Sound Designer
James Butchart
I am a highly motivated sound designer with AAA experience currently working at Frontier Developments. While at Frontier I have worked on several games creating and implementing game assets with Reaper and Wwise.
Show Reel
Game Credits
About Me
I am James, a sound designer working in the AAA games industry, currently working for Frontier DevelopmentsI received my MA in Sound Design from The University of Edinburgh in 2019. Before working in game audio I worked as a QA engineer at multiple companies including Foundry and MIDAS but my passion has always been video game audio.
I have extensive experience with Reaper, iZotope and Wwise. With other knowledge of Unity, Ambisonics, Field Recording, Virtual Reality and Davinci Resolve.Since 2022 I have been working on Frontier's varied game portfolio including Planet Coaster 2, Planet Zoo, Jurassic Evolution 2, Warhammer Age of Sigmar Realms of Ruin and F1 Manager 23.In my spare time you'll either find me playing in a Brass Band or with my head under a car. Cars is something I've always had an interest in particularly from the sound perspective from the screaming V10's to the gurgly American V8's I'm a fan of them all.
My Work
Planet Coaster 2
Sound Design & Implementation (Wwise)
More information once the game releases
Realms of Ruin
Kurdoss Valentian
Sound Design and implementation (Wwise)
This video demonstrates the work that I did on Kurdoss Valentien the Craven King for Realms of Ruin. Created the foley, movement and attacks for Kurdoss. I also organised a recording session with my colleagues to record my euphonium and trumpet in different acoustics which was then given to Mathew Mainprize to create the sound of the heralds.
Diaglogue Design
For Realms of Ruin I worked on the VO and the VC for the Blue Horrors. This involved taking audio that the dialogue team had recorded with Monster Factory and layering and processing to try and create inflexions to show the motivation and feelings of the Horrors of Tzeench.
Planet Zoo Tropical Pack
Sound Design & Implementation (Wwise)
For the Tropical Pack, I created the sounds for the Red River Hog. This involved researching what specific sounds were unique to the hog and how to replicate them. Using a combination of pigs, boars and other swine I created a realistic rendition of the Red River Hog.
Planet Zoo Arid Pack
Sound Design & Implementation (Wwise)
For the Arid pack, I was tasked with creating the sounds for the African Crested Porcupine. During the research phase, I couldn't find any videos of porcupines close enough to get a true feeling of what they sounded like so I reached out to Edinburgh Zoo to organise a recording session with their two porcupines Rick and Zahara. This was invaluable information and they also gave me a box of quills that I could then use to replicate the rustling of their quills as they move. I also noticed how loud their eating was and decided to replicate that myself. (see below video)
Planet Zoo Oceania Pack
Sound Design & Implementation (Wwise)
For the Oceania pack, I worked on the North Island Brown Kiwi researching, creating assets and implementing them. Due to the Kiwi being quite elusive, there isn't a huge amount of video footage of them with sound. With what I had and research into birds in the same family I used a combination of different birds to create as close of a realistic representation as I could for this great little bird.
Planet Zoo Eurasia Pack
Sound Design & Implementation (Wwise)
In the Eurasia pack I worked on the Takin. This is a uncommon animal from Asia so needed a lot of research on and one of the best ways I did this was with a visit to the Highland Wildlife Park in the Cairngorms. This allowed us to get close to the animals and ask the keepers questions to try and get the best representation of them in the game. Due to the lack of audio recordings a lot of the asset creation was made with bison and other large bovine recordings.
Photos fromn Takin Recording
Planet Zoo Barnyard Pack
Sound Design & Implementation (Wwise)
In the Barnyard pack I worked on the Highland Cattle. This is
a great animal to have worked on as they may look like shaggy cows but do make some unique sounds. They have a high pitched call when they're stressed which I made sure to replicate as close as possible to create an authentic animal. However, this "coo" does make the traditional moo that they're known for so was a nice blend of familiar and new sounds.
Planet Zoo Zookeeper Pack
Sound Design & Implementation (Wwise)
In the Barnyard pack I worked on the Pallas Cat, Hamadryas Baboon, Markhor and the anniversary animal African Leopard. This pack was challenging to work on due to the volume of animals we needed to get completed. I focused on specific a specific unique auditory characteristic of each animal while also reusing similar sounds.
Jurassic World Evolution
Prehisotric Marine Pack
Sound Design & Implementation (Wwise)
For the Marine Reptile pack I worked on the Shonisaurus. This was an interesting reptile to work on as it is a larger variation of an existing reptile within the game, the Ichthyosaurus. I had to keep a similar feel to their vocalisations but still make it unique and much larger as they're around five times the size of the Ichthyosaurus. Using a combination of whales, walruses and other large aquatic mammals I created a realistic portrayal of the Shonisaurus whilst also keeping it within the Jurassic franchise.
Jurassic World Evolution
Park Managers' Collection Pack
Sound Design & Implementation (Wwise)
In the Park Mangers' pack, I worked on the Megalodon. This pack was challenging to come up with something unique as sharks are known as the silent hunters as they cant vocalise at all. I looked at other megalodon creations and didn't think it sat in the Jurassic universe. So using a mixture of alligator and other low rumbling sounds I tried to create a unique foreboding.
Jurassic World Evolution
Cretaceous Predator Pack
Sound Design & Implementation (Wwise)
In the Cretaceous Predator pack, I worked on the Concavenator. The challenge for this pack was to create a sonically unique theropod as there are so many in the Jurassic franchise. With my knowledge of animals through Planet Zoo I created a dinosaur that has its own personality while staying within the Jurassic Park universe. For the main roar I took inspiration from my first DLC pack at frontier and based it on a pigs roar. Applying multiple layers and processing allowed me to create a terrifying and individual sound for the Concaventator.