VR Video360 Hydraulic Ride – VR Spatial Audio Director

I was brought onto this project after initial placeholder audio had already been implemented, with the brief to evaluate the experience and elevate it to a finished, showcase-ready standard.

After reviewing the existing material, I identified several key areas for improvement. These included casting and recording real actors to strengthen emotional connection with the audience, designing a full spatial soundscape to bring the world to life, and sourcing and editing four distinct music pieces to guide the emotional arc of the journey. These musical elements were anchored both diegetically and non-diegetically within the experience.

I also composed bespoke musical moments, including a short violin performance near the end of the ride, to bridge diegetic and non-diegetic elements and provide a cohesive emotional transition.

On this project I worked across multiple roles, including spatial sound designer, audio director, music director, composer, voice talent scout and supervisor, and spatial mix engineer.

My approach began with understanding the existing ride material and identifying where it fell short. A key issue was the lack of distinction between head-locked and spatial audio, which was reducing immersion. I re-authored the audio pipeline to support both head-locked and world-based spatial audio simultaneously, preserving clarity while maintaining immersion throughout the experience.

Late in the schedule, during hardware testing, the team discovered issues with the video playback. With only three days remaining before a major VR expo, the audio needed to be revisited despite months of locked timing. I re-authored spatial pathing, re-edited and re-timed the music, and delivered a new final build in time for the showcase. The revised experience was successfully presented at the expo.

VR BEE RIDE – CENTRAL PARK

Hardware Motion Ride

  • 2022

Platform:

  • Video 360 & Hydralic Hardware

Role: Spatial Audio Designer & Post-Production Lead

Owned end-to-end spatial audio for a narrative VR 360 experience, from early creative direction through final delivery under late-stage technical constraints.

Responsibilities & Impact

  • Designed and animated ambisonic spatial audio for 360 video, including diegetic and non-diegetic elements to support story flow.

  • Curated, edited, and integrated four music tracks, re-structuring them to match evolving picture edits and narrative pacing.

  • Sourced and directed professional voice actors (including Lani Minella) to replace key AI-generated voices, improving character quality and audience engagement.

  • Delivered final spatial mix and master, combining head-locked elements with Ambix TOA ambisonic formats.

  • Assembled, tested, and validated audio against final video across hardware targets.

Critical Problem-Solving

  • Rescued audio late in production after final video length, scene timing, and spatial pathing changed post-picture lock, requiring:

    • Full music re-edit

    • Re-animation of spatial audio

    • A second complete spatial mix

  • Adapted the audio design to hardware limitations discovered three days before a major VR expo, redesigning timing and spatial movement to maintain impact and clarity.

  • Led Meta 360 Reality Lab authoring, ensuring delivery met platform expectations despite late technical changes.

TESTIMONIAL

“Yannis did an outstanding job as the sound editor on this project. Despite working with limited resources, he managed to deliver top-quality work that significantly elevated the overall production.

His creativity, technical skills, and problem-solving approach made a huge difference. He’ll definitely be one of our top choices for similar projects in the future. It was a real pleasure working with him”

 

Max AKAL
– VR Motion Simulator Rides