IntroductionWelcome| 00:04 | Hi, I am Chris Brooks, and
welcome to Pro Tools Film Scoring.
| | 00:08 | Pro Tools is the most ubiquitous recording,
editing, and mixing platform on the planet.
| | 00:13 | Its wide-spread use on scoring stages
and dubbing stages makes it the only
| | 00:17 | choice for many of the tasks
associated with creating music for films,
| | 00:22 | television, and other visual media.
| | 00:25 | If you've gotten your feet wet with
Pro Tools, I'll help launch you into the
| | 00:28 | world of film music.
| | 00:31 | I'll show you how to create
effective session templates.
| | 00:34 | I'll teach you how to prepare for
multi -track recording sessions, using guide
| | 00:38 | tracks, clicks, and streamers, and I'll
show you how to set up a final mix with
| | 00:44 | everything that you need to
finish your project right.
| | 00:48 | I have produced film scores for over
a hundred films and I have developed
| | 00:51 | methods and techniques that I
can't wait to share with you.
| | 00:54 | So if you're ready, let's get
started with Pro Tools Film Scoring.
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| Using the exercise files| 00:00 | If you are a premium member of the
lynda.com Online Training Library, or if
| | 00:04 | you're watching this tutorial on a DVD
-ROM, you have access to the Exercise
| | 00:09 | Files used throughout this title.
| | 00:11 | In the Exercise Files, you will
see they are divided into chapters.
| | 00:15 | In each chapter, there are
files associated with that chapter.
| | 00:19 | Each one of these sessions is the
beginning of that particular movie.
| | 00:22 | If you launch the session, you can follow along.
| | 00:25 | In the Media Files folder are all the
various media that we use throughout the course.
| | 00:31 | If you don't have access to the
Exercise Files, you can follow along from
| | 00:35 | scratch or with your own assets.
| | 00:37 | Let's get started.
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1. New Session BasicsSetting up a basic session for video| 00:00 | Pro Tools 8 gives the user the
flexibility to work in a variety of sample
| | 00:05 | rates and bit depths.
| | 00:07 | Choosing these options is
based on several factors.
| | 00:10 | Choose a Sample Rate based on
both your desires and the project
| | 00:13 | delivery requirements.
| | 00:15 | The standard in film and television is
48k with either a 16 or 24 bit depth.
| | 00:21 | I suggest always working in 24 as the
truncation, if necessary, is easy and the
| | 00:27 | added resolution in the
processing is advantageous.
| | 00:31 | Working in higher sample rates sounds
slightly better but requires more storage,
| | 00:37 | cuts down on your track
numbers and your processing power.
| | 00:40 | If you're working with a sample
library with virtual instruments, you should
| | 00:44 | also consider the base
sample rate, usually 44.1.
| | 00:48 | You can choose whatever you want and
can always convert later, but it is always
| | 00:52 | best to think from the end, knowing what
your delivery requirements are and how
| | 00:57 | best to achieve them.
| | 00:59 | Before we name our session, let's
talk about file names for a second.
| | 01:03 | Creating a score for a film
usually requires the generation of many
| | 01:07 | different file names.
| | 01:08 | There are all sorts or working files,
such as theme and variations, sketches,
| | 01:12 | maps, underscore cues, revisions, format music, etcetera.
| | 01:17 | It's important to keep the folder information
at the Finder level clear and well defined.
| | 01:25 | If you're working with others, make
sure that you have a method of sharing your
| | 01:28 | work while keeping your
individual files separate.
| | 01:33 |
| | 01:36 | The exact format of a name is not
important as long as you and your teammates
| | 01:40 | understand and agree on the convention.
| | 01:43 | Some of the important elements
that you might put in a cue name for
| | 01:46 | instance would be the cue number,
the real number, a start code, a unique
| | 01:52 | title, a version and a date.
| | 01:54 | We will call this cue 1m1.
| | 01:56 | This is a traditional film
convention that represents the reel,
| | 02:01 | 1. m stands for music, and 1
is the first cue in the reel.
| | 02:06 | So the first cue in reel 2 could be 2m1, but
the second cue in reel 1 would be 1m2, etcetera.
| | 02:13 | We are also going to add a version number,
a title, which in this case is Title,
| | 02:19 | because it's going to be
over the main titles and a date.
| | 02:25 | Making and keeping your sessions, cues,
and versions organized will save you
| | 02:29 | many sleepless nights and
potentially some embarrassing moments.
| | 02:33 | Now let's choose the Session
Setup Window with Command+2.
| | 02:37 | Properly choosing the settings on the
Session Setup page is the Pro Tools
| | 02:41 | equivalent to working and
playing well with others.
| | 02:44 | The settings pertain to either keeping
your session consistent with files that
| | 02:48 | have been given to you, or locking to
and communicating with the outside world.
| | 02:53 | Let's start by setting the Session Start.
| | 02:55 | I am going to set this to 1 hour even.
| | 02:58 | The convention in film is that the
hour number reflects the real number.
| | 03:03 | Let's also set the Time Code Rate.
| | 03:05 | This should match the incoming
video that you are going to import.
| | 03:08 | Same with the Feet and Frames,
more on Time Code 2 later.
| | 03:13 | The settings that we've established in the
Session Setup Window are for display only.
| | 03:17 | These settings make the Timeline
display and the primary and secondary location
| | 03:22 | displays match the incoming
video that we will be working with.
| | 03:26 | The other half of the settings
available on the Session Setup, those pertaining
| | 03:29 | to synchronization, will be
covered in a later chapter.
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2. Using QuickTime VideoImporting video and setting start code| 00:00 | The first step to building up assets in
your picture session is to import video.
| | 00:05 | The video format that you request
from your client should have a burned in
| | 00:08 | timecode window with the Time Code
starting at 0 with the Picture Start.
| | 00:13 | You should also request
dialog and sound effects.
| | 00:16 | If there is any temp music or other
additional music that already exists,
| | 00:21 | you should request that as a separate
delivery, either an audio file, a Pro
| | 00:24 | Tools session or an OMF.
| | 00:27 | More on that later.
| | 00:28 | Before we import the video, let's just
check that are Start Code is at hour 1.
| | 00:33 | We will do that by opening
the Session Setup window.
| | 00:37 | The Session Start is set
to 1 hour. That's perfect.
| | 00:40 | Let's set the Time Code Rate to 29.97,
because I know that's what our incoming video is.
| | 00:46 | Let's close this window, and import a video.
| | 00:49 | I am going go under File to import video.
| | 00:51 | You can also do that with Shift+
Command+I. Let's import Reel 1.
| | 00:57 | This is going to a new video track, because
there isn't any video tracks yet in our session.
| | 01:02 | We are going to locate it to the
Session Start, and because I know there's some
| | 01:06 | audio on this, we are
going to import the audio file.
| | 01:11 | This is asking me to choose
a designation for the audio.
| | 01:14 | It defaults to the Audio Files folder in
the session, as you probably already know.
| | 01:20 | Pro Tools defaults to showing video frames.
| | 01:24 | I always turn this off as it takes a
bit of processing power away from my
| | 01:29 | session, and I don't really see the need for it.
| | 01:32 | Now we want to double-check that the
Time Code Base of the QuickTime movie that
| | 01:37 | we've imported, which is viewed here,
matches our Session Setup, and we set that
| | 01:43 | to 29.97, so it does.
| | 01:45 | The next thing we want to do is we want
to make sure that the burnt-in timecode
| | 01:50 | and our Timeline in the Time Code
Viewer here match along the film.
| | 01:55 | So let's just randomly check various spots.
| | 01:58 | 1:00:31:16 is the same.
| | 02:01 | Let's zoom out so we can see the rest
of the film and check a few more spots.
| | 02:06 | It seems like it's pretty
much in sync. Okay good.
| | 02:10 | Let's check to make sure
that our audio is also in sync.
| | 02:14 | The Academy Leader and the Sync Pop
are provided on this clip so we can check
| | 02:19 | the two in the pop occur at the same time.
| | 02:22 | They do, and they are in sync.
| | 02:27 | Let's run down to the end of the film
to make sure the dialog is in sync still.
| | 02:31 | (Female Speaker: And that was the only
understanding of the war. Ok war is happening)
| | 02:35 | (Female Speaker: because somebody doesn't want Yugoslavia.)
| | 02:38 | Okay. We are all set.
| | 02:39 | The imported audio is in sync.
| | 02:41 | The picture matches the time code.
| | 02:43 | The last thing that we
need to do is name our track.
| | 02:49 | Pro Tools 8 treats video just like
any other audio track. You can trim it.
| | 02:54 | You can cut it. You can paste it.
| | 02:56 | All these things are
great things to be able to do.
| | 02:58 | But remember, your video is your
guide to the rest of the project.
| | 03:03 | Don't mess with it if you don't have to.
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| Using FireWire output| 00:00 | Pro Tools has an option to output video
through the FireWire port using devices
| | 00:04 | such as the Canopus box and Avid's Mojo.
| | 00:08 | Start by connecting a FireWire video device
to the FireWire 400 port of your computer.
| | 00:14 | Note that once it's connected, you
should restart Pro Tools in order for it to
| | 00:18 | recognize the device.
| | 00:20 | The video FireWire
output only uses the DV Codec.
| | 00:25 | If you want to use one of these
devices, make sure that you specify the DV
| | 00:29 | format when you request your QuickTime movie.
| | 00:32 | Select the Video Out
FireWire from the Options menu.
| | 00:38 | This will make the video screen
disappear and make it appear on your television
| | 00:42 | projector or other monitor.
| | 00:45 | There is a lag between the Pro Tools
audio and the FireWire video output.
| | 00:50 | Under the Setup menu,
you'll find a Video Sync Offset.
| | 00:55 | Set the Video Sync Offset to
between -10 and -12 quarter frames.
| | 01:01 | This is the most common setting.
| | 01:03 | Experiment with your setup as it
can vary from computer to computer.
| | 01:07 | The Academy Leader's 2-Pop is
a great way to check this sync.
| | 01:11 | If screen space is at a premium in
your studio, the FireWire video option is
| | 01:15 | gray, you can output to a television,
another monitor, or even a projector, like I do.
| | 01:21 | I find that when I'm working on a
feature film, I like to have the size and the
| | 01:25 | flickering light projecting across the
room as a constant reminder of the scope
| | 01:29 | and experience of the medium.
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3. I/O SetupChoosing an appropriate monitor setup| 00:00 | Monitoring for film, television, and
even some video games requires more than
| | 00:04 | the traditional two speaker stereo setup.
| | 00:08 | Even if a film will only be released on DVD,
the audio output involves multiple speakers.
| | 00:13 | The standard film 5.1 setup is five speakers:
| | 00:18 | left, center, right, left surround,
right surround, and a subwoofer.
| | 00:23 | That's the point one.
| | 00:25 | There are less used formats, 6.1 and
7.1, which include an overhead speaker
| | 00:31 | and a rear speaker.
| | 00:32 | There's also a format that was
resurrected by Sony called SDDS.
| | 00:37 | That has five speakers across the front:
| | 00:39 | left, left center, center,
right center, and right.
| | 00:44 | In scoring music, the bare minimum that
one should monitor is the left, right,
| | 00:48 | left surround, and right surround.
| | 00:50 | Obviously, when you are mixing, it's
optimum to monitor in the exact same
| | 00:55 | format as the end product.
| | 00:57 | Pro Tools allows for multiple channel
tracks that include Quad, 5.0, 5.1, etcetera.
| | 01:05 | The method to keep all these
tracks straight employs suffixes:
| | 01:09 | .L, .C, .R, etcetera, for each of the
individual tracks that are grouped on the
| | 01:15 | multiple channel tracks.
| | 01:17 | This means that Pro Tools knows which
track should come out of what speakers,
| | 01:21 | regardless of the number of channels on a track.
| | 01:24 | In other words, it knows that a Quad
track has a left, right, left surround, and
| | 01:29 | right surround and will output accordingly.
| | 01:32 | There are three different configurations of
outputs to choose from on the I/O Setup page.
| | 01:40 |
| | 01:41 | The Film Output, which is most common,
used by Dolby and most film dubbing stages.
| | 01:47 | And that's left center, right, left
surround, right surround and the LFE.
| | 01:51 | The SMPTE Output, which is the standard
developed for television, and it's the
| | 01:55 | Track Layout on video master
machines, has it in stereo pairs:
| | 01:59 | L, R, C, LFE, and then the surrounds.
| | 02:03 | And then the third is the DTS
Output, also used by the ProControl.
| | 02:07 | That's grouped in stereo pairs
as well but in a different order.
| | 02:12 | For monitoring, it really only matters that
you know which output goes to which speaker.
| | 02:18 | The individual tracks all have
appropriate suffixes, so this choice does not
| | 02:23 | affect any final delivery.
| | 02:24 | Listening to your music as close to
the way that it will eventually be heard
| | 02:28 | should be your goal.
| | 02:30 | I suggest some tests and field
trips to make sure that you know the
| | 02:33 | difference between your listening
environment and where your music will
| | 02:36 | eventually be heard.
| | 02:38 | Obviously, you can't barge into every
go Gigaplex and listen to a few mixes.
| | 02:43 | You probably can go to the dubbing
stage where the film would be mixed though.
| | 02:47 | Try to listen in a few places if
you can, maybe another studio or a
| | 02:50 | friend's home theater setup.
| | 02:52 | All of this input will help
you with your final output.
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| Setting output paths| 00:00 | In order to hear multichannel tracks,
it's necessary to create Output paths that
| | 00:05 | correspond with the number of channels
and their desired speaker assignments.
| | 00:10 | Let's open up the I/O Setup.
| | 00:12 | You notice there is already a Stereo.
| | 00:13 | Let's just Delete that.
| | 00:17 | Let's create a New Path.
| | 00:19 | When you create a New Path, the first thing
that you need to do is choose how many Outputs.
| | 00:23 | In this case, let's choose 5.1, which
is, as you recall, left center, right,
| | 00:27 | left surround, right surround, and LFE.
| | 00:29 | We will point to the beginning of the Outputs
in the interface where we want it to come out.
| | 00:34 | And it automatically assigns the Default Path
Order, which we already chose down here as Film.
| | 00:41 | If we want to have more
than one path, we can do so.
| | 00:46 | Let's have another 5.1 path to
monitor a second set of stems.
| | 00:50 | Let's put them starting here.
| | 00:52 | The one thing that you can't do in the
I/O Setup is you can't overlap, or have
| | 00:57 | the same Outputs, for two different paths.
| | 01:00 | If we try to save this now, you will see
that it doesn't allow us to have those overlaps.
| | 01:06 | Instead, we can also have Sub-Paths.
| | 01:10 | A Sub-Path is a path that has less
channels than the path that it's associated with.
| | 01:16 | So let's say we want an LCR.
| | 01:19 | I choose LCR, and it comes out the
same Outputs as the LCR in the 5.1 path.
| | 01:26 | Let's also create a Stereo.
| | 01:30 | And you will notice that it
selects the L and R automatically.
| | 01:34 | We could also have a Stereo that surrounds only.
| | 01:37 | Let's say we are using a reverb that we
want only to go to the surrounds or a delay.
| | 01:41 | That would be a surround.
| | 01:43 | So in this case let's keep
it as a Straight LR Stereo.
| | 01:49 | Once we have a path and its
associated sub-paths, we will want to name it.
| | 01:54 | You will notice once we name the path
and enter that name that the associated
| | 02:03 | sub-paths take on the same name as the
path, adding the suffix of the sort of
| | 02:07 | Output that it is, an LCR,
in this case, in a Stereo.
| | 02:12 | While we are here, let's
create another path for our dialog.
| | 02:17 | Let's make it a Mono and have
it come out a different Output.
| | 02:23 |
| | 02:24 | One last thing that we will set
while we are here is the Audition Path.
| | 02:29 | The Audition Path is the default Output when
auditioning audio in the Import Audio page.
| | 02:35 | Don't be concerned that you haven't set
up every possible Output configuration.
| | 02:40 | You can revisit this Setup page as
your session grows and requires different
| | 02:44 | Outputs and different size tracks.
| | 02:47 | Once you have created what seems like
a great setup for your project and also
| | 02:51 | for your studio, save it
to import to other sessions.
| | 02:55 | You do that by choosing Export Settings.
| | 03:00 |
| | 03:01 | Now that you have your Outputs all set
up and saved, we are ready to move on
| | 03:04 | to the next step.
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| Setting input paths| 00:00 | Unlike setting up Outputs, you are
much less likely to have need for too many
| | 00:04 | multichannel Inputs.
| | 00:06 | There are a few exceptions.
| | 00:08 | If you are doing a recording session
with strings or other instruments in a
| | 00:11 | studio or a hall, where you can record
hard Inputs, such as a Decca Tree of left
| | 00:16 | center and right, and a couple of
outrigger mics for surround, then you may want
| | 00:21 | to record these as a multichannel track.
| | 00:24 | You might also want to do a live mix
using a 4.0, 5.0, or a 5.1 configuration.
| | 00:31 | But the most prevalent reason for setting
up multichannel input tracks is for mixing.
| | 00:36 | Whether you are using a console or two
systems, you will need inputs to the Pro
| | 00:40 | Tools system that will record the mix.
| | 00:42 | Let's go to the I/O Setup and choose Input.
| | 00:46 | There are some default Inputs let's get rid of.
| | 00:51 | And let's create a New Path.
| | 00:52 | We will do the same thing as
we do with the Output Paths.
| | 00:55 | Choose the number of channels first and
then select the Inputs of the interface.
| | 01:00 | You can also create Sub-Paths in much the
same manner that you do with the Output Setup.
| | 01:07 | You might use an Input Sub-Path to
record just the overheads for instance or
| | 01:14 | maybe just the surrounds.
| | 01:16 | If you are using Outboard effects,
such as Multichannel Reverb or a Quad
| | 01:20 | Compressor, you also need to
assign Inputs for those devices.
| | 01:26 |
| | 01:29 | Once you have your Inputs set, name them.
| | 01:32 | The naming works the same in the
Inputs as it does in the Outputs.
| | 01:36 | The Sub-Paths take on the name of
the Paths, if that's what you want.
| | 01:39 | You can also name them separately.
| | 01:44 | Pro Tools 8 can make recording and
mixing very efficient, if you begin by
| | 01:48 | properly laying out and labeling your inputs.
| | 01:51 | Be careful not to rely on your
memory in the heat of a session.
| | 01:54 | The more clear the naming, the less
doubt anyone has as to what you were
| | 01:59 | recording and where it ends up.
