Discover the latest industry news and audio post production.
Learn the best export settings and workflow in DaVinci Resolve to seamlessly deliver audio and video assets to your sound designer.
March 28, 2023
Welcome to Part 2 of "How to Deliver Audio and Video Assets to Your Sound Designer". This short guide provides the best settings for exporting an AAF file from DaVinci Resolve for Pro Tools.
Let's take a quick review of the steps to get your video assets ready.
Navigate to your software’s video export window, and select the following settings:
Let's run over the key steps of getting your audio content ready - quickly and easily.
Ensure your sound team has easy access to all audio takes recorded on set. Upload the files to a file-sharing service, like Google Drive, and give them the ability to stream selected files or download them at their convenience.
Ensure the utmost efficiency in your workflow and prevent delays by completing the final locked edit of your project (this can be done before incorporating any colour grading or visual effects).
Place all current dialogue tracks, ADR, voice-over, sound effects, and music at their desired timecode position in your editing session.
Placing a 1kHz sine wave of a single frame duration two seconds before the video region starts can ensure that the final mix from audio post-production is perfectly synchronised with your edit’s timecode. This saves you time and effort in achieving proper sync alignment. The video region should start at timecode 01 00 00 00, unless your distribution specifications say otherwise.
Delivering With DaVinci Resolve:
Ensure that your audio clips are displayed with individual microphones on separate tracks.
Navigate to the delivery window, and select the following settings:
Render Settings - Pro Tools
Video Tab
Audio Tab
We hope you enjoyed reading this guide and have gained some useful knowledge to take forward into your next project!
We share with you 5 tips to help you kickstart your career in the world of sound.
March 21, 2023
For many budding sound designers, it can be difficult knowing how to make the jump from amateur level up to professional.
In this article we share with you 5 tips to help you kickstart your career in the world of sound, and confidently land your first paying projects.
Read on below to discover our top tips!
How can you hit the target if you don't have something to aim for? Setting a clear goal for yourself is like a superpower, as it not only narrows your focus but gives you a clear path to follow as you try to achieve your dreams. Often we are too vague in our goals, and make grand, sweeping statements that are difficult to put into practice.
Instead of saying "I want to make sounds for film", or "I want to be a foley artist" we can instead say things like:
By making our goals super specific, and setting a timeline to accompany them we are placing ourselves on the right path to achieve them.
When starting out, it is beneficial to equip yourself with a wide set of skills. This will give you the strongest foundation possible to start with, and puts you in prime position to land the job you want when it comes up.
Think about it like this, if its a choice between two young candidates for a junior position, who is going to be more attractive: The person who is amazing in one aspect of sound but lacks knowledge elsewhere, or this person who has a general knowledge and competency across the full range of sound disciplines?
Specialisation is important however, but this can come later as you progress in your career and have gained a high level of expertise in certain areas.
Some key skills and areas of knowledge to develop include:
Knowing how to present yourself in a professional manner, and effectively sell your services is one of the key skills to master on your journey to success. When starting out its a good idea to invest in a quality website that you can continue to update as you progress in your career. Populate your website with your best pieces of work, and highlight the key projects you have been involved with. Pay close attention to the words you choose to say about yourself on your website and make sure that all written information projects a positive and confident impression.
You can take things to the next level by hiring the services of a professional photographer to take some photos and headshots of you. A good set of photos can be carried with you through your career.
The "essential" areas of your professional portfolio would include the following:
All business is fundamentally built on the foundation of strong Human relationships.
With the world of the creative industries being so collaborative, it is extra important for us to be skilled in the art of networking, and never is this more true then when you are first starting out. Often its the relationships you build during the early stages of your career that will stay with you the longest and be the most fruitful.
Take an interest in people, offer them advice and do favours for them from time to time. Perhaps a Director acquaintance of yours is looking for a DOP. Hook them up with one, or point them in the direction of someone you know. This all helps to position yourself as a competent, well-connected and respected professional that brings a high level of value to the projects you are involved with.
For our final tip, we recommend to seek out opportunities at established sound studios. Whilst this is probably the most traditional and predictable tip on this list, it still remains one of the best ways of getting your foot-in-the-door when it comes to a career in audio. A quick google search of your local area should reveal some of the studios that are in operation, and from there you can go forward and make contact.
Don't be afraid to pick up the phone and strike up a conversation. Most people, no matter how senior will be empathetic to your situation, as they can remember what is was like when they were first starting out. With a little initiative and luck on your side you may just land yourself a placement or work opportunity!
That concludes this blog post. For more tips you can check out this great article from the Los Angeles Times that features quotes and advice from some of the top professionals in the industry.
