DAD 422
Audio Production III
project 05 · week 13

Final Project

assigned Nov 16
due Dec 11
Your choice

Final Project Proposal and Guidelines

Ambisonics or Dolby Atmos Immersive Audio

You’ll create an immersive audio piece using either Ambisonics or Dolby Atmos. This is your chance to bring together the skills we’ve explored in class, whether you’re making a musical composition or designing sound for a short film. The process has two parts:

  1. A proposal (30 points) that lays out your concept, goals, and approach.
  2. The final project (100 points) that develops your idea into a finished piece.

We’re using a goal-based (contract) grading approach—your proposal sets the goals, and your work is evaluated on how you work toward them and reflect on what you’ve learned. See How the grade is produced below for exactly how that becomes a grade.

Part 1: Proposal (30 points)

Your proposal is a roadmap for your project. It should help you think through your creative and technical plan before you start. You don’t have to follow it perfectly, but your final project will be partly evaluated on how it grows from what you outline here.

The proposal earns its 30 points for being complete — all three elements below, genuinely thought through — not for having a “perfect” idea. The quality conversation happens at the proposal workshop in class.

Structure

  1. Project Title

    • This can change later, but it can give you a sense of direction.

  2. Project Description (1–2 paragraphs)

    • Will you use Ambisonics or Dolby Atmos?
    • Is it a musical composition or short film sound design?
      • If a film, name it and describe how you’ll approach the sound.
      • If a composition, explain what sonic materials you’ll use (instruments, Vital Synth, Spitfire Labs, etc.).
    • What’s the concept or story? What do you want the listener to feel or experience?
    • Who or what inspires your project? (artist, film, soundscape, genre, etc.)

  3. Timeline

    • A simple plan for when you’ll record, edit, mix, and revise.

Part 2: Final Project (100 points)

Length: 3–5 minutes.
Format: Ambisonics or Dolby Atmos

What you can make:

  • Musical composition – original music, soundscape, or electroacoustic piece.
  • Short film sound design – new sound effects, Foley, ambience, and/or spatial mix.

What I’ll look for:

  • Clear connection to the goals you set in your proposal (even if the piece evolved).
  • Creative and intentional use of immersive audio techniques.
  • Evidence of iteration—recording, editing, experimenting, refining.
  • A technically solid and artistically engaging final mix.

Your portfolio

The final projects in DAD 222, DAD 310, and DAD 422 can become a three-part portfolio: a produced track, a film sound design, and an immersive piece. This is the third one. Make a clean render, use clear filenames, and keep the full project in storage you can access after graduation. Together, the three pieces can anchor a demo reel for jobs or graduate programs.

How the grade is produced

This is a goal-based (contract) approach: instead of measuring your piece against a fixed rubric, I grade it against the goals you set in your proposal.

  1. Your proposal is the rubric. An A-range project meets the goals you set for yourself — technically and creatively — with evidence of iteration along the way. The further the finished work lands from the contracted goals without explanation, the lower the grade.
  2. Goals can be revised through the midpoint critique (12/4). Post an updated goal list to D2L any time before then. After that, the contract is fixed, and any later pivots get explained in your reflection.
  3. You propose the grade. Your self-assessment ends with the grade you believe the project earns, argued from evidence — timestamps, screenshots, drafts. I confirm it or adjust it with a short explanation. If we differ by more than a letter step, we meet before the grade is final.

Along the way you’ll get detailed feedback rather than running point totals. The four things I read for are the same ones you should write your self-assessment toward:

  1. Process – Did you stay engaged and work consistently toward your goals?
  2. Growth – Did your skills and ideas develop from proposal to final piece?
  3. Final Piece – Does the immersive mix feel intentional and connected to your concept?
  4. Reflection – Did you thoughtfully assess your own work?

Final Self-Assessment

Included with the project files, you’ll submit a 1 page self-assessment answering:

  1. Goals Review

    • List the goals you set in your proposal.
    • For each goal, explain how you met it, partially met it, or changed it.
    • Describe why any changes happened.

  2. Process Reflection

    • What did you learn from making this project?
    • What challenges did you face and how did you handle them?

  3. Future Directions

    • If you had more time, what would you improve or explore next?

  4. Proposed Grade

    • State the grade you believe this project earns and make the case from evidence — your goals review above, plus timestamps, screenshots, or drafts that show the work.