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| Setting insert paths| 00:00 | Insert Paths assign hardware inputs and
outputs to create an external insert loop.
| | 00:05 | These are useful when employing an
outboard device that would only function as
| | 00:10 | part of a channel strip,
such as a Compressor or EQ.
| | 00:14 | This is a common recording technique.
| | 00:16 | There are a few more
applications that are specific to film.
| | 00:19 | Let's go to the I/O Setup
for a minute and select Insert.
| | 00:24 | Let's Delete all of the
Default Paths and create a new one.
| | 00:27 | Let's create a 5.1 and choose the
first six channels of the interface.
| | 00:34 |
| | 00:34 | Inserts are set up the same
way as inputs and outputs.
| | 00:37 | They have multichannel paths and sub-paths.
| | 00:40 | The program assumes the number output and input.
| | 00:43 | If you are using 1-6, for instance, on
your interfaces as an Insert, this means
| | 00:48 | that both 1-6 six input
and 1-6 output will be used.
| | 00:53 | If you find this inconvenient, you
can change the numbering in the hardware
| | 00:57 | setup, but I really recommend against it.
| | 00:59 | Be absolutely sure that that's what
you want to do, because this is one of
| | 01:03 | those things that if you forget about in the
heat of a session, you will get completely lost.
| | 01:08 | In addition to Mono and Stereo
outboard gear, there are a few other
| | 01:12 | multichannel devices that could be
inserted, the Multichannel Compressor, for
| | 01:16 | instance, or Multichannel Delay.
| | 01:18 | You could even insert a Multichannel
Reverb, but that's usually not recommended.
| | 01:23 | There are also external devices to
simulate the effects of encoded delivery formats.
| | 01:29 | Dolby Pro Logic and Dolby
Digital's AC3 stream both have hardware
| | 01:34 | encoder/decoders that can be
inserted onto your mix bus.
| | 01:38 | This will give you an in place example
of what will happen to your music once it
| | 01:42 | endures the perils of modern cinema technology.
| | 01:46 | I asked my friend Jake Jackson at AIR
Studios in London if he ever uses hardware
| | 01:51 | inserts with Pro Tools.
| | 01:52 | He said that he has been asked to by
other engineers to use them when he was
| | 01:56 | still a second engineer.
| | 01:58 | But since he has been an engineer
himself, he has never needed them.
| | 02:01 | I look forward to your cards and
letters about this subject, as I am assured
| | 02:05 | that there will be hundreds
of uses that I have overlooked.
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| Setting bus paths| 00:00 | The one big difference between bus
paths and the rest of the paths that we have
| | 00:04 | been discussing is they don't relate
directly to hardware I/O. This means you
| | 00:09 | are not limited by your hardware setup,
these are soft buses, and I think you
| | 00:13 | will find endless uses for them.
| | 00:16 | Let's open up the I/O
Setup page again and go to Bus.
| | 00:19 | Let's set up a New Path, just like any other
path, except as you see, there's no interface.
| | 00:25 | We could have tens of these if we wanted.
| | 00:28 | So we assign a 5.1 to the path.
| | 00:31 | It's still on the same
Default Path Order configuration.
| | 00:34 | Let's make some Sub-Paths.
| | 00:36 | I am going to make six Sub-Paths.
| | 00:38 | Sub-Paths are extremely important in bus paths.
| | 00:41 | Have a look at the chapter on
Mixing to see all the ways we use them.
| | 00:44 | So I am going to assign
these Sub-Paths each to a Mono.
| | 00:49 | This is a common bus configuration used
to fold down 5.1 mixes to smaller mixes
| | 00:59 | like LCRs, Stereos, Quads, whatever it
is that you need, now you have individual
| | 01:04 | sub-paths as well as the 5.1 bus.
| | 01:07 | Because there are no hardware
limitations, we can set up as many buses as we
| | 01:11 | think we might need.
| | 01:12 | We are going to need several.
| | 01:13 | You use buses for stems, stereo fold
downs, like we talked about, headphone
| | 01:18 | mixes, reverb, and other effects sends.
| | 01:22 | Buses can be assigned to either
inputs, or outputs, or Aux sends.
| | 01:27 | Just like the New York City transit system,
buses can take your audio many places.
| | 01:32 | Don't worry about getting all of your
buses correct when you first set them up,
| | 01:36 | unlike the MTA, you can
easily add another route.
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4. Picture SessionsUnderstanding picture session essentials| 00:00 | Picture sessions provide a very flexible
and organized approach to film scoring.
| | 00:04 | They can serve as an overview, a well-
organized presentation, a template, a
| | 00:09 | separate video server and a repository of ideas.
| | 00:13 | Once we have the picture and track in
the session, we should make some markers
| | 00:17 | reflecting our spotting.
| | 00:19 | Spotting is when you and the director
decide where the music starts and stops,
| | 00:23 | as well as its tone and dramatic content.
| | 00:27 | The cue markers that we are putting
in represent the four cues that the
| | 00:31 | director and I have spotted in Reel 1,
1m1, 1m2, 1m3, and 1m4 all with unique
| | 00:38 | titles as well.
| | 00:41 | I find that when you spot a film and
you have so many cues. Some films have
| | 00:45 | as many as 70 or 80 cues, that numbers alone
or titles alone end up not meaning very much.
| | 00:53 | If you keep saying you remember what
happened in 3m18, you will probably get a
| | 00:57 | blank from about half the
people that you deal with.
| | 01:00 | But if you say do you remember 3m18,
the second half of the car chase, then
| | 01:04 | everybody knows what you are talking about.
| | 01:06 | So whenever you are making a name for a
cue, just in casual conversation or when
| | 01:11 | you are referring to spotting notes
and telephone conversations and meetings,
| | 01:15 | always refer it to as the cue
number and its unique title.
| | 01:19 | If you have received any additional
audio tracks, this is the time to add
| | 01:22 | them in your session.
| | 01:24 | Let's also add some tracks for the music.
| | 01:27 | I like to use Shift+Command+N as a keyboard
shortcut to get to the New Tracks dialog box.
| | 01:32 | I am going to add 3 Stereo tracks.
| | 01:36 | I like to use the keyboard command
Command+Left/Right Arrows to switch between
| | 01:42 | the size of the track that we are going to use.
| | 01:44 | In this case, we are going to have
3 Stereo tracks. Let's name them.
| | 01:51 | Another keyboard command that I love
is Option+Command+Right Arrow, and this
| | 01:56 | takes you to the next track to name.
| | 02:00 | When you are naming a bunch of
tracks, this is really handy. Okay.
| | 02:05 | I have prepared one of the tracks
already so we can import it into the session.
| | 02:10 | Let's open the Import Audio page.
| | 02:12 | You will notice that the Bit Depth
and the Sample Rate are the same as
| | 02:19 | our picture session.
| | 02:21 | So I can add them directly into the session.
| | 02:23 | We now have the choice of either importing
directly onto a New track or into the Region list.
| | 02:29 | In this case, let's put it in the Region list.
| | 02:30 | I am going to move the picture out
of the way so we can see our list.
| | 02:34 | You will notice that in the Regions bin here,
I have the file name selected to be displayed.
| | 02:39 | Let's just drag that down onto Mx 1.
| | 02:42 | Let's choose Spot and spot it.
| | 02:46 | Because it was recorded to picture, it
has an original time stamp that will be
| | 02:50 | correct to this picture
so we can spot it to that.
| | 02:53 | And it should snap right to
where it belongs. And there it is.
| | 03:00 | Once you have completed a cue, you
should either bounce it and import it or
| | 03:04 | record it directly into your
picture session, depending on your setup.
| | 03:08 | As the project progresses, the
demos of each of your cues get at it.
| | 03:12 | This allows for previewing whole reels for
yourself and with the director and producers.
| | 03:17 | As the demos are revised, replace the old
ones with the new more updated versions.
| | 03:23 | This should be done each time a cue is finished.
| | 03:25 | If you are using two computers in your
studio, the picture session can reside on
| | 03:30 | the picture computer and
slave to the sequencer computer.
| | 03:33 | This allows for more of the processing
power of the sequencer to be used for
| | 03:37 | sound sources and audio processing, and
leaves the picture and picture related
| | 03:41 | audio playback on a separate processor.
| | 03:44 | Make every attempt to keep your
picture session as up-to-date as you can.
| | 03:49 | It will be your constant
reference throughout the project.
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| Sharing picture sessions| 00:00 | With time constraints and demanding
producers and directors, it's often
| | 00:04 | necessary to work with a team of people.
Even if there are just two or three
| | 00:08 | of you, sharing a common picture session can
be fundamental to successful collaboration.
| | 00:14 | If everyone is using the latest
version of the same picture session, then
| | 00:18 | everyone knows exactly what
is done where and in what key.
| | 00:23 | In the Pro Tools session to be shared, a
few common practices need to be agreed upon.
| | 00:28 | The outputs of the tracks need to be
common or the sessions will not play the
| | 00:32 | same way for you as they do for your
arrangers, music editor or orchestrator.
| | 00:38 | Let's check our I/O Setup again.
| | 00:40 | Go to our Output, and let's just
redo them for this session. Delete.
| | 00:46 | Let's add a Stereo for our dialog
because it's coming stereo in this film, and
| | 00:54 |
| | 00:54 | let's add Stereo for our music.
| | 00:58 | Now, if you had a picture session that
had sound effects separate and temp music
| | 01:10 | or songs, you might want to consider
having additional tracks for those.
| | 01:15 | As long as everyone has the same
number of outputs in their system, you can
| | 01:19 | share the same outputs.
| | 01:22 | Let's assign the outputs.
| | 01:24 | Dialog gets assigned to the Dialog.
| | 01:27 | I could do individually the three music tracks.
| | 01:30 | If they are highlighted, I can do them
all at once by holding the Shift+Option
| | 01:36 | key down as I assign the output.
| | 01:39 | You notice that all three got
assigned to the Music output. All right.
| | 01:42 | We are all set.
The demo names need to be consistent.
| | 01:47 | As you see in this demo, it's named the
cue name, the version name, the unique
| | 01:52 | name, and then a time code start.
| | 01:54 | That's a perfect format.
| | 01:56 | You don't have to use that format, but
if you agree on exactly the same one,
| | 02:00 | then there will never any confusion.
| | 02:02 | The next rule that you need to follow
is only the newest version of the cue
| | 02:05 | should be in the session.
| | 02:07 | The best way to make sure that this
happens is that everyone is responsible for
| | 02:11 | recording their own work.
| | 02:13 | In other words, if an arranger takes
1m2 from you and adds a string line, then
| | 02:17 | he or she should put that newer version
in the picture session, replacing yours.
| | 02:22 | This does two things.
| | 02:24 | It guarantees that the latest
version is always in the session, and it
| | 02:28 | also gives you, the composer, a way to
review the work of others as soon as it's done.
| | 02:34 | Now, if we go to the Finder for a
second, a few file structure issues need to
| | 02:41 | be addressed.
| | 02:43 | The first thing that needs to occur is that
you need to employ some sort of server system.
| | 02:47 | You either need to host a server or
find one online that you can rent space on.
| | 02:53 | So you have some repository for all of your
master material that everyone has access to.
| | 03:00 | Everyone needs to have exact copies of
picture in any associated audio tracks
| | 03:05 | stored in exactly the same folder
structure, including the same drive name and
| | 03:10 | with no changes in the file names.
| | 03:12 | In addition to the picture and track,
you also need to have a group audio folder
| | 03:17 | that has individual folders for
each of the participants in the group.
| | 03:22 | The reason for the individual folders
is when you sync to and from the server,
| | 03:27 | the down sync only syncs the
folders of everyone else and not your own.
| | 03:32 | With a little imagination, this sort of
sharing system can also be expanded to
| | 03:36 | share sequences, scores, mixes, etcetera.
| | 03:40 | I suggest that you play
around with various possibilities.
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| Working with OMFs| 00:00 | OMF or OMFI, to be exact, stands for
Open Media Framework Interchange.
| | 00:07 | This is a protocol designed to trade
digital media between different platforms.
| | 00:12 | In order to use OMF with Pro Tools,
you need to first purchase and
| | 00:16 | install DIGITranslator 2.
| | 00:18 | Once installed, importing OMF from
another sequencer or from the picture
| | 00:22 | department is straight ahead.
| | 00:24 | Before you import any audio tracks,
it's a good idea to select the track where
| | 00:29 | you want them to appear.
| | 00:30 | So I have selected Dialog. That means
the imported tracks will come in from
| | 00:35 | below the dialog track.
| | 00:36 | Let's go to the Import Session
Data window and select an OMF file.
| | 00:43 | You'll notice that three audio tracks are
highlighted and ready to be imported onto new tracks.
| | 00:48 | This is an OMF from the editors,
which has Stereo Dialog, and some voice
| | 00:56 | over that's separate.
| | 00:57 | It's very handy to have the Picture
Editor's Tracks to refer to, especially if
| | 01:01 | there is a lot of music references.
| | 01:04 | I just finished a Rob
Reiner film that has tons of songs.
| | 01:07 | Rob and the editor had spent weeks
getting the mix and the placement of those
| | 01:11 | songs in the film just right.
| | 01:13 | By importing the Editor's OMF, I
can see his edits and his automation.
| | 01:19 | Exporting OMF in an AAF, which stands
for Advanced Authoring Format, is a more
| | 01:24 | comprehensive Media Exchange
Format, has several options.
| | 01:30 | You generally want to export as OMF.
If you are exporting to an Avid Picture
| | 01:36 | Editor, select the Enforce Avid
Compatibility box. Keep the Time Code the same.
| | 01:42 | You shouldn't have to do any Sample
Rate conversion, but if you need to, select
| | 01:46 | it and select your Source Sample Rate.
| | 01:49 | This is not going to change the
sync of your session whatsoever.
| | 01:52 | It's just going to convert the sample rate
and leave all the files exactly the same length.
| | 01:58 | The Audio Media Options should stay
the same as they are whenever possible.
| | 02:02 | If you are going to Avid for
instance, Avid reads Wav files.
| | 02:06 | As with everything that involves
other people and other priorities than your
| | 02:10 | own, you are always better off
communicating your intentions and asking
| | 02:14 | questions well ahead of time.
| | 02:16 | Make sure that you communicate with who
you are receiving these files from, to
| | 02:21 | make sure that you get exactly what you need.
| | 02:23 | Also, make sure that you communicate
with person that you are sending these
| | 02:27 | files to, to make sure that they get
what they need, and as always, think
| | 02:32 | from the end.
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| Slaving picture sessions| 00:00 | If you are fortunate enough to have a
second computer in your studio, using it
| | 00:04 | as a dedicated picture machine is a
great way of running your picture,
| | 00:08 | production tracks and demos.
| | 00:10 | This method frees up the
processing power of your sequencing computer.
| | 00:13 | It gives you the ability to always
have an overview of the reel and lets you
| | 00:17 | have a complete separate set of
outputs for production tracks and demos.
| | 00:22 | One is by hardware wiring via MIDI, and
the other is over a local area network.
| | 00:27 | Because the software required to achieve
MIDI over LAN emulates a MIDI interface,
| | 00:32 | the setup for syncing for either
method in Pro Tools is virtually identical.
| | 00:37 | When I was working on Pirates of the Caribbean,
there was a bunch of us on the music team.
| | 00:41 | We had very little time and a ton of
music to write, demo, record, and mix to
| | 00:47 | Jerry Bruckheimer's very high standard.
| | 00:50 | Everyone on that team use this
two-computer video server method.
| | 00:54 | Let's go to the Session Setup.
| | 00:58 | Make sure that both applications to
Pro Tools or one Pro Tools and another
| | 01:02 | sequencer have identical time code settings.
| | 01:06 | I cannot begin to tell you how many
times I found that when there was a problem,
| | 01:10 | it was because of this simple selection.
| | 01:13 | In this case, we have selected 29.97.
| | 01:16 | Let's go to the MIDI setup
and choose Input Devices.
| | 01:22 | Make sure that the computer that
you want to slave to is selected.
| | 01:27 | Let's now go to the Peripherals
setup, and choose Synchronization.
| | 01:32 | If you were setting up the Slave,
you would select the Proper Port for
| | 01:35 | reading the MIDI time code.
| | 01:38 | If you were setting up Pro Tools to
be your sequencer or master, you would
| | 01:42 | select the Generator Port on the master machine.
| | 01:46 | Now let's go to the Machine Control.
| | 01:48 | Enable the MIDI Machine Control if you
are setting up the master, enable the
| | 01:52 | Master and if you setting up
the slave, enable the Slave.
| | 01:56 | The ID number generally does not change.
| | 02:02 | By enabling Machine Control, Pro Tools
as a Slave, locates to the same frame as
| | 02:07 | the Master Machine whenever you
are playing, locating or stopped.
| | 02:12 | This makes the use of a second
machine for picture and track transparent.
| | 02:16 | Considering the rate of change in
computers, it's likely that if you do not have
| | 02:21 | a spare computer to serve as a
picture computer, you will soon.
| | 02:25 | Remember that the picture computer only
needs to be able to play back small Pro
| | 02:29 | Tools session and lock to another computer.
| | 02:32 | So last year's sequencer can easily
become this year's picture computer.
| | 02:36 | Also, laptops, iMacs, and the
family Mac Mini will work just fine.
| | 02:42 | So look around and put that
extra computer to good use.
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|
|
5. MIDI-Based SessionsBeginning a MIDI cue| 00:00 | Pro Tools 8 has added many MIDI
features making it a workable MIDI Sequencer.
| | 00:05 | If your working method is a dichotomy
of MIDI and audio recording, Pro Tools 8
| | 00:10 | is great solution for you.
| | 00:12 | We have made a copy of our
Picture Session from the last movie.
| | 00:16 | The Picture Session is your perfect
starting point for setting up a cue.
| | 00:20 | You already have the essential
ingredients, including the picture, the dialog,
| | 00:24 | and the other audio elements.
| | 00:26 | You have the start and end points of
the cue in the markers and all the correct
| | 00:30 | Session Setup settings.
| | 00:32 | The first thing we are going to do is
delete some of these tracks that we don't need.
| | 00:36 | We imported the OMF, but we have a
dialog track here that has all of that
| | 00:40 | information, so let's just
clean up our session a little bit.
| | 00:44 | Let's also delete the demo that's in here.
| | 00:48 | The demos will get updated in the
Picture Session. If you need to reference one
| | 00:52 | for pitch, spotting or tempo, then
leave it, but if you don't, then get rid of
| | 00:56 | it, because it only become confusing later.
| | 00:59 | Let's go to the I/O Setup.
| | 01:02 | Let's delete the password already set up and
create some new ones for our writing setup.
| | 01:08 | You are going to need outputs for dialog.
| | 01:10 | Let's make this stereo because we have
a stereo dialog track, and let's assign
| | 01:16 | that to outputs 7 and 8.
| | 01:19 | You also might want a
separate output for your Click.
| | 01:22 | That will be a Mono.
| | 01:24 | We will send that out of 9.
| | 01:28 | For writing, you're going to need
at least one multi-channel output.
| | 01:33 | Let's make it a 5.1.
| | 01:34 | We are going to call this the Monitor output.
| | 01:41 | Most likely, you don't know exactly what
instrument or groups you will write for
| | 01:45 | at this point, so come back to setting
up buses for stems when you have a more
| | 01:49 | comprehensive idea of what
the score is going to be.
| | 01:52 | Let's save this I/O as a midi session io.
| | 01:58 | The next thing we're going to want
to do is to create a Click Track.
| | 02:01 | I like to keep my Click Trick
near the top of the session.
| | 02:04 | So I am going to select Dialog, so the
click ends up right below that track.
| | 02:07 | If we go to Tracks, select Create Click Track.
| | 02:11 | This automatically selects an
instrument track and assigns it to a click.
| | 02:15 | If we open the Mixer, we will see that
there is a click inserted into the Click Track.
| | 02:21 | The factory default is not the kind of
click that I like to hear, so I usually
| | 02:25 | change it to the MPC Click.
| | 02:28 | Also in film music, because you have so
many meters changing all the time, often
| | 02:33 | Accented and Unaccented
clicks are of little or no use.
| | 02:37 | If you Option+Click the faders, it
brings them to -6, which is a pretty good
| | 02:42 | starting level for your Click.
| | 02:45 | Working with a Click Track may not
always be the right choice for the type of
| | 02:48 | music that you choose to write, but at
some point, you're going to need to have
| | 02:53 | to have some sort of bars and beats.
| | 02:55 | The tempo adjustments in Pro Tools
should give you the flexibility to achieve
| | 02:59 | whatever you hear in your head.
| | 03:01 | I worked with a great composer
Michael Kamen for many years.
| | 03:04 | Michael often decided to, or forgot
how to, sometimes turn on his Click.
| | 03:10 | So I ended up creating clicks after the fact.
| | 03:13 | It was often very hard work,
but the result was very musical.
| | 03:18 | The next thing we want to
do is to make a piano track.
| | 03:21 | Let's go to Create New
Tracks and select Instrument.
| | 03:25 | I am going to make this a piano.
| | 03:29 | Let's go back to our Mixer for a
second to set the piano up, select Insert >
| | 03:35 | plug-in > Instrument. Here is our piano.
| | 03:38 | It's going to load for a second,
but we don't need to see that.
| | 03:41 | It doesn't matter if you play piano or
want a piano in the cue or even in the
| | 03:46 | score; having a piano track to go at
the top of the session gives you an
| | 03:50 | immediate pitch reference.
| | 03:52 | Always use the same instrument and make
sure that it's one that's easily accessible.
| | 03:57 | Remember, this is essentially a reference track.
| | 04:00 | So even a general MIDI piano will do.
| | 04:03 | One last thing that we
need to do is set our outputs.
| | 04:06 | Remember, let's go back to the Mixer, we
have Dialog, and we have a Dialog output.
| | 04:12 | So let's select it.
| | 04:13 | We have a Click Output,
and we have a Monitor Output.
| | 04:18 | If you have a MIDI template that you
like to use in writing, import it now.
| | 04:22 | Okay the last thing that we need to do
is locate the first cue that we're going
| | 04:26 | to write, here it is in the Marker 1m1.
| | 04:29 | Let's just play that for a second and make
sure that's where we want it to start exactly.
| | 04:32 | It starts in the fade in. That's perfect.
| | 04:37 | Now let's set a downbeat.
