Introduction

Welcome to "The Universal Language of Monsters." Today we talk about monsters. I'm Todd, I'm a senior sound designer. I work on Diablo at Blizzard. Diablo IV is our first open world game, and we've been working on it since the nineties. Our audio team is spread across three separate continents. On the right-hand side is Michael Plothouse from the UK, and on the left-hand side is Heinzau and Nettie's audio team — this is one of the hardest-working, best sound design groups I've ever worked with. It's a real honor to represent them here today.

欢迎来到"怪物的通用语言"。今天我们聊怪物。我是Todd，暴雪娱乐的高级音效设计师，我做的是《暗黑破坏神》。《暗黑破坏神IV》是我们的第一款开放世界游戏，我们从九十年代就开始做这个系列了。我们的音频团队分布在三个不同的大洲。右手边是来自英国的Michael Plothouse，左手边是Heinzau和Nettie的音频团队——这是我共事过的最勤奋、最出色的音效设计团队之一。今天能代表他们站在这里，是我真正的荣幸。

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I have two goals for today — they're not complicated, pretty straightforward. The first is for everyone here to come away with a complete understanding of what a creature exertion pipeline is, from beginning to end. The second is to look at every part of that pipeline and go over the creative tools and techniques used to create expressive monster vocalizations.

我今天有两个目标——不复杂，很直接。第一个是让在座的每位都对怪物发声制作流程有完整的了解，从头到尾。第二个是审视那条流程的每一个环节，讲解用于创作富有表现力的怪物发声的创意工具和技术。

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关键术语 · Key Terms

Before we get into this, let's cover a couple of key terms for clarity, because these terms are sometimes different at different studios. The first term is "voiceover" — voiceover is any kind of spoken dialogue that needs to be translated. We are not going to be talking about that today.

在我们开始之前，先澄清几个关键术语，因为这些术语在不同工作室有时叫法不同。第一个词是"配音"（voiceover）——配音是指任何需要翻译的口语对话。我们今天不讨论这个。

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We are going to be talking about exertions. Exertions are sometimes called effort sounds or grunts, depending on the studio you're at. They are non-linguistic vocalizations for jumping, swinging, taking damage, dying — anything like that. And then finally, creature sessions: a creature session is the recording time for a voice actor to do monster sounds where there's no dialogue — it's all exertions.

我们要讲的是"发力音"（exertions）。发力音有时被称为effort sounds（用力音）或grunts（咕哝声），取决于你所在的工作室。它们是非语言性的发声，用于跳跃、挥击、承伤、死亡之类的动作。最后是"生物录音环节"（creature sessions）：这是为配音演员专门录制怪物声音的时间段，没有对话，全部都是发力音。

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四个阶段概述 · Four-Stage Overview

Let's talk about how we're going to break down this talk today. We have four sections. The first is pre-production: pre-production is all about answering the question "what should this voice sound like for the monster?" — and that ends with us putting together a special recording script to bring to the studio so we can record the monster sounds. Second is recording, where we go to a studio, record with the voice actor, and get our monster sounds. Third is processing: we take all of that awesome material we've recorded at the studio, pull it into Reaper, layer it, and talk about processing and building the actual monster contractions. And then finally implementation: we take all of that, put it into Wwise, and test the monster — and by that point, we will have a finished monster we all worked on together.

今天的分享分为四个部分。第一是前期制作：前期制作完全是在回答"这个怪物的声音应该是什么样子"这个问题——最终我们会整理出一份特殊的录音脚本，带去录音棚录制怪物声音。第二是录音，我们去录音棚，与配音演员合作，录制怪物声音。第三是处理：我们将录音棚录下的所有精彩素材导入Reaper，进行分层，讨论处理和构建实际怪物发声的方法。最后是实装：我们把所有东西放进Wwise，测试怪物——到那时，我们就拥有了一个完整的怪物，是我们共同完成的。

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一、前期制作 · Pre-Production

信息收集 · Gathering Information

So we're going to begin at the amazing Blizzard campus in Irvine, California, working on our first monster. Pre-production is all about gathering information — about answering the question "what should our monster sound like?" There are three great sources of information for this.

我们将从美丽的加州尔湾暴雪园区开始，着手处理我们的第一个怪物。前期制作完全是关于收集信息——回答"我们的怪物应该是什么声音"这个问题。为此有三个很好的信息来源。

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First is concept art. Concept art is great because it's incredibly valuable early on in production, and it's also so visually inspiring. It's an amazing place to start as a sound designer — to look at the art and get ideas.

