NEWS
Sound Design Institute Received Wwise Teaching Certificate
The Institute became the first educational platform in the CIS countries with the Audiokinetic certificate
In December 2020, the Sound Design Institute became the first educational platform in Russia to receive the status of a Certified School of Audiokinetic (Wwise) and the only educational center that accepts 101 certification and prepares for 110.
Alex Dmitriev, curator of the Interactive Sound direction, became a certified teacher and specialist. Thus, it became possible to receive education in Russian and officially pass the knowledge certification of the Wwise program.
The need for this kind of education has appeared in large gaming companies that are market leaders, as more and more teams choose the Wwise sound engine as the most flexible, multifunctional and promising tool for scoring games. And specialists who know how to work with this program will be the most likely candidates when choosing specialists in the sound designer market.
Alex Dmitriev, curator of the Interactive Sound direction, became a certified teacher and specialist. Thus, it became possible to receive education in Russian and officially pass the knowledge certification of the Wwise program.
The need for this kind of education has appeared in large gaming companies that are market leaders, as more and more teams choose the Wwise sound engine as the most flexible, multifunctional and promising tool for scoring games. And specialists who know how to work with this program will be the most likely candidates when choosing specialists in the sound designer market.
Alex Dmitriev
Audio developer, sound designer and composer
Wwise optimizes time and allows
the sound design team to work on different parts of the game's voice acting in parallel.
Why you should choose Wwise
The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt, Cyberpunk 2077, Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond, Assassin's Creed: Valhalla, DiRT 5, Spider-Man: Miles Morales — they all use Wwise. Large development companies such as CD Projekt Red (The Witcher series, Cyberpunk 2077) need a reliable sound tool for their projects. Wwise does more than just bring complex creative and technological sound solutions to life. It optimizes time and allows the sound design team to work on different parts of the game's sound in parallel. On large projects with sound, a team of more than 10 people can work. The work includes the creation of atmospheres, sound design of interfaces, the integration of the voice of the characters and voice dubbing in different languages. Part of the team is working on music and musical accents. The whole project can't wait for one of the team to finish his part.
“Wwise is the best engine for complex tasks on the market today. It is the most used sound engine in the world. And with my help it is gradually becoming the most popular in circles of new coming students”, - says Alex, curator of the Institute of Sound Design. What follows is his account of working with Wwise.
— How did I come up with using Wwise? At some point, I just realized that the time resource for programmers-developers is very limited. And there is not enough time for all my ideas. Then I thought about finding a solution that makes life easier for programmers and empowers sound designers.
The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt, Cyberpunk 2077, Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond, Assassin's Creed: Valhalla, DiRT 5, Spider-Man: Miles Morales — they all use Wwise. Large development companies such as CD Projekt Red (The Witcher series, Cyberpunk 2077) need a reliable sound tool for their projects. Wwise does more than just bring complex creative and technological sound solutions to life. It optimizes time and allows the sound design team to work on different parts of the game's sound in parallel. On large projects with sound, a team of more than 10 people can work. The work includes the creation of atmospheres, sound design of interfaces, the integration of the voice of the characters and voice dubbing in different languages. Part of the team is working on music and musical accents. The whole project can't wait for one of the team to finish his part.
“Wwise is the best engine for complex tasks on the market today. It is the most used sound engine in the world. And with my help it is gradually becoming the most popular in circles of new coming students”, - says Alex, curator of the Institute of Sound Design. What follows is his account of working with Wwise.
— How did I come up with using Wwise? At some point, I just realized that the time resource for programmers-developers is very limited. And there is not enough time for all my ideas. Then I thought about finding a solution that makes life easier for programmers and empowers sound designers.
There is an opinion that Wwise is a very difficult tool to work with =)
Introducing Wwise
I began to study the documentation and all the videos that I could find on the Internet at that time. It was far back in 2007. At the beginning of the journey, it was not easy to convince the studio management to use Wwise. Then it was a very expensive decision. Therefore, I simply studied it optionally and waited for an opportunity to apply my knowledge.
Such an opportunity came after I met the Finnish composer and sound designer Ari Pulkkinen in 2010. When he invited me as a sound designer for Frozenbyte's Trine 2 project, where Wwise was already used.
Many people think that Wwise is a very difficult tool to work with. I think that, speaking about the complexity of mastering Wwise, it would be appropriate to draw parallels with writing music. There are composers who write simple melodies. And there are composers of Tchaikovsky's level. In Wwise, you can quickly learn to do simple things, and go to the top of the skill your whole life. Among other things, Wwise is constantly being improved, and new functionality appears, which means new opportunities.
Also due to the myth about the difficulty of working with Wwise, Audiokinetic passionately helps its users in learning it: there are video-tutorials , articles, and a forum. Additionally, guys also conduct courses and certifications on working with interactive music, optimization and integration with Unity.
I began to study the documentation and all the videos that I could find on the Internet at that time. It was far back in 2007. At the beginning of the journey, it was not easy to convince the studio management to use Wwise. Then it was a very expensive decision. Therefore, I simply studied it optionally and waited for an opportunity to apply my knowledge.