Command+I identifies a beat.
| | 04:41 | Let's make that Bar 1 Beat 1, and
that's the beginning of our cue.
| | 04:46 | Save this session now as your Cue Template.
| | 04:49 | It has all the necessary ingredients
for the rest of the cues in the reel.
| | 04:52 | Right. Now comes the easy part.
All you have to do is write some music.
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| Importing data| 00:00 | Importing MIDI data for a piece of
music that has been written in a different
| | 00:04 | MIDI Sequencer by you or someone
else is a common occurrence when scoring
| | 00:08 | films and television.
| | 00:10 | This could be a cue started on another
platform, a contribution from another
| | 00:14 | composer or arranger, or even a song
that you've been asked to arrange and
| | 00:18 | incorporate into a film.
| | 00:20 | I've taken the liberty of
importing the first cue of this film, 1m1.
| | 00:24 | For an example, we are
going to import its MIDI file.
| | 00:28 | Select Import MIDI file, and here it is,
1m1, version 1.3, double-click that.
| | 00:38 | Now, we have several choices in importing.
| | 00:40 | We are going to import to new tracks, so
we don't have to drag from the Region list.
| | 00:46 | In this case, we are going to select
Session Start, but we could also put it at
| | 00:49 | Song Start, or spot
it to a Time Code location.
| | 00:54 | And let's import the
Tempo map from the MIDI file.
| | 00:58 | Now, as you can see, we have a whole
bunch of MIDI channels that have been
| | 01:02 | imported into our sequence. That's great.
| | 01:06 | For convenience, we're going to group
these. Command+G gives you the group, and
| | 01:10 | let's just make them small, so we can
navigate around this a little better.
| | 01:16 | Now this is imported to the beginning of
the session, so we could discuss how to
| | 01:21 | move this around inside the session.
| | 01:24 | First thing that I want to do is I
know that this sequence starts at the very
| | 01:28 | beginning of this file.
| | 01:29 | If I move the MIDI sequence to the
beginning of the audio file, it should be in sync.
| | 01:36 | Let's go to the Event menu and choose
Time Operations and Move Song Start.
| | 01:43 | This has automatically entered the
beginning of the region that's highlighted.
| | 01:47 | It will be in the same place whether
we're displaying, bars, time code or
| | 01:52 | minutes and seconds.
| | 01:54 | We wanted to move the Song Start,
the Meter, the Tempo Changes etcetera.
| | 01:58 | We don't want to move any
sample-based markers and tracks.
| | 02:01 | And as you saw all that
move, it will be in sync.
| | 02:06 | Let's undo that for a second and
explore another possibility here.
| | 02:10 | You can see that this red marker is
the beginning of the MIDI sequence.
| | 02:13 | I can actually just drag that
by hand up to the beginning.
| | 02:17 | Now there's no reason to do this in this
case because we know that the beginning
| | 02:21 | of this file is the beginning of the
MIDI start, but let's say that it was down
| | 02:25 | here or somewhere that we could see visually.
| | 02:28 | We could just move it
right to the visual downbeat.
| | 02:31 | Once you have the MIDI, you'll need to
assign the tracks to like instruments.
| | 02:35 | This will depend on your instrumental
selections and your particular setup.
| | 02:40 | If you're going to use soft synths
and samplers, you'll need to create
| | 02:43 | instrument tracks for these MIDI tracks.
| | 02:47 | If you go to the Create New Tracks
page, you can select Instrument Track.
| | 02:53 | I happen to know that
there are 18 MIDI tracks here.
| | 02:55 | So, I am going to create new tracks
below these MIDI tracks, I am going to
| | 03:01 | group them and make them small
so we can see this more clearly.
| | 03:09 | If I zoom out, so we can see all the
MIDI, and because they are grouped, I can
| | 03:14 | highlight them altogether.
| | 03:15 | If I hold down Option, I can then copy
all of this MIDI from MIDI channels down
| | 03:20 | to the Instrument Tracks.
| | 03:23 | All I now need to do is assign these
Instrument Tracks to soft synths and
| | 03:26 | samplers, and I am all set to play.
| | 03:29 | If there is any associated audio
with the sequence, import it now.
| | 03:33 | Audio is not part of the standard MIDI
spec, so these tracks will need to be
| | 03:37 | saved and sent to you separately.
| | 03:39 | There are many uses for importing MIDI
into Pro Tools sessions. Make sure that
| | 03:43 | the MIDI file you receive has the
proper tempo and meter maps, and also has
| | 03:48 | clearly labeled instrument tracks.
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| Importing tempo and meter maps| 00:00 | Importing Tempo and Meter maps from a
standard MIDI file gives you the ability
| | 00:04 | to have bars and beats in sync with an
existing recording in order to work with
| | 00:09 | that file, to record additional parts
and to navigate musically, as you record a mix.
| | 00:14 | This is an especially important
technique if the original writing did not
| | 00:18 | occur in Pro Tools.
| | 00:20 | Let's start with a cue that
started another sequencer.
| | 00:23 | We have the Stereo Mix, and
it stems and click below here.
| | 00:28 | Let's highlight it, go to Import MIDI.
| | 00:31 | I like to use the keyboard command
Option+Command+I, and let's choose the
| | 00:36 | standard MIDI file for that cue.
| | 00:37 | It gives us the options for the
location of the start of the cue.
| | 00:44 | In this case, I want it to be the Selection.
| | 00:46 | I want to make sure I import the Tempo map,
might as well import the Key Signature too.
| | 00:54 | You noticed that all the MIDI has come
in on individual tracks, below the audio.
| | 00:58 | In this case, I don't need it, and it's
all highlighted for me, so all I need to
| | 01:02 | do is select Delete under the
Track menu and all that MIDI is gone.
| | 01:08 | So now we can locate to bars and beats.
| | 01:11 | (Video and music playing.)
| | 01:25 | So if I want to go to part 42, there it is.
| | 01:28 | Another way to locate the start of
your Tempo and Meter maps is to go to Time
| | 01:33 | Operations and choose Move Song Start.
| | 01:35 | You will notice where I have the
cursor setting here is automatically dialed
| | 01:40 | into my Timecode window if
I have Time code selected.
| | 01:44 | That means I can move the start and
everything after it, including any Meter
| | 01:48 | changes and Tempo changes
from that point forward.
| | 01:53 | Let's undo that.
| | 01:56 | I can also grab the beginning
and move it to wherever I want.
| | 02:01 | Regardless of the origination and
gestation of your idea, Pro Tools 8 can
| | 02:04 | seamlessly function as a great record,
overdub and mix machine, using the data
| | 02:09 | available to navigate musically through any cue.
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|
|
6. MIDI FunctionsTempo mapping to picture| 00:00 | The traditional first step in
writing a piece of music, after staring at a
| | 00:03 | blank sheet of paper of course, or a blank
sequencer in this case, is to establish a Tempo.
| | 00:09 | Certainly this isn't the only approach,
but it's one that you'll often find
| | 00:13 | helpful when composing for picture.
| | 00:15 | Let's start with a scene
that we've already spotted.
| | 00:17 | We have our picture session and
have made into a template for a new cue.
| | 00:21 | We've looked at the scene a few times
and gotten a rough idea of a Tempo and
| | 00:25 | maybe even some musical
ideas or themes in our head.
| | 00:29 | Let's zoom out a little bit and go
to the downbeat of our first cue, 1m1.
| | 00:35 | If I double-click on the
downbeat, I can change the Tempo.
| | 00:39 | I think around 88 beats per
minute is a good place to start.
| | 00:42 | All well-cut scenes have an
intrinsic tempo, or tempos.
| | 00:46 | The cuts have a certain pace, the
dialog, even the action within a shot will
| | 00:51 | seem to be at a certain speed.
| | 00:53 | A good tip to keep in mind is that
it's not always a good idea to match the
| | 00:57 | pace of these elements.
| | 00:58 | Contrasting that pace may be the best choice.
| | 01:01 | Think about how John Berry plays
action scenes in the James Bond series.
| | 01:05 | He sometimes scores those scenes at
as slow as 60 beats a minute. Okay.
| | 01:10 | Let's have a look at our cue. The first
think I want to do is change the display
| | 01:14 | to Bars and Beats so we
can talk in musical terms.
| | 01:17 | (Metronome tapping.)
| | 01:48 | Okay, I saw two things
going by there that I liked.
| | 01:52 | The first is that the main title
happens right there, and there's a cut right
| | 01:57 | before it that I really liked.
| | 01:59 | I want that cut right before the main
title appears to be a structural downbeat.
| | 02:03 | So let's identify where it is.
| | 02:05 | First of all, let's hide the picture
for a second and check our Nudge value.
| | 02:08 | I'd like to nudge in Time Code frames.
| | 02:12 | If you use the key commands Option+
Command and the Minus and Plus keys, you can
| | 02:18 | toggle between some preset nudge values.
| | 02:21 | One second five frames.
| | 02:23 | This value can be set in the Preferences.
| | 02:26 | One frame, a half a frame, a quarter
of a frame and a hundredth of a frame.
| | 02:31 | Let's leave it at one frame.
| | 02:33 | Let's get our picture back. Okay.
| | 02:35 | Let's identify that cut.
| | 02:36 | The first thing I want to do here is
make my Movie window a little bigger so we
| | 02:40 | can see it, and we'll play.
| | 02:45 | (Tap)
| | 02:46 | That's the cut right there. Let's nudge to it.
| | 02:54 | Now what I want to do is I want to
identify a beat by using the keystroke
| | 02:58 | Command+I. That identifies the beat.
| | 03:02 | I want to make that Bar 11.
| | 03:03 | Now you notice it changed the beginning
Tempo, so it's one consistent Tempo of 94.
| | 03:10 | 94 is not so bad.
| | 03:13 | Let's back up a few Bars and see how that looks.
| | 03:15 | (Metronome tapping.)
| | 03:22 | Right on the cut. I can also imagine
the music working really well starting in
| | 03:26 | the downbeat and growing by Beat
3 with the title as it comes in.
| | 03:31 | So there was one other thing
that I noticed here. Around Bar 4.
| | 03:35 | (Metronome tapping.)
| | 03:43 | Let me nudge to it, about right there.
| | 03:51 | I'd like that to be the downbeat of Bar 4,
but instead of moving it the way that
| | 03:56 | we moved to Bar 11,
| | 03:57 | I'm going to actually locate
to Bar 4 and identify that Beat.
| | 04:02 | It's already identified as 4.
| | 04:03 | I'm just going to create an anchor.
| | 04:05 | I'm going to zoom out a little bit
here so you can see what I'm doing.
| | 04:09 | I'm going to grab this anchor
and just drag it over to that cut.
| | 04:17 | This is really good for when
you're locating action within a shot.
| | 04:21 | Let me zoom out so you can see this.
| | 04:23 | If you've noticed, the beginning Tempo
has changed to 75 and the Tempo after Bar
| | 04:28 | 4 has become significantly faster.
| | 04:31 | There's another thing that we can do with Tempo.
| | 04:33 | Let's delete this anchor for a second.
| | 04:35 | I really like to cut to the downbeat of
11, but I'd really like to start slower
| | 04:40 | than 94 beats a minute.
| | 04:41 | Here's what I'm going to do.
| | 04:43 | I'm going to select the region from 1
to Bar 11. I'm going to go to the Event
| | 04:49 | list and select Tempo Operations > Parabolic.
| | 04:54 | Parabolic gives me the option to make
this a curve, either negative or positive,
| | 04:58 | but in its neutral position
it's just a straight slope.
| | 05:02 | What I want to do is I want
to calculate the end tempo.
| | 05:06 | I want the downbeat of Bar 11, as well
as its Time Code value, not to change.
| | 05:12 | So let's display Time Code for a second.
| | 05:14 | We can see that the downbeat of Bar 11
currently is at 34 seconds and 14 frames.
| | 05:20 | That's what I want, but I want
the beginning Tempo to be slower.
| | 05:23 | Let's say around 88 Beats per minute.
| | 05:26 | That now calculates a new Tempo of 100
for me, and I have a constant slope of
| | 05:31 | Tempo changing between Bars 1 and Bars 11.
| | 05:35 | Let's have a look at that.
| | 05:38 | (Metronome tapping.)
| | 06:07 | That's exactly what we wanted.
| | 06:09 | I think it's perfect.
| | 06:10 | The same functions that we've been
using here can be used after a piece of
| | 06:14 | music is written as well.
| | 06:15 | If you want to adjust what you've
written for this scene or repurpose a piece
| | 06:19 | for another scene, you can
manipulate the tempos in much the same manner.
| | Collapse this transcript |
| Matching existing tempos| 00:00 | There are several instances where it's
necessary to create a Tempo map after a
| | 00:04 | piece of music has already been written.
| | 00:06 | As I said before, Michael Kamen loves
to write without a click, but eventually
| | 00:11 | there needed to be a Tempo map created.
| | 00:13 | Another use for this technique is when
you're asked to create a string or an
| | 00:17 | orchestral arrangement for an existing song.
| | 00:20 | Songs are often recorded without a Click.
| | 00:23 | The process of identifying a Tempo
for an existing piece of music is very
| | 00:27 | similar to creating one
from scratch for picture.
| | 00:30 | Let's have a listen to the first
few bars of a demo for our movie.
| | 00:35 | Let's turn the Click off, so we can
try to identify the tempo on its own.
| | 00:39 | (Music playing.)
| | 01:11 | Okay, I think it's around 90 beats per minute.
| | 01:14 | Once we got into that rhythmic
section, it apparent was in 3/4.
| | 01:18 | So let's go to Bar 1
Beat 1 and dial in 90 beats.
| | 01:23 | Let's also change the Meter to 3/4. Okay.
| | 01:28 | Let's listen once again with the
Click on, and see how close we are.
| | 01:32 | Let's also listen to bars
that might get off a little bit.
| | 01:35 | It does feel rubato after all.
| | 01:37 | (Music playing with metronome tapping.)
| | 01:51 | Let's change our display to
Bars and Beats before we continue.
| | 01:55 | Here we go.
| | 01:56 | (Music playing with metronome tapping.)
| | 02:30 | Okay. The first place that it
gets off is around Bar 9.
| | 02:34 | So let's go to Bar 9, zoom in a little bit here.
| | 02:37 | (Music playing with metronome tapping.)
| | 02:42 | So that entrance of that cimbalom is
right on the downbeat, but that's not where
| | 02:48 | it's appearing on our Tempo map.
| | 02:49 | (Music playing.)
| | 02:51 | So let's identify it.
| | 02:53 | If we zoom in a little more, we can see that
the waveform downbeat is about right there.
| | 02:59 | If we identify beat, the keyboard
shortcut is Command+I. And notice that
| | 03:03 | it's not quite on Bar 9.
| | 03:06 | Let's make it there. Now it is.
| | 03:08 | Always remember that when you're
identifying beats in the Tempo map, you're not
| | 03:12 | moving the music or the film.
| | 03:17 | Let's listen to that and see how close we got.
| | 03:19 | (Music playing with metronome tapping.)
That's right on.
| | 03:23 | The next place was around Bar 12.
| | 03:26 | Let's play from 9 to 12, and see if we're on.
| | 03:28 | (Music playing with metronome tapping.)
| | 03:41 | Okay, that's okay right now.
| | 03:42 | But Bar 15 is way off.
| | 03:45 | So let's go to Bar 15 and see if we
can figure out where the downbeat is.
| | 03:49 | (Music playing.)
| | 03:51 | Its right there, isn't it?
| | 03:53 | That's our modulation on the downbeat of 15.
| | 03:55 | So let's identify a beat
again, Command+I and dial in 15.
| | 04:01 | Let's zoom out and see what we've done.
| | 04:03 | There is a Tempo change,
now where we identified 9.
| | 04:06 | Let's listen to that section one more time.
| | 04:08 | (Music playing with metronome tapping.)
| | 04:22 | It depends on what were
making these Tempo changes for.
| | 04:25 | If we were going to record a long
strings sustain pass in here, it really
| | 04:30 | wouldn't matter if it was
matched perfectly in those bars.
| | 04:34 | But let's say it was to
be something more rhythmic.
| | 04:37 | We want to be more accurate than that.
| | 04:38 | So let's go to around Bar 12
and see if we can make it better.
| | 04:42 | I want to find the downbeat of Bar 12.
| | 04:44 | (Music playing with metronome tapping.)
