Level, level, level. It’s one of the core concerns of post production sound. How loud is my show? Why are those dumb commercials so much louder? How loud should my dialog be compared to my music and effects? Will my mix be within specification of the broadcast network? Will my movie sound right in the theater? Will my webisode distort on laptop speakers?

The answer to these questions lies in good audio metering.
Read the rest of this entry »

This is the first in an on-going series of Pro Tools Tutorial videos designed to teach everything from the basics through the highest-level post production sound techniques.  This brief video starts at the very beginning, showing you how to open Pro Tools LE and create a new session.  Take a peek!

Pro Tools Tutorial: Create A New Session, Import Audio

It’s a high-definition world these days.  The vast majority of new content for TV is in HD, movies can now be gotten in HD on Blu-Ray, and you can even stream HD content online.  Post production workflows have changed accordingly, and one of the areas of biggest confusion has been the move to 23.976 FPS timecode.

To make matters more complicated, it’s all too common for work picture to be delivered to post sound on a standard-definition format like Beta SP or DVCAM that still has to use 29.97 timecode.  But your final mix is still expected to sync up to that HD master at 23.98!  So you need to work in 29.97 and then convert to 23.98 for final layback.  Do you need to conform anything?  Will there by sync issues?  Will things drift?  What’s the deal?!
Read the rest of this entry »

So you’ve upgraded to the latest Mac OSX or Windows 7 version, and suddenly Pro Tools just ain’t working any more.  Ouch.  It’s a neverending saga; Apple or Microsoft change their OS’s underpinnings, thus breaking key components of pro applications like Avid Pro Tools.

Now you’re stuck either A) waiting for an update to Pro Tools and/or B) wiping your whole boot hard drive and starting over again with the older OS.  What a pain!
Read the rest of this entry »

Yeah, me neither.  It’s a tough realization to come to, but when you look at the state of the music industry today you see that maybe it’s for the best.

http://money.cnn.com/2010/02/02/news/companies/napster_music_industry/index.htm

But you like working with sound!  And you dread getting a “normal” job like your parents told you to.  Before I got into post, my dad suggested that I become an accountant!  I’m not even good at math!
Read the rest of this entry »

Hey all, welcome to the new post production sound blog entitled “Pro Tools is Awesome!”  My name is Alexey Mohr, and this is where I’ll be posting all sorts of useful info about post production sound, workflows, and doing it all in Avid Pro Tools!

I’ll also be making free how-to videos that answer your post sound questions in Pro Tools.  So ask away, and let’s get this thing started!