High definition sound effect
Encyclopedia
High Definition Sound Effects or High Definition Audio are artificially created or enhanced sound effects that are recorded at 24-bit/48 kHz or above, used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media. The conversion from 16-bit/44.1 kHz recordings can be converted into numbers that represent hi-def, but this process takes time and does not make them truly hi-def. The dynamic range remains the same, as does the frequency range.
Organizations are making efforts to support the integration of HD into the mainstream, including the High-Definition Audio-Video Network Alliance (HANA) and Altera’s High Definition Quality Initiative (HDQI). Though they include support for audio, the majority of these initiatives focus on video production and distribution.
, author of The Sound Effects Bible (MWP).
Sound Ideas
is the world's largest publisher of sound effects for the professional broadcast, post-production and motion picture industries, and is the exclusive worldwide distributor for a number of custom-created feature film studio sound effect libraries, including 20th Century Fox, Lucasfilm, Universal Studios, Turner Entertainment, Disney Ideas, Hanna-Barbera, and Warner Bros.
: Intel released this spec in 2004 that implements HD audio on PCs. IHD can handle up to 36-bit/196 kHz audio.
HD Radio
: HD Radio is a trademarked name for digital radio technology developed by iBiquity, but actually stands for ‘hybrid,’ not hi-def. And just a reminder, ‘digital’ does not equal high definition. For both AM and FM, HD Radio transmits highly compressed audio with their proprietary codec called HDC.
Dolby Digital
True HD, DTS-HD Master Audio, etc.: There are a great deal of HD specs, standards, and products mentioned these days. Most often, the abbreviation HD will indicate high definition audio playback capabilities or specifications (though as mentioned in the above HD Radio, this is not always the case). Dolby TrueHD is Dolby’s latest lossless technology, developed for high-definition disc-based media. Similarly, DTS-HD Master Audio is the DTS equivalent lossless audio. These are available as soundtracks on many Blu-ray disks. The sound is bit-for-bit identical to the studio master after its decoded by the player or receiver.
that lead to incredibly efficient searching and auditioning of sounds, then express transfers into your editing platform. Furthermore, HD Sound Effects libraries can be delivered on dedicated hard drives, saving even more time and staying organized.
Metadata is "information about information" and it is one of the really useful features of digital audio files. When audio
went from analogue to digital, it became possible to label or encode audio files with more information than could be contained in just the file name. That identifying information is called "metadata".
Metadata can be used to name, describe, catalogue and indicate ownership or copyright for a digital audio file, and its presence makes it much easier to locate a specific audio file within a group – through use of a search engine that accesses the metadata. As different digital audio formats were developed, it was agreed that a standardized and specific location would be set aside within the digital files where this information could be stored.
As a result, almost all digital audio formats, including mp3
, broadcast wav and AIFF
files, have similar standardized locations that can be populated with metadata. This "information about information" has become one of the great advantages of working with digital audio files – since the catalogue and descriptive information that makes up the metadata is built right into the audio file itself, ready for easy access and use. You no longer need to consult a paper catalogue or product packaging to find out more about a particular file.
Organizations are making efforts to support the integration of HD into the mainstream, including the High-Definition Audio-Video Network Alliance (HANA) and Altera’s High Definition Quality Initiative (HDQI). Though they include support for audio, the majority of these initiatives focus on video production and distribution.
HD Sound Effect Libraries
Blastwave FX is a company which develops next-generation HD sound effects libraries for professional audio production, including Sonopedia, which serve as royalty-free creative resources for audio professionals. Blastwave FX is based in Detroit, MI and is headed by Ric ViersRic Viers
Ric Viers is an American sound designer. He has also worked as a film director, screenwriter, and author.Viers has worked in freelance sound design for over 13 years, with his work appearing in libraries for Sound Ideas, The Hollywood Edge, Video Helper, and others. He has provided sound effects...
, author of The Sound Effects Bible (MWP).
Sound Ideas
Sound Ideas
Sound Ideas is the repository of one of the largest commercially available sound effects libraries in the world. It has accumulated the sound effects, which it releases in collections on CD and hard drive, through acquisition, exclusive arrangement with movie studios, and in-house...
is the world's largest publisher of sound effects for the professional broadcast, post-production and motion picture industries, and is the exclusive worldwide distributor for a number of custom-created feature film studio sound effect libraries, including 20th Century Fox, Lucasfilm, Universal Studios, Turner Entertainment, Disney Ideas, Hanna-Barbera, and Warner Bros.
HD Terminology
Intel High Definition AudioIntel High Definition Audio
Intel High Definition Audio refers to the specification released by Intel in 2004 for delivering high-definition audio that is capable of playing back more channels at higher quality than previous integrated audio codecs like AC'97...
: Intel released this spec in 2004 that implements HD audio on PCs. IHD can handle up to 36-bit/196 kHz audio.
HD Radio
HD Radio
HD Radio, which originally stood for "Hybrid Digital", is the trademark for iBiquity's in-band on-channel digital radio technology used by AM and FM radio stations to transmit audio and data via a digital signal in conjunction with their analog signals...
: HD Radio is a trademarked name for digital radio technology developed by iBiquity, but actually stands for ‘hybrid,’ not hi-def. And just a reminder, ‘digital’ does not equal high definition. For both AM and FM, HD Radio transmits highly compressed audio with their proprietary codec called HDC.
Dolby Digital
Dolby Digital
Dolby Digital is the name for audio compression technologies developed by Dolby Laboratories. It was originally called Dolby Stereo Digital until 1994. Except for Dolby TrueHD, the audio compression is lossy. The first use of Dolby Digital was to provide digital sound in cinemas from 35mm film prints...
True HD, DTS-HD Master Audio, etc.: There are a great deal of HD specs, standards, and products mentioned these days. Most often, the abbreviation HD will indicate high definition audio playback capabilities or specifications (though as mentioned in the above HD Radio, this is not always the case). Dolby TrueHD is Dolby’s latest lossless technology, developed for high-definition disc-based media. Similarly, DTS-HD Master Audio is the DTS equivalent lossless audio. These are available as soundtracks on many Blu-ray disks. The sound is bit-for-bit identical to the studio master after its decoded by the player or receiver.
Metadata and Media Formats
HD Sound Effects libraries come with embedded metadataMetadata
The term metadata is an ambiguous term which is used for two fundamentally different concepts . Although the expression "data about data" is often used, it does not apply to both in the same way. Structural metadata, the design and specification of data structures, cannot be about data, because at...
that lead to incredibly efficient searching and auditioning of sounds, then express transfers into your editing platform. Furthermore, HD Sound Effects libraries can be delivered on dedicated hard drives, saving even more time and staying organized.
Metadata is "information about information" and it is one of the really useful features of digital audio files. When audio
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
went from analogue to digital, it became possible to label or encode audio files with more information than could be contained in just the file name. That identifying information is called "metadata".
Metadata can be used to name, describe, catalogue and indicate ownership or copyright for a digital audio file, and its presence makes it much easier to locate a specific audio file within a group – through use of a search engine that accesses the metadata. As different digital audio formats were developed, it was agreed that a standardized and specific location would be set aside within the digital files where this information could be stored.
As a result, almost all digital audio formats, including mp3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
, broadcast wav and AIFF
AIFF
Audio Interchange File Format is an audio file format standard used for storing sound data for personal computers and other electronic audio devices...
files, have similar standardized locations that can be populated with metadata. This "information about information" has become one of the great advantages of working with digital audio files – since the catalogue and descriptive information that makes up the metadata is built right into the audio file itself, ready for easy access and use. You no longer need to consult a paper catalogue or product packaging to find out more about a particular file.