It's there. Isn't it?
| | 04:52 | Now we're right on it.
| | 04:53 | So let's identify that as Bar 12.
| | 04:55 | It's a little late right now.
| | 04:57 | There we go, and one last time.
| | 05:00 | (Music playing with metronome tapping.)
| | 05:14 | That's good.
| | 05:15 | That Tempo change is through sustained section.
| | 05:18 | So it's not really going to matter very much.
| | 05:20 | If you're going to use this Tempo map as
a Click track for musicians to play to,
| | 05:25 | its important to turn the Music off and see
if it's possible to play to. Let's try that.
| | 05:31 | We know that the Tempo is
straight from bars one till 9.
| | 05:34 | So let's just listen to 9
through 15 without the Music.
| | 05:38 | (Meetronome tapping.)
| | 05:51 | It's clearly a Tempo change,
but it's perfectly understandable.
| | 05:55 | Another method of identifying Tempo in
Pro Tools is by using the Beat Detective.
| | 06:01 | Let's zoom out for a second,
turn our Music back on.
| | 06:05 | Highlight the piece and open Beat Detective.
| | 06:08 | I want to make sure that the
Selection is correct, which it is.
| | 06:14 | I want to adjust the Sensitivity,
so I start seeing bar lines.
| | 06:21 | That's pretty random at
that point. Let's keep going.
| | 06:28 | Okay. Let's see what that thinks it is.
| | 06:30 | I ask it to Analyze.
| | 06:32 | You've probably all played with
this before, and it's all set.
| | 06:35 | Let's ask it to Generate a Tempo map.
| | 06:38 | Yes, you don't want the piece of music to
move, so keep the Preserve Sample Position.
| | 06:43 | Okay. Let's have a look.
| | 06:45 | Let's zoom in a little bit
here to see what it has done.
| | 06:51 | Well, that's a Tempo all over the map.
| | 06:54 | That's not what we came up with.
| | 06:56 | Let's have a listen.
| | 06:56 | (Music playing with metronome tapping.)
| | 07:19 | Okay, it's adding beats.
| | 07:21 | It's not very accurate.
| | 07:22 | It's difficult for Beat Detective to
identify tempos when there aren't normal
| | 07:27 | transients involved.
| | 07:29 | It's really great when you're trying to
identify tempos in the song that has a regular beat.
| | 07:33 | It can see those transients
and identify them as tempos.
| | 07:37 | Something like this that's rubato and
doesn't have a consistent rhythm,
| | 07:41 | it's very difficult for Beat Detective to work.
| | 07:43 | Sometimes there is no
substitute for the human ear.
| | 07:46 | You might create a Click track that's
really accurate, like we were talking about,
| | 07:50 | to a recorded piece of music,
| | 07:52 | but when you play it back on its own,
it sounds like a dog's breakfast.
| | 07:56 | Always consider that room full of
musicians, and how they're going to react.
| | Collapse this transcript |
| Using Elastic Audio| 00:00 | Elastic Audio is a great tool for the Composer.
| | 00:03 | I'm sure that you've already
experimented with it, using it to quantize audio.
| | 00:08 | We will look at how Elastic Audio
enables you to adjust the tempo of an existing
| | 00:12 | piece of audio to match events in the picture.
| | 00:15 | Let's take our same cue
and Enable Elastic Audio.
| | 00:20 | There are four different plug-ins or
algorithms available in Elastic Audio,
| | 00:25 | depending on the sort of
material that you're trying to change.
| | 00:28 | There is Polyphonic, Rhythmic,
Monophonic, and Varispeed.
| | 00:31 | We want Polyphonic because
of the sort of cue it is.
| | 00:36 | Also, we want to check to make
sure that we have selected Ticks.
| | 00:39 | This gives us the ability to adjust
the tempo map and have the audio follow.
| | 00:44 | Let's have a listen to
our cue with the Click on.
| | 00:46 | (Music playing with metronome tapping.)
| | 01:15 | At bar 12, it would be really great if the
new phrase started as the picture faded up.
| | 01:22 | Let's locate to bar 12 and identify
that beat. Command+I identifies the beat
| | 01:27 | and makes an anchor.
| | 01:30 | Let's change the display to Analysis.
| | 01:33 | That will show us what's going on
with Elastic Audio when we change things.
| | 01:38 | Zoom in a little bit.
| | 01:39 | What I want to do is I want to grab
the anchor and gently move it forward,
| | 01:42 | watching the picture until I get to the cut.
| | 01:48 | Let's turn off the Click, and have a
listen to what it's done to our audio.
| | 01:52 | (Music playing.)
| | 02:12 | Okay. That's terrific.
| | 02:13 | It's only changed the tempo a
few beats per minute, and it seems
| | 02:16 | quite acceptable to me.
| | 02:17 | I don't know that I want to go
all that much farther to a stereo.
| | 02:21 | But if you were dealing with a multi-
track in individual elements, probably
| | 02:24 | wouldn't be bad at all.
| | 02:26 | Your ear is always the best judge
when it comes to things like that.
| | 02:29 | Just like all of the other tempo
changes that we've made, Elastic Audio behaves
| | 02:33 | exactly the same as a Click in MIDI.
| | 02:36 | So if we wanted to identify another bar,
and make a marker, let's say bar 5, we
| | 02:42 | wanted to pull that a little bit to
the right, we are going to slow down the
| | 02:46 | beginning and speed up the next section.
| | 02:48 | Let's see what that does.
| | 02:49 | (Music playing.)
| | 03:11 | It's okay musically, but there's no
real reason to do it for the picture.
| | 03:15 | So let's undo that.
| | 03:16 | Let's have a look at the
next section here a little bit.
| | 03:18 | (Music playing.)
| | 03:33 | Okay. Let's just make a couple of more tempo
changes, and see what Elastic Audio does.
| | 03:38 | Let's identify bar 7, and let's identify bar 9.
| | 03:42 | Now, what I want to do is I want to
change this tempo, and I want to change this
| | 03:52 | tempo, and see what my sync is.
| | 03:55 | (Music playing.)
| | 04:10 | What this has done is it's
created a little rubato passage, which
| | 04:14 | sounds perfectly fine.
| | 04:15 | But if that's how the music was in the
first place, and you objected to it, you
| | 04:19 | could delete all these tempos
and straighten it back out again.
| | 04:24 | Just the opposite of what we did.
| | 04:25 | (Music playing.)
| | 04:40 | Okay. All of the tempo operations in Pro Tools
can be applied to Elastic Audio as well.
| | 04:45 | You'll find that Elastic Audio allows
you to make all kinds of adjustments to
| | 04:49 | both mixes and multi-tracks.
| | 04:52 | My great friend Dan Pinder was the
Music Editor on the Dark Night and told me
| | 04:56 | a story about the director not ever being
happy with the transition in a particular cue.
| | 05:02 | He couldn't put his finger on what it was,
but he knew that it didn't feel right to him.
| | 05:06 | It was a complicated cue with a rant tempo
change right at the point of his objection.
| | 05:11 | They recorded the cue as
it was written and prepped.
| | 05:14 | Then during the mix, Dan removed the
accelerando using Elastic Audio and ended
| | 05:20 | up with a straight tempo change.
| | 05:22 | The Director loved it.
| | 05:23 | This is a great tool, but like any great
powerful tool, it needs to be used with caution.
| | 05:29 | Every time you change the tempo of an
existing audio file, you degrade that file.
| | 05:34 | There maybe other ways to achieve the
same dramatic goal, such as editing or
| | 05:39 | changing the start time.
| | 05:40 | Make sure that you
consider all the possibilities.
| | Collapse this transcript |
|
|
7. Advanced QuickTime FunctionsUsing multiple clips| 00:00 | Pro Tools 8 has made it possible to have more
than one piece of video in a single session.
| | 00:05 | This was a huge leap forward for
those of us who use picture every day.
| | 00:09 | There are several uses for
more than one clip in a session.
| | 00:12 | When the film changes and you noticed,
I said when, not if, the easiest way to
| | 00:17 | see those changes is to
compare the old and the new picture.
| | 00:20 | Here is the old picture.
| | 00:21 | Let's import the new picture.
| | 00:22 | We're going to put it on a New Track
and have it start at the Session Start.
| | 00:29 | You don't need to see the frames.
| | 00:34 | Since Pro Tools now treats video just
like any other region, you can move it,
| | 00:38 | edit it and generally treat it just as audio,
| | 00:41 | the only caveat being that you can
only play one video track at a time.
| | 00:47 | This little O, when it's highlighted,
it means that video track is on.
| | 00:52 | If you didn't receive an accurate
change sheet, or in fact a change sheet at
| | 00:56 | all, you can always temporarily change
the old video to match the new video, or
| | 01:01 | vice-versa, to figure out what the changes are.
| | 01:04 | In this case, they've just supplied us
with a new Main Title section, and they
| | 01:08 | told me over the phone that
they took out a couple of shots.
| | 01:11 | Let's have a look in this area.
I know somewhere in here.
| | 01:14 | So that goes from that kid to that kid.
| | 01:17 | If I look at the original, same place,
there are four additional shots before
| | 01:23 | we get to the kid.
| | 01:24 | So what we want to do is we
want to locate the first cut --
| | 01:27 | (Video playing.)
| | 01:35 | Go right to the first frame
and then just cut the video.
| | 01:44 | Let's go down here a little bit
to find the next cut. There it is.
| | 01:47 | Let's backup.
| | 01:51 |
| | 01:55 | Identify the cut, make the cut,
highlight this region, and we know by looking at
| | 02:01 | the length here, they've
removed 15 seconds and 19 frames.
| | 02:06 | So if I need to edit my piece of music
here I know that's approximately how much
| | 02:10 | I need to take out, and we'll just do
it by going in the Shuffle mode for a
| | 02:14 | second and deleting that piece,
just to make sure that we're right.
| | 02:18 | So we can check a cut, downstream from there.
| | 02:22 | Let's say there, cut to those boys there.
| | 02:25 | Identify the cut and then
switch back to the new video.
| | 02:30 | We're off by one frame.
| | 02:35 | So I can switch that length here.
| | 02:38 | The important part is that we know what the
length is, not that our picture edit is perfect.
| | 02:44 | Go to another cut, just to
make sure. There's one there.
| | 02:51 |
| | 02:58 | Okay, the one thing that you need to
remember when switching between the two
| | 03:02 | video tracks is that you need to be
stopped in order to switch between them.
| | 03:06 | It may look like you're ABing in real-
time, but it's not switching if you are
| | 03:10 | playing; you have to stop.
| | 03:14 | Okay let's go to the next thing.
| | 03:16 | Let's get rid of this video and restore
this to its original length, and see the
| | 03:25 | video now is treated just
like any other audio track.
| | 03:29 | Another use for multiple clips in the
session is to have more than one reel.
| | 03:33 | Some people like to have the
entire show in one session.
| | 03:36 | I am not a huge fan of this because it's
like having all of your eggs in one basket.
| | 03:40 | If you were to do that,
here is what you would do.
| | 03:44 | Just as an example, let's copy our
picture and locate to the next hour.
| | 03:49 | So pretend that this is Reel two of the film.
| | 03:53 | It's located at hour two.
| | 03:55 | We'll do that for reel
three as well, and reel four.
| | 04:00 | Now if I zoom out, you can see that we
have four reels of picture all in one session.
| | 04:05 | If we were using this as a video slide,
the incoming time code would locate
| | 04:10 | automatically to whatever
hour that the program saw.
| | 04:13 | So if we were in Reel three Q 3M
20 for instance, it would locate us
| | 04:19 | automatically and play reel three.
| | 04:22 | The advantage is that the session will
automatically locate to the correct video
| | 04:26 | if you're using it as a picture slide.
| | 04:28 | No matter what cue you play.
| | 04:30 | If you build the reels at the correct
time code, and when Pro Tools sees the
| | 04:34 | incoming code it will automatically
locate to the appropriate reel, and to the
| | 04:38 | appropriate time code location.
| | 04:41 | Another use for multiple clips in the
session is that you can combine all of
| | 04:45 | the reels with the music and the tracks,
in order to have a screening of the
| | 04:48 | entire film in one go.
| | 04:50 | You would import each reel and its
associated tracks, then cut the picture together.
| | 04:55 | This is one of those rare times
where I would use Shuttle mode.
| | 04:58 | Select the last frame of the first
reel of picture as your in-point, then the
| | 05:02 | first frame of the next reel
as your out-point and delete.
| | 05:06 | Checkerboard your audio so you don't
end up with the huge amount of tracks, and
| | 05:10 | you're ready to screen.
| | 05:12 | Perfunctory video editing can also be done.
| | 05:14 | You might receive an insert of some
new footage, for instance, or a new scene.
| | 05:19 | You can carefully cut it
into the appropriate spot.
| | 05:21 | If you're using Burnt-in timecode
be aware that it will no longer match
| | 05:25 | your timecode ruler.
| | 05:26 | Always be aware that unless you're
John Ottman, you are not a picture editor.
| | 05:31 | Any real work to the picture needs to
be done by the person that is ultimately
| | 05:35 | responsible for delivering the visual elements.
| | 05:38 | Make sure that the picture that you're
working with is always up-to-date, or at
| | 05:41 | least you are aware of the film
versions and how any film changes will affect
| | 05:45 | your delivery of the final music.
| | Collapse this transcript |
| Bouncing QT clips| 00:00 | I find that more and more of my
directors and producers are not in the same town
| | 00:05 | or even the same country as me.
| | 00:07 | Having the ability to make clips of
demos that can be delivered over the
| | 00:10 | Internet is invaluable.
| | 00:12 | Bouncing a movie in Pro Tools is quite simple.
| | 00:16 | The first step is to balance
the music against the dialog.
| | 00:19 | You're the composer, so favoring the music a
little bit is to be expected. Be careful though.
| | 00:24 | You don't want the music to be too
far out of context, especially if it's
| | 00:27 | designed to play under dialog.
| | 00:29 | Let's have a listen to our cue --
| | 00:31 | (Music playing.)
| | 00:34 | (Female speaker 1: I really
didn't know where to start.)
| | 00:36 | (Female speaker 1: How do you ask someone
what it's like to live through a war?)
| | 00:40 | (Female speaker 1: So I asked
about their happiest moments.)
| | 00:46 | (Female speaker 2: Hm. I should have some.)
| | 00:54 | Okay, I think it's pretty good.
| | 00:56 | I turn it down just a little bit.
Now the one thing that I want to do is I don't
| | 01:00 | want it to come in just in
the middle of that dialog line.
| | 01:03 | It's a little jarring.
| | 01:04 | I think it's really important that
when directors and producers look at their
| | 01:08 | work they get a sense of the context
before the music comes in, or you'll knock
| | 01:12 | them out of their seat.
| | 01:13 | So let's back up a little bit
and find a good starting spot.
| | 01:16 | (Female speaker 3: And I have a nice life.)
| | 01:20 | Maybe a little before that.
| | 01:21 | (Female speaker 3: I'm married. I'm married.
I have a beautiful daughter and I have a nice life.)
| | 01:33 | I think that's a great spot.
| | 01:34 | We'll start there, and then there is a
lot of silence at the end of this bounce,
| | 01:39 | so we don't need to go all
the way there. That's fine.
| | 01:41 | Okay, so let's bounce this to a QuickTime movie.
| | 01:44 | We select Bounce to >
QuickTime Movie, under the File menu.
| | 01:48 | We want to make sure we are
getting the right outputs.
| | 01:51 | Both the dialog and the music
are bused to these two channels.
| | 01:54 | I have already checked that.
| | 01:56 | We want to make sure that it's a
QuickTime, which is already set to be, Stereo
| | 02:00 | Interleaved, 16 bit, 48K, all the
standard stuff for a QuickTime file.
| | 02:06 | Nothing was really being converted.
| | 02:07 | It's exactly the same as it
is in the file. Let's Bounce.
| | 02:11 |
| | 02:15 | You want to make sure that you save
it somewhere sensible and that you name
| | 02:22 | it something sensible. This is 1m2.
| | 02:23 | I believe it's version 1.2 Happiness.
| | 02:30 | (Female speaker 3: I'm married. I have a
beautiful daughter and I have a nice life.)
| | 02:39 | (Music playing.)
| | 02:40 | (Female speaker 1: I really
didn't know where to start.)
| | 02:42 | (Female speaker 1: How do you ask someone
what it's like to live through a war?)
| | 02:46 | (Female speaker 1: So I asked
about their happiest moments.)
| | 02:51 | (Female speaker 2: Hm. I should have some.)
| | 03:00 | A note of warning about QuickTime Bounces.
| | 03:04 | You notice that it playback
the audio but not the video.
| | 03:07 | Well, that's fine, but make sure you
always monitor it anyway because I can't
| | 03:11 | tell you how many times that I've set
up a QuickTime Bounce, walked away from it
| | 03:15 | and come back to find out that
I had no audio on the bounce.
| | 03:19 | Once you have a QuickTime
file, you have several choices.
| | 03:22 | If you're a member of .me, what used to
be called .mac, and have iMovie, you can
| | 03:27 | upload directly to a gallery.
| | 03:29 | This requires no further conversion as
the application takes care of those for you.
| | 03:34 | If you're going to e-mail or upload to
a Web page, you will need to prepare the
| | 03:38 | clip by making it smaller
and/or ready for streaming.
| | 03:42 | QuickTime Pro and a number of other
applications allow for this type of conversion.
| | 03:47 | I just completed two French films
| | 03:49 | where I never actually met any of the
producers and only one of the directors.
| | 03:54 | Everything that originated from me was
posted on a secure Web site and Comments
| | 03:59 | and Change Requests were all
made based on those posted clips.
| | 04:04 | Make sure it sounds good on a laptop.
| | 04:06 | That's all I can tell you.
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|
|
8. Session PreparationCreating guide Tracks| 00:00 | Whenever you need to do any large-scale
recording, as in more than one musician,
| | 00:05 | or when you need to go to another
studio, you need to create guide tracks.
| | 00:09 | Projects usually end up having
similar sets of guide tracks or stems.
| | 00:13 | Try to stick to the same names and
categories for each cue, although there will
| | 00:17 | always be an exception or two.
| | 00:19 | I hope you didn't use bagpipes on every cue.
| | 00:22 | In each section, you should group and color-
code what you think are going to be the stems.
| | 00:27 | Let's look at our session for 1m1.
| | 00:28 | Here you see we have several Harp parts.
| | 00:32 | Let's group those
all together and call those harp.
| | 00:38 | If you go to the Color palette, you
can choose to color groups and choose
| | 00:46 | the color for each.
| | 00:47 | Let's choose red for Harps.
| | 00:50 | The next are synths and pads.
| | 00:54 |
| | 00:59 | We'll make those green.
| | 01:00 | Then we have voices.
| | 01:03 | How about yellow for voices?
| | 01:08 | Horns, purple for horns, and
then Strings, orange for Strings.
| | 01:23 | It's always a good idea when you're
writing and building up tracks that you keep
| | 01:27 | your instrument groups organized like this.
| | 01:29 | It makes printing stems and
finding instruments all that much easier.
| | 01:35 | Once you have your groups established,
there are actually two ways to print stems.
| | 01:40 | The first is to make record
tracks and Auxes for busing them.
| | 01:44 | This has two advantages:
| | 01:46 | once you establish these added tracks,
you can import them as templates to all
| | 01:51 | of your other cues that need guide tracks;
| | 01:53 | the second is that you can
usually record them all in one pass.
| | 01:57 | Let's go to the I/O Setup and
create some buses. Go to the Buses.
| | 02:02 | Delete what's there and create some new ones.
| | 02:04 | We have five stems, and they're Stereos.
| | 02:30 | Let's just assign those consecutively.
| | 02:34 |
| | 02:36 | Now, all we need are some
tracks to record them onto.
| | 02:40 | Let's go to the New Tracks page
and create five stereo tracks.
| | 02:46 |
| | 02:50 | Remember that Option+Command+Right
Arrow takes you to the next box. Very handy!
| | 02:56 |
| | 03:10 | Now, we're all set, and we
need to go to the Mixer page.
| | 03:13 | Go back to our Synth
outputs that have been grouped.
| | 03:18 | Let's grab the Harps.
| | 03:20 | If you hold down Shift+Option,
and then choose the Output, they all
| | 03:27 | output to the chosen bus.
| | 03:29 | We'll do the same with the Synths.
| | 03:34 |
| | 03:38 | We'll do the Voices, Horns, and Strings.
| | 03:52 | Now, we need to set our
inputs for the Harp Guide.
| | 03:56 | It's a bus, remember.
| | 03:58 | We grab the Harp bus, the Synth bus,
the Voice bus, the Horns bus and
| | 04:04 | the Strings bus.
| | 04:09 | Now, we're all set.
| | 04:11 | You can also record guide tracks as bounces.
| | 04:14 | This works well when you're sharing
reverbs, and it requires virtually no added
| | 04:18 | busing, importing new tracks, etcetera.
| | 04:21 | The downside is that it's
necessary to make a pass for each element.
| | 04:25 | If you are bouncing, be sure to solo the
tracks you want on that element, or mute
| | 04:30 | all the other tracks.
| | 04:31 | The advantage to bouncing is that
you monitor each individual element, so
| | 04:36 | you would hear if the piano accidentally
wound up on the percussion track, for instance.
| | 04:41 | Always think ahead.
| | 04:42 | Think what you and the musicians are
really going to want to hear and not
| | 04:46 | hear when recording.
| | 04:48 | If you're doing a string session, the
last thing that other string players are
| | 04:52 | going to want to hear is your string samples.
| | 04:55 | You may need them there for
reference, but keep them muted until then.
