Why Animators Need Sound Design

A sound designer at work

Animators need sound design. If you're working on a short film, sound design is a necessary part of the animatic you will put together to test out your work. 

Sound design includes voices, narration, sound effects (such as foley), and music. 

How these get combined together is part of the art and craft of film-making, and must be done before animation begins. 

Who Does Sound Design?

Sound Designer Jakob Parsons

Sound design is a specialist role in film-making. But on a short film, where resources are scarce, the job of sound design is often done by the editor, who will be assembling the reel anyway - and can cut in sound effects and music. 

Here at Escape Studios we don't teach sound design as a separate discipline, but sound design is very necessary for the films we make.  

Sound Designers at Escape Studios

On occasion we have had visits from sound designer Jakob Parsons; you can see some of his sound design tips here.  We also regularly blog about sound design resources, such as the BBC sound design archive.  Another great resource is the free music archive from Moby, known as MobyGratis.  Animators animating to dialogue also need to know How to Record Voice-Overs. 

Escape Studios Film-making Resources

For more information and resources on the making of animated short films, follow the links below:

Development & Pre-Production

• How to Write a Story
• How to make a short animated film
• How to pitch your film idea
• Why Animators Need Mood Boards
• Why Animators Need Colour Scripts
• Managing Group Projects
• Why Animators Need a Storyboard Animatic
• How to Record Voice-Overs
• Sound Design for Animators
• Why Animators Need Production Design

Production

• Why Animators Must Wreck Their Rigs
• What an Animation Editor Does, Exactly
• Ten Rules of Animation Dailies
• Why Animators Must Check Their Hookups
• What are CBBs? (Could be Better)
• Using Lighting to Tell the Story

Post-Production

• How Animators Work with Composers
• Royalty-free music at Bensound
• Colour Grading your film
• Thanks and Special Thanks - Getting Film Credits Right
• How to Create the Perfect One-Sheet Movie Poster (and Why You Need One)
• Getting Yourself (and your film) Listed at IMDB

The Escape Studios Animation Blog offers a personal view on the art of animation and visual effects. To apply for our BA/MArt in 3D Animation, follow this link.