special circumstances to get this approved. And we managed to get that.” According to reports in the local press, some


local residents did have reservations about PitStop expanding its South Yorkshire operations. Close to a residential area, the two story building, set to comprise two recording and seven mixing rooms, will be boast state-of-the-art field recording facilities, the noise from which which was understandably among a number of objections raised by almost 50 local residents, as well as the worry that a precedent might be set for further encroachment into other greenbelt areas. In response, Sanderon delivered an impassioned plea to councillors, saying “It’s a precedent of a brighter future. it’s a precedent of how a small business with genuine good business intentions can invest in Barnsley.”


IF YOU BUILD IT… When it opens towards the end of 2023, PitStop’s Sound Design Creation Centre will provide three broad overlapping functions. One is as a hub for a whole range of audio projects simultaneously: “The facility will have the ability to actually house multiple teams, do multiple projects, and at the same time allow other people to come in and use the facilities as well.” In addition, says Sanderson, “it’s going to be something that sits within the community in terms of trying to attract new people into the audio gaming arena, but also be able to really further and expand what our creative potential is, what the greater capabilities are, within audio creation.” The most ambitious aim and arguably the


least well thought through (more of a hope, you might say), is for the centre to facilitate something altogether different happening, something unexpected. “For years, PitStop has been working on a 360


approach to audio. Not only do we offer the voice, voice services, music services, and sound creation services, but we also offer the implementation side of that as well. What it means is this will be a facility where we’ll be able to experiment even further with audio creativity, and processes. The whole intention is to try and create an environment which further enhances the quality of audio and games. To be able to work closer in terms of working the music with the actual sound design. And also be able to use the sound design as much as a creative tool as you would do the music to actually fuse together better.”


HOLISTIC POPULATION PitStop Productions’ South Yorkshire headquarters (itself expanded in 2020) currently houses 40 people, a number that will more than double in size in the wake of the new facility opening next year. The overarching idea is to provide a centre of excellence where new and experienced audio specialists can bounce of one another “What we’re really trying to do is create a


facility where an individual’s talent can get better and better,” says Sanderson. “They can have that creative ability to pull it together. So within this facility, you may have a group of musicians coming in, working together with sound design and creation, and they’re incorporating the script at the same time, and being able to do that in one facility on multiple projects.” According to Sanderson, allowing new and


established game audio talent to work together is not something the industry has been terribly good at. “What you find is that you’ve got graduates coming out of universities, and they either get the opportunity to go work for a developer, or they have very little choice but to become a freelancer,” he says. “That’s a little bit like passing your driving test and becoming an F1 driver. What we’re trying to do is contribute to the employment process in terms of gaming audio, from that gap from completing a degree and going into a job.”


UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE PitStop has long partnered with local colleges and universities and it was natural that many of them


April 2022 MCV/DEVELOP | 45


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