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| Making live recording guide sessions and importing guide tracks| 00:00 | Creating sessions for live
recording ahead of time keeps everything
| | 00:03 | organized and efficient.
| | 00:05 | Start with a picture session, just as
you did when you started to write a cue.
| | 00:09 | Copy that picture session and rename
it in the finder, creating a new set of
| | 00:13 | folders for guide
sessions and subfolders for cues.
| | 00:17 | First thing we're going to
do is highlight our demo.
| | 00:20 | We're building the guide tracks for 1m1.
| | 00:22 | Let's import those guide tracks.
| | 00:28 | We're going to add those to the session,
since they are same sample rate and bit depth.
| | 00:33 | We're going to create new tracks, and
because we've selected 1m1, they're going
| | 00:37 | to go in the same place. There they are!
| | 00:41 | You could have used the same session
that you wrote in, but it has all kinds of
| | 00:44 | stuff that you don't need in a live session.
| | 00:46 | You need to make this simple and clean.
| | 00:49 | The next step is we want to import the MIDI.
| | 00:51 | The key command Option+Command+I
brings up the import MIDI window.
| | 00:57 |
| | 01:01 | We're going to create new tracks and
have the MIDI start at the Selection.
| | 01:06 | We're also going to import the tempo map.
| | 01:10 | There is all of our MIDI in
the Region List and New Tracks.
| | 01:14 | Fortunately, Pro Tools
highlights all the new tracks.
| | 01:18 | That's really handy, because the next
thing we're going to do is delete them.
| | 01:22 | We don't need any MIDI on our live session.
| | 01:25 | What we did need was the tempo
and meter map. There we have it.
| | 01:29 | Organize your tracks in a consistent order.
| | 01:32 | I find that alphabetical works well as
that's how the guide tracks usually import.
| | 01:37 | The next thing that we want to do is
assign logical outputs anticipating the
| | 01:41 | studio where you'll be recording.
| | 01:43 | Let's go to the I/O Setup again. Go to Outputs.
| | 01:50 | Let's delete what we have
and create some new paths.
| | 01:53 | They are all stereos, and we
know that there are five of them.
| | 01:56 |
| | 02:25 | Now, the next thing we want to do is
we want to separate the click track from
| | 02:28 | the rest of the guide tracks.
| | 02:31 | It plays a greater role in the
session than the guide tracks.
| | 02:33 | We want it to be on the top of the
session, where we can easily get to it.
| | 02:37 | Let's clean up our session a bit,
get rid of any other tracks.
| | 02:41 | We're not going to have any MIDI on this session,
so we don't need a MIDI piano. There we have it!
| | 02:47 | Let's open up the Mixer and set our outputs.
| | 02:52 |
| | 02:59 | You need to know a few things about
the session and the studio ahead of time.
| | 03:02 | Whether it be an analog console there,
where all of the guides can come up their
| | 03:06 | own channels, or will the Pro Tools be
providing the headphone mixes? Set up the
| | 03:11 | Auxes in advance, if you know
that this will be the case.
| | 03:14 | Make sure that your cue
folder contains your guide tracks.
| | 03:17 | Physically move them there if necessary.
| | 03:20 | If you have to do this, make sure to
open your session and let Pro Tools find
| | 03:24 | the files, then re-save the session.
| | 03:26 | This way, when you copy your guide
sessions onto the session computer, the Pro
| | 03:31 | Tools session will not have
to go looking for the audio.
| | 03:34 | If you know the track layout of your
recording, and/or can get a template from
| | 03:39 | the studio, import those record tracks now.
| | 03:42 | If you can get an I/O from the studio,
you can import that too. I've got one here.
| | 03:47 | Let's go back to the I/O Setup >
Import Settings, go to where I've hidden it.
| | 03:55 |
| | 03:58 | There you see, even though there is no
interface, all of the outputs for this
| | 04:03 | studio, and there are many of
them, 64 to be exact, are there.
| | 04:10 | So I can deselect my old setup, so
I don't have any overlaps, and I can
| | 04:18 | use theirs.
| | 04:19 | I could rename if I want.
| | 04:22 | My tendency would be to leave it
exactly the same, because that's what
| | 04:25 | they're used to seeing.
| | 04:27 | I prepared all the orchestral session
templates for 'Across the Universe' on a
| | 04:31 | 002 using this method.
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| Creating streamers and clicks| 00:00 | Streamers and Clicks are the basic
traditional synchronizing techniques of film scoring.
| | 00:05 | You're already familiar with the click track.
| | 00:08 | The original click track for Motion
Pictures was an exact length loop of
| | 00:12 | 35-millimeter film that had
holes punched at specific intervals.
| | 00:17 | Film clicks were measured in frames
and eighths of frames per beat, instead
| | 00:21 | of beats per minute.
| | 00:22 | When that loop was played on an optical
reader, it would click at regular intervals.
| | 00:27 | Streamers and punches are visual cues
used for various guideposts in the film.
| | 00:33 | They were originally created by
scraping the emulsion and punching large holes
| | 00:38 | in a duplicate picture, printed
just for the music department.
| | 00:41 | Let's have a look at our click track, close up.
| | 00:44 | Let's locate to the beginning of that region.
| | 00:47 | Can't see it unless I zoom in
far, but there is a click there.
| | 00:51 | That's our first click on
the downbeat of the score.
| | 00:54 | The safest way to prepare a click
track for live recording is to record it.
| | 00:58 | You don't want to rely on a virtual
instrument to playback clicks to an orchestra.
| | 01:03 | Warning clicks are clicks that occur
before the specified downbeat where the
| | 01:08 | music is to begin or
continue in a different tempo.
| | 01:12 | Warning clicks are always in
the tempo of the incoming music.
| | 01:15 | This is the other reason to record clicks.
| | 01:17 | The warning click system in Pro Tools
doesn't provide for all of the permeations
| | 01:22 | necessary on a scoring stage.
| | 01:24 | There's a great method for
creating warning clicks in Pro Tools.
| | 01:28 | Let's take our cue, for instance.
| | 01:30 | It's at 90 beats per minute, and it's in 3-4.
| | 01:33 | Two important considerations
when making a warning click.
| | 01:37 | If this were in 4-4 at a fast tempo, we may
want eight warning clicks before the downbeat.
| | 01:42 | If it's in 3-4 at a moderate, or slow
tempo like this, three clicks would do.
| | 01:48 | So it's a whole bar out front.
| | 01:50 | So we're going to select the Tab to
Transients option, hold down the Shift key
| | 01:56 | and tab one, two, three clicks.
| | 02:00 | That's actually four clicks, but that's okay.
| | 02:03 | You'll see why in a second.
| | 02:04 | Now, we're going to separate that region.
| | 02:06 | I use the Command+E for separate.
| | 02:10 | The next step is to select the
Grabber tool, hold down Ctrl+Option+Command
| | 02:16 |
| | 02:17 | and touch the region. Voila!
| | 02:21 | It's put the exact duplicate
three clicks in front of those clicks.
| | 02:26 | If we zoom in here, you'll see that
both clicks are together for the fourth
| | 02:31 | click, or the downbeat of the music.
| | 02:33 | That will sound as one click.
| | 02:34 | Let's have a listen.
| | 02:38 | (Music playing with beat tapping.)
| | 02:46 | Now, on the stage, if the conductor
said, 'Could you give me six clicks?'
| | 02:50 | No problem, done.
| | 02:54 | The key to preparing click tracks in
advance of a session is to anticipate any
| | 02:59 | possible pickup or internal
warning clicks that you might need.
| | 03:04 | Let's say for instance, around bar 23,
| | 03:08 | Let's have a listen.
| | 03:10 | (Music playing.)
| | 03:15 | That's a beginning of a phrase,
and it's the oboe entrance.
| | 03:19 | So I'm thinking that
might be a good pickup spot.
| | 03:22 | Let's prepare warning clicks for
that pickup spot, just in case.
| | 03:26 | The first thing that I'm going to do
is I'm going to create a duplicate click
| | 03:31 | track, because I already have prepared my
overall master click, and I want it to stay that way.
| | 03:36 | So now I have a duplicate.
| | 03:38 | I'll call this bar 23 pickup.
| | 03:42 | Make it something simple.
| | 03:44 | In the heat of a session, you don't want
to be trying to figure out what you meant.
| | 03:47 | So I want to locate to 23.
| | 03:50 | I want to separate the region.
| | 03:52 | I want to delete all this stuff.
| | 03:55 | Now, I could have slid one of those up,
but let's use the method that we've
| | 04:00 | come to love so much.
| | 04:02 | One, two, three, separate, Ctrl+
Option+Command, and now we have three
| | 04:09 | warning clicks into bar 23.
| | 04:12 | The oboe can come back from a
break and play its entrance.
| | 04:14 | (Music playing.)
| | 04:22 | Another reason to prepare warning
clicks in advance would be for an
| | 04:26 | internal timing change.
| | 04:28 | Let's go back to our original master
click, and just for a moment let's pretend
| | 04:32 | that bar 23 is a tempo change.
| | 04:35 | Let's make another duplicate.
| | 04:41 | So let's say that from bars 1
to 21 is one, much slower, tempo.
| | 04:46 | Then they just sustain and then bar 23 comes in.
| | 04:49 | So what we'll want to do is that at
the downbeat of 21, we'll want to make a
| | 04:54 | separation, and then at the downbeat of
23, we'll make another separation, and
| | 04:59 | we'll delete those clicks.
| | 05:02 | Then we'll make three
warning clicks into bar 23.
| | 05:08 |
| | 05:10 | Now, just pretend for a moment that
the tempo up to 21 is much slower.
| | 05:14 | (Music playing with clicks.)
| | 05:24 | So the clicks went out. The orchestra
held the sustain. They heard three new
| | 05:29 | clicks in the new tempo, and were able
to very comfortably come in, in the new
| | 05:33 | tempo at the downbeat of bar 23.
| | 05:36 | Since the advent of scoring to video,
streamers are now created electronically.
| | 05:40 | There are few different devices on
the market that generate streamers,
| | 05:44 | superimposing them onto the video.
| | 05:46 | All of them use a MIDI sysex
command to trigger those streamers.
| | 05:51 | We've included a table of
these in the Exercise Files.
| | 05:54 | The newer devices also will
trigger via a MIDI note on.
| | 05:58 | Let's create a MIDI track.
| | 05:59 | Let's locate to the beginning of the cue.
| | 06:07 | The first thing I want to do is I just want
to create a note and get it on the clipboard.
| | 06:12 | So let's make it a half note.
| | 06:14 | The length really doesn't matter.
| | 06:15 | It's the beginning of the note that triggers.
| | 06:17 | The only thing that you might want to
consider is that you don't want a bunch
| | 06:20 | of notes overlapping if you have a lot of
streamers, but a half note seems reasonable.
| | 06:24 | So let's take our Pencil tool
and just anywhere make a note.
| | 06:28 | Let's zoom in, so we can
see that note and grab it.
| | 06:32 | Just cut it, and that
sticks it on the clipboard.
| | 06:35 | Now, let's locate to the downbeat of bar 1
where we want our start streamer, and paste it.
| | 06:40 | Now, a streamer is a vertical line
that runs across the screen from left to
| | 06:45 | right, culminating in a
punch, which is the sync point.
| | 06:48 | The common streamer is 3-
feet long, which is two seconds.
| | 06:53 | If we triggered a streamer at the
downbeat of bar 1 right here, it wouldn't
| | 06:57 | culminate until the middle of
the bar, defeating the purpose.
| | 07:00 | So we have one more step to
create a streamer in Pro Tools.
| | 07:03 | We need to offset that by two seconds.
| | 07:06 | So we're going to highlight it, and
Pro Tools gives us the ability to shift.
| | 07:11 | I'm going to shift earlier by two seconds.
| | 07:16 | Zoom out so we can see where it is.
| | 07:19 | That happens to be at the
beginning of bar 0. But that's fine.
| | 07:23 | So that's going to trigger the streamer that
will end up ending on the downbeat of bar 1.
| | 07:28 | Let's say we want another streamer at
bar 23 where our tempo changes, paste it.
| | 07:34 | Now, Option+H opens our Shift window.
| | 07:38 | Fortunately for us, Pro Tools keeps the
value in this window until it's changed.
| | 07:43 | So all we have to do is say OK, and
that streamer has been moved back.
| | 07:47 | Conducting to streamers only is a great
way of creating a rubato-sounding score
| | 07:52 | that still meets the needs of the film.
| | 07:54 | Streamers of different colors
are used for different functions.
| | 07:57 | The streamer generator uses
different notes for different colors.
| | 08:01 | We've included a list in the Exercise Files.
| | 08:04 | A blue streamer, for instance,
indicates a warning click.
| | 08:07 | A green streamer is the beginning
of the cue, or the start of a pickup.
| | 08:11 | White streamers are used for internal
timings, let's say, cut to the exterior
| | 08:15 | for instance, and a red
streamer is the end of the cue.
| | 08:19 | In the days before video, composers
would conduct whole scores using only
| | 08:23 | streamers, or a combination of
streamers and click loops, or custom-made click
| | 08:28 | tracks, and then later,
electronic click machines.
| | 08:31 | Some composers only use clicks.
| | 08:33 | I once worked with John Barry.
| | 08:35 | He didn't like warning clicks.
| | 08:37 | He would look at me just before the tape
rolled, and tell me to tempo, and would
| | 08:41 | say just start the click machine on my downbeat.
| | 08:43 | Fortunately today, every tool for
synchronization is available on your laptop.
| | 08:49 |
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|
|
9. Advanced Session SetupChoosing the appropriate timecode settings| 00:00 | Understanding time code has been
made quite complicated over the years.
| | 00:04 | Many people confuse time code with
other aspects of synchronization.
| | 00:09 | Simply put, time code is a series of
addresses, just like your street address
| | 00:14 | and your neighbor's.
| | 00:15 | Time code in and of itself
has nothing to do with speed.
| | 00:20 | Time code is a positional reference.
| | 00:22 | It tells you where you are, it tells
other machines where you are, and it can be
| | 00:26 | read from other machines to know
where they are at any moment in time.
| | 00:31 | There are several different
time code formats to choose from.
| | 00:34 | Basically they are all different ways
of dividing time into hours, minutes,
| | 00:39 | seconds, frames, and subframes,
which are a one one-hundredth of a frame.
| | 00:44 | SMPTE time code is
counted in 30 frames per second.
| | 00:48 | This is used for audio only applications.
| | 00:50 | SMPTE time code can also be
counted in 29.97 frames per second.
| | 00:57 | This is used in U.S.
standard video applications.
| | 01:00 | The explanation is long, boring, and
stupid, but the short explanation is that
| | 01:06 | when color television was invented, the
frame rate was slowed down, and we have
| | 01:10 | been stuck with it ever since.
| | 01:12 | If you have a hard time imagining a
frame rate of 29.97, think of it in terms of
| | 01:18 | house addresses on a street.
| | 01:20 | When color television came along,
the houses got spread out a little bit.
| | 01:25 | You used to be able to drive down
the street, past 30 houses in a second.
| | 01:29 | Now you can only drive by 29 houses
and nearly the 30th house in a second.
| | 01:35 | If you look closely at the houses though,
the street addresses have not changed.
| | 01:39 | EBU, or 25 frame time code, is used
in British and European television.
| | 01:44 | 24 frame time code is used in many
productions today and is the standard for high def.
| | 01:50 | 23.976 frame time code is 24 slowed
down, for the same reason as 29.97 is
| | 01:57 | 30 slowed down.
| | 02:00 | 29.97 drop frame time code is
sometimes used in U.S. television.
| | 02:07 | It came into existence because once
time code was slowed down to 29.97,
| | 02:12 | its readout no longer
accurately represented real time.
| | 02:16 | Drop frame actually doesn't have the 0
in one frame when it crosses the minute,
| | 02:21 | except every ten minutes.
Those are the frames that it drops.
| | 02:25 | I know it sounds daft, but it makes the
time code numbers look like real time.
| | 02:30 | So when you get to the end of one hour
of program, the time code reads 01:00:00:00,
| | 02:37 | whereas 29.97 non drop time code, at
that same location, would read 00595612.
| | 02:48 | There is also 30 drop frame time code.
| | 02:51 | This is not a standard format,
although it's available in Pro Tools.
| | 02:55 | Feet in frames is set to
either 24, 25, or 23.976.
| | 03:01 | All time code settings need
to match your project picture.
| | 03:05 | If you are at all in doubt, and you
have a burn in on your picture, you can
| | 03:09 | confirm that your settings are correct
by making sure that your time code in
| | 03:13 | session start match or the
picture is spotted to the correct spot.
| | 03:18 | Randomly check the time code position
in Pro Tools against the burnt in window.
| | 03:24 |
| | 03:29 | If you have feet and frames burnt into your
picture, do the same with feet and frames.
| | 03:34 | If your time code doesn't match, try
another setting, double check your start
| | 03:38 | and repeat the process.
| | 03:40 | These settings are imperative
to the success of your project.
| | 03:43 | The time code settings need
to match the rest of the world.
| | 03:46 | When in doubt, check with your editor.
| | Collapse this transcript |
| Locking and clocking| 00:00 | Once you grasp the concept of time
code as a strictly positional tool, we can
| | 00:05 | now investigate the technical aspects
of clocking, locking, and sinking Pro
| | 00:09 | Tools to external devices.
| | 00:11 | These devices can be mechanical, such
as a tape machine or a videotape machine,
| | 00:16 | or can be other computers.
| | 00:18 | To reiterate, time code gives
Pro Tools positional information.
| | 00:22 | The speed at which Pro Tools
runs is determined by the clock.
| | 00:27 | That clock can either be internal or
generated from another independent device,
| | 00:31 | such as a blackburst
generator or word clock generator.
| | 00:35 | Pro Tools HD needs its own proprietary
device called a SYNC I/O, or there is also
| | 00:41 | another device called an SSD.
| | 00:43 | Those devices supply the Pro Tools
interface with its clock source, either
| | 00:47 | internal, external word
clock, or external video sync.
| | 00:51 | The LE systems also have
some form of sync input.
| | 00:54 | On the 003 that we are using here,
you will see in the Clock Source in the
| | 00:59 | Session Setup window,
| | 01:00 | we have the choices of either
Internal, S/PDIF, which is on a RCA jack,
| | 01:06 | that's the clock embedded in the
digital signal, Optical, and Word Clock.
| | 01:12 | The most stable Clock source is the best.
| | 01:15 | If you are locking to a videotape
machine, for instance, then it will be able
| | 01:19 | to reference blackburst video, and that's
also what the Pro Tools SYNC I/O should receive.
| | 01:24 | If you are locking to another computer,
the digital audio interface on that
| | 01:29 | computer can either lock to a
common Clock Source, such as a Word Clock
| | 01:33 | Generator, can generate its own Word
Clock that goes to the Pro Tools, or can
| | 01:38 | receive sync from the SYNC I/O. Once
all of your devices are receiving the same
| | 01:42 | flavor of sync, they will all play at
the exact same speed. All you now need is
| | 01:47 | incoming time code, either from MIDI
time code or Audio time code, into the SYNC
| | 01:53 | I/O or other time code device.
| | 01:55 | Put yourself online, and you are ready to go.
| | 01:58 | If you are planning to record while
locked, recording demos from another
| | 02:02 | machine, for instance, go to the
Preferences and select Operation.
| | 02:07 | You will see there are two
choices on Online Options.
| | 02:11 | The first is to Record Online at Time
Code Lock, which will record as soon as
| | 02:16 | Pro Tools sees time code, and is locked to it.
| | 02:19 | This tends to be a fairly quick
lock, but is a little inconsistent.
| | 02:23 | Your other choice is to Record
Online at the Insertion/Selection.
| | 02:27 | This method allows you to locate
the cursor to an exact point for the
| | 02:31 | recording to begin.
| | 02:32 | As long as you achieve lock before you reach
this point, Pro Tools will drop in at that point.
| | 02:38 | This is perfect for replicating the
start of a file, which is handy when you are
| | 02:42 | printing stems, for instance.
| | 02:43 | It means that each stem will
start at exactly the same point.
| | 02:48 | You can also do this with the Out.
| | 02:51 | Locking more than one system together
is just a matter of course these days.
| | 02:55 | If you are recording large sessions,
such as an orchestra or other large band,
| | 02:59 | you are better off having your record
machine be the master and have it generate
| | 03:03 | time code and clock for any other device
that needs to follow along on the date.
