PLo128 Posted October 23, 2012 Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 What do you all recommend as a basic post-sound setup for handling simpler media projects? I primarily work as a production sound mixer, but I'd like to add sweetening and some sound design to my services when I help out student filmmakers or do web content. And I also just want to learn more about the process, and would prefer to stick with a DAW like ProTools since it seems to be such an industry standard. Bare in mind that I do not have a studio and was planning to do this work from home with my 15" MacBook Pro (Mac OS X version 10.7.4; 2.4 GHz Intel Core i5; 4GB 1333 MHz DDR3 memory), a good set of headphones, and a zoom h4n for recording ambience and effects. Would this starter kit from B&H along with a 2 terabyte external HD be worth it for what I want to achieve? http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/730217-REG/M_Audio_Pro_Tools_Essential_Studio.html Or would I need to go straight to ProTools 10 and a control surface if I have aspirations of handling any type of video work. Help!!! Thank you always. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soundslikejustin Posted October 23, 2012 Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 You will need Pro Tools 10 (or 9 - anyway, the reasonably full featured one) to import OMF/AAF. SE and Express can't do that, and you will run into a track maximum pretty fast. You can use Pro Tools 10 without any interface, or control surface. It will run through your internal Mac audio (headphone/line out and speakers). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccsnd Posted October 23, 2012 Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 pt 10 is all you need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wyatt Tuzo Posted October 23, 2012 Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 You can use Pro Tools 10 without any interface, or control surface. It will run through your internal Mac audio (headphone/line out and speakers). Same with PT9, btw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soundslikejustin Posted October 23, 2012 Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 Same with PT9, btw. Yep, that's what I was doing before going to 10 recently. Should have put that in my post, but missed it. Thanks, Wyatt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse Flaitz Posted October 23, 2012 Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 PT10 is pretty much the way to go, but you will likely be doing it for fun, good luck getting anything close to a decent rate doing audio post at the student level. And get a presonus faderport. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deadtrick Posted October 23, 2012 Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 +1 on the faderport. If you have any leftover cash after PT10, look into getting a decent interface with very good converters (RME, apogee), a dedicated external HD for all your sessions, studio monitors, and room treatment! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VASI Posted October 23, 2012 Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 +1 for Pro Tools 10. For studio monitors it depends about room size and acoustics. Also you need some VST Plug-ins. I recommend two: Altiverb & Speakerphone 2 If you need some extra informations about monitors, acoustics, delivery formats and other post stuff you can check the Gearslutz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadoStefanov Posted October 23, 2012 Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 What about Nuendo? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Southern Posted October 23, 2012 Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 Has anyone else here tried Audition recently? I mixed a short for a friend recently and gave Audition a shot and was honestly blown away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VASI Posted October 23, 2012 Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 Audition is editing DAW basic. Not for mixing. Yes has multitrack option but... I work in Audition for simple things. Noise reduction for example. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boomboom Posted October 23, 2012 Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 I'd try to compare Audition with Sound Forge before buying if I needed an editing program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VASI Posted October 23, 2012 Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 Pierre yes please! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olle Sjostrom Posted October 23, 2012 Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 What about Nuendo? Yeah what about it. I can't see one thing in PT that Nuendo doesn't do better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soundslikejustin Posted October 23, 2012 Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 Yeah what about it. I can't see one thing in PT that Nuendo doesn't do better. It's a great option, but OP stated he wanted to know what was necessary for a Pro Tools DAW workflow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted October 23, 2012 Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 .".ProTools since it seems to be such an industry standard.." so it does seem... