New NBA Live producer blog

[Mr.Wednesday]

http://blogs.ign.com/NBALive_08/2007/09/24/67185/

[SageInfinite]

Re: New NBA Live producer blog

Sounds good. I'm loving what they did with the commentary.

[BiggD]

Re: New NBA Live producer blog

sounds great to me, i love hearing all the bio's on the players. I can't wait

[edubbs]

Re: New NBA Live producer blog

Live's commentary is great and 2K definately needs to take notes for NBA2K9 in this regard.

[GSW]

Re: New NBA Live producer blog

can someone post it for me.. im at work and cant go to game sites

[younggrease]

Re: New NBA Live producer blog

the commentary sounds great

[ncthompson11]

Re: New NBA Live producer blog

seems to me the demo may have been missing some of the atmosphere from the crowd. They say theres team specific chants, and about how they went to the golden state dallas series and how the crowd never sat down. If the crowd is improved in the final version this will be a cant miss.

[DC]

Re: New NBA Live producer blog

One thing I’d like to mention about speech is that we rarely, if ever, use scripts to get content and you can hear the difference between our game and other sports titles out there

:y4: Shots fired

[Mr.Wednesday]

Re: New NBA Live producer blog

It's a pretty long article.

http://blogs.ign.com/NBALive_08/2007/09/24/67185/

From IGN:

Welcome to the next installment of the NBA Live 08 producer blog. My name is Jeff Sharma and I will be walking you through all of the presentation features in this year’s game. Presentation essentially covers the broadcast elements of an NBA game: cameras, crowd audio, speech commentary, broadcast overlays, post-whistle action and, new to this year, the Sprite Highlight Reel. We have done a lot to improve the in-game experience for fans of our product and I am looking forward to telling you about the cool stuff we did to make the game more enjoyable for you.

CAMERAS

One of the first things you’ll notice when you get into gameplay is the new default camera. For the last few years, Live’s bread and butter gameplay camera showed the action from a baseline vantage point. The baseline camera has its advantages, namely to support a more intuitive controller feel that corresponds exactly to the direction you are moving your player. For example, moving right on the left thumbstick would move your player to the right on screen. Though the baseline camera is still selectable in game, this year we decided to go with more of a broadcast look. As a result, you will see the game from a sideline perspective like you do when watching the NBA on TV.

Replicating a TV broadcast was important to us for two reasons. First, basketball viewers are conditioned to see the game from a sideline perspective and we wanted to immerse the user in that kind of familiar basketball experience when playing our game. Second, the TV angle gave us a lot of information from which to tune our camera system. We invested a lot of time in getting the nuances of a TV broadcast into our camera tool and you will see a lot of subtle movements that show the game just like TNT or ESPN would. For example, when the ball is entered into the post, the camera will zoom in slightly to highlight the post battle like it does on the networks. This, however, is not done at the expense of the inside-outside game as we made sure that you can still see all satellite shooters. Thus, if you draw a double while backing down in the paint, you will be able to view all of your perimeter passing options. Finding just the right balance for how far we should zoom in, when we should zoom in and how quickly the zoom should take place were all factors that we needed to consider to make the camera movement effective but not distracting to your experience.

But it is not just the sideline camera that has been tuned. In fact, all of the 4 major gameplay cameras have been re-worked with our new dampening system. As such, you will notice that the camera movements and transitions track the play more smoothly than ever. Also, as new twists to the 08 cameras, we have added unique inbounds cameras for the 4 major perspectives, have added some interesting angles for CPU free throw attempts, and have added in two new replay angles. On the surface, you would think that re-working cameras is not that difficult a task. In reality, it is very complex and takes a long time to get it right. Our main presentation SE, Andrew Pojar, did a great job in innovating on past cameras and I think you will appreciate his work.

AUDIO – SPEECH

Marv Albert and Steve Kerr were in the booth for us again this year and did a great job. This was the third year in a three year plan for audio after we started from scratch in 06. After getting content for the basics of basketball over the last couple of years, we focused this year on highlighting new gameplay features as well as getting content for some of the more specific elements of basketball that we couldn’t get around to in years past.