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| Exploring pull up/pull down| 00:00 | Pull Up and Pull down are associated
with the slightly adversarial relationship
| | 00:05 | between film and video, in
the United States that is.
| | 00:08 | The reason that we have the option
in Pro Tools is because films are
| | 00:12 | sometimes shot on film, post produced on video,
and released on either film or video, or both.
| | 00:18 | They don't run at the same speed.
| | 00:20 | When film is transferred to
video, its speed is slowed down 1%.
| | 00:25 | The simple explanation for this is so
their frames will match, more or less.
| | 00:31 | If the film is slowed down, so must be its
associated production track, the dialog.
| | 00:37 | If the dialog is transferred to a
videotape or transferred digitally into an
| | 00:41 | editing system, the speed will need
to be "pulled down" after the digital
| | 00:46 | transfer in order to match the now slower video.
| | 00:50 | The implication of the Pull Down is
that it changes the sample rate by 1%.
| | 00:55 | If you are working at 48k, the
resultant sample rate will be 47.952.
| | 01:02 | If you are working at 44.01, then the
resultant sample rate will be 44.056.
| | 01:08 | If we go to the Session Setup Window
in Pro Tools, we will see that it allows
| | 01:13 | you to Pull Up or Pull Down
your Audio and your Video.
| | 01:17 | There may be several occasions where you
would need to do one or the other, or both.
| | 01:22 | For composers this arises because
your studio is most likely clocked at a
| | 01:26 | straight sample rate, often 44.01.
| | 01:30 | The two critical pieces of information
that you need to know before you start are:
| | 01:34 | What is the speed of your
video transfer, Film or Video?
| | 01:38 | What is the intended speed of the
dubbing stage for the final dub?
| | 01:43 | You also have Pull Up/Pull Down
options when you sample rate convert.
| | 01:47 | This makes the task of conforming to a
different speed, Film or Video, quite easy.
| | 01:53 | The easiest way to
understand this is by example.
| | 01:56 | Notice how on each of these steps
there is a possibility for a mistake.
| | 02:01 | You ask the editing room for
a QuickTime, with 44.01 audio.
| | 02:05 | You import the picture that they give
you and notice that the audio was 48k.
| | 02:10 | You convert the dialog in your session to 44.01.
| | 02:13 | You work on the project with a
straight sample rate of 44.01.
| | 02:17 | Your studio is humming happily away.
| | 02:19 | You make a final session with all of
your mixes built to the picture that you
| | 02:23 | have already been using.
| | 02:25 | You call the dubbing stage and
discover that they are using a digital console
| | 02:29 | that is running at 48k.
| | 02:31 | You make a new session,
converting all of your audio to 48k.
| | 02:36 | You get to the dubbing stage, and they
tell you that you need to pull down your
| | 02:39 | audio to match their picture.
| | 02:42 | You remember that in the Session
Setup window all you have to do is flip
| | 02:45 | that little switch. Thank goodness!
| | 02:48 | You notice on your Pro Tools rig that
your picture is not in sync with the stage
| | 02:53 | picture, even though
your music seems to be fine.
| | 02:55 | You decide to pull down the picture too.
| | 02:58 | Now everything is working great.
| | 03:00 | What happened was that when you asked
for your picture to be straight 44.01,
| | 03:04 | they made you a 24 frame picture at
film speed and forgot to change their audio
| | 03:09 | sample rate, which is 48k by default.
| | 03:13 | You happily worked away at film speed.
| | 03:15 | You didn't know any better.
| | 03:16 | The last two problems were that the
dubbing stage was not only at 48k but was
| | 03:21 | also at video speed.
| | 03:23 | There are so many variations on this
scenario that it will make your head swim.
| | 03:28 | Rest assured though, in most every
situation, you can solve the problem by
| | 03:32 | pulling up or pulling down.
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|
|
10. Multitrack Recording Creating a template| 00:00 | Creating an effective and efficient
template for multitrack recording is the key
| | 00:05 | to a smooth and productive session.
| | 00:07 | Before you start, you need to determine
the instruments you are going to record
| | 00:11 | at one time, the number of mics and
inputs and the monitoring options.
| | 00:15 | If you are not the engineer on this
session, you should consult with them to
| | 00:19 | determine all these parameters.
| | 00:21 | Let's go to the I/O Setup.
| | 00:24 | If you are doing this preparation on
another system other than the record
| | 00:27 | machine, you may need to get the I/O
template sent to you from the studio where
| | 00:31 | the recording will be done.
| | 00:32 | This will have the proper number of
outputs, even if the interfaces aren't
| | 00:36 | present on your system.
| | 00:37 | Here is one that I have requested from a studio.
| | 00:45 | You see that there is 64 Outputs and 64 Inputs.
| | 00:57 | When you are setting up your Outputs, don't
forget about your guide tracks and clicks.
| | 01:00 | We will import those a little later.
| | 01:03 | Let's create some blank tracks.
| | 01:05 | Shift+Command+N gives me the New Tracks window.
| | 01:08 | I know I want 23 Mono Tracks, but I
also want a couple of other tracks.
| | 01:12 | Here is a great keyboard shortcut;
| | 01:14 | Shift+Option+Command+Down
Arrow replicates these inputs.
| | 01:19 | So now I can also set up a
5.0 track and a Stereo track.
| | 01:27 | If you are splitting up the recording
into instrumental groups or overdubs,
| | 01:31 | still create those tracks now.
| | 01:33 | You can always hide them until later. Okay.
| | 01:35 | Let's name some tracks.
| | 01:40 |
| | 01:44 | Name your tracks with easy
to understand short names.
| | 01:47 | This will take a while, but
take your time and get it right.
| | 01:50 | I also think it's a good idea to use
the Comments window to duplicate the
| | 01:56 | names as track names tend to get
squished together as you add the cue number
| | 02:01 | and the take number.
| | 02:02 | The next thing we want to
do is create some groups.
| | 02:06 | I want to group my five main mics first.
| | 02:08 | Then I will group the violins, the
violas, the celli, the basses, and then I am
| | 02:33 | going to group all the Brass together.
| | 02:38 | If you are planning to do any
doubling or separate passes of any sort, like
| | 02:42 | violins on their own, solo cello,
etcetera, during the same session, you should
| | 02:47 | prepare for this by creating
a duplicate set of tracks now.
| | 02:50 | Even if you don't end up using them, it's a
lot easier to make them now than on the date.
| | 02:55 | One last thing that we need to do
is set up the Inputs and Outputs.
| | 03:00 | Let's open up the Mixer, make
it a bit bigger so we can see it.
| | 03:05 | Let's select the strings, and by holding
down Shift+Option+Command and selecting
| | 03:15 | an Input, we can have consecutive Inputs.
| | 03:19 | We can do the same thing with the Outputs.
| | 03:25 | Let's also set up our brass.
| | 03:28 | Because we are going to record them in
separate passes, we can start from one
| | 03:31 | with the brass as well.
| | 03:35 | Okay.
| | 03:37 | Let's Save this as our rec template.
| | 03:44 | The key to having a fun, efficient, and
productive scoring session is preparation.
| | 03:50 | Think of it now, and don't worry about it later.
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| Building a setup for final recording| 00:00 | Working quickly and efficiently
when recording a group of musicians is
| | 00:03 | required these days.
| | 00:05 | Make your final preparations
carefully and check your work.
| | 00:09 | There is no feeling worse in the world
than when you open up a cue with a room
| | 00:13 | full of musicians waiting, to find
that you forgot something vital, like the
| | 00:16 | Guide track or the Click.
| | 00:18 | Once you have made and saved your
template, you can start setting up your cues.
| | 00:22 | The first thing to do is to add
the cue number to each of the tracks.
| | 00:27 | I won't do all the tracks today.
| | 00:31 | Every assistant I know has come up with
a quick key to take care of this chore.
| | 00:36 | It's necessary that every cue
has the cue number on each track.
| | 00:40 | Pro Tools records each of the record
enabled tracks directly to the disk
| | 00:45 | using this track name.
| | 00:47 | It also timestamps them at the same time.
| | 00:50 | If for some reason the record session
gets lost or corrupted or crashes after
| | 00:55 | you have finished recording, you can
easily reconstruct the cue by simply
| | 00:59 | importing that audio to a fresh session.
| | 01:01 | But if you have been recording a
bunch of cues all day and not named the
| | 01:05 | individual tracks, you will be fishing
through a ton of tracks called Violin
| | 01:10 | 1 to find your cue.
| | 01:12 | Our next step is to import the
Guide tracks that we prepared.
| | 01:15 | Let's go to Import > Session Data.
| | 01:18 | Here's our 1m1 Orch Guide.
| | 01:22 | We want to bring in all the tracks, and we
also want to import the Tempo and Meter Map.
| | 01:33 | You need to move these
right to the top of the session.
| | 01:40 | Let's open up the Mixer window again.
| | 01:43 | Let's assign our Outputs.
| | 01:44 | The dialog is the first track.
| | 01:46 | Let's not assign it to an Output just yet.
| | 01:49 | We may or may not know what our
Guide Outputs will be on that date.
| | 01:52 | Let's just assign them all to 1 and 2 right now.
| | 01:58 | The next thing we need to do is mute
everything that we know we won't want to hear.
| | 02:02 | We don't want to hear the
dialog until maybe a playback later.
| | 02:07 | We don't want to hear the Stereo Demo,
and we don't want to hear the strings.
| | 02:11 | Another thing we want to do is
get rid of this old Click track.
| | 02:18 | We want to streamline our
session as much as possible.
| | 02:21 | We already have a ton of tracks in there.
| | 02:23 | We don't need any further confusion.
| | 02:25 | One last thing before we are ready to record.
| | 02:28 | We want to increment our playlists by 1.
| | 02:32 | Now you see that we are ready for take one.
| | 02:34 | I will come back later to that
first playlist and use that for my edit.
| | 02:39 | Now we are ready to record.
| | 02:40 | Once you have recorded your first take,
all you need to do to do another take is
| | 02:45 | to create a new playlist.
| | 02:48 | Now we are ready for take two.
| | 02:50 | All the tracks that are grouped will
increment at the same time, so you just
| | 02:54 | need to do the top one.
| | 02:56 | In order to have this number correspond
with the take numbers, you have to start
| | 03:00 | from take one for every cue.
| | 03:02 | If you want to use consecutive takes,
then you will need to rename each
| | 03:06 | track for every take.
| | 03:07 | This can be done just like the
track naming, using a quick key.
| | 03:11 | I find that when there are notes
about takes as you go, it's easy to create
| | 03:16 | markers to remind yourself about edits and
intercuts that will need to be made later.
| | 03:21 | When you have finished a cue and are
satisfied with the recording, it's a good
| | 03:25 | idea to roughly cut the takes together.
| | 03:28 | So for sake of example, I am going to use
the mix and pretend that it's the multitrack.
| | 03:34 | I am just going to duplicate it a few times.
| | 03:39 |
| | 03:44 | So now I have four takes.
| | 03:46 | I am going back to the first take and
just for sake of argument, delete it.
| | 03:53 | We like the fourth take the best, so we
will highlight the whole take, Copy it,
| | 04:00 | and then go back to my edit take.
| | 04:02 | I will rename this as Edit.
| | 04:04 | You will notice that the entire take is
still highlighted in exactly the same place.
| | 04:11 | When I Paste in the selected area, all
I have done is transferred that from one
| | 04:16 | playlist to another.
| | 04:18 | If I want to intercut that, let's say
take three, I want to see some Bars and
| | 04:24 | Beats here, take three
has a good bar 32 until 43.
| | 04:29 | I am going to Copy that and then go
back to my Edit, Paste it in that place.
| | 04:38 | Bar 1 has a great last chord.
| | 04:43 | Let's grab that and stick that on.
| | 04:46 | Now I can listen to this edit
and maybe make some cross fades.
| | 04:49 | But the point is what I now have
is a roughly constructed final cue.
| | 04:54 | This is very useful for overdubs and for
our reference, when you make the final edit.
| | 05:00 | There's no time like the
present to complete a task.
| | 05:03 | When you are recording, the process of
roughly editing a comp is made simple
| | 05:07 | and quick in Pro Tools.
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| Creating a live mix| 00:00 | There are several reasons to
record a Live Mix when recording.
| | 00:04 | The Live Mix sounds great.
| | 00:05 | It's a handy reference when mixing.
| | 00:07 | And it can be played back for overdubs.
| | 00:09 | And sometimes it even ends up in the final film.
| | 00:12 | I just did a film that was recorded in
London, and I distantly produced from New York.
| | 00:17 | We needed the strings right away
in order to mix the first reels.
| | 00:20 | Our engineer was very careful about his
Live Mix and was able to upload them at
| | 00:24 | the end of each session.
| | 00:26 | Live Mixes will depend on the type of
console and your engineer's preference.
| | 00:30 | There are two ways to achieve them.
| | 00:32 | If the console is analog and can output
a multichannel surround mix, then that's
| | 00:37 | what you record for your Live Mix.
| | 00:39 | You can also do it within Pro Tools.
| | 00:42 | Let's see how that would be done.
| | 00:44 | Let's open the Mix window.
| | 00:45 | First thing we want to do is go to
the I/O Setup and set up some Buses.
| | 00:49 | Let's Delete everything there.
| | 00:51 | We want to create a 5.0 Bus.
| | 00:56 | We don't have any sub in our
orchestra recording, and five Mono Sub-Paths.
| | 01:04 |
| | 01:11 | I will call this Live Mix.
| | 01:14 | In addition to the Live Mix, I am
going to set up a Stereo for Stereo Mix.
| | 01:21 |
| | 01:27 | The next thing we want to
do is assign some Sends.
| | 01:31 | Let's choose our main five mics.
| | 01:34 | By holding down Shift+Option+Command
and going to the Sends, we can assign each
| | 01:40 | of these Mono mics to go
sequentially from the left.
| | 01:45 | So you see we end up with sending
left, center, right, left surround, and
| | 01:51 | right surround, from our mics, left, center,
right tree, left overhead, and right overhead.
| | 01:57 | The next thing we want to
do is set the Level to 0.
| | 02:01 | If I hold down Shift+Option and touch
the fader, it sends it, as well as all
| | 02:08 | the other Buses, to 0.
| | 02:11 | That gives us the five main
mics going to our Live Mix.
| | 02:15 | The next thing I want to
do is select the strings.
| | 02:17 | We are only recording strings in this session.
| | 02:19 | So I am going to select all
of the string, Mono Inputs.
| | 02:24 | This time, instead of holding down Shift+
Option+Command to have sequential Buses
| | 02:29 | assigned, I am going to just hold down
Shift+Option and select the Live 5.0 Bus.
| | 02:37 | What this does is send all of the
Mono string mics to our 5.0 Live Mix Bus.
| | 02:43 | We can go through after
that and assign the panning.
| | 02:49 | Strings would be panned left and nearly
left, where they are positioned in the
| | 02:53 | orchestra, etcetera.
| | 02:56 | At this point, I am going to leave all
these Mono mics down, but they are all
| | 03:00 | set if I want to add them to the Mix.
| | 03:06 | The next thing I want to do is set up
my 5.0 Live Mix channel. Here it is.
| | 03:11 | I will name it.
| | 03:15 | We have set up a 5.0 Bus, so that
will be the Input, Live Mix Input.
| | 03:21 | And at this point I
don't want it to go anywhere.
| | 03:23 | I might bring it up somewhere on the console,
but I don't need to set that up currently.
| | 03:28 | My next goal is to create a
stereo fold-down of this 5.0 Mix.
| | 03:33 | I am going to start by
creating five Mono Aux Inputs.
| | 03:39 |
| | 03:52 | FD standing for fold-down.
| | 03:54 | And this is our Stereo fold-down channel.
| | 03:59 |
| | 04:01 | The reason that we have created Aux
Inputs is because there's no way to get
| | 04:05 | from our 5.0 Live Mix, either from
the Buses or from our Live Mix channel,
| | 04:12 | directly to a stereo.
| | 04:14 | We need to break those into five Monos,
pan them, and adjust their levels in
| | 04:18 | order to create a proper stereo fold-down.
| | 04:21 | We will do that now.
| | 04:24 | Let's choose the Aux Inputs.
| | 04:26 | For their Inputs, we want them to be
sequential, starting from the left.
| | 04:31 | So we will choose Shift+Option+Command
and then choose the first bus, L. And
| | 04:38 | that will increment through
to the left and right surround.
| | 04:41 | The next thing we want to do is set the panning.
| | 04:44 | Left is left, obviously. Center is center.
| | 04:47 | Right. The left surround we want to go to the
left and the right surround to the right.
| | 04:52 | You could make those 9
o'clock and 3 o'clock if you like.
| | 04:55 | I prefer them all the way to the left and right.
| | 04:58 | Another adjustment I would like to make,
by holding down the Command key, I can
| | 05:02 | move this fader precisely to -3 decibels.
| | 05:07 | Because we are making a stereo fold-
down meant to go to two speakers, we want
| | 05:11 | the center to go equally to
both the left and the right.
| | 05:14 | That's why we have dropped it by 3 dB.
| | 05:17 | The Surrounds we are going to drop by 6 dB.
| | 05:19 | We don't want them to be
too present in a Stereo Mix.
| | 05:22 | But we don't want to miss
any of the information either.
| | 05:25 | We need to set the
Outputs now of our Aux Inputs.
| | 05:28 | By holding Shift+Option and selecting the
Outputs, they will all be sent to the same Outputs.
| | 05:33 | Remember, we created a stereo fold-down Bus.
| | 05:36 | This is when we are going to use it.
| | 05:38 | The last thing that we need to do is
set up the stereo fold-down channel.
| | 05:41 | Its Input is going to be that Bus
that we have just assigned everything to.
| | 05:47 | And let's take it out of the Outputs for now.
| | 05:49 | It will be recorded, but it doesn't
need to be listened to at this point.
| | 05:52 | Great things happen when you
gather a bunch of musicians in a studio.
| | 05:56 | Make sure you're fully
ready to capture that magic.
