Max Hayes of Epic Games explains the Quartz subsystem of the Unreal Game Engine for the April 2024 PNW Section meeting.
The AES PNW Section's March-April meeting presented Max Hayes of Epic Games discussing sound for games, specifically the Quartz subsystem of the Unreal Engine. The hybrid meeting was held live at the Digipen Institute of Technology (Redmond, WA) and on Zoom. PNW Chair Dan Mortensen began by announcing the next meeting (on the BSO with AES Fellow Shawn Murphy), The attendance count was 9+ AES members out of 24 on Zoom and 6 out of 24 onsite.
Lawrence Schwedler, PNW Treasurer and Digipen faculty, had organized the meeting and introduced Max Hayes.
Max started with a short Unreal Engine video showing a game weapon firing balls and hitting objects, with sounds. Then he showed a clip with some Quartz sound work. He explained what a Game Engine is: a collection of software systems working together to create a dynamic, user-driven experience. Max explained how Game Engines work, then focused on the sound software. He went through gameplay and sound design factors and how Quartz helps design a compelling soundtrack despite sound quantization problems by acting as a scheduler. Then, sound can help drive the visuals of gameplay.
He showed several clips of examples, including Fortnite and some animations from the artist Deadmau5. Many audience members, especially Digipen students, showed a keen interest during the Q&A.
Both onsite and Zoom participants all introduced themselves, and Zoom attendees were welcomed to chat online after the presentation. Media will be available on the PNW Section's "archive" web pages: https://www.aes-media.org/sections/pnw/pnwrecaps/
About Max Hayes
Max Hayes is an Audio Engine Programmer at Epic Games with a passion for building tools and technologies to facilitate the creation of immersive and innovative audio experiences. He studied Music Production and Sound Design as dual major at Berklee College of Music before transferring to DigiPen institute of Technology. There he graduated with a degree in Computer Science and Digital Audio.
Along the way Max has worked as a front-of-house mix engineer, freelance composer for independent films, and an instructor for both guitar performance and music production. Through these experiences he acquired a deep understanding of the creative and technical aspects of audio, which he now applies to his work at Epic Games.
At Epic, Max contributes to core audio engine technologies in the Unreal Engine including caching systems, Ambisonics decoding, MetaSounds, DSP optimizations, and the Quartz scheduling system.