第一是概念艺术图。概念图非常好，因为它在制作早期就具有极大的参考价值，而且视觉上极具感染力。作为音效设计师，从这里出发、从艺术图中汲取创意，是一个绝妙的起点。

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Next is narrative design. Narrative design is all about the story — what's the backstory of the monster you're working on.

其次是叙事设计。叙事设计全是关于故事的——你正在制作的怪物有什么背景故事。

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Then there's game design. Game design is about the mechanics of the monster: what kind of skills it's going to use, what it's going to do during the level or the map.

然后是游戏设计。游戏设计关于怪物的机制：它会使用什么技能，它在关卡或地图中会做什么。

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认识我们的怪物：蟾蜍 · Meet Our Monster: The Toad

We're going to be working on one monster today for this entire session. This is the dramatic reveal — the Toad.

今天我们整个环节都在处理一个怪物。重磅揭晓——蟾蜍。

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So this is why I love concept art: it's such a powerful form. I notice all of you looking at this and you're already hearing what it sounds like, what kind of vocalizations it might make, what kind of phrases it might make. That's the power of concept art.

这就是我热爱概念图的原因：它是一种如此强大的形式。我注意到你们所有人看着它，已经开始在脑海中听到它的声音了——它可能发出什么样的叫声，什么样的音调。这就是概念图的力量。

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Looking at the concept: first I notice the mouth — talking sounds come from the mouth expanding and contracting, so the vocal tone is going to be driven by that huge cavity. Next is the tongue — this tongue is disgusting and long. It's always going to be getting in the way when this thing tries to vocalize, so it becomes a sonic reference. Then there are the teeth — teeth are everywhere. So I kept thinking: I want this to sound "teethy." What does "teethy" sound like? We'll figure that out in the studio, but I think it means gritting your teeth when you record — a sense of a lot getting in the way of the monster's voice. Then finally, the size — scale is massively important. In this case the toad is huge, so we're going to design the voice very differently than if this thing were the size of a pet rather than something towering over a person.

看着这个概念图：首先我注意到嘴——发声音来自口腔的张合，所以那个巨大的腔体将驱动整个声调。其次是舌头——这个舌头恶心而且很长，它总是会妨碍这个东西发声，成为一种声音参照。然后是牙齿——到处都是牙齿。所以我一直在想：我想要这个声音听起来很"齿感"。"齿感"是什么声音？我们会在录音棚里弄清楚，但我认为这意味着录音时要咬紧牙关——一种很多东西挡在怪物声音前面的感觉。最后是体型——比例非常重要。在这个案例中，蟾蜍是巨大的，所以我们设计声音的方式会与它只是宠物大小的情况截然不同。

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What I like to do at this point is make a list — just start putting down descriptive words. This is going to be really helpful later when we're writing the script. It's also good for the sound design of the monster overall.

这时我喜欢做的是列一个单子——开始写下描述性词汇。这在我们后来写脚本时会非常有帮助，对整体怪物音效设计也很有参考价值。

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叙事与游戏设计信息 · Narrative and Game Design Information

The backstory of our monster: the Toad is a bio-weapon made from horrifically transformed humans, very high-caliber lore. We wanted to have a hint of humanity in the voice actor's performance — and recording a human voice actor gives us that perfectly.

我们这个怪物的背景故事：蟾蜍是由被可怕地改造的人类制造的生化武器，世界观设定非常丰富。我们希望在配音演员的表演中留有一丝人性——录制真人配音演员恰好完美地实现了这一点。

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Now, game design is all about skills and mechanics — but we can also learn from it what to bring to the studio. In this case, the player would actually go inside the Toad and fight one of its organs. You're fighting inside the monster. I had the idea: what does it sound like if you heard the monster from within it? It's almost like when you cover your ears but you can hear your own heartbeat. So I brought a contact microphone and had the voice talent hold it against their throat while vocalizing. The results were just disgusting in the best possible way. This shows the importance of not just learning what the monster should sound like in pre-production, but also figuring out what to bring to the studio and what kind of equipment to use.