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|
|
11. Mixing in Pro ToolsCreating the mix I/O| 00:00 | Creating a film mix in Pro Tools 8 can
be easily built on your existing sessions.
| | 00:05 | And regardless of the complexity of
your setup, the essentials of the signal
| | 00:09 | path and assignments remain the same.
| | 00:12 | So if you are mixing all within one
system, or mixing with the console, or even
| | 00:17 | mixing with multiple systems, your
signal flow and workflow shouldn't change.
| | 00:23 | Start by picking the largest
session with the most tracks.
| | 00:26 | And if possible, the one that best represents
the track layout for the rest of your score.
| | 00:32 | Start with the I/O Setup.
| | 00:34 | Although we have spent a lot of time on
tracks and assignments, for the mix we
| | 00:38 | need to start fresh with our I/O.
Whether you're mixing through the console or
| | 00:42 | in the box, the basic concepts and
most of the routing will remain the same.
| | 00:47 | The biggest difference will be where you
assign the Outputs and the individual tracks.
| | 00:52 | For our Outputs, let's start
by deleting these top tracks.
| | 00:59 | And let's create two new paths,
which will be done here at the bottom.
| | 01:04 | Move them up top where we can see them.
| | 01:07 | Let's make a 5.1 mix and Stereo.
| | 01:12 |
| | 01:18 | Assign them the first eight Outputs.
| | 01:21 | This is especially important if we
are working on a console that has film
| | 01:24 | monitoring, as we can alternate between
the 5.1 Master and the Stereo Fold Down.
| | 01:30 | The rest of the Outputs will depend on
whether we are mixing on the console or in the box.
| | 01:35 | In the case of mixing through a
console, we will just want to set up
| | 01:39 | sequentially numbered mono Outputs,
matching our number of tracks and the number
| | 01:44 | of inputs to the console, whichever is smaller.
| | 01:47 | We can't have more Outputs
than the console can receive.
| | 01:51 | When this does happen, and it often does,
you'll need to determine which tracks
| | 01:56 | will benefit from being treated and
manipulated in the mixing console.
| | 02:00 | This is an area of much debate.
| | 02:02 | My experience has been that the
orchestral and acoustic instruments are the
| | 02:06 | first choice for being assigned to the console.
| | 02:09 | And sample-based electric and
electronic instruments stay in Pro Tools.
| | 02:14 | This hybrid method gives you the best of
both worlds, and remember, there are no rules.
| | 02:20 | Let's go to Inputs next.
| | 02:22 | If the mix is through a console, then
you want to set up the Inputs for stems
| | 02:26 | returning from the console.
| | 02:28 | By this point, you should have a
good idea what stems you want.
| | 02:32 | Let's start by deleting these Inputs.
| | 02:36 |
| | 02:40 | Let's create some stems here and some subs.
| | 02:52 | Make the Inputs 5.1 with all the sub-
pass that you need, unless you know for
| | 02:56 | certain that there will be a lesser
configuration that will not change.
| | 03:00 | Better to do it once and not worry.
| | 03:02 | Let's go to the Buses.
| | 03:04 | Buses are the most
important element in the mix setup.
| | 03:07 | Almost all the signals
travel through these Buses.
| | 03:10 | Even if you are mixing through a console,
there will be internal busing to the
| | 03:14 | stems, as well as the Input from the console.
| | 03:17 | Here are the Buses that
would generally be needed.
| | 03:20 | You'll need stem sends, effects sends,
a Master 5.1 mix and a Stereo Fold Down.
| | 03:28 | And now I will do that.
| | 03:37 | You should also make Sub-
Paths for each of these.
| | 03:40 | I'll just do one.
| | 03:42 |
| | 03:45 | Remember to clearly label all of your
Inputs, Outputs and Buses with concise names.
| | 03:51 | When faced with a long pop-up list, you
want to be able to quickly identify and
| | 03:56 | select from your options.
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| Setting signal flow| 00:00 | Let's talk about Signal Flow.
| | 00:02 | The Repetition of channel and bus
assignments used to be time-consuming hard work.
| | 00:07 | Pro Tools makes the process of
setting up a mix, easy and flexible.
| | 00:11 | If you're mixing with a console, then
you should start by assigning sequential
| | 00:15 | mono outputs of the tracks that
you'll be mixing to through that console.
| | 00:19 | Pro Tools makes these assignments quick.
| | 00:22 | Let's take these Brass tracks, for instance.
| | 00:23 | I'll highlight the Brass, hold down
Shift+Option+Command and select an output.
| | 00:33 | You'll notice that it goes from that
output sequentially to all of the tracks
| | 00:37 | that are highlighted.
| | 00:38 | By this time, you should have a pretty
good idea what kind of stems you will need.
| | 00:42 | If you have been diligent during the
writing and recording process, you'll have
| | 00:46 | kept your sessions in groups and
families of instruments, making the assignments
| | 00:51 | and determinations of stems easier.
| | 00:54 | Let's create some stems tracks.
| | 00:57 | Most stems do not have to be 5.1.
| | 00:59 | Generally, I only use one or two
for Percussion and possibly synths.
| | 01:04 | Anything that I think or know will
contain any pant rattling lows that is.
| | 01:09 | The rest can be 5.0 or even Quads.
Often I record and mix guitars with no center.
| | 01:15 | So Quad is perfect.
| | 01:17 | Here's a little trick in creating
different kinds of tracks at the same time,
| | 01:21 | hold down Shift+Command+Down arrow.
| | 01:23 | I am going to create two 5.0 stems, and a Quad.
| | 01:38 | Let's name these.
| | 01:42 |
| | 01:47 | Now, let's assign them some inputs.
| | 01:49 | Here's the Strings.
| | 01:50 | We're going to use the bus.
| | 01:52 | There is a 5.1 bus for Strings.
| | 01:55 | The perc again. Here is the Brass.
| | 02:01 | Let's assign the input for
the Synths and for the Guitar.
| | 02:08 | Because you're probably being mixing
for quite a while before you'll actually
| | 02:11 | print your stems, you
want to monitor through them.
| | 02:14 | So make sure under the Track menu,
that Input Only Monitoring is selected.
| | 02:20 | This is a new feature in Pro Tools 8.
| | 02:22 | You'll noticed that it toggles
between Auto Input, which is input only when
| | 02:26 | you're stopped and Input Only Monitoring,
which is what we're set to right now.
| | 02:32 | Input Only Monitoring means that you
can hear the tracks while you're rolling,
| | 02:36 | creating your mix before you print it.
| | 02:38 | If you are mixing some or all of your
tracks in the system, not using a console,
| | 02:43 | assign them to the correct stems.
| | 02:45 | Let's take our same Brass tracks.
| | 02:50 | By holding down Shift+Option,
we'll select the same output for all of
| | 02:54 | the highlighted tracks.
| | 02:55 | And we're going to use the Brass 5.1 output.
| | 02:58 | You'll notice, because their Mono
tracks they've assigned 5.1 panning.
| | 03:04 | You should set this up in the image in
which you would like to see the Brass.
| | 03:09 | The next thing we want to
do is create a 5.1 Master.
| | 03:13 | New Track > 5.1. Now we want to feed
that Master with our stems, so let's
| | 03:25 | highlight the stems and select Shift
+Option again and the bus 5.1 mix.
| | 03:34 | Let's assign the stems to our mix.
| | 03:37 | By holding down Shift+Option, this will
assign all the stems to the same output,
| | 03:42 | in this case it will be the bus.
| | 03:44 | It only assigns like tracks, so you'll
notice that these 5.0 in this Quad need
| | 03:49 | to be assigned separately.
| | 03:50 | I can do both of the 5.0s together, and
then I have to do the Quad separately.
| | 03:56 | The next thing we want to do
is set up our Stereo Fold down.
| | 04:02 | Let's create some Mono Aux-ins.
| | 04:07 | We need five of them.
| | 04:09 | I don't usually include the
sub in my Stereo Fold down.
| | 04:12 | Let's assign these all to the
Stereo out and pan them appropriately.
| | 04:17 | Left, center, right, left and right.
| | 04:22 | We'll lower the center by three dB
because it will be going equally to both
| | 04:29 | left and right speakers.
| | 04:30 | This is a stereo, remember.
| | 04:32 | And then let's lower the surrounds by 6 dB.
| | 04:36 | That will give the flavor of the
surrounds, but won't overwhelm the mix.
| | 04:42 | This is just a rough starting point.
As you actually make your Stereo Folddowns,
| | 04:46 | you might want to tweak this a little.
| | 04:49 | Now let's set up their inputs,
again, holding down Shift+Option+Command.
| | 04:53 | That will make them sequential.
| | 04:54 | We'll start with the Stereo Fold down
bus left and have left, center, right.
| | 05:00 | Left surround and right
surround, exactly what we want.
| | 05:02 | The last thing we need to do is to
create a New Stereo track that will be
| | 05:08 | our Stereo Fold down.
| | 05:09 | We'll assign the Stereo input,
and the output is all set.
| | 05:20 | If you're finding yourself running out of
voices, there are a few ways to get a few back.
| | 05:24 | If you are carrying spot mics from an
orchestra recording session, you may not
| | 05:28 | need them, make them inactive.
| | 05:30 | If you have dialog, sound effects
and tap music, make them inactive too.
| | 05:35 | Remember though, you may need
these for reference at some point.
| | 05:38 | So you may have to get creative with
activating and inactivating tracks.
| | 05:43 | If you're still tight, consider
submitting, or bouncing sparse or like tracks.
| | 05:49 | Most of all, double check all of your routing.
| | 05:52 | This can be is can be tedious work
that should be done first thing in the
| | 05:54 | morning, just after your coffee.
| | 05:56 | I can't tell you how many nights
I've spent trying to figure out why the
| | 06:00 | triangle was coming out of the Strings stem.
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| Setting up multichannel aux effects| 00:00 | There are essentially three types of
on board or plug-in effects available to
| | 00:04 | you in Pro Tools. Outboard effects that
you would use with a console or return
| | 00:09 | to your system will
integrate in much the same manner.
| | 00:13 | You should already be familiar with the
first type, which is the individual use
| | 00:17 | of plug-ins as inserts, and as
Effects Channels via sends and returns on a
| | 00:22 | single track, or a group of tracks.
| | 00:25 | The vocal compressor, drum reverb, and
other integral effects to a sound are
| | 00:30 | examples that you should already understand.
| | 00:33 | For film and other multi-channel media,
along with the traditional uses of
| | 00:37 | effects, there are some
expansions to these concepts.
| | 00:41 | Let's start by setting up some Reverb Channels.
| | 00:44 | Ideally, you want to keep all of
your effects per stem separate.
| | 00:49 | If you choose to share reverbs
across stems, which is common practice in
| | 00:53 | other mixing situations,
| | 00:55 | this will limit you to printing
your stems in separate passes.
| | 00:59 | This is not the end of the world, but
it is time-consuming and requires a fair
| | 01:03 | degree of diligence.
| | 01:05 | In other words, not something you
want to leave till late at night.
| | 01:08 | If your system can handle it,
create a separate reverb for each stem.
| | 01:12 | That's what I've done here.
| | 01:13 | This should be done with Aux inputs using
the Aux Sends that we've already set up.
| | 01:19 | Make sure that the labeling of these
Sends relates directly to the stems with
| | 01:23 | which they are associated.
| | 01:25 | This way you won't accidentally
assign percussion to the string reverb.
| | 01:31 |
| | 01:39 | Multi-channel effects take up lots of DSP.
| | 01:42 | You can also create surround
effects by combining two stereo effects.
| | 01:47 | I am going to create two stereo Aux inputs.
| | 01:55 | I am going to insert Stereo Reverb on
the front, and a similar Stereo Reverb
| | 02:05 | on the rear, except I want to change it a
little, so there is an effective surround.
| | 02:09 | I will add a little bit of Pre
Delay, lengthen the tail, lengthen the
| | 02:15 | Reverb Time a little bit.
| | 02:17 | So it simulates the sound of a hall.
| | 02:19 | Make sure that your effect is set to 100% wet.
| | 02:22 | You're adding these in as an element,
not inserting into a single channel.
| | 02:27 | This also works great
with delays and auto panning.
| | 02:31 | Whenever you have a stereo effect that
you really like, consider this option.
| | 02:36 | Inserting multi-channel
effects is the third use.
| | 02:39 | You might want a compressor
or EQ over the whole main mix.
| | 02:42 | You can also insert a
compressor like this on the stems.
| | 02:46 | Once you find settings that you
like for a particular score, these
| | 02:49 | inserts become a constant.
| | 02:51 | I know people whose mix bus
inserts haven't changed in years.
| | 02:55 | There are endless combinations of effects
and clever and interesting ways to use them.
| | 03:00 | Mixing is an art that occurs after
the craft and the science have done
| | 03:04 | their duties.
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| Working mix groups and a template| 00:00 | The last step in the preparation of
your session for mixing is to import a
| | 00:04 | template, so you don't have to
repeat this setup for every cue.
| | 00:07 | Once you've finished your first
mix, save it as your Mix Template.
| | 00:11 | Here is how you apply it to other mixes.
| | 00:13 | Let's go to Import > Session Data
and here's the file we've saved.
| | 00:18 | The first thing we want to
do is ask to Match Tracks.
| | 00:22 | What this does is this looks for
identical track names, both in the imported
| | 00:27 | session and our current session.
| | 00:29 | You see that many of them are the
same, the tree, the overheads, all the
| | 00:33 | violins, string mics, brass are all the same.
| | 00:36 | Then we get to the guitars.
| | 00:39 | There is no guitar in this session.
| | 00:41 | There is a Bass Guitar, though.
| | 00:42 | Those settings will be similar.
| | 00:43 | They will be bused to the same places.
| | 00:45 | That's the important thing. No Guitar 2.
| | 00:48 | There is a Banjo, and then
these are our new tracks.
| | 00:52 | These are our Stems, our Master,
our Reverbs, and our stereo fold-down.
| | 00:57 | So we will treat these as new tracks,
and just drag these, all as new tracks.
| | 01:01 | The next thing we want to do
is not import all of the data.
| | 01:06 | We don't want any Playlists.
| | 01:07 | We don't want any audio information.
| | 01:10 | We could select Volume Automation,
but it also doesn't import the settings.
| | 01:14 | So we're going to leave that alone for now.
| | 01:16 | We want to make sure that we're not
importing Tempo and Meter Maps, or anything
| | 01:20 | that is cue-specific.
| | 01:24 | Now, you'll see that our outputs for
our strings, and brass are all set, our
| | 01:32 | bass guitar is bused to the guitar,
and our stems are all set up, so our
| | 01:38 | reverbs, and somehow our banjos way
down here at the end, probably a good
| | 01:42 | place for the banjo.
| | 01:44 | Fold Downs are all in place.
| | 01:45 | You see you don't have to
replicate any of this level or panning.
| | 01:49 | You're all set to mix.
| | 01:51 | This preparation for mixing can
also be done on another system.
| | 01:54 | I did this once, in of all places,
China, we are working on The Promise.
| | 01:59 | We had a tough time mixing in what it
amounted to nothing more than an office building.
| | 02:03 | We did have two systems though:
| | 02:05 | the prep system that I was using
was old, and only had one interface.
| | 02:09 | I was still able to import mix
settings, and set up the mixes offline.
| | 02:13 | If you can do this offline
preparation, you save yourself a lot of time
| | 02:17 | and money.
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| Naming and printing| 00:00 | Naming should be logical, right?
| | 00:02 | I work with the guy for years that
name things to quote remind him of what
| | 00:07 | the queue might be.
| | 00:08 | Names like Post Dinner Waltz, or B-day
Lurve, or Nu-IDEA spelled N-U I-D-E-A.
| | 00:17 | You get the idea.
| | 00:19 | Not a clue about what, when, where or why.
| | 00:23 | Occasionally, miraculously, he
would remember what he meant.
| | 00:27 | We've already talked
about Queue and Track naming.
| | 00:30 | Stem and final Mix naming have
their own particular considerations.
| | 00:34 | There are many methods to achieve
the same goals, which are, number one:
| | 00:39 | the Stems whenever possible are named
in a way that makes them import in the
| | 00:44 | same order every time, Number two:
| | 00:46 | that the names are clear and concise.
| | 00:49 | Remember, often the Mix and the Stems
will be edited and zoomed in and out.
| | 00:55 | It's important to be able to look
briefly at a region and still be able
| | 00:58 | to identify the queue. Number three:
| | 01:01 | If for some reason the timestamp is
lost, there needs to be a way to get
| | 01:06 | the queue back in sync. Number four:
| | 01:09 | If multiple Stems and multiple Mixes
are made, especially if they are made on
| | 01:13 | different days, or different weeks for
that matter, they need to be able to be
| | 01:17 | easily identifiable.
| | 01:19 | On Across the Universe, we had so many
Stems from so many different Mix days,
| | 01:24 | sessions, producers and studios, that
we needed a color-coded spreadsheet to
| | 01:31 | know what were the final elements of each song.
| | 01:33 | Sometimes we ended up with as
many as 20 or 25 Stems per song.
| | 01:38 | Since Pro Tools imports in
alphanumeric order, this would work, and so on.
| | 01:50 | The problem with this is
it's a little confusing.
| | 01:53 | Does that mean that this is 1m1 b? But
this says 1m1 a. It does work, but I am
| | 02:01 | not a huge fan of it.
| | 02:02 | It's often used in London, actually.
| | 02:04 | Three or four Stems do not
really end up being too confusing.
| | 02:08 | 15 or 20 Stems per Queue can get really hairy.
| | 02:12 | That's when it becomes
important that the names be consistent.
| | 02:15 | As long as the name is clear and
the number of Stems is not huge, then
| | 02:20 | this works, and so on.
| | 02:26 | Because you want the name to be as clear
as possible, the start code of the file
| | 02:31 | can be part of the folder name.
| | 02:33 | This way it still lives with the Queue as
a reference, but doesn't clutter the name.
| | 02:39 | An even more helpful way to include
the start code is by making it part of
| | 02:43 | the Master Mix name.
| | 02:46 | That way there is a visual reference in the
final dubbing session of what the start code is.
| | 02:53 | Always start recording at the same
location for all Stems, Master, and your
| | 02:58 | Stereo Fold down, and
record to the same end location.
| | 03:03 | Pro Tools will not automatically let you
grab all the Stems at once, even if they
| | 03:08 | are grouped, unless they
are exactly the same length.
| | 03:11 | You can achieve this by recording
at insertion if you're recording lots
| | 03:15 | to another machine.
| | 03:16 | If you're recording internally, you can
highlight the area, or if you're printing
| | 03:20 | Stems one at a time, you
can highlight your first Stem.
| | 03:26 | Set your track assignments so you
have one folder for Stems, one folder for
| | 03:30 | Master Mix, and one folder for Stereo Mixes.
| | 03:35 |
| | 03:45 | This allows easy access for the music editor.
| | 03:48 | I've often delivered only the Master
Mixes and held the Stems in abeyance.
| | 03:53 | Note, this has backfired
in more than one occasion.
| | 03:56 | Time Machine, on the other hand, was
dubbed entirely from the Master Mixes.
| | 04:00 | I understand that these little
points seem obvious and logical.
| | 04:04 | You don't want to end up with a drive
full of Stems and no way to quickly and
| | 04:07 | accurately identify what is what.
| | 04:09 | I was on the stage of a huge film once
when the producer whose name rhymes with
| | 04:14 | Harry Hockheimer asked me to make a change.
| | 04:17 | I looked at the session that the music
editor have been working on and panic set in.
| | 04:21 | Nothing was named correctly, and
there were duplicates of tons of tracks.
| | 04:26 | I had no idea what was what.
| | 04:28 | Fortunately, another problem arose at
just the same time, and I was able to take
| | 04:32 | the session to another studio
across the street and sort it out.
| | 04:35 | A rose by any other name is a mess.
