Mark LeBlanc Posted June 5, 2014 Report Share Posted June 5, 2014 HELP!! Got a call from the Post house handling editorial from a movie I just wrapped. The called to say my audio was useless and that all the waveforms are clipped or squared off in Media Composer. I brought them in to Protools and saw no issues. In this scene, my normal dialog sits between -20 and -10 with a character smacking a table peaking at -4 In protools I know how to change the height of the waveform inside the track. I don't need to change the height of the track, just the vertical display of the waveform inside the track. When you scale it down in protools you can see my levels are good with no clipping.. Need to nip this in the bud... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark LeBlanc Posted June 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2014 Got it... Command / Option / K Click in the waveform area of the track and press those key command.. It reduces the height of the track display thus showing my panic'd post friends a nice clean, no distorted waveform.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted June 5, 2014 Report Share Posted June 5, 2014 MLB: " Need to nip this in the bud... " while I understand and could share your concern, the fact is that your delivered audio is OK, and they are having a workflow issue somewhere in the chain beyond your delivery; based on very little information I'd be inclined to tell them of your tests, and offer redelivery, for a nominal fee if they cannot sort it out. BTW, I have actually had such situations and done just that! update: " showing my panic'd post friends " does this constitute a lack of competence by these friends ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark LeBlanc Posted June 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2014 I just got off a call from the "New" editor as she replaced the original editor 2 days ago. Yes, the competence level is now in question as the "Scratch" track was not replaced with my production tracks which explains where there were no ISO tracks and why the audio was sometimes distorted. The assistant editor completely dropped the ball in not merging my production tracks.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrd456 Posted June 5, 2014 Report Share Posted June 5, 2014 I've had this happen several times and it was ALWAYS some Bozo in post. They always bad mouth the sound mixer and assure the producer that it happened during production. Then you get the midnight panic calls-----no fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Wielage Posted June 6, 2014 Report Share Posted June 6, 2014 Got it... Command / Option / K Click in the waveform area of the track and press those key command.. It reduces the height of the track display thus showing my panic'd post friends a nice clean, no distorted waveform.. IDIOTS. I'm always stunned by how sound-ignorant picture editors can be. Some of them are brilliant and really get it (as do the assistants), but others are just totally moronic beyond belief. I just got off a call from the "New" editor as she replaced the original editor 2 days ago. Yes, the competence level is now in question as the "Scratch" track was not replaced with my production tracks which explains where there were no ISO tracks and why the audio was sometimes distorted. The assistant editor completely dropped the ball in not merging my production tracks.... There is a way to reimport the correct sound files and relink to them, provided they use and understand Avid Media Access (AMA). It's for reasons like this that shows need a post supervisor to write memos, lay down specs, and make sure everything is followed to the letter. That way, you don't wind up with scratch tracks getting on the air and stuff like that. (My big bugaboo is when they sum all the tracks together, not understanding the concept of the mono mix, and I've caught that from happening a few times from editors who should have known better.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProSound Posted June 6, 2014 Report Share Posted June 6, 2014 I lost a 2nd movie with folks I did a film with because they edited off the scratch track for months before importing and syncing so the producers though my audio was crap since then I fight tooth and nail to NOT send scratch track unless I have had a conversation with someone who isn't a bozo in post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark LeBlanc Posted June 6, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2014 Whitney, Sorry to hear that.. I'm grateful that the new editor called as it sounds like the first editor was backing up the blame bus towards me!! I was officially "Invited" to the camera test but told not to go as they didn't want to pay me! Also asked who/how/when they were going to sync to my production audio and was told not to worry about it, that not my job! It just reinforces my Absolute, unadulterated hatred of the Red companies cameras! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted June 6, 2014 Report Share Posted June 6, 2014 Whitney: " I fight tooth and nail to NOT send scratch track " or... It isn't a scratch track, so always provide the best possible track... anyway, sounds like these folks needed a box of clue... bet they didn't pay properlyl... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Wielage Posted June 7, 2014 Report Share Posted June 7, 2014 It just reinforces my Absolute, unadulterated hatred of the Red companies cameras! Don't hate the camera. The camera itself is OK; the idiots using it are another matter. "Don't hate the playah... hate the game!" There are competent people using the Red camera who know what they're doing, even if you haven't met them yet. I lost a 2nd movie with folks I did a film with because they edited off the scratch track for months before importing and syncing so the producers though my audio was crap since then I fight tooth and nail to NOT send scratch track unless I have had a conversation with someone who isn't a bozo in post I always, always send out an email with the first day's dailies explaining how the tracks are laid out and what track they need to use as the mix track for dailies and editing. I figure if nothing else, this is a "cover my ass" move where I know somebody received it and understands the gist. I try to follow that up with a phone call, at least with the assistant editor at some point during the week, making sure they know to import all the tracks, then mute all the isos except the mix track. (Unless for some reason they want to grab an iso for one particular line.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Rose Posted June 7, 2014 Report Share Posted June 7, 2014 Here's my fantasy: Someday, somebody will come out with a professional NLE, where audio waveforms are displayed logarithmically. That would cure almost all of these problems. After all, it's only been a feature in the free Audacity for 10 years. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk. Sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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