Interview with Game Audio Designer Stephan Schütze
Stephan Schütze, co-founder of Sound Librarian, has been working in game audio for around 18 years. We sat down with him last GDC to hear a bit more about his book on immersive audio, and his work with the Facebook 360 team.
Schütze believes VR is still a new and mostly untapped territory; although many are working with the technology, there are no set conventions yet, and developers are still trying to figure out the best ways to approach the medium. The challenge of exploring a completely new media format is daunting, but with added difficulty comes more satisfying results. Schütze feels that the potential applications of VR and 3D audio are essentially limitless, and the format may completely reshape connectivity, music, entertainment, and gaming.
Spatial audio goes hand-in-hand with VR, but Schütze also sees potential for a significant shift toward 3D audio in sound mixing for music as well, because for the first time, sound engineers are truly able to place the listener in the center of an orchestra or band. As more developments in VR and 3D audio continue to unfold, Schütze sees the technology and consumer experience improving steadily.
Check out Schüzte’s projects at www.stephanschutze.com and @stephanschutze on Twitter. You can also catch him at the soundlibrarian.com.