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|
|
12. Final Dub PreparationCreating a dubbing stage template| 00:01 | As a film composer, you are asked to do many
things outside of the normal job description.
| | 00:06 | I have known composers asked to
deliver sound effects, do work on dialog,
| | 00:10 | even mix the final film. You name it.
| | 00:13 | At one point in your career, someone will ask
you to do something completely out of your area.
| | 00:18 | Most likely you'll do it, especially when
you're starting out and the budgets are low.
| | 00:23 | One of the most common chores that
could be put upon you is to deliver the
| | 00:26 | tracks for the final dub.
| | 00:28 | This is normally the music editor's job.
| | 00:30 | But often, there isn't enough money
in the budget to afford a music editor.
| | 00:34 | Let's start with our picture
session with all the demos.
| | 00:37 | You should know from your mixes
what your stems breakout will be.
| | 00:41 | The optimal dubbing stage situation is
that they mix your music into the final
| | 00:46 | film using the main 5.1 full
mixes that you've provided.
| | 00:50 | Unfortunately, this rarely happens.
| | 00:52 | Between last minute film changes, edits
to the music requested by the director
| | 00:57 | or producer and balanced alterations
based on dramatic or sonic needs, stems are
| | 01:02 | usually what most films
are mixed from these days.
| | 01:05 | Let's create a set of stems.
| | 01:08 | By holding down the Shift+Option+
Command key and using the Down Arrow, you can
| | 01:13 | have multiple iterations
in this window of tracks.
| | 01:16 | This is really handy when you
have different-sized tracks.
| | 01:20 | So we'll create a 5.1 for our final mix,
a couple of additional 5.1s for stems,
| | 01:29 | two 5.0s for stems and then a Stereo stem.
| | 01:34 | Let's group these, call them Stems 1.
| | 01:39 | You'll often need more than one set of
stems for overlays, cross fades, etcetera.
| | 01:45 | The easiest way is to duplicate.
| | 01:47 | Make sure you name all of your
tracks appropriately, etcetera.
| | 01:55 | It's best to keep the full mixes
grouped with the rest of your stems.
| | 02:00 | At some point, you might want to
separate them out for the dubbing mixer.
| | 02:03 | But for preparation and editing, it's best
to keep them all group together visually.
| | 02:07 | Here is a screenshot of a
film that I've finished.
| | 02:10 | You can see a completed layout.
| | 02:12 | Notice A and B music playing through here.
| | 02:15 | There is only one case where there is a
track on B. But that's because there is
| | 02:18 | an overlap, and then the associated stems.
| | 02:21 | You'll see that the brass
is always on the same track.
| | 02:25 | The percussion is always on the same
track and when there aren't elements, they
| | 02:28 | are blank, piano in the same track, etcetera.
| | 02:32 | Make sure you play your cues all the
way through when you are building these
| | 02:35 | tracks, soloing often the individual stems.
| | 02:38 | This is the time to catch any mistakes.
| | 02:40 | When printing stems there are often mistakes.
| | 02:44 | Carefully listen to make sure that not
only the stems are what they say they are,
| | 02:48 | but the combination of all the stems
is virtually identical to your full mix.
| | 02:53 | There once was a saying that the
dubbing stage was where the music went to die.
| | 02:57 | Fortunately, this is no longer true.
| | 02:59 | But people that mix films these
days are consummate professionals, most
| | 03:03 | with music backgrounds.
| | 03:05 | Treat them with respect, provide them
with professional quality material, and
| | 03:09 | they'll do justice to your music.
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| Assigning outputs for the dubbing stage| 00:00 | The more preparation that can be done
before the final dub, the more time the
| | 00:04 | mixer will have to make sure that
your music is mixed into the film in the
| | 00:08 | best possible manner.
| | 00:09 | You need to know the answers to
several technical questions before you can
| | 00:13 | complete preparing your
sessions for the final dub.
| | 00:17 | You should know what type of
console that's going to be used.
| | 00:20 | If it's a control surface, such as an
icon or Control 24, then your outputs will
| | 00:24 | be simple, but there'll be other
considerations that we'll cover in a minute.
| | 00:29 | If it's either an analog or a digital
console, you will need to know exactly how
| | 00:34 | many inputs will be available for music.
| | 00:36 | You also want to discuss with the mixer
how he or she wants the music laid out.
| | 00:42 | Sometimes, the mixer only wants the full
mixes available and the stems kept in reserve.
| | 00:47 | Other mixers will want to start with
everything in front of them on their console.
| | 00:51 | Just like the scoring stage, if the
dubbing stage is providing the playback Pro
| | 00:55 | Tools machine for music, you
can request their I/O layout.
| | 01:00 | Let's go to the I/O Setup,
select these outputs and delete them.
| | 01:07 | If you've received an I/O Setup
from the stage, import it now.
| | 01:10 | I always keep a generic, large output
setup, in case I can't get one from the
| | 01:16 | stage beforehand or don't know
exactly where the final dub is going to be.
| | 01:23 | You'll see it extends far
beyond my current interface.
| | 01:27 | I'm going to delete all these tracks
that are in here and create some new paths.
| | 01:40 | If you remember, we have a 5-1 full
mix, I just finished a French film
| | 01:46 | where I didn't actually get to talk to the
dubbing mixer until I delivered the first two reels.
| | 01:52 | I prepared the sessions in a logical way
that I thought would make sense to him,
| | 01:55 | and fortunately, it did.
| | 01:57 | Let's go to our mixer.
| | 01:59 | So let's choose our A stem.
| | 02:02 | By holding down Shift+Option+Command, I
can assign output sequentially, but that
| | 02:10 | only works for like tracks.
| | 02:12 | So I'll need to assign
the 5.0 tracks separately.
| | 02:18 |
| | 02:21 | Even if I don't have enough voices in
the setup that I'm using currently, I can
| | 02:25 | still assign the outputs.
| | 02:27 | When this session is open on the
stage, all the outputs will be correct.
| | 02:31 | Often, you'll have more stems than
the mixer will want, or have inputs for.
| | 02:36 | Today, a final dub is often a combination of
mixing in the Pro Tools system and the console.
| | 02:42 | Set your stems up according to what your
mixer wants and the logic that the music dictates.
| | 02:47 | For instance, I could combine the
Strings and Brass here as an orchestral stem.
| | 02:54 | I could also combine the Synth and Perc.
| | 02:59 | The setup for a control surface dub is simple.
| | 03:02 | All full mixes and stems are assigned to
one set of outputs, that being the music stem.
| | 03:10 | The mixer may end up using other
outputs or buses for reverb, compressors and
| | 03:14 | other effects, but that will be for
he or she to assign during the mix.
| | 03:19 | Remember that if you are dubbing on a
stage that is using a control surface that
| | 03:24 | the mixer is going to be an
experienced Pro Tools user, he or she will have a
| | 03:28 | set of tools, methods and workflow
that may or may not be familiar to you.
| | 03:34 | Your best approach to these situations
is to make sure that your material is
| | 03:38 | laid out clearly, and that
when you arrive, listen and watch.
| | 03:43 | You will almost always learn something.
| | 03:45 | Being prepared for the dub is invaluable.
| | 03:48 | I've always tried to be completely
prepared with more than the mixer expects.
| | 03:53 | I've heard so many horror stories from
mixers about composers and music editors.
| | 03:58 | They all have one common thread, the
stories all have to do with how unprepared
| | 04:03 | they were, and the snoring, of course.
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| Making a headphone bus| 00:00 | Dubbing stages are noisy places.
| | 00:03 | Often there are systems available that
are offline, usually in an adjacent room
| | 00:07 | where last-minute changes can be addressed.
| | 00:10 | Even if there is this option,
sometimes changes need to be made on the stage.
| | 00:14 | In order to work on the stage,
monitoring with headphones is often necessary.
| | 00:19 | Try not to do this for too long though.
| | 00:21 | The first film that I ever did with
Pro Tools on a dubbing stage was a film
| | 00:25 | called Wilder Napalm, the first
film ever where the music was dubbed
| | 00:29 | directly from Pro Tools.
| | 00:31 | I made tons and tons of
changes for days wearing headphones.
| | 00:35 | The headphones were pressing on the
back my glasses, and I ended up with
| | 00:39 | involuntary spasms in the back
of my head and my neck for days.
| | 00:44 | Let's go to the I/O Setup.
| | 00:47 | We need to create a 5.1
headphone bus, and some mono subpaths.
| | 00:58 |
| | 01:03 | We also need to create a headphone output.
| | 01:05 |
| | 01:11 | Let's go to our mixer, create 5 Aux Inputs.
| | 01:18 | Let's assign these inputs to the
headphone bus sequential outputs, left
| | 01:22 | center, right, left surround and right surround.
| | 01:24 | If you're creating a headphone mix for
recording or overdubbing, you would use
| | 01:29 | Aux sends and make a headphone mix.
| | 01:31 | In this case, we want to monitor as
closely as possible what the output of the
| | 01:36 | system will be, so we use output buses instead.
| | 01:40 | Let's go to our A stem.
| | 01:43 | Holding down Shift+Ctrl+Option lets
you double bus and also assign multiple
| | 01:49 | outputs at the same time.
| | 01:51 | This leaves your output bus set, and
adds the headphone bus to it, not affecting
| | 01:56 | the level or quality of either.
| | 01:58 | If you have different multi-channel
track configurations in your session, each
| | 02:02 | will have to be done separately.
| | 02:08 | Let's go back to our Auxes,
set their output, panning.
| | 02:21 | This is the same as you're
making the stereo fold-down.
| | 02:25 | Lower center 3DB and the surrounds
six, and you'll get a fairly good
| | 02:32 | representation in the stereo of your 5.1 mix.
| | 02:36 | You notice that I've left out the LFE.
| | 02:38 | There is not much low-frequency
information that you are going to hear in headphones.
| | 02:42 | I now use a pair of noise canceling
headphones on stages and airplanes.
| | 02:47 | I am not sure which I'm on more.
| | 02:49 | I suggest that you make the investment.
| | 02:50 | They are not the best fidelity as they
tend to mess with the phase in the bottom
| | 02:54 | end, but they really do cut out the noise.
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| Using pull up/pull down| 00:00 | Historically, any kind of speed issues
with film and music were a nightmare.
| | 00:06 | Analog tape did not run at
an exact speed all on its own.
| | 00:10 | Because of this, the variables were endless.
| | 00:13 | Fortunately today, digital sync issues
are in many ways a lot less complicated.
| | 00:19 | Unfortunately, they still exist.
| | 00:22 | Pro Tools provides two settings to
adjust your session to match a variety of
| | 00:26 | sync issues that may occur.
| | 00:27 | They are called Audio Rate Pull Up, Pull
Down and Video Rate Pull Up, Pull Down.
| | 00:33 | There are several reasons why you
might need to use these settings.
| | 00:37 | All of these options are based on
the playback speed of the picture.
| | 00:41 | It's like the speed setting on
a record player, remember those?
| | 00:45 | Unlike the constantly varying speed of
analog, the video, in the digital domain,
| | 00:50 | can only have exact speed settings.
| | 00:53 | They are as follows.
| | 00:55 | In the United States, and a few other
places around the world, the video runs at
| | 01:00 | its own speed called NTSC.
| | 01:03 | NTSC is the video standard that, among
other things, indicates that the speed of
| | 01:08 | the frames per second are 29.97.
| | 01:12 | Film, as projected in movie theaters
around the world, runs at 24 frames per second.
| | 01:19 | The video equivalent of film
speed is 30 frames per seconds.
| | 01:24 | That means that in order to transfer
film to video without changing its speed,
| | 01:30 | it needs to be recorded at 30 frames per second.
| | 01:34 | There is a system for doubling certain frames
in order to end up with 30 frames per second.
| | 01:39 | That method is called the three two pull down.
| | 01:42 | And that's all I'm going to say about it,
because the name alone is confusing.
| | 01:46 | Video in the United Kingdom and
several other places in the world run at 25
| | 01:52 | frames per second for broadcast on television.
| | 01:55 | This means that many films that are
transferred to video for broadcast and sale
| | 01:59 | in the UK are sped up to 25 frames per second.
| | 02:04 | Imagine going from one country to
another, or one format to another, without
| | 02:09 | knowing it ahead of time.
| | 02:10 | That's the reason why we
have these options in Pro Tools.
| | 02:14 | Let's open the Session Setup Window.
| | 02:16 | You'll notice that under the Time Code
Settings Window there are two dropdown
| | 02:20 | menus for Pull Up and Pull Down.
| | 02:23 | You can change the speed of
the Audio, the Video or both.
| | 02:27 | If you need to change the speed of
the Audio to match the dubbing stage,
| | 02:31 | you have three choices. 1% slower.
| | 02:34 | That's Pull Down. You would use this if, for
instance, you were working at the straight sample
| | 02:40 | rate of 48K, and your film was
running at film speed 24 frame.
| | 02:45 | But the dubbing stage was running at
video speed 29.97 with a sample rate that
| | 02:52 | was also a Pull Down 47956.
| | 02:56 | You can also choose 1% faster or Pull Up.
| | 03:00 | The most common use of this setting is
when you are working at video speed and
| | 03:04 | the dubbing stage is working
at film speed. 4% faster PAL.
| | 03:09 | This is the difference between 24
frames per second and 25 frames per second.
| | 03:14 | You would use this when going from the US
to the UK and dubbing at PAL speed, 25 frames.
| | 03:21 | Avoid this whenever possible.
| | 03:23 | It changes the pitch in not a
pleasing way, either direction. 4% slower.
| | 03:29 | This is just the opposite.
| | 03:30 | You would use this when you have
recorded at 25 frames in the UK, and
| | 03:35 | were dubbing in the US.
| | 03:37 | There are also combinations of the two above.
| | 03:40 | You can also change the
speed of the video playback.
| | 03:43 | You are limited to a 1% change here.
| | 03:46 | This is because it's beyond the scope of
the program to convert NTSC to PAL on-the-fly.
| | 03:52 | The reason you would change the speed
of the picture on the dubbing stage is
| | 03:56 | if you were working at one speed
and the stage was set to another.
| | 03:59 | This happens to me quite a lot actually,
as we tend to work at 24 frame in a
| | 04:04 | straight sample rate.
| | 04:06 | When I get to the dub, they
are often working at NTSC.
| | 04:10 | I pulldown my 24 frame video,
and it matches their NTSC video.
| | 04:15 | The opposite is also true.
| | 04:17 | If you are working at NTSC and the
stage is running at film speed, then the
| | 04:22 | video will need to be pulled up to match.
| | 04:25 | Always remember that the best way to deliver
tracks to a dub is exactly how they want them.
| | 04:31 | The settings in Pro Tools for pulling
up and pulling down are convenient, but
| | 04:36 | should be used only when there has been
a decision that you are unaware of and
| | 04:41 | must now compensate for.
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| How and why to use sample rate conversion| 00:00 | Sample Rate Conversion is another way
provided by Pro Tools to adjust your music
| | 00:04 | to fit the technical specs of the final dub.
| | 00:07 | The reasons that you might need to
convert your session to another sample rate
| | 00:11 | in preparation for the dub are directly
related to the reasons for the pull-up
| | 00:15 | and pull-down option.
| | 00:17 | The key difference is that pull-up, pull
-down option plays your session back at
| | 00:22 | a different sample rate than it was recorded.
| | 00:24 | The Sample Rate
Conversion does this ahead of time.
| | 00:27 | This is especially vital when you are
preparing the session that will need to be
| | 00:31 | imported and integrated into
existing Pro Tools dubbing sessions.
| | 00:35 | This almost often occur when you are
dubbing on a stage that uses a control
| | 00:38 | surface, such as an ICON or when there
are limited number of systems available.
| | 00:43 | Most often the music gets
imported into the dialog session.
| | 00:47 | There are few reasons for this.
| | 00:48 | Dialog usually doesn't need that many tracks.
| | 00:51 | The dialog mixture is usually the music mixture.
| | 00:53 | The outputs needed for a
control surface mix are limited.
| | 00:56 | Pro Tools gives you many
opportunities to Sample Rate Convert.
| | 00:59 | Let's go to the Preferences, choose Processing.
| | 01:02 | You will see here that we can set a
global Sample Rate Conversion Quality.
| | 01:07 | Set it to TweakHead, which is the slowest.
| | 01:09 | You are already asking for some
compromise by applying this process.
| | 01:14 | Do not compromise any more than you need to.
| | 01:16 | In the old Pro Tools, I was so unhappy
with the Sample Rate Conversion that I
| | 01:20 | made a production company rent an
extra rig on the dubbing stage so we could
| | 01:25 | play out the music at the original sample rate.
| | 01:27 | Fortunately, the algorithms
have greatly improved since then.
| | 01:32 | The first way to convert is
to Export Regions as Files.
| | 01:38 | This lets you choose the quality, as you
can see, but this is not a global export.
| | 01:43 | It's not very handy for dubbing stage
preparation when you need to convert whole sessions.
| | 01:48 | It's great if you are just supplying a
demo or a mix to the editing room, and
| | 01:52 | they are at different sample rate than you are.
| | 01:55 | Another way is to Save a Copy In.
| | 01:58 | This works great if you are doing
a straight sample rate conversion.
| | 02:02 | I do this often as we tend to work
at 44.1, and most stages dub at 48K.
| | 02:08 | This is not any good if you are also
needing to adjust for a Pull Up or a Pull
| | 02:12 | Down as it's not available.
| | 02:16 | Importing audio files only allows for
Sample Rate Conversion from a different
| | 02:21 | sample rate than the session, and like
exporting regions, this is not a global conversion.
| | 02:28 | The best way to sample rate convert
a whole session when you do need to
| | 02:31 | adjust for Pull Up or Pull Down is by
creating a new session and importing session data.
| | 02:37 | We will set the new session to 48KHz,
go to Import > Session Data, select the
| | 02:52 | tracks that you want the dubbing stage to have.
| | 02:55 | You may not want to include the dialog,
for instance, or demos or Temp Tracks.
| | 03:01 | Select the proper Sample Rate Conversion.
| | 03:06 |
| | 03:12 | Make absolutely sure that you
know exactly what the stage needs.
| | 03:17 | When in doubt, send them a test session.
| | 03:19 | Always include head and tail sync pops, and
there is no substitute for you being there.
| | 03:25 | Go to the stage and make sure that
your music sounds good and is in sync.
| | 03:29 | I once asked John Williams if he
ever went to the final dub and he said,
| | 03:33 | whenever geographically possible.
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ConclusionGoodbye| 00:00 | Thanks for listening.
| | 00:01 | I hope you found some
valuable information in this course.
| | 00:04 | So what are you waiting for?
| | 00:05 | Go out there and find a film to score.
| | 00:07 | I can't wait to see your name in the credits.
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