Avatar: The Way of Water – the official introduction:
As we continue our 2023 Awards coverage, today we are talking to the sound team behind another film on the Best Sound Academy Awards shortlist — “Avatar: The Way of Water.”
Joining us is four-time Academy Award winning re-recording mixer, supervising sound editor, and sound designer Christopher Boyes; supervising sound editor Dick Bernstein; re-recording mixer Michael Hedges; sound mixer Julian Howarth; and supervising sound editor Gwendolyn Yates Whittle.
As you’ll hear about in detail in this interview, every member of the sound and music teams needed to work very closely together, in a concerted effort, to make the sound of this film as clean and as clear as possible. Or as James Cameron would often put it, “clarity is king.” Easier said than done with a movie this complex.
“In the end, Avatar — visually — is such a complicated image. And I think the human brain can easily take that in and enjoy it. But we — delivering the sound of Avatar — have to work against that, because the human brain can look at all those beautiful visuals, but can’t necessarily process a thousand different sonic notions. Really, we wanna simplify it and get the sound to speak to the story that we’re trying to tell. And it’s not part of the story, it doesn’t belong in the track.”
Bonus: More on the sound of the Avatar franchise:
The music of Avatar: Way of Water:
Composing the score for Avatar: The Way of Water – with Simon Franglen:
Hear the score for Avatar: Way of Water:
Gwendolyn Yates Whittle: Bringing clarity to dialogue in Pandora:
Behind the sound of the original Avatar film:
The Dolby Institute Podcast and The Soundworks Collection are part of the Audio Podcast Alliance, featuring a hand-picked selection of the very best podcasts about sound. Check out the full list of Audio Podcast Alliance members below, and click a on podcast name to go directly to their latest episode:Please share this:
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Cinematic & Trailer Sound Effects Magic – Alchemy Play Track 4213 sounds includedFrom: $135From: $108SONIC SPELLS WITH REAL PERSONALITY MAGIC – ALCHEMY is a professional sound effects library built from real chemical reactions and elemental forces. It delivers short, character-rich magic sound effects perfect for spellcasting, magical UI design, and fantasy storytelling. Designed to sit cleanly in a mix and shimmer with personality, these spell sounds are ideal for games, trailers, audio dramas and more. Real reactions, recorded with obsessive detail.
Magic Sounds from Real Chemical ReactionsNo digital fakery here. Every sound in MAGIC – ALCHEMY began as a live experiment — alcohol burning in jars, butane growling through pipes, fuses igniting, water swirling in glass. These are true-to-life textures, captured in a lab-grade recording setup. The result? Magical sound with depth, realism, and spark..
Short, Sharp, and Ready to UseThese are not long, cinematic flourishes. This library is about immediacy — short, dry, punchy magic effects that are easy to slot into your project. Ideal for game asset design, magical feedback sounds, and trailer moments where clarity counts.
Three Spell Flavours: Holy, Cursed, NeutralNeed a healing chime, a cursed hex, or something more ambiguous? The Designed section is grouped into Holy, Cursed, and Neutral categories — giving you emotional options that match your scene’s intent, whether you’re crafting a fantasy RPG or a subtle magical interaction.
Built for Professionals, Whatever You CreateWhether you’re layering magic for a fantasy film, adding interactive audio to a mobile game, or creating rich textures for audiobooks or theatre, MAGIC – ALCHEMY fits right in. It’s mix-ready, flexible, and full of sonic character.
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Forest and Mountains features nature and wildlife sounds from California, Washington, and Oregon. Included are a number of bird recordings and forest ambiences, along with some insects, winds, rivers, and rain.
These were recorded over the past three years in various forests, foothills, and mountain environments. A lot of these took place in or near Southern California’s Angeles Forest and San Gabriel Mountains, an area that spans 1200 Square Miles and varies vastly in terrain.
Also included are some sounds from Northern California, along with recordings from the Pacific Northwest.
