Appendix 1

Sound Edit Workfl ows
If you are fi nishing on video, you can also mix after the online for the same reason. However, it’s
much less important on a video fi nish because if there is a sync problem, it can be fi xed by slipping
the video shot rather than the audio. Because of this fl exibility, in a video fi nish, the sound may be
mixed before, during, or after the online edit.
It all comes down to this. Now, all the tracks are mixed as tightly as possible, every attention to
every detail. Many of the decisions are subjective: how much background, how loud the music should
be. Should we pan a sound as the character moves or not?
There are no rules, but there are guidelines:
Never bury the dialogue. Keep the dialogue in the foreground over effects, music, everything. If
you think the dialogue is forward enough, it’s not. Go more.
Keep the intent of the fi lmmaker. Don’t get too big on effects and music unless it’s a big fi lm.
Don’t be afraid to go small with some effects. You don’t need to always hear every footstep and
shoe squeak. It’s the fi lmmaker’s fi lm and it’s his or her call. Everyone at the mix needs to do
everything to achieve the fi lmmaker’s goal and the fi lmmaker needs to express his or her
desires.
Much of what is going on is technical. Are the levels going too high? Do we need to save headroom
for later when we need to get much louder? There are standards for everything. The monitor
speakers should be set at a level so that truly loud sounds are being heard loudly.
The acoustics of the room are also critical. Mix at a reputable facility.
Control Surfaces and Automation
A control surface looks very much like a mixing board, and it is used exactly like a mixing board.
But, in fact, it is more like a computer keyboard/mouse. It only controls the software and has very
little built-in function or active electronics. Some may have mic preamps or even a small monitoring
mixer, but, for the most part, all of their function is provided by the software and audio I/O device.
You may ask, when one of the greatest advantages of the Pro Tools mixer is that it is virtual and
therefore totally customizable, why tie yourself down to a huge hardware mixer? The advantage of
such a controller is that many of the controls and sliders of the Pro Tools interface are now in the
“real world” and can be quickly touched and manipulated. Moreover, several controls can be manipulated
at the same time and with better control.
Another advantage of a control surface is that this allows the mixers to “live mix.” That is to say,
mix with the control surface while recording the output as a fi nal mix. The advantage is that it’s fast
and, depending on the skill of the mixer, very creative.
Stems
As the mix is going forward the mixing board is often set up to simultaneously lay the music, effects,
and dialogue stems off to another channel or channels. In many cases, they may be laid off later.
With 5.1 and other multitrack fi nishing formats, there may be 5–6 music stems, 5–6 effects stems,
and 3–5 dialogue stems.
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