游戏设计是关于技能和机制的——但我们也可以从中了解到要带什么去录音棚。在这个案例中，玩家会实际进入蟾蜍体内，与它的某个器官搏斗。你是在怪物内部战斗的。我有了一个想法：如果你从内部听到怪物的声音会是什么感觉？有点像捂住耳朵时你听到自己的心跳。所以我带了一个接触式麦克风，让配音演员在发声时将它贴在喉咙上。结果从最好的意义上说简直令人作呕。这说明了前期制作的重要性——不仅仅是了解怪物应该是什么声音，还要弄清楚带什么去录音棚，使用什么设备。

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发力音脚本 · The Exertion Script

So we have a good idea of what our voice should sound like. Let's talk about the exertion script. This is not a complicated document — it's essentially a recording document to bring to the studio to record the exertions. Who writes it? The sound designer. This is a really cool part of the pipeline because it's truly interdisciplinary. I love the fact that as sound designers, we get to do creative writing. It's just a really fun part of this pipeline and one of my favorites.

我们对声音应该是什么样子有了一个好的概念。来聊聊发力音脚本。这不是一个复杂的文件——它本质上是一份带去录音棚录制发力音的录制文件。谁来写？音效设计师。这是流程中非常酷的一部分，因为它真的是跨学科的。我热爱这样一个事实：作为音效设计师，我们可以做创意写作。这是这条流程中真的很有趣的一部分，也是我最喜欢的环节之一。

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One thing to note as I go through this: try to pay attention from left to right — the level of detail increases from left to right. That's by design. Sometimes we give the script to the talent or the voice director just a couple of minutes before we start recording, and they have to very quickly scan through the document and figure out in what order to record things. So it's definitely intentional that it's organized that way.

我讲这个时，有一点需要注意：请留意从左到右——细节程度从左到右递增。这是有意设计的。有时候我们在开始录音前几分钟才把脚本给配音演员或导演，他们必须非常快速地扫描这份文件，弄清楚录制顺序。所以这样组织文件绝对是经过设计的。

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Let me quickly run through the columns. First is "Type" — a one-word description of what type of sound you're recording. So here: Slams, Croaks, Jumps. Next is "Description" — still short, just a little extra context added to Type. We want the eye to take things in quickly. Then "Sounds Like" — this is my favorite section. There are no rules here. All your inspiration, all the cool movies you saw, all the cool ideas you had — you put them here. To me this is the area where you create creative prompts for the talent to perform. I'll write something like "on impact, like a rotten pumpkin hitting the ground" — a voice can't literally do that, but who cares? It sounds cool. I want that conversation to happen in the studio. I want to see what creative interpretation the talent brings to these moments. I'm really mining their talent, getting a preview of what our studio experience is going to be like — because we're working with the best voice actors in the world. So I want to give every opportunity to showcase the amazing sounds they make. Then there are sound file references, and concept art references if you have them.

让我快速过一遍各列。首先是"类型"——一个词描述你正在录制的声音类型。比如：碰撞、蛙鸣、跳跃。其次是"描述"——仍然很短，只是在类型基础上增加一点额外的背景。我们希望眼睛能快速吸收信息。然后是"听起来像"——这是我最喜欢的部分，没有规则。你所有的灵感，你看过的所有酷电影，你有过的所有酷想法——都放在这里。对我来说，这是你为配音演员创建表演创意提示的区域。我会写类似"撞击时，像一个腐烂的南瓜砸到地上"这样的东西——声音从技术上做不到这个，但谁在乎呢？听起来很酷。我想在录音棚里发生那个对话，想看看配音演员对这些时刻带来什么样的创意诠释。我真正在挖掘他们的才能，提前感受我们录音棚体验的走向——因为我们与世界上最优秀的配音演员合作，所以我想给他们每一个展示惊人声音的机会。然后还有音效参考文件和概念图参考。

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One extra thing I do is create subcategories. In Diablo, a lot of times bosses will have different phases — the first phase it's one size, you kill it and it gets bigger, you kill it and it turns into something else. So I like to categorize those separately and record them together, because I want continuity — I want it all to feel like one creature across sections. It's another cool way of organizing the session.

