I was recently undertaking a mix for a TV show and I was asked to “bring this track up as high as you can go without breaking the broadcasting rules”. This was with regards to a music track that the Director really wanted to make loud, and in response to my reasonably conservative first mix. This … Read more Loudness for TV Mixes
The other day I was checking out some of the resources on the BBC R&D website with regards to good standards/specifications for studios. I have compiled references to some of the papers that I found to be most useful. The following considerations make reference to various papers produced by BBC R&D, as examples of industry … Read more Some considerations for studio builds
I was fortunate enough to get to do the audio mix for a new documentary for the ABC by Mike Nayna called Digilante. It is screening on ABC2 on Wednesday 21 December, and I recommend it as a great, thought-provoking watch. Some blurb from the media release below… “Incredibly tense and brilliant.” JON RONSON AUTHOR … Read more Digilante on ABC2
I sometimes get sound and media students asking about where to find royalty free music for their projects. I have had a couple use tracks from incompetech recently, and that site seems quite straight-forward in terms of it’s licensing options. There is also a good list of royalty free music resources available at: Royalty Free … Read more Royalty Free Music
Adobe have previewed their VoCo (Voice Conversion) software, which allows users to edit dialogue recordings by using text. It looks interesting, but you also need quite a bit of recorded dialogue for it to use as analysis to work properly. Not sure how useful this will be to most people, but interesting technology nonetheless. Check … Read more Adobe VoCo
I went in to a local theatre the other day to check playback for a preview screening for a feature film I have worked on, and unfortunately it didn’t quite sound right. The Director had sent the facility an MP4 for playback (this particular theatrette can’t handle DCPs), which supposedly had a 5.1 surround sound … Read more 5.1 Surround Speaker Calibration Video
Karen Collins has finished her game audio documentary project, Beep, which sounds like a huge undertaking. Karen has provided “a little post-mortem for future filmmakers out there to understand just how expensive it is to make a movie” on her website. To check out details of her budget, visit: http://www.gamessound.com/budget.html
The NewActon South building in Canberra has a comfortable little 35 seat theatre in the ground floor that is used by residents and can be booked for events and screenings. They have a reasonable rate for local filmmakers, and I have been to a screening of a local short I worked on there in the … Read more Kendall Lane Theatre
Way back in 2000 legendary film and film sound editor Walter Murch wrote an interesting article discussing the role of sound for film. He starts with a reflection of the importance of the sound role in the early days of sound films, and goes on to discuss sound design theory. Check it out on the … Read more Stretching Sound to Help the Mind See
The Audible Range website have posted up a great article about the making of the original Star Trek sound effects, that includes a soundboard so you can sample the sounds on the site. Check it out at: http://audiblerange.com/categories/the-listening-life/kittens-kisses-and-razorblades-behind-star-treks-iconic-sounds/