is an e-rendering of my presentation based on my notes written before hand. It went pretty much as it is written:
" Hi, I'm Jonathon and my project is on developing adaptive music for video games "
"Why developing adaptive music? Well, I have experience in both the technical and artistic elements involved in developing audio for computer games. More notably, I have successfully implemented a basic adaptive music system for the recent Dare To Be Digital competition. This was based on mixing different layered tracks of a song in real-time depending on the main characters status."
"The issues surrounding this topic stem from a constant, growing demand placed on sound designers. This growing demand requires excellent, well established tools to give the content creator more freedom and control. Thus increasing their productivity."
"The aim of the project is to determine where current audio middle-ware has not advanced far enough to meet the demands of the content creator and, if possible, provide new alternatives and improvements. Audio is a cast discipline that contains many elements out with the scope of this project so the focus is purely on the music."
*recite research question*
"To address this question I intend to: Analyse existing audio tools, including applications not specific to video game audio. Determine what the sound designer/composer needs in such tools.
Develop an underlying framework that can support these requirements. Produce a suitable user interface to allow non-programmers to manipulate the framework effectively."
Any Questions? (there was another slide but didn't feel the need to upload the image)
...
Luckily the only major question asked was from my technical supervisor. Unfortunately I did not answer it as elegantly as I had hoped. The question was along the lines of "what do you mean by data-driven?". I cannot begin to replicate the ramblings of my original answer but for those who are interested here is a better thought out response.
"What do I mean by data-driven?"
"In essence the term data-driven is referring to how the framework is to be used. Once integrated into the game engine the framework will no longer require the use of a programmer to define functionality. All the rules and data will be gathered together by the sound designer/composer in the tool which will output information to control the framework. In other words, the "data" gathered in the tool is used to "drive" the framework."
So, to summarise, my project is about finding out as much as I can regarding current audio middle-ware that has some bearing on developing adaptive music. Once enough information has been gathered then it should be easy to ascertain where the game specific tools lack functionality found in the more mature audio applications. I will attempt to implement a few of these aspects in a simple tool of my own to show how they can make developing adaptive music easier.
"What do I mean by data-driven?"
"In essence the term data-driven is referring to how the framework is to be used. Once integrated into the game engine the framework will no longer require the use of a programmer to define functionality. All the rules and data will be gathered together by the sound designer/composer in the tool which will output information to control the framework. In other words, the "data" gathered in the tool is used to "drive" the framework."
So, to summarise, my project is about finding out as much as I can regarding current audio middle-ware that has some bearing on developing adaptive music. Once enough information has been gathered then it should be easy to ascertain where the game specific tools lack functionality found in the more mature audio applications. I will attempt to implement a few of these aspects in a simple tool of my own to show how they can make developing adaptive music easier.