我额外做的一件事是创建子类别。在《暗黑破坏神》中，很多时候Boss会有不同阶段——第一阶段是一个大小，你把它打死后它变更大，再打死又变成别的什么。所以我喜欢把它们分开归类，然后集中录制，因为我想要连贯性——我希望每个部分都感觉像是同一个生物。这也是组织录音环节的另一个好方法。

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脚本写作的注意事项 · Script Writing Tips

Remember: this script is a guide, not a roadmap. It's not a voiceover script — it's going to be very flexible. Things will move around. Try to really separate those two in your mind. There's going to be a lot of flexibility. Also, write with passion. I get super into this when I'm writing the script — I'll put on Hans Zimmer and just type away. It's because I love writing, but also because that passion really shines through in a recording session. You're trying to capture these moments of magic with these voice actors. The more passion you bring, the more they'll give you. So have fun with it, get into it, and enjoy the process.

记住：这份脚本是指南，不是路线图。它不是配音脚本——它会非常灵活，事情会移动调整。要真正在脑海中把这两者区分开来。灵活性会很大。另外，带着热情去写。我在写脚本的时候会非常投入——我会放上汉斯·季默的音乐，然后就这么打出来。这是因为我热爱写作，同时也因为那种热情在录音棚里真的会透过脚本传递出去。你是在试图捕捉与这些配音演员的那些神奇时刻。你带来的热情越多，他们给你的就越多。所以要享受这个过程，投入其中。

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二、录音 · Recording

录音棚角色 · Studio Roles

Let's get to Irvine, California and begin the recording. We'll quickly review a couple of common roles you'll encounter in the studio. First is the engineer — the mixing engineer working the mixing board. Then there's the talent — the voice actor who's going to be doing the monster sounds. And then we have a voice director — the voice director is going to be helping bring the vision to life through the script and directing the voice talent.

来到加州尔湾，开始录音。我来快速介绍一下你在录音棚里会遇到的几个常见角色。首先是工程师——操控调音台的混音工程师。然后是配音演员——负责做怪物声音的表演者。然后我们有一个配音导演——配音导演会通过脚本和指导配音演员来帮助将创意愿景变为现实。

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The engineer is really just setting levels and setting up the microphones. If you've brought any special microphones, you'll need to meet up with them beforehand and do testing.

工程师的主要工作是设定音量电平和架设麦克风。如果你带了特殊麦克风，需要提前与他们碰面做测试。

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认识配音演员：John Olsen · Meet the Voice Actor: John Olsen

Let's meet our voice actor, John Olsen. John is warming up and talking about how his voice works — what sounds good at the beginning of the session and what exhausts his voice by the end. A lot of voice actors will do this at the beginning of a session and share this critical information. Everyone's voice is different, so really take that information into account and organize the session appropriately. Always ask for that information at the start.

来认识我们的配音演员John Olsen。John正在热身，谈论他的声音如何运作——什么声音在录音环节开始时状态好，什么声音到结束时会让他的嗓子疲惫。很多配音演员会在录音环节开始时这样做，分享这些关键信息。每个人的声音都不同，所以要真正把这些信息考虑在内，相应地安排录音顺序。始终在一开始就询问这些信息。

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John Olsen:

If we're in the range where I can do that all day — that's fine. But if I was called upon to do high Mickey Mouse-style sounds, I can do that, but I'd retire my ability to do the deep stuff. Because if I do the deep stuff first and get tired — if I get tired from doing the deep stuff — my voice would just be shot, like getting into a titan's boat trying to do the high stuff after.

如果我们在我能全天保持的音域范围内录——没问题。但如果我被要求做很高的米老鼠风格的声音，我可以做到，但那会消耗掉我做低音的能力。因为如果我先做低音然后疲惫了——如果我因为做低音而疲惫——我的嗓子就废了，就像爬进一艘泰坦的船之后还要试着做高音一样。

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认识配音导演：Tom Keegan · Meet the Voice Director: Tom Keegan

Now we have our voice director, Tom Keegan. A voice director is really going to take all the technical lifting off your shoulders as a sound designer and allow you to just take in the session with pure creativity. You'll also be helping direct, but the voice director is a specialist — and generally, they're voice actors themselves. So they really understand how to work with the talent during a session.

现在来认识我们的配音导演Tom Keegan。配音导演真正要做的是把所有技术性的工作从你作为音效设计师的肩上卸下来，让你能带着纯粹的创意去感受整个录音环节。你也会参与指导，但配音导演是专业人士——而且一般来说，他们本身就是配音演员。所以他们非常理解如何在录音环节中与配音演员合作。

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录音棚技巧 · Tips for the Studio Session

The first tip is: try to attend in person. I know this is really hard for a lot of folks, but if you do it just once, it's worth it. Being there in person, feeling that energy, being able to connect with the talent in person — there's something really magical about that. If you can, try to attend.