Such an opportunity came after I met the Finnish composer and sound designer Ari Pulkkinen in 2010. When he invited me as a sound designer for Frozenbyte's Trine 2 project, where Wwise was already used.
Many people think that Wwise is a very difficult tool to work with. I think that, speaking about the complexity of mastering Wwise, it would be appropriate to draw parallels with writing music. There are composers who write simple melodies. And there are composers of Tchaikovsky's level. In Wwise, you can quickly learn to do simple things, and go to the top of the skill your whole life. Among other things, Wwise is constantly being improved, and new functionality appears, which means new opportunities.
Also due to the myth about the difficulty of working with Wwise, Audiokinetic passionately helps its users in learning it: there are video-tutorials , articles, and a forum. Additionally, guys also conduct courses and certifications on working with interactive music, optimization and integration with Unity.
"Wwise certification is for those who want to be in demand in the game voiceover market."
Since Audiokinetic changed its pricing policy, more and more projects are using Wwise. That means that more specialists will be needed to work on these projects.
Certification is the best way to officially prove your knowledge. Therefore, I myself received a couple of certifications to be absolutely certain that I teach students everything right. Moreover, this is a weighty argument in your favor when considering your candidacy. Potential employers from all over the world pay attention to your background. A nice bonus is the addition of all those who have passed any certification to “credits” on the official website audiokinetic.com.
If you are wondering where to start, you can follow my path and start learning Wwise on your own. And then get certified to prove your knowledge. However, it is important to understand that it was a long and extended path in time, which took me more than 10 years.
Certification is the best way to officially prove your knowledge. Therefore, I myself received a couple of certifications to be absolutely certain that I teach students everything right. Moreover, this is a weighty argument in your favor when considering your candidacy. Potential employers from all over the world pay attention to your background. A nice bonus is the addition of all those who have passed any certification to “credits” on the official website audiokinetic.com.
If you are wondering where to start, you can follow my path and start learning Wwise on your own. And then get certified to prove your knowledge. However, it is important to understand that it was a long and extended path in time, which took me more than 10 years.
First day of study at the Sound Design Institute, October 2020
Features of study at the Institute
Students of my course in a year receive the knowledge that they take for several years in independent study. And not only knowledge of Wwise, but also sound design in general. We analyze practical approaches to layering in sound design, innovative methods in the creation of complex sounds and textures, and discuss the features of game music writing methods.
Practice is one of the most important features of my course. Students have the opportunity to work on the sound of a real game project. They are involved in the development of the game's sound from the very beginning and learn to make a work plan. Students face a variety of challenges and come up with ways to address them, which prepares them to work on professional projects. This also gives me the opportunity to transfer my knowledge based on concrete examples that my students have found. Therefore, students will have something to show in their portfolio as the first project and their knowledge base will be enriched. And in the column "experience" will already be +1.
The education program in the gaming direction not only allows you to get Wwise-101 certification. In addition to the main points, I talk about approaches to optimizing a project and using various Wwise plugins.
Students of my course in a year receive the knowledge that they take for several years in independent study. And not only knowledge of Wwise, but also sound design in general. We analyze practical approaches to layering in sound design, innovative methods in the creation of complex sounds and textures, and discuss the features of game music writing methods.
Practice is one of the most important features of my course. Students have the opportunity to work on the sound of a real game project. They are involved in the development of the game's sound from the very beginning and learn to make a work plan. Students face a variety of challenges and come up with ways to address them, which prepares them to work on professional projects. This also gives me the opportunity to transfer my knowledge based on concrete examples that my students have found. Therefore, students will have something to show in their portfolio as the first project and their knowledge base will be enriched. And in the column "experience" will already be +1.
The education program in the gaming direction not only allows you to get Wwise-101 certification. In addition to the main points, I talk about approaches to optimizing a project and using various Wwise plugins.
The long-awaited CD Projekt Red - Cyberpunk 2077 - has been made by a team of sound designers, composers and sound engineers for almost 10 years.
Future of Wwise
Wwise is moving quite dynamically, and recently, during our certification as a Wwise teacher, we (the group) had the opportunity to speak with Wwise co-founder Simon Ashby. We talked for about an hour. All the while, Simon has been talking about how Wwise is evolving. I remember that he promised in the near future a complete redesign of the program interface, which scares many people away. The interface will be completely redesigned and simplified. Plus, the guys are already thinking in the direction of generative audio, which is a fashionable trend in the world of IT and art.
Wwise is moving quite dynamically, and recently, during our certification as a Wwise teacher, we (the group) had the opportunity to speak with Wwise co-founder Simon Ashby. We talked for about an hour. All the while, Simon has been talking about how Wwise is evolving. I remember that he promised in the near future a complete redesign of the program interface, which scares many people away. The interface will be completely redesigned and simplified. Plus, the guys are already thinking in the direction of generative audio, which is a fashionable trend in the world of IT and art.
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