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This is a point that seems obvious but I'm not sure it is actually true. I majored in math and took a number of computer science courses and have a hard time fi

by rdouble 16y ago

This is a point that seems obvious but I'm not sure it is actually true. I majored in math and took a number of computer science courses and have a hard time figuring out where to begin when it comes to signal processing and videogame code. In contrast, I know a number of guys who make video games and audio software and they are almost all college dropouts or have completely unrelated degrees. In fact, in my limited experience it seems like games and audio software are two parts of the software industry where not having a CS degrees is the norm.

bhousel 16y ago
I can somewhat agree with this. I used to do a lot of computer graphics work professionally. My degree was in electrical engineering, and it was the controls and robotics classes that taught me the necessary math background to work with computer graphics. Related rant: Many university educated computer scientists think that all the math that they learned was 'invented' specifically for computer science, when in fact it existed long before computers were around. I once got into a heated argument at a Siggraph party with a guy who actually claimed to be the 'inventor' of quaternions.
Derbasti 16y ago
This is my experience, too. I'd even wager that most audio engineers who program learned something like, you know, Audio Engineering and just kind of slipped into programming along the way. This maybe makes them a worse programmer than a CS grad, but a heck of a lot better audio algorithm designer. Many algorithmical problems can be solved in code, but they require specific knowledge about the problem space, which CS grads lack. This is not to say that CS grads are bad at maths, it's just that audio engineers spent years learning about hearing, acoustics and audio analysis and audio algorithm design is more than just some linear algebra.
- wazoox 16y ago
  I'll make the obligatory mention of countless audio programs with linear volume control (Grrrrrrr). Probably NOT made by former sound engineers.

by rdouble 16y ago

bhousel 16y ago

I can somewhat agree with this. I used to do a lot of computer graphics work professionally. My degree was in electrical engineering, and it was the controls and robotics classes that taught me the necessary math background to work with computer graphics. Related rant: Many university educated computer scientists think that all the math that they learned was 'invented' specifically for computer science, when in fact it existed long before computers were around. I once got into a heated argument at a Siggraph party with a guy who actually claimed to be the 'inventor' of quaternions.

Derbasti 16y ago

This is my experience, too. I'd even wager that most audio engineers who program learned something like, you know, Audio Engineering and just kind of slipped into programming along the way. This maybe makes them a worse programmer than a CS grad, but a heck of a lot better audio algorithm designer. Many algorithmical problems can be solved in code, but they require specific knowledge about the problem space, which CS grads lack. This is not to say that CS grads are bad at maths, it's just that audio engineers spent years learning about hearing, acoustics and audio analysis and audio algorithm design is more than just some linear algebra.

wazoox 16y ago
I'll make the obligatory mention of countless audio programs with linear volume control (Grrrrrrr). Probably NOT made by former sound engineers.