Recording real gun sounds

[DPMS 0]

I am thinking about bringing some recording equipment to the range to record the sounds of my rifles. I would like to give the sounds to the ofp editing community to use them in their addons. I have a small sound mixer, a pretty good microphone, and I will use my laptop to record. If anyone has tips for getting the best sound, I would like to hear them.

The rifles I have are:

L1A1 7.62*54nato/.308win(FAL)

AK47 7.62*39

AR15 5.56*45 (semi auto civilian M16)

K98 8mm(ww1/ww2 standard German rifle)

Mosin Nagant 7.62*54R(ww1/ww2 standard Russian rifle)

My pistols are:

SIG P220 .45acp

Berretta model 84 .380auto

S&W model 15 .38 Special

Walther P22 .22lr also a Mossberg 500 12guage shotgun

I can borrow some rifles from an uncle

M1 Garand 30.06

M1 carbine 30carbine

SKS 7.62*39

the ww2 japanese bolt action, I forget what it is

anyway, I just want to make very high quality and realistic sound for my favorite game.

[Nathanz 0]

the ww2 japanese bolt action, I forget what it is

Arisaka rifle ?

Sounds really cool and those ww2 weapons could be usefull to the inv44 team

[USMC Sniper 0]

Really cool! You have a really nice arsenal of weapons btw.

[HotShot 0]

If anyone has tips for getting the best sound, I would like to hear them.

Well if you're recording on a lap top, then you will be bale to play the sounds back and hear what they will sound like on a computer, so record the guns from different distances, see which sounds best. I think you should record it from where your ear's would be so cause thats where you'll hear the sound in OFP. Also i dont know about weapons, but if they have single, burst, automatic etc then you should record each of those, not just record a single shot and edit it into 3 shots or automatic.

But if i were recording then the most important thing for me is to record from different distances and then play them back so you get the best quality, cause although i said it would be good to record from ear level, it might not sound right from that distance. Also it would be good if you could record other stuff while you're at it, enviromental sounds and such to add as background noise for missions.

Hope it all goes well though.

P.S Is this a military firing range? Or a civillian range?

[DPMS 0]

I fire at a sportsmans club

All my rifles a semiauto, I don't have tens of thousands of dollars for machine guns, not yet

I think I will have the microphone on a stand right above my head, the mixer has trim controls with a wide range so that I can make the mic have very low sensitivity, otherwise it would just be lots of distortion

also for those who don't shoot, when you are wearing ear plugs different rifles don't sound extremely different, mostly very loud pops

[PFC_Mike 2]

Do soldiers wear earplugs?

[DPMS 0]

I would, but I guess in battle you want to hear commands but on a firing range I would think they would wear them.

When I make the recordings I will try and simulate what you would hear if you had ear plugs on, and release those sounds along with the regular ones

[Acecube 0]

One thing I figured with custom gun shot recordings is that the surroundings are vital!

This means it makes a really BIG difference if the range is completely open, between concrete walls (most often in here in germany) or even a complete indoor range.

The BIS original sounds for the G36 and Steyr AUG are close to perfect for my judgement (I heard them in real life).

Still I couldn't tell how they were recorded. To get "all" of the sound you would prolly need a huge dynamics range. Just imagine a .357mag comes up to 165dB!!!!

For now I can make only one suggestion: Try recording with a very small mic under your ear protectors (the head phone like)

Maybe this works out well in the end!?

What I can tell about gun shots without ear protection is, that it makes some sort of naturall clipping if you now what I mean?

On our range there's rarely someone with earplugs as they don't protect you sufficiently (especially on the indoor range) because the area around you ear also takes a whole LOT of the pressure. So be smart and get you self a good head phone ear protection!

Another idea: My hearing protection has got microphones outside and speakers inside (stereo) with adjustable volume. This way you can normaly hear every thing, but you will protected against the high level sounds. How bout taking the electrical signal from these speakers?

Cheers

[DPMS 0]

I wear earmuffs when shooting pistols but they get in the way of rifle butts so I use plugs. The range I use is flat, surrounded by forest with a very large hill at the end of the range which is 200 yards. I don't hear much echoing, I think the sounds would match most of the terrain in the game. As for recording, I think if I turn the trim on the mixer all the way down I should get an accurate recording without any distortion, but your advice has given me some ideas, thanks

[DPMS 0]

I was wondering if its possible in ofp to have different sounds for first person and third person shooting. Also can different sounds be used in reloading, for example reloading when you have a round left in the chamber will sound different than when reloading an empty rifle. Is there a way to make a rifle sound different from a distance. I want to make sounds that will work best with ofp engine.

[Eviscerator 0]

I was wondering if its possible in ofp to have different sounds for first person and third person shooting. Also can different sounds be used in reloading, for example reloading when you have a round left in the chamber will sound different than when reloading an empty rifle. Is there a way to make a rifle sound different from a distance. I want to make sounds that will work best with ofp engine.

You can only define one firing sound and one reloading sound (and one dry sound, ie dead mans click), OFP's engine handles the change in sounds from first/third person and the distance away from the player, and also the direction the sound is coming from, although it's not perfect...

[NZXSHADOWS 0]

I bet you would get better sound if you was out in an open field.That would be more realistic than being in a room of some sort.Just my thoughts on the matter.

[Cpt. FrostBite 0]

Quote[/b] ]I bet you would get better sound if you was out in an open field

but don't just start shooting on some open field. Some people might not appreciate it

[Renagade 0]

hell, just shoot them too and u get the bullet hitting bone and gunshot sounds in one day out

[NZXSHADOWS 0]

Just shoot at the ground at a far.That way youll know where your rounds went

[-Parabellum- 0]

I wouldn't recommend recording the weapon any closer than 10 to 15 feet from the weapon. If you record too close, the SPL's will ruin the incoming sound, even if you turn the trim down very low. You'll end up with a very muddy fwump, rather than a nice sounding weapon firing.

[DPMS 0]

Is it possible to assign a sound for the selector ie single to burst to auto. The AK selector is loud enough to warrent a sound for it, and the m16 and fal are plenty audible as well.

[Sxep 0]

You should record an impact sound too

Just hold your micro near the Target

[Sxep 0]

I bet you would get better sound if you was out in an open field.That would be more realistic than being in a room of some sort.Just my thoughts on the matter.

But the micro would get the Hall sound when you shoot it in an open field, or would it?

But hes right, it would fit better in OPF because its mainly an open Arena.

[DPMS 0]

Where I shoot is an open field so that takes care of that, I like the impact sound idea, maybe a good wireless mic protected by a steel plate next to the target, I can think of wood, thin metal to sound like a car being hit, glass. I wonder what a watermellon would sound like. I'm gonna work on that.

Anyway I set up a temporary web page for my sounds, one so far of an ak47 bolt in operation, so I can get some feedback. http://192.168.0.3/sounds.html

-Greg M.

[Sxep 0]

I could imagine that a watermelon would sound like a impact in Flesh.

Hmm or try a T-bone steak