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Rose Posted October 24, 2012 Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 No, the OP said "DAW like ProTools". In which case there are plenty of options. PT does have the biggest market share, for sure. But just as a lot of folks prefer Digital Performer for music, a bunch of us prefer Nuendo for post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olle Sjostrom Posted October 24, 2012 Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 ...a bunch of us prefer Nuendo for post. And music. I compose as well as sound design from time to time and Nuendo works perfectly out of the box, mixing audio tracks with several groups, aux sends, vst plugins and midi tracks with powerful and EASY intuitive tempo and composing tools, in one software, with no hardware requirements. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Wynne Posted October 24, 2012 Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 I agree with everyone on going pt10. Can you put more ram in your Mac book pro? 4gb is the minimum requirement for pt10 and I'm thinking you may be a bit underpowered. Also external recording drives are a must have and Mac book pro ports are very limited. If your serious about it, maybe look into a used Mac pro. Just like location audio the gear investment seems to never end for the studio once you get started. Happy trails. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Perkins Posted October 24, 2012 Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 Audition CS6 is a pretty amazing app for the $. It would work for lots of smaller non-dubstage style post jobs, and work very well. It doesn't go very deep into the esoterica of conforming or scaling up to a dubstage style system, and I sort of doubt it ever will--that's just not what Adobe's market is. Nuendo can do just about anything PT can do (and vice versa). If your work involves pretty much just you and your system then as long as you can import what the editor makes for you and export something they can put back into the picture edit system accurately, then it doesn't matter what you use. If you want to be a part of a post crew on a large commercial project or be hired as a free-lancer on dubstages etc where the DAW is already in place, then PT is the app to learn, esp. on the west coast USA. philp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Wielage Posted October 25, 2012 Report Share Posted October 25, 2012 I would also recommend these books as being great introductions to post-production sound mixing: Audio Postproduction for Digital Video by Jay Rose Published by CMP Books [iSBN 1578201160] Sound for Film and Television by Tomlinson Holman Published by Focal Press [iSBN 0240804538] Sound for Picture by Tom Kenny Published by Artistpro [iSBN 0872887243] The Foley Grail: The Art of Performing Sound for Film, Games, and Animation by Vanessa Theme Ament published by Focal Press [iSBN 0240811259] The Practical Art of Motion Picture Sound by David L. Yewdall Published by Focal Press [iSBN 0240802888] Dialogue Editing for Motion Pictures: A Guide to the Invisible Art by John Purcell published by Focal Press [iSBN 0240809181] If I could only afford two, I'd pick Yewdall and Purcell's books, which are extremely good (though oriented more towards Pro Tools users). I also got a lot out of Tom Kenny's book when I did all the foreign M&E work on a film a few years ago, all out of my home studio. Luckily for me, I had no client hanging over my shoulder and a month-long schedule, so I could take my time and not be under the gun. By reel 5, I was able to move ten times faster and understood exactly how to organize and route all the stems for final delivery. The client loved it, the facility was relieved, and all worked out fine. Pro Tools is what I use, but I concede it's a personal choice and there are options out there. PT is so ingrained in my head, I don't see a need to change, especially with the wide range of available plug-ins and PT10's lower cost and wide availability. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramallo Posted October 26, 2012 Report Share Posted October 26, 2012 My vote: -Nuendo -Reaper+aatranslator (for cheap) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Finlan Posted October 27, 2012 Report Share Posted October 27, 2012 My vote: -Nuendo -Reaper+aatranslator (for cheap) Go the Reaper + aatranslator route and use the money you would have wasted on Pro Tools 10 to buy a decent pair of small monitor speakers like the Equator Audio D5's. I use Reaper/aatranslator to do post jobs for my corporate video production sound clients and have used Reaper to do all the audio post for a full length film ( http://devilseedmovie.com ), using aatranslator to bring in OMF's and to output PT files for the final mix at a proper mix studio. If you're doing under $20K a year in business using Reaper the licence is $60.00 and is good for 2 full version upgrades. While PT may be entrenched as a standard in professional facilities, once you get into Reaper you will find that you can do more, faster and more efficiently with Reaper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OmahaAudio Posted October 27, 2012 Report Share Posted October 27, 2012 ...would I need to go straight to ProTools 10... If you're a student (or have a valid student ID) you can get a full version of Pro Tools 10, with four years of free upgrades, for around $300. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Wielage Posted October 28, 2012 Report Share Posted October 28, 2012 While PT may be entrenched as a standard in professional facilities, once you get into Reaper you will find that you can do more, faster and more efficiently with Reaper. Note that the educational version of Pro Tools 10 is under $300. Edit: damn! Jim beat me to it. Still a great program and worth the money in terms of features, capability, and compatibility with other mixing facilities and larger projects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.