ADR is a necessary evil in post sound. Actors hate recording it, mixers hate mixing it, producers hate using it. But it is an inevitability of the process. The main reason so many people can’t stand it is that it sticks out and feels unnatural. So the mixer’s challenge is to make it feel more …
Avid produces several great dynamics processors for use in Pro Tools, from the included Channel Strip (with its roots in Euphonix boards) to the Pro Series Compressor and Multi-band Dynamics. Each of these dynamics plugins has a parameter that makes them stand out in a crowded world of compressors and limiters; the depth control. Let’s take a …
Continue reading ‘Depth Control: my favorite parameter on Avid Dynamics Plugs’ »
Sure would be nice to be able to fold a 5.1 comp stem to LtRt faster than a real-time print, wouldn’t it? There are several LtRt-encoder plugins that let you insert them on your 5.1 comp stem audio track, then bus it to a stereo audio track and print down. But that goes at real-time. …
Continue reading ‘Fold 5.1 to LtRt with AudioSuite! (faster than realtime)’ »
Today Pro Tools 9 decided that my 002 wasn’t something that it wanted to talk to anymore. The last time I had loaded Pro Tools I just needed to crack an AAF, so I left the 002 off. Now it just wasn’t talking to it at all. It wasn’t listed in Hardware Setup, and repeated …
In the last post we took a look at the fundamentals of working with Elastic Audio in Pro Tools. Elastic Audio is the powerful function that allows you to stretch and compress audio like a rubber band, all without changing pitch or rendering any new audio. The main focus of this function is in the …
We’ve all done it: inadvertently linking to audio files on hard drives other than the one our session is on. That’s all well and good for the time being, but what happens when you have to move that session to another computer? Offline files! The bane of any Pro Tools user’s existence. What can you …
Continue reading ‘Scattered media: force all audio files to one hard drive’ »
One of the most powerful automation features that used to be reserved for Pro Tools HD systems is Trim Automation. Avid has finally brought this fantastic feature to the masses with Pro Tools 9 (with the Complete Toolkit, that is). Trim automation allows you to apply a relative change to your existing volume automation. Let’s …
Continue reading ‘Trim just a little off the top: the beauty of trim automation’ »
So you’ve gotten the hang of working with Latch Prime and Write To Next Breakpoint. So what else can you do to hurry things along during your mix? One incredibly useful tool to get familiar with is AutoMatch. AutoMatch is the process of telling a track that’s currently writing automation to return to the pre-existing …
Continue reading ‘Speedy mixing: it’s all about the automation (part 2)’ »
Mixes usually need to be turned around quickly. They also need to be good. So if you’re in the hot seat, it’s best to get a handle on the automation techniques in Pro Tools that allow you to work well and efficiently. Fortunately with the arrival of Pro Tools 9, all of the professional automation …
Continue reading ‘Speedy mixing: it’s all about the automation (Part 1)’ »
