Designing Sound for Animation

by Robin Beauchamp

Overview

Sound is just as crucial an aspect of your animation as your visuals. Whether you’re looking to create a score, ambient noise, dialog, or a complete soundtrack, you’ll need sound for your piece. This nuts‑and‑bolts guide to sound design for animation will explain the theory and workings behind sound for image and provide an overview of the systems and production path to help you create your soundtrack. Follow along with the sound design process for animated shorts and learn how to use the tools and techniques of the trade. Enhance your piece and learn how to design sound for animation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781032745206
Publisher:	CRC Press
Publication date:	09/28/2025
Edition description:	3rd ed.
Pages:	350
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Robin Beauchamp is a professor of sound design at the Savannah College of Art and Design. As a founding member of the department, Mr. Beauchamp was instrumental in designing the curriculum for the first Undergraduate Program in Sound Design in the world. There he teaches courses in sound design, music editing and supervision, mixing, and Foley recording. He is expert certified in Pro Tools Postproduction and teaches certification courses. Mr. Beauchamp continues to work as a freelance sound designer and composer for independent animations.

Table of Contents

1. Foundations of Audio. 2. Foundations of Cinematography. 3. Dialogue (DX). 4. Music (MX). 5. Sound Effects (FX). 6. Stages of Production. 7. Audio Technologies. 8. Sound Design Theory. 9. Picture Edits, Visual Transitions, and Turnover. 10. Foundations for Sound Editing. 11. Dialogue Editing. 12. Music Editing. 13. Sound Editing Workflows. 14. The Final Mix. 15. Case Studies.

Editorial Reviews

"This is one of the few books that talk about music and how to cut it to picture. Beauchamp also lists a number of resources where you can audition and purchase music cues. Ditto sound effects - he lists online libraries that sell sounds, what kind of sounds to get, what to stay away from, and finally how to record your own SFX...Bonus are two detailed case studies along with a DVD that illustrate the process of producing sound for animation. We follow along as the job is assigned and the soundtrack goes into production. The design and creation of dialog, music and SFX stems is diarized and the audio and video for each stage presented on the DVD. This provides a valuable set of examples to model your own process on. In addition, there's an excellent bibliography at the end with titles of other good books on the subject should you wish to pursue your studies further. This book and DVD combo is a highly recommended package for the following areas of study: Animation, Sound Design, and Film Studies at the high school, college, and university levels. And it's a must buy for libraries that collect texts on these subjects."—AWN.com

"A good initial guide for the budding AV artist." - DJ magazine

"An interesting and enjoyable read." - Black Filmmaker

"Designing Sound for Animation is a nuts-and-bolts guide to sound design for animated films, explaining audio software, free downloads, how sound works, and the power of sound when wielded by an animation filmmaker. It also provides varieties of examples for how to use sound to enliven films with professional sound." - Animated News, Oct. 2, 2006

From the Publisher