One thing I’d like to mention about speech is that we rarely, if ever, use scripts to get content and you can hear the difference between our game and other sports titles out there. In our mind, it ruins the effect of having speech in the game if it sounds like a commentator is reading or saying lines mechanically. We strive to get natural sounding dialog and are ok with having our talent stumble and use fillers in their sentences since that’s how they talk in an actual broadcast. I can’t get into specifics regarding how we get the content, but it is obvious that we are not spoon feeding Marv and Steve lines. Steve has not had one sheet of paper in front of him for years and you can tell that he is commenting on events in our game just like he did on TNT. The result? We feel like the chemistry that Marv and Steve have on TV is replicated in our game and that we have some of the most natural and authentic speech content out there. Not only that, but ad-libbing lines gets us BETTER content because the ideas are generated from professionals, not a script writer. I love hoops and I think I understand quite a bit about the game, but there is no way that my knowledge even comes close to guys who have been around the pro game for years. Give it a listen. I’d love to hear your feedback.

As you can tell from some of the earlier blogs, our game is heavily focused on player differentiation this year and audio is a game area that can really emphasize the differences between players. As a result, instead of hearing “he hits the first….and can’t connect on the second” during a free throw sequence, over the past few years we have been building a library of biographical comments that are interesting and entertaining. We now have over 800 player specific sequences for over 130 players that fill in space that has traditionally not been the most entertaining. So, be sure to listen when a player is shooting free throws because we not only have covered the major stars in the game (Arenas, Nash, Kobe etc) but have also included a number of budding stars (Deng, Josh Smith, Oden, Durant etc.) and role players (Tyson Chandler, Brad Miller, Jarret Jack etc).

You will learn a lot about the players just from listening to those lines. Not only are they very factual (I am still amazed at how both Marv and Steve can accurately recall the career history of a number of guys who have moved around the league a lot), but they give you information that only a select group of people really know. For example, when speaking about Ron Artest, one sample has Marv relating a story about how Ron, in his rookie year, proclaimed that he was going to be an All-Star in front of a few reporters. He had a very good career at St. John’s but there are a lot of players who had solid college careers that didn’t translate into success in the pros. Marv tells that he thought it was just a case of overconfident rookie bravado, but then he saw Artest work on his game and improve to the point where he was at an All-Star level and was impressed. Who could have scripted that?

Additionally, Steve will often relate stories about matching up against certain players. For example, he recalls how Manu Ginobili was so tough to guard in practice not only because he was left handed, but because he also saw unconventional angles to the hoop, likely a by product of playing soccer as a kid. He also talks about how Tim Duncan struggles from the free throw line when he doesn’t lift his heels on his shot. His comic story about how he had to try and stay in front of AI on a number of occasions is classic as well. You really do get an insider perspective on these players rather than just having a stat line read to you. When a guy who has five rings tells personal anecdotes about guys he has played with you tend to listen!

Suffice to say, we now have over 20,000 lines of speech in our game and here is a quick breakdown of some of the new things that Marv and Steve will be talking about during the game to further differentiate individual players:

• Signature Shots – You will hear Marv and Steve comment about player shooting mechanics that match the specific shot animations that we have for many NBA players. For example, you will see KG’s memorable high release and Marv and Steve will call out how his length and shooting high above his head makes it so effortless for him to get his shot off.
• Go To Moves – They will speak specifically about various players employing their Go To moves. For example, Marv will comment on Tony Parker’s “teardrop delivery” in the lane and Steve will follow on how effective that shot is because it really doesn’t allow the help defence to rotate quickly enough to block it.
• Hot Zones – They will praise you for getting players the ball in spots they are comfortable in (the sign of any great point guard/distributor) while chiding you for not taking those areas away on defence if your opponent gets an easy shot in a hot zone.

Some other cool speech items we added this year are:
• Critical Free Throw Commentary – we spent a significant amount of time working to nail the importance of free throws down the stretch in a close game. In all basketball video games, you often can’t tell the difference between free throws taken in the first quarter and free throws that are going to decide the outcome of the game late in the fourth. We came up with a huge matrix of possibilities and now have speech that is contextually accurate for most situations involving key free throws late in a close game. Marv will comment on how the score is impacted with makes or misses and Steve will give analysis on the shots as well as what a team should do next.
• Post Moves – They will give insight into the savvy that is required for great low-post play: the ability to get position on the block, receive the entry pass and then turn and shoot quickly before your defender can react or getting your man off balance with some McHale-esque counter moves.

We also had Ernie Johnson and Greg Anthony back in the booth to record new All-Star Weekend content and we are, as always, very pleased with the results. The Sprite Slam Dunk Contest and 3 Pt Shootout are very fun events and the commentary definitely fits the environment as Ernie and Greg will give you props when you do something great. But beware, they will let you hear about it if you mess up—especially in the Dunk Contest. If you haven’t played the mode much, it is worth it. Not only is the gameplay a ton of fun, but the speech will likely make you laugh out loud at points. Enjoy!

(Big thanks to Antoine Peltier, the audio lead, and Hagen Tham, the audio SE for putting in a ton of hours to help make the speech sound great).