第一个建议是：尽量亲自参加。我知道这对很多人来说真的很难，但如果你去一次，就值得了。亲自在场、感受那种能量、能够与配音演员面对面连接——那有些真正神奇的东西。如果可以，尽量去现场。

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Build time for inspiration. I generally spend about two hours for these creature sessions — that's plenty of time to record the monster and also capture any cool ideas that come up along the way. You're going to get a ton of them once you start hearing the talent make those noises. Your brain's going to start going nuts and you're going to pick up a bunch of different ideas while you're there. Build in that time.

为灵感留出时间。我通常为这些生物录音环节预留大约两个小时——这足够时间来录制怪物声音，也足以捕捉沿途出现的任何酷想法。一旦你开始听到配音演员发出那些声音，你会得到大量的灵感。你的大脑会开始疯狂运转，你会在现场捕捉到很多不同的创意。为此留出时间。

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Use a toolkit approach. This is not traditional voiceover — think of these exertions as building blocks that we're going to use to create different vocalizations with. We're going to be hearing a lot of different takes, so try to get different textures and different types. Just be open to a lot of variety.

使用工具箱方法。这不是传统的配音——把这些发力音当作积木，我们将用它们来构建不同的发声。我们会听到很多不同的录音，所以要尝试获取不同的质感和不同的类型，对各种可能性保持开放。

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And remember: everyone is in service of the monster. This really just means use the resources around you. Everyone there — from the studio staff to the voice director — wants you to succeed. They want your vision to come to life. So always feel empowered to use those resources, to redirect the session, or to ask for help. Everyone is there to help make this thing sound awesome, and they all want it to sound awesome along with you.

记住：所有人都在为怪物服务。这真正的意思是利用你周围的资源。那里的每个人——从录音棚工作人员到配音导演——都希望你成功，希望你的愿景成为现实。所以始终要有力量去利用那些资源、重新引导录音方向、或者寻求帮助。每个人都在那里帮助让这个怪物听起来很棒，他们都和你一样想要它听起来很棒。

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录音棚麦克风选择 · Microphone Selection

We always record with multiple microphones. The first is a Sony high-frequency microphone — it records up to 100kHz. If you set the sample rate at 192kHz, you can take that audio and pitch it aggressively and still have rich high-end content. With a normal microphone, if you start to pitch it up more than five or ten semitones, it gets really distorted. But the Sony can really hold up under aggressive pitch shifting — it's a great creature mic.

我们总是用多支麦克风录音。第一支是索尼高频麦克风——它能录制到100kHz。如果你将采样率设置为192kHz，你可以大幅移调这段音频，同时仍然保有丰富的高频内容。用普通麦克风，如果你开始移调超过五到十个半音，它就会变得非常失真。但索尼麦克风在强力移调下真的能保持住——它是非常好的生物声麦克风。

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Next we record with the U87 — it's just an amazing icon in general for voiceover. If I'm not pitching aggressively, I'll use the U87 as my main source.

接下来我们用U87录音——它在配音领域是一个传奇麦克风。如果我不做强力移调，我就用U87作为主声源。

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The contact mic is something we already went over — it's for specialized cases. It is very noisy so you have to have the talent hold it on their throat while they perform. It is an option.

接触式麦克风是我们已经提到过的——它用于特殊情况。它噪声很大，所以你必须让配音演员在表演时把它贴在喉咙上。这是一个可选方案。

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This last one is a crazy one: the Sanken CU-44X MKII. This microphone is for recording at ultra-high sample rates — it records at 192kHz or even higher. Basically what that means is that when you play it back at normal speed, it sounds really thin and shitty. But when you pitch it down — like where a normal mic might only allow you to pitch down about ten semitones cleanly, this mic you can pitch down like forty semitones and there's still high-end presence. You do need specialized equipment to record it and it's not cheap, but it's a really cool tool to add to the creature design toolbox. I'll say: whatever performance you captured at the studio will be totally transformed once you start pitching it — so it is totally transformative.

