Agenda
The Anatomy of Demons: Building Monster SFX in 'Diablo Immortal'
Todd Castillo (Senior Sound Designer 2, Blizzard Entertainment)
Pass Type:
Academic Pass, Festival Pass, Game Changer Pass, Indie Pass, Start-Up Pass -
Get your pass now!
Track:
Audio
Audience Level:
Entry-Level
Format:
Lecture
Vault Recording: TBD
Audience Level: Entry-Level
The Anatomy of Demons takes attendees behind the scenes of monster sound design in Diablo Immortal, following the creation of a Helliquary boss. The session explores how story, artwork, and gameplay influence creative decisions throughout preproduction, recording, processing, and iteration. Through footage from animal recording sessions, Foley studios, and field recording trips, attendees see how unique source material is captured and selected. The talk then demonstrates how recordings are transformed in REAPER into a flexible toolkit of textures, actions, and impacts that define a creature's sonic identity. Finally, it examines real examples of how team feedback and iteration shape the final sound design, revealing the anatomy of a demon from its earliest concept to its final in-game form.
Takeaway
Attendees learn a complete workflow for taking creature sound effects from concept to final implementation in Diablo Immortal. They gain practical techniques for planning recording sessions, directing Foley, organizing and processing source material in REAPER, building reusable sound-effects toolkits, and refining creature designs through gameplay iteration and collaborative feedback.
Intended Audience
Sound designers, audio directors, audio producers, recordists, Foley artists, and other game-audio professionals interested in creature and combat audio. While the presentation explores professional audio workflows used in AAA development, it remains accessible to attendees from all disciplines, including those with little or no sound-design experience.