The recording techniques for this varied as sometimes I went with the recorders running unattended to capture night, dawn and early morning. Other times I’d record while being close by.
Working as a Sound Effects Editor I’ve curated this collection with Editors in mind. Background Ambiences and Spotted FX can really bring a location to life and give it so much story and character and that was a lot of the inspiration behind putting this all together.
The Locations
California (61 Files) – This is where a majority of the sounds from this library were recorded and specifically Southern California. Variety of areas and different environments, mostly around Angeles Forest, from Lower Elevation Foothills to more rugged mid-elevation Mountain Canyons and then much Higher Elevation and more remote terrain. Also included are a few recordings from the Eastern Sierras and Northern California.
Washington (19 Files) – Southern WA in Gifford Pinchot Forest and various Northwest Forest areas near Puget Sound.
Oregon (16 Files) – Lakeside Recordings in forest and marsh at Klamath Lake in SE Oregon.
The Birds
Prominent / Specific Birds (36) (Closer Mic Perspective and more detailed) (* denotes multiple versions)
Acorn Woodpecker, Barred Owl, Black-headed Grosbeak, California Towhee, *Canadian Geese, *Fox Sparrow, *Great Horned Owl, *House Wren, Northern Flicker, Oak Titmouse, Pacific Wren, Pileated Woodpecker, *Raven, Robin, *Song Sparrow, Spotted Towhee, Swainson’s Thrush
Other Birds Featured (17) (Mixed together from various perspectives, calm to busy depending on time of day, and then closer to more medium and distant sounds.)
Acorn Woodpecker, American Coot, California Quail, California Towhee, Cassin’s Finch, Fox Sparrow, Great Horned Owl, Hose Wren, Mallard, Mountain Chickadee, Northern Flicker, Nuttall’s Woodpecker, Oak Titmouse, Pied-billed Grebe, Common Poorwill, Raven, Red-tailed Hawk, Spotted Towhee, Steller’s Jay, Western Tanager, Western Wood-Pewee, White-breasted Nuthatch, Wilson’s Warbler, Wrentit, Yellow-throated Blackbird, Zone-tailed Hawk
General Forest (9) – A mix of some wildlife (Chipmunk, Deer, Bullfrogs), and more general lighter forest ambiences.
Insects (7) – Crickets from various perspectives and different forests along with some Grasshoppers.
Rain (4) Light to heavier in a canyon with dense vegetation, some with distant birds.
Rivers (5) Smaller detailed creeks to faster moving rivers.
Wind (11) A mix of calm to heavier with gusts, vegetation, and tree creaks.Metadata
Detailed with descriptions and markers and photos to easily navigate and allow for options when searching. UCS was used to categorize and various bird species are identified. I’ve also labeled the metadata with what I consider Lower Elevation (up to 1500 feet), Middle Elevation (2000-5000 feet), and Higher Elevation (above 5000 feet). Included are the season of the year which was mostly Spring and Summer. Using Open-Tier in Soundminer you can use these to help get a bit more specific to particular environments.The Gear
Sound Devices MixPre-3 & 6 | Zoom F3 & 6 | Sony PCM-D100
Mics
Sennheiser MKH 8020 | Sennheiser MKH 8040 |
Sennheiser MKH 30 | Clippy EM 272
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Game Audio Packs - Game Sound Effects Libraries General UI Sounds Play Track 136 sounds included $10Hello Creators!
Here’s my new pack: “General UI Sounds“
I wanted to create a sound pack to cover different situations in an user interface.
I hope you enjoy implementing this sounds in your project!Making-Off
All this sounds were originally recorded with a Zoom H6 (cardiod microphone), and were processed in Logic Pro X, mainly editing the recorded material but also I used the Logix Pro X sampler.
Some considerations
1. Keep in mind this sounds can be used in a variety of situations, I put a name to the SFX but this doesn’t mean it can’t be used in other contexts.
2. The sounds are in 44.1Khz/16 bit format. I have the original files at 96khz/24bit also, if you need this format, please contact me.
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