最后这支麦克风非常疯狂：Sanken CU-44X MKII。这支麦克风用于超高采样率录音。基本上这意味着当你以正常速度播放时，听起来非常细薄和难听。但当你向下移调——普通麦克风可能只允许你干净地向下移调大约十个半音，而这支麦克风你可以向下移调大约四十个半音，仍然有高频存在感。你确实需要专门的设备来录制，而且不便宜，但它是怪物设计工具箱中真的很酷的一件工具。我要说的是：无论你在录音棚里捕捉到什么样的表演，一旦你开始移调，它都会被彻底改变——所以它真的是完全变革性的。

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录音棚收尾技巧 · Wrapping Up the Session

Revert to talent. This is all about keeping the momentum going and keeping things positive. If something's not working — a take isn't working — just move on to a new section or suggest a different technique. These sessions are really loose and relaxed, and I like to keep them that way.

依靠配音演员的本能。这完全是关于保持势头和保持积极性。如果某个东西不起作用——某个录音不对劲——就直接换到新的部分或建议换一种技术。这些录音环节是非常轻松自在的，我喜欢保持这种状态。

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Keep exploring. As we've been talking about the whole time — be ready to get inspired yourself, or get ideas from the voice talent or the voice director.

保持探索。就像我们一直在谈论的——要随时准备好被激发灵感，或者从配音演员或配音导演那里得到想法。

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Creatively reset — take breaks. The more relaxed the voice actor is, the better performance you're going to get. These sessions are hard on the voice, so take breaks, have tea, make small talk. Voice directors are really good at relaxing the talent, and the more relaxed their body is, the more relaxed their voice is, and the crazier sounds they can make. It's worth it.

创意重置——休息一下。配音演员越放松，你得到的表演就越好。这些录音环节对嗓音很消耗，所以要休息，喝茶，闲聊。配音导演真的很擅长让配音演员放松，他们身体越放松，声音就越放松，能做出的声音就越疯狂。这是值得的。

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三、处理与分层 · Processing & Layering

Let's get back to the studio, get into Reaper, and start layering.

让我们回到工作室，打开Reaper，开始分层。

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I approach this as a really high-level design challenge, pretty similar to recording the actual voice — it's a toolkit idea. We're going to build three creative buckets of sounds, and we're going to use those buckets to layer and build our creature vocalizations.

我把这作为一个非常高层次的设计挑战来处理，与实际录制声音非常相似——这是一个工具箱的概念。我们要构建三个声音桶，用这些桶来分层和构建怪物发声。

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三个声音桶 · The Three Buckets

The first bucket is John Olsen's voice through a processing chain. This will probably be about 60 percent of the monster — the majority. Next, fully animal source: we're going to supplement the voice with fully animal recordings — that's probably going to be about 30 percent. And then finally, sample generation: we're going to load the voice and sound effects into a generative sampler and create brand new material.

第一个桶是John Olsen的声音经过一条处理链。这可能占怪物声音的大约60%——是主体。其次是纯动物音源：我们用纯动物录音来补充人声——大概占30%。最后是采样生成：我们将声音和音效导入生成式采样器，创造全新的素材。

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I want to call out that everything I use here was specifically chosen for this monster. My processing process changes from monster to monster. When you see these plugins, feel free to switch them out because every monster is different — this is just what we're using for the Toad.

我想说明的是，我在这里使用的一切都是专门为这个怪物选择的。我的处理流程因怪物而异。当你看到这些插件时，可以自由替换，因为每个怪物都不同——这只是我们在蟾蜍这里使用的方案。

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第一桶：人声处理 · Bucket One: Voice Processing

What's really important here is that I want to keep all the characteristics we recorded — all that amazing performance. I don't actually want to fully transform this. What I want to do is just bring out those characteristics we talked about early on. I want to add weight, bring it down a little bit, but maintain the essence of what John is performing.

这里真正重要的是，我想保留我们录制的所有特征——所有那些惊人的表演。我实际上不想完全改变这些。我想做的只是把我们早些时候谈论的那些特征突显出来。我想增加重量感，稍微降低一点，但要保持John表演的本质。

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Let me quickly run through the chain. First is pitch shifting — I'm using Prism which is one of my favorite pitching tools, absolutely love it. Next I add the low-end weight — this thing should feel massive and heavy. Then some saturation and compression — we're really just getting some space to breathe and bringing out some details. And then finally a little bit of limiting and volume control, and we're pretty much there.