We hope you enjoyed reading these tips and can start applying them to your own journey today!
Explore the sound design of a Nordic fantasy film, blending historical accuracy with mythical elements to create an immersive, otherworldly atmosphere.
March 15, 2023
We recently had the pleasure to collaborate on a Nordic-themed fantasy film, which was an incredible experience. This project allowed us to create sounds using historically accurate weapons and armour, and gave us the opportunity to build an environment abundant in texture. However, since it was a fantasy film, the soundtrack had to be steeped in myth and magic, yet still retain an earthly sound.
A great way to motivate and energize yourself and/or your team for a big new project is to organize a planning session for the post-production journey of the film. It's beneficial to be part of the sound design discussion right from the beginning with the director in order to ensure success. The earlier you start involvement, the better.
During our brainstorming with the director, we decided that the soundscape should include hyper-realistic original sound effects. Showcasing earthly sounds such as rain and thunder, as well as historically accurate foley of chainmail, shields, swords, and the otherworldly sound design of an oracle and supernatural raven.
The film features a supernatural raven that can ensnare and disturb the mind of anyone who looks upon it. For these more mystical scenes, we wanted to ensure that the fantasy elements still had an air of realism. We opted for abstract interpretations of natural noises, using recordings of thunder, wind, and earthquakes to create whooshes, risers, transitions, and dopplers. These natural elements are then used to underscore the gurgling croaks, scratchy caws, and haunting shrieks of a raven.
We hope you enjoyed checking out this article! How would you have approached this scene?
Learn how to create Shepard Tones, an auditory illusion of continuous rising or falling pitch, through simple layering and pitch adjustments.
February 21, 2023
Shepard Tones are a unique sound effect that can be used to create a sense of continuously rising or falling pitch. By combining different Shepard Tones, you can create interesting, other-worldly sounds.
Here is a quick walkthrough on how we create this auditory illusion
Edit a sound with a consistent pitch and volume to approximately 10-12 seconds long so that it can be looped.
Duplicate your loop and layer it with your existing track.
Pitch your duplicated clip down by one octave (12 semitones lower).
Gradually increase the pitch of both the original and duplicated clips by one full octave (12 semitones) over their entire duration. Increasing the pitch creates a rising Shepard tone; conversely, lowering the pitch creates a falling Shepard tone.
Using Clip Gain, gradually decrease the volume of the original clip and increase the volume of the duplicated clip; the lower octave ends on the same note that the original starts at, creating the illusion of a constantly rising pitch. To create a falling Shepard tone, you would do the opposite and increase the volume of the original clip while decreasing the volume of the duplicated clip.
If the Shepard tone is not looping as expected, then crossfade to taste—a four-frame crossfade is a good place to start, but it may need to be finessed to achieve the desired effect.
We hope you enjoyed checking out this article! Unleash boundless tension with Shepard Tones Vol. 1 - available in the store!
How to create a demo reel to demonstrate your talent and capabilities to potential employers, clients, and collaborators.
January 24, 2023
A demo reel is an essential tool for any creative professional looking to showcase their skills and portfolio. It's a great way to demonstrate your talent and capabilities to potential employers, clients, and collaborators. Creating a demo reel can be a daunting task, but with the right tools and techniques, you can create an effective and engaging presentation that will help you stand out from the crowd. With careful planning, research, and practice, you can create a demo reel that will showcase your best work in the most compelling way possible.
When making your demo reel, it is important to include only the best examples that reflect the type of work you do and want to do. This means selecting pieces that demonstrate your technical skills, creativity, and storytelling ability. By carefully curating your demo reel, you can create a powerful portfolio that will help you stand out from the competition and land more jobs in the future.
Use the structure of your demo reel to further showcase your audio editing skills. Don't be afraid to design creative transitions between each clip so that the reel flows seamlessly. You can achieve this with large impacts, whooshes, pitch and speed changes, and crossfading, which allows you to keep the momentum building.
As people's attention spans become shorter and shorter, demo reels need to be increasingly fast-paced and instantly eye-catching. Try to avoid creating a demo reel that is over 3 minutes long; imagine that your potential employer or collaborator is sifting through hundreds of other demo reels to find yours.
Finally, always remember to label and credit not only your work on the project, but also the project's title and the companies you have worked with. This not only avoids any confusion or misdirection regarding your work, but also demonstrates to the viewer that you have worked with a variety of different companies and clients.
We hope you enjoyed checking out this article! If you haven't worked on a lot of original projects, you can still take these tips and apply them to sound re-designs, creating a reel that will showcase your abilities and help you get your foot in the door.
