Software by Portuguese startup Sound Particles used in Hollywood blockbusters
Tech News Europe - Software by Portuguese Audio Tech startup Sound Particles is used in Hollywood blockbusters including Dune, Mission: Impossible, Oppenheimer, Star Wars 9, Indiana Jones, Game of Thrones, Stranger Things, House of the Dragon, Star Trek: Discovery, and Frozen 2. Here is what is Portuguese Audio Tech startup Sound Particles:
What is Portuguese Audio Tech startup Sound Particles?
Portuguese Audio Tech startup Sound Particles was founded in November 2016 by CEO Nuno Fonseca. Nuno Fonseca has a PhD in computer audio and is a former university professor in the field of music technology. Based in Leiria, Portugal, Sound Particles counts on a team of over 30 people, including in the UK and in LA.
Sound Particles creates audio software that brings the power of computer graphics to the sound world, allowing sound professionals to create breathtaking sounds that simply would not be possible to create in any other way. Startup Sound Particles creates audio software including WordBuilder, Voices of the Apocalypse Utility text-to-sing software by EASTWEST (Hollywood, USA). Sound Particles also developed 3D CGI-like Post Production Audio software that is capable of using particle systems to generate thousands of sounds.
The software developed by Sound Particles is not only used in major Hollywood blockbusters and TV series but also in the Gaming and VR sectors. The unique software developed by Sound Particles is used in all major Hollywood studios in productions like “Dune”, “Game of Thrones”, “Frozen 2, “Aquaman”, “Ready Player One”, among many others. In the Video Game industry, the Sound Particles software is used by PlayStation and Blizzard as well as in Fortnite.
What led to the creation of Audio Tech startup Sound Particles?
Based on the observation that the most interesting visual effects seen on movies were using particle systems, a Computer Graphics technique that creates thousands or even millions of small objects to simulate fire, rain, sandstorms, dust, smoke, and explosions; the founder of Sound Particles decided to apply the same concept to sound, generating thousands of sounds that together would create fantastic soundscapes.
In 2014, The CEO of Sound Particles, Nuno Fonseca, used only a prototype to contact a few Hollywood studios and within 6 months, he gave presentations in studios like Skywalker Sound, Warner Bros, Universal, Fox, Paramount, Pinewood, and later on in Sony Pictures, Pixar, and Disney. By the end of 2015, he launched the first version of Sound Particles, and in November 2016 Sound Particles, the company, became a reality.
What are the achievements of startup Sound Particles?
French composer Jean-Michel Jarre is an avowed fan of SkyDust 3D, a synthesizer created by Portuguese startup Sound Particles that delivers immersive three-dimensional sound, the first of its kind in the world.
The Grammy Award for Best Immersive Audio Album recently spotlighted winners who made heavy use of Sound Particles software tools to craft their expansive spatial mixes:
• Peter Gabriel & Hans-Martin Buff (2025 Winners): They won the Grammy award for Gabriel's album i/o (In-Side Mix). Immersive mix engineer Hans-Martin Buff relied heavily on advanced spatial technology to build an entirely original 3D acoustic ecosystem rather than a standard multi-channel upscale.
• Justin Gray (2026 Winner): He won the Grammy award for his album IMMERSED. Gray composed, recorded, and mixed the project from the ground up as a native spatial experience, explicitly utilizing Sound Particles audio tools to position a 35-piece global orchestra in a true 360-degree field around the listener
Click here for the link to Tech News for the latest updates.