让我快速过一遍这条处理链。首先是移调——我用Prism，这是我最喜欢的移调工具之一，非常喜欢它。其次是增加低频重量——这个怪物应该感觉巨大而沉重。然后是一些饱和度和压缩——我们只是在让声音有更多呼吸空间，突显一些细节。最后是一点限幅和音量控制，基本上就完成了。

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第二桶：动物音源 · Bucket Two: Animal Source

One of the challenges of working with a voice actor is that they're humans doing monster sounds. Sometimes it sounds too human. By layering animal sources on top of the voice, it really mitigates that side effect — it makes things more monstrous. The animal sources I used for this monster include: leopard recordings, which supplement the roars and add punch; bottle-sack hissing for the hissing sounds; croaking sounds including from a Penguin frog; and one unexpected source — I recorded myself screaming. And this last one I actually recorded on the Blizzard campus: a pumpkin hollowed out, filled with water and guts, and I used an air compressor to create that feeling of a heaving chest. In terms of mixing the animal source with John's voice, I just go by feel — there's no special system. If I feel like I need some more gunk or some pumpkin, I throw it in.

与配音演员合作的挑战之一是，他们是人类在做怪物声音。有时候听起来太人类化了。通过在人声上叠加动物音源，能够真正减轻这种副作用——让声音更具怪物感。我为这个怪物使用的动物音源包括：豹子录音，用来补充咆哮声并增加冲击感；气囊蛇的嘶嘶声用于嘶嘶音效；蛙鸣声包括来自苦蛙的录音；还有一个意外的音源——我录了自己尖叫的声音。最后这个我实际上是在暴雪园区录制的：一个掏空的南瓜，里面装满了水和内脏，然后我用气动压缩机来制造那种沉重喘息的胸腔感觉。在混合动物音源和John的声音方面，我完全凭感觉——没有特殊系统。如果我觉得需要更多黏糊感或更多南瓜声，我就加进去。

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第三桶：采样生成 · Bucket Three: Sample Generation

The third bucket uses S-Layer — a Reaktor module for creating granular and vector tools. It's an insanely creative tool. Basically, you break up your sounds into 128 little bits, put them into a special sample map, and a special randomizer takes eight random pieces of audio and smashes them together in interesting ways. This tool is endlessly creative. It is very old and a little tricky to get working right, but I encourage you to check it out.

第三个桶使用S-Layer——一个用于创建粒子和矢量工具的Reaktor模块。这是一个极具创意的工具。基本上，你把声音分成128个小片段，放进一个特殊的采样映射中，一个特殊的随机器会取出八段随机音频并以有趣的方式将它们拼接在一起。这个工具的创意是无穷无尽的。它非常老旧，有点难以调好，但我鼓励你去看看它。

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What I do with John's voice is chop it up into 128 bits, shove it in, and run it for about 15 minutes, marking interesting moments. Every once in a while you get something totally bat-shit crazy. I do process things heavily afterwards, but you're just building cool articulations and options for yourself before you get to actually making the skill sounds. I've also done this with the pumpkin sounds — not John's voice, just the pumpkin — and the results are totally different and equally strange.

我对John声音的处理方式是把它切成128个片段，导入进去，然后运行大约15分钟，标记有趣的时刻。偶尔你会得到一些完全疯狂的东西。我之后会做大量的处理，但你只是在真正制作技能声音之前，为自己构建很酷的发音选项。我也用南瓜声做过这个——不是John的声音，只是南瓜——结果完全不同，同样奇怪。

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分层的作用 · The Role of Layers

The vocals are all about characterization and reinforcing action. The sound effects are more about physicality — the skills, the transients. They're separated in terms of their role, but when I work on these things they're all in one session, because I want them to feel like one unit. The vocals handle character; the sound effects handle impact.

人声全部关于角色塑造和强化动作。音效更多是关于物理感——技能、瞬态。它们在功能上是分开的，但我工作时它们都在同一个会话里，因为我想让它们感觉像一个整体。人声负责角色；音效负责冲击力。

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One technique I use is: whenever I want a talent to just give me something organic and strange, I have them do something for two minutes straight — in this case, I had John just burp and do weird gastric sounds for two minutes. This is endlessly useful because you chop that up and put those little bits in unexpected places. It's incredible.

