Foley typically requires access to a wide variety of props, a suitable space in which to record them and a knack of actually performing in sync with picture in a way that sounds believable. It’s a skill, and foley isn’t something that can be done particularly easily unless you have the right facility and experience. Quite often there simply isn’t the time, resources or budget available on a lot of productions to do foley and sound design as well as it really should be. Fortunately Krotos Audio have a set of tools to aid with this in the form of their Everything Bundle 2.

This extensive bundle includes the entire suite of Krotos plug-ins plus a sizeable collection of sound effects assets totalling 29,963. The total file size of this is a considerable 121.45GB. Fortunately, Krotos split the download into several different asset types, meaning that you can download them in batches. I’m on a 400 Mb/s connection and it still took quite a while to download the lot. Suffice to say, it’s a comprehensive set of effects that includes numerous libraries of both standalone sounds, and versions that can be loaded into the provided plug-ins. The effects libraries include a number of animal sounds from tigers to otters and parrots. Foley is covered in the Clothes & Materials library. There are also electronics, rocks, surfaces, mechanical sounds and a vast array of weapons, ammo and explosion effects.

Plug-ins

Krotos Audio have a real point of difference with their plug-ins in that they provide functionality that is entirely unique. The Everything Bundle 2 includes:

• Reformer Pro

• Weaponiser Fully Loaded

• Dehumaniser 2

• Igniter Full Tank

• Concept 2

• Dehumaniser Simple Monsters

• Simple Concept

If you’re the sort of person who isn’t particularly inclined to read through a user manual then you’re onto a winner with Krotos because the whole suite of plug-ins is easy to learn and logical. Let’s take a look in more detail at each of the plug-ins in the bundle.

Reformer Pro

This is one of my new favourite plug-ins. Reformer Pro allows you to design, automate, and perform sound effects in real-time. It does this by using your own audio input or pre-recorded file to ‘drive’ the plug-ins processing. This audio input triggers samples that playback from any combination of Reformer Pro’s 4 banks. The timing, amplitude and frequency content of the input audio determines exactly what the plug-in outputs. I’ve found this very useful as a quick and efficient way of performing foley without the need for a cluttered room full of foley props.

Weaponiser Fully Loaded

I’ve been using Weaponiser for a few months now and it’s a lot faster than manually cutting in weapon sounds. The ability to trigger sounds in real time from a MIDI keyboard makes this another real time saver. If you use Pro Tools but don’t have a MIDI keyboard connected, it’s still possible to trigger the sounds on the fly using the MIDI Keyboard window (Shift K opens this). Weaponiser uses a combination of high-end synthesis and an advanced sample playback system to layer, manipulate and process anything you choose to load into the Onset, Body, Thump and Tail banks. While the name suggests that this plug-in may be intended primarily for firearm sounds, you can trigger anything from it which you may want to perform in sync with picture. I’ve found it useful for foley footsteps. Samples of a variety of different footwear on different floor surfaces are included, making it quite easy to find something suitable for the scene you’re working on. Sounds can be randomised in terms of pitch, speed and which sample is actually triggered with each successive key press. Pair this with velocity sensitivity and you’ve got something very powerful and responsive. The ‘Fully Loaded’ version of the plug-in in this bundle includes 6,737 samples.

Dehumaniser 2

Dehumaniser 2 is a vocal processor allowing for the production of creature and monster sounds, efficiently, in real-time. It is designed to produce studio–quality sounds by using multiple layers of sound manipulation techniques simultaneously. There’s a high degree of adjustability within the interface but the included presets are a great starting point and in many cases, they will do the job with no further adjustment. Load up a preset and use an audio input to activate the effect. The pitch, characteristics, timbre and type of sound can be adjusted as needed. The exact result you get out of this is dependant on the input sound because the plug-in is responsive to frequency, timing and amplitude. Dehumaniser takes a node-based approach to processing. Nodes of various types can be chained together to give endless possibilities for weird and wonderful creature sounds.

Dehumaniser Simple Monsters

If you want something similar to Dehumaniser in terms of what it does, but with a simpler interface and less complexity, Simple Monsters may be the solution. With a comparatively small number of adjustable parameters but still a great selection of presets, this still gives you a lot of creative choice in crafting monster vocalisations.

Concept 2

This synth plug-in provides a clean, well set out interface and an excellent set of presets. One unique feature of Concept 2 is the XY Capture mode. This is a modulator that combines an XY pad with a way to capture movements or gestures performed with this XY pad and link them to any parameter in the plug-in. XY Capture allows you to go beyond LFOs, Envelopes or Arpeggiators and intuitively shape the response of any number of parameters, and record very complex, personal and performable movements. 

Igniter Full Tank

Igniter is a great way to design and perform vehicle sounds in your DAW. Using a combination of pre-recorded engine sounds, a synthesis engine, loops, FX and a mod system, this plug-in really allows for a high degree of adjustability when creating and performing vehicle sounds. As with all of the Krotos plug-ins, it’s perfectly possible just to load up one of the numerous presets and get a great result with minimal adjustment. Alternatively, you can go all out if need be, tweaking and manipulating a host of controls to create highly tailored vehicle sounds. The ‘Full Tank’ version includes 2,689 samples and 24 performable vehicles including cars, motorbikes, trucks, helicopters, planes and spaceships. In addition to the 24 vehicles, it’s possible to load your own sounds into the plug-in or any of the numerous additional vehicle samples which are included with the large download of sounds. I was impressed by how easy it is to automate vehicle sounds in sync with pictures. with full control over engine revs, gear changes and also things such as saturation and doppler. This is significantly easier and faster than it’s possible to achieve by editing sound effects in a more conventional way.

Simple Concept

Based on Concept 2 but stripped back to the bare essentials, Simple Concept is a software synth powered by three simple but powerful macro controls and a unique ‘Tweak It’ customisation system, providing a quick workflow when you just need a quick result don’t want or need to be tweaking many controls.

Summary

In a recent survey, Krotos found that 100% of owners of their Everything Bundle would recommend Krotos. They said that it eliminates many tasks from their traditional workflow and saves a considerable amount of time. 62.5% of them use it weekly, and 12.5% of them use the bundle daily. Having spent time working with these plug-ins, I fully agree that this is something quite special. I’ve been so impressed with this set of plug-ins that I’ve made them part of my regular sound design workflow. Conventional approaches to sound design and foley start to look a bit old fashioned when you realise what can be achieved with these plug-ins. I highly recommend you to check them out.

Image - Pixels - Pixabay