Haven’t heard about Nexus yet? Come see what all the fuss is about here!
Welcome!
What’s up Nexus Collective! We’re all here to level-up our production skills and it’s high time to get rollin’. The best way to improve is to do some work that pushes you. It could be unfamiliar and new territory, it could be some form of artistic restriction, it could be a deadline. It could be all of those at the same time (we’re not that mean…or are we???).
I’m a big fan of incremental improvement and building skills one step at a time. With that in mind, our first challenge will be quick and dirty. Simple, but not easy.
Buckle up and read on friends!
Your Mission, Should You Choose to Accept it:
Our first challenge will be a sound design challenge. Doing sound effects and music for video games or motion pictures can be a great way to make a living in the industry. I know a lot of people who do this.
At Warp Academy, we use animated intro, transition and outro bumpers for all our videos (see here for an example: https://warpacademy.com/bpm-syncing-reverbs-tutorial/). Although we already have dope audio for them, we’re very curious to see if you can up the ante and do even better!
Your mission will be “music for picture” where you’ll design entirely new audio to drop in under the intro, transition, and outro bumpers. Your audio should be sized pretty close to the length of the bumpers and match the timing perfectly. Bonus points if you use things like reverse reverbs or crescendo/diminuendo effects to sweep into and out of the bumpers to help them blend well with adjacent clips.
Important: Keep in mind, we’re an electronic music school, so your audio should match that vibe. Gangster rap or classical ensembles probably won’t get you a nod here.
Creative guidance: Warp Academy is all about the future, space, sci-fi, technology. Use that as inspiration. Get your sounds to jive with that and you’ll be on target.
Restrictions
Mostly open season here folks! You can use any DAW, any plugins, any samples or synth presets*. Your own recordings, voice, field recordings etc.
*You must not violate any copyrighted material (that means no sampling other people’s work). You must have full rights and license to use the sounds you integrate into the entry.
Ready to Roll?
Download the video files here:
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*By downloading these media files, you acknowledge and agree that you are permitted to use these exclusively for the purposes of this challenge and for no other purpose. You shall not post them publicly online except in the Nexus group.
The Winners
Judges will be Warp Academy team members. 3 winners will be chosen. First, second, and third place.
What do you win? A panda trained to chop samples in Ableton Live! Kidding. Pandas cost a FORTUNE to feed…who needs that. Our first place winner will get his/her work featured on our Youtube channels to nearly 80,000 subscribers. We’ll also write an article on you in our blog as featured members. Here’s an example: https://warpacademy.com/featured-member-johnny-zana/
If we EXTRA love your work, we may even invite you to join the Warp Academy sound design team and do a pack with us. No guarantees, but we’re open to the idea for the right person.
Deadline
Final entries must be submitted by Wed. Feb 28th, 11:59 pm PST time zone.
How to Submit
- You will need to create audio for all 3 videos (the intro, the transition, and the outro).
- Post your work as videos to a free streaming service like Youtube. Make sure your video is set to “Unlisted” so it won’t go public, but people with the links can see them.
- Send the 3 links to Warp Academy support, with the subject: Nexus Challenge #1.
- You can also post your videos or works in progress in the Nexus group on Facebook.
Important
By entering you understand and agree to these terms. You also agree that if you’re chosen as a winner, you will send in your full project files and high-resolution audio exports to Warp Academy. These files will be delivered to Warp Academy’s specifications as reasonably requested, and delivered within 7 calendar days of being contacted as a winner. Warp Academy shall have the exclusive right to use the submitted media files in its videos, marketing material, social media and anywhere else deemed useful.
Haven’t heard about Nexus yet? Come see what all the fuss is about here!