我使用的一个技巧是：每当我想让配音演员给我一些有机而奇怪的东西时，我就让他们连续做某件事两分钟——在这个案例中，我让John只是打嗝并连续做奇怪的胃肠声音两分钟。这是无比有用的，因为你把它切碎，把那些小片段放在意想不到的地方。效果非常惊人。

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四、实装与迭代 · Implementation & Iteration

Let's get all this into Wwise and start listening in context.

让我们把这一切放进Wwise，开始在游戏场景中聆听。

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Implementation is really all about review and iteration. The things we're looking for as we review this monster: Does it sound like the Toad? Does it sound appropriate? Does it sound like it fits the character of the game? And then variation — we don't want to cause auditory fatigue. If something's poking out of the vocals that becomes noticeable, it'll really wear on players, because they're going to be fighting this monster for a while and the encounter lasts a long time. We want to be very aware of that.

实装真正是关于审阅和迭代的。我们在审阅这个怪物时寻找的东西：它听起来像蟾蜍吗？听起来合适吗？听起来符合游戏角色设定吗？然后是变奏——我们不想造成听觉疲劳。如果人声中有什么突出来变得引人注意，它会真正磨损玩家，因为他们要与这个怪物战斗很长时间，遭遇战持续的时间很长。我们要对此非常注意。

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Some practical notes: we mix everything in mono for the vocals — not the sound effects, just the vocals. It helps with mixing to have everything at one volume reference. We do three to five variations per skill — usually three for common attacks and five for more dramatic ones. And Wwise's probability adjustment is a really good tool here: you can set the probability so that sometimes the skill doesn't actually trigger the voice at all. If the Toad is swiping over and over, the player doesn't need to hear that voice endlessly assaulting them. Pulling it back a little actually feels more natural.

一些实际注意事项：我们对人声的一切都用单声道混音——不是音效，只是人声。以统一的音量参考值来处理所有东西有助于混音。我们每个技能做三到五个变奏——通常普通攻击做三个，更具戏剧性的做五个。Wwise的概率调整是一个真正好用的工具：你可以设置概率，使得有时候技能根本不触发声音。如果蟾蜍一遍又一遍地挥爪，玩家不需要没完没了地听到那个声音轰炸他们。稍微降低出现频率实际上会感觉更自然。

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At this point, what I'm doing is constantly jumping between Reaper and Wwise, mixing back and forth. I also always test skills individually first, and then start stacking skills with other monsters fighting at the same time. I want to make sure the mix holds up during the chaos of Diablo — because that's what Diablo is. It's chaos when you're fighting monsters.

在这个阶段，我做的是不断地在Reaper和Wwise之间来回切换，反复混音。我也总是先单独测试每个技能，然后再开始叠加技能，同时让其他怪物也在战斗。我想确保混音在《暗黑破坏神》的混战中仍然成立——因为这就是《暗黑破坏神》的本质。和怪物战斗的时候就是混乱。

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总结 · Summary

Let's summarize everything we went over today.

让我们来总结今天讲过的内容。

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Let the art and design inspire the script. Everything from that pre-production section pulls all the way through to that final in-game scene. It's really important to get inspired early and really find out what this voice is supposed to sound like. Answering those questions helps everything else moving forward.

让艺术和设计激发脚本创作。 前期制作阶段的一切都贯穿到最终的游戏场景中。早期获得灵感、真正弄清楚这个声音应该是什么样子，是非常重要的。回答那些问题能帮助后续一切顺利推进。

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Go in with a really open mind. Think of the recording session as creating a custom sound tool — that's an incredible resource that makes a huge creative difference.

以开放的心态进入录音。 把录音环节想象成创建一个定制声音工具——这是一种令人难以置信的资源，在创意上产生巨大差异。

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Process with purpose — tell the creature story. We understand the Toad on a fundamental level at this point. Having all those answers helps with design because we have a target to design toward.

有目的地处理——讲述生物的故事。 在这一阶段我们已经从根本上理解了蟾蜍。拥有所有那些答案有助于设计，因为我们有了一个设计目标。

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Feedback and iteration drive excellence. Both the audio teams are constantly iterating and polishing, always getting notes and trying to make these monsters sound as good as possible. It's really important to us, and it's really the reason why our game sounds the way it does.

反馈和迭代驱动卓越。 两个音频团队都在不断迭代和打磨，始终在获取反馈并努力让这些怪物听起来尽可能好。这对我们真的非常重要，这也是我们游戏听起来如此出色的原因。

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Thank you all so much.

非常感谢大家。