AUDIO – SOUND EFFECTS AND ENVIRONMENT

The key thing to note about our non-speech content (crowd, sound effects, player-coach chatter, ditties and music) is that ALL of it is new. Not only that, but all of it comes from real NBA games. We actually went to NBA venues to record our source—none of it was simulated in an artificial environment. We have regular season and playoff games that were recorded in Cleveland, Seattle, San Antonio and Golden State. Most notable is Golden State, since we recorded the Warrior’s epic game 6 win over the Mavs in the playoffs last year. If you remember that game, the crowd didn’t really sit down for the entire second half!

With all of those recordings, we were able to get new sound effects, team specific chants, and variations on our defensive and offensive crowd chants.

The second note of interest is our dynamic mix which changes during the game based on camera perspective. As such, if you are in the gameplay camera, you can only hear hints of the on court speech. If you cut to a timeout sequence, however, the player speech comes to the forefront and is much louder. Our non-speech Sound Artist, Zabi Khan, is very talented and has done a great job in replicating an NBA arena and broadcast environment.

AUDIO – SOUNDTRACK

This year’s soundtrack for Live features 19 songs – including 5 debut tracks – with a solid international mix of hip-hop, rock, reggae, R&B and more. Hip-hop is the foundation of the soundtrack, but we wanted to diversify our offerings to have the music be appealing to all of our fans.

Some highlights are tracks by old school legends DJ Jazzy Jeff (featuring CL Smooth) and KRS-One & Marley Marl as well as some cool hits from underground hip-hop players The Cool Kids and Kid Beyond. Norway ravers Datarock and New York City’s acclaimed dance-punk project LCD Soundsystem are in the mix as well and the NBA’s increasing European presence is felt via cuts from Britain’s DJ Vadim, R&B sensation Joss Stone and Ska kings Dub Pistols. The song that probably represents the international flavor of the soundtrack the best is “Well Alright”, a collaboration between Swedish rockers The Hives and the multi-platinum Pharrell Williams.

Further complimenting these songs is an exclusive selection of 15 instrumental tracks produced by New York underground hip-hop legend Agallah the Don Bishop. A veteran behind both the boards and the microphone, Agallah has produced beats for hip-hop's elite, with a who's who of MC's on his resume: Big Punisher, Mobb Deep, Saigon, Dipset, Busta Rhymes and EPMD to name only a handful. Following in the footsteps of other heavy-hitting hiphop producers who've crafted the soundscape to our title, such as Just Blaze and Cool N Dre, Agallah hit the studio hard and crafted an entire album worth of incredible compositions to highlight our load screen segments as well as our in-game ditties.


OTHER NOTABLES

Post Whistle Scenes – When play stops momentarily, we really wanted to capture the emotion of the event that just happened (ex foul, turnover, time out etc) since turning the ball over late in a close game, for example, is a situation where players are certainly going to react. We really wanted to bring the players to life in a manner that doesn’t interrupt gameplay and felt that we were successful. Emotion is such a big part of basketball and our animators (Simon Unger, Tony Cranfield-Rose and Matt Fonseca) have done a great job with the scenes. You should be sure to check out the pre-game intro sequence prior to the tip-off as well without skipping any of it. You get a great sense of anticipation for the game through the camera cuts and various shots.

Post Basket Celebrations – We have included contextual celebrations after big plays for players based on their temperament. For example, Rasheed Wallace is going to be more expressive than Steve Nash in most situations. We also captured a number of signature player celebrations including Vince Carter’s “motorcycle” and Gilbert Arenas’ “palms up”.

Sprite Highlight Reel – All the best plays from the game can be seen from multiple angles in a new post-game highlight reel which adds a significant element to the end of game flow.

So that’s what is new with Presentation. We are passionate about this game and seek to improve on our work each year. If you have any suggestions for us, please pass them on.

Enjoy the game!

Jeff

[BiggD]

Re: New NBA Live producer blog

I hope this isn't the exciting news we were suppose to get today...

[NBASLAM2001]

Re: New NBA Live producer blog

THIS IS AMAZING STUFF.

[GSW]

Re: New NBA Live producer blog

thanks wednesday..

[Jano]

Re: New NBA Live producer blog

This sounds great can't wait to see/hear all of this stuff in action once the game is released.

[RubenDouglas]

Re: New NBA Live producer blog

sounds great. im still skeptical about the gameplay... andi hate the dark arenas. other than that, its stuff like that that creates the competition for the other sports title to compete with this brand of commentary, without losing a touch on gameplay, which is tough enough as it is.