For the music in my animation I recorded myself playing bass guitar. My original intentions were to have acoustic guitar music, however I changed my mind as I am unable to play the acoustic guitar and I preferred to create the music myself. I did however keep the theme of the music, a nice, calm and slow tune so it would fit with the animation.
For the sound effects used in the animation I went out and using my brother's iPod I was able to record most of the sounds I wanted. The first sound used in the animation, and the sound that played right through, was the sound of the wind. I found the best sound of this came from riding a bike while recording. This was better than my previous attempt which was to just swing it around with my arm because it provided a more consistent noise. The second sound heard is of birds tweeting, which I recorded in the local woods. At first I planned on recording the sounds of birds in my back garden, however there weren't enough for there to be constant tweeting, so I went to the woods where there would be more. The third and final noise to be heard was probably the one I experimented most with, trying both the actual action and more obscure things, the sound of trees rustling. I made a few attempts with different trees but was unable to get a very good sound with most of the trees as the ones that had leaves were all evergreen, which didn't have the right leaves to make the rustling. I then went back inside to try other materials like scrunched up paper and in the end the best sound I could get was from using a plastic bag.
I then imported my sounds and music into Audacity where I was able to clean up and crop my sounds and music. With my music I had to do quite a bit of editing. First I cut off the beginning as it was just an empty section where I had hit record, but not started playing yet. Then there were also parts of the music where my playing was inconsistent, some parts going really quiet where I didn't pluck the string very well, some parts where I plucked the string a little too hard and made it too loud. So by using the "Amplify" function in Audacity I was able to correct any problems. Then the last editing I did to my music was to fade out the end so it ended less abruptly. Audacity had a tool for this too, so first I selected a section from the start of where I want it to start fading out to the end of the music, then I went to the "Effect" menu and selected "Fade Out".
For the sounds, I didn't do much editing, it was mainly just cropping bits off that I didn't want and quietening bits that were too loud.
To apply all the sounds to the animation I used Sony Vegas, a video editing software made by Sony. I preferred to use this as it had many more functions than Windows Movie Maker and allowed me to overlap sounds. Using Sony Vegas I was also able to change the volume of the different sounds, which was useful as some of the sounds were a little too loud compared to the music and other sounds.
Overall I believe my sound turned out rather well however I would have preferred it if I were able to create some better music. Although, I think it still fitted very well with the animation, creating the atmosphere I originally intended. The sounds I were very pleased with, especially as I didn't think I'd be able to get as good a recording as I did with an iPod.
Compared to a professional example, I could have quite a bit to improve on. My music was a little sloppy and simple, and would have been better performed by someone a little more experienced. Then with the sounds, although the quality was pretty good, there does seem to be a few awkward silent moments in the animation, so it might have been better if I had recorded a few more sounds to fill it in a little more. Another thing I've noticed in professional examples is that the music is also made to fit with what is happening in the animation, with the music changing in someway when something happens in the animation. This could be something I'd try if I were to do it again.
Here's my final animation...
...and this is a professional example of the exact same buildings, along with its own music and sound.
Compared to a professional example, I could have quite a bit to improve on. My music was a little sloppy and simple, and would have been better performed by someone a little more experienced. Then with the sounds, although the quality was pretty good, there does seem to be a few awkward silent moments in the animation, so it might have been better if I had recorded a few more sounds to fill it in a little more. Another thing I've noticed in professional examples is that the music is also made to fit with what is happening in the animation, with the music changing in someway when something happens in the animation. This could be something I'd try if I were to do it again.
Here's my final animation...
...and this is a professional example of the exact same buildings, along with its own music and sound.
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