Topic Introduction

This working group was originally proposed in 2001 by Tom Hays to address "Dialogue Normalization" in games. Tom brought a proposal to IASIG (and to AES and other groups) but his efforts didn't get much traction until 2012 after EBU/ITU published recommendations for overall loudness management in the broadcast environment (2010).

At the 2012 AES Convention Tom presented his own findings and conclusions from more than ten years of discussion and research, and then in 2013 he hosted a presentation at GDC with audio experts from Microsoft (Xbox) and Sony (Playstation) each discussing their findings and conclusions. Sony's presentation included a set of recommendations that they were promoting for use in their studios around the world, while Microsoft's presentation included some compelling examples of why "normalization" of game audio might not always be practical.

After the GDC presentations, representatives from most of the major game studios met (as GANG's IESD group) to discuss whether there was a set of recommendations they could all agree on, and published their own recommendation in 2013 (revised in 2015).

In an effort to help inform the interactive audio community, the IASIG has collected the presentations and recommendations from each group and made them available for discussion by IASIG Members.

 IASIG Assets:

Topic Introduction

The purpose of this working group is to retrieve, categorize, preserve and display audio artifacts used in interactive products. Interactive audio artifacts include, but are not limited to, software code, musical scores, digital computer files of audio (music, sound design and human voice), working and non-working audio software, working and non-working audio hardware, specification documents, publications, in-depth interviews of audio developers, etc.

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Topic Introduction

This WG would develop a specification for a standard, interoperable method of representing looping, branching, and other flow-of-control operations or compositional structures in Standard MIDI Files. The final specification should be published by either the IA-SIG, the MMA, or as a joint IASIG/MMA release.

Compositional looping and branching are staples of adaptive soundtrack construction, and have always been a feature of most game music engines and data formats. However, the Standard MIDI File does not include any standard method of achieving loop & branch, indeed nothing other than simple linear start-to-finish playback. If there were a standard for loop & branch in SMF, it would make it much easier to create adaptive MIDI music, and adaptive MIDI music could be interoperable, i.e. could be authored on any MIDI sequencer and played on any conformant SMF player. Reliance on proprietary players and tools could be reduced.

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Topic Introduction

The Art of Interactive Mixing online journal concept was conceived at the Project BBQ 2006 think-tank. The Journal would focus on documenting techniques, wisdom, experiences and tools for the advancement of the art of interactive audio mixing. It is meant as a neutral ground for the exchange of ideas between professionals in the field. The Journal would be structured as an infrequent blog with a new entry every 2-4 weeks. Each entry will consist of a full-length article (2000 words) and an associated discussion between registered participants. Ultimately the collection of articles may be turned into a book.

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