Here’s a neat little free FxFactory plugin for Apple Motion users, it uses Motion 3’s Audio Behaviors capability to generate a dynamic and unique audio meter. Very cool. You can use it in previous versions of Motion, but you’ll have to manually adjust the effect. Get it here. Thanks to The Editblog for pointing this one out.

Jay Rose has written a fantastic article for DV, he shares wonderful insight and tips for editing talking head interview audio. Here’s a quick excerpt:

“Glottal shocks are reserves of breath, stored in the lungs and released suddenly when a word starts with a vowel (like “andâ€? or “Iâ€?). These words should start smoothly, with the throat open before breath starts to flow. If breath starts too soon, the sudden burst of air makes a click. Scrub slowly through the start of the suspect word. The click will be definite, taking maybe a third of a frame where the word starts. Fixing it is easy. If you’re not concerned with lipsync, just cut it out. If the subject is visible and you don’t want to change the timing, replace it with an equal length of room tone. The subject will sound calmer.”

Most of the time we see tutorials aimed at the video side of things, it’s great to read a useful tutorial with relevant and practical info that can help improve your audio work. Definitely check this one out.

After years of the music industry in general Not Getting It, here is some refreshing news. Moby has created a Gratis website where independent filmmakers can download and freely use a selection of his music in their productions. The catch is that it must be non-commercial use…but Moby addresses the possibility of licensing the work at a later date.

“the music in the film-music part of moby.com is available for free use for student films and independent films and non-profit films and shorts and etc. the music is available so long as these films are not used for commercial(i.e-making money)purposes. if you use the music in your film and your film goes on to make money: great, and congratulations. before your film makes money, though, you’ll have to apply for a commercial license for the music. i PROMISE that the commercial licenses won’t be expensive or difficult to obtain. and any money that this music generates from commercial licenses will be given to a charity.”

(Via Digital Camcorder News)

MOTU announced their new all in one V3hd Firewire Input/Output interface for video and audio today, and at first glance it looks very impressive! This realtime hardware device offers a staggering number of input and output options on the box, which also connects to your editing workstation via a single firewire cable. All functions can be controlled via software on a PC or Mac (FCP and Premiere Pro support) and also via a multi-use rotary knob on the front of the unit. In fact, the V3HD can be used completely as a standalone converter box with no computer connection required. That same control knob can be used to tweak volume monitoring AND output levels if necessary. There is a physical timecode display on the unit, and programmable metering. The software offers control via a intuitive graphical display showing the HD and SD signal path. Click the thumbnails to see all the input/output ports and options in detail, as well as a software screenshot.

The Motu V3HD can ingest any source and send it to the workstation over firewire in Uncompressed SD or DVCPRO, DVCPRO 50 and DVCPRO HD. Uncompressed HD is not an option, unfortunately, as it simply won’t fit over firewire. The V3HD preserves timecode on capture, so timecode-accurate HDMI or HDV captures could be transcoded to DVCPRO HD on the fly. The unit offers a host of monitoring options, basically anything you can think of. Monitor via HDMI, HD-SDI, Component, etc. Or all at once…
Continue reading ‘MOTU V3HD All-In-One Video Audio I/O FW Interface’

Keyboard Magazine has a feature article entitled “Linux: It’s Not Just For Computer Geeks Anymore“ that delves specifically into Audio Production on the Linux platform. While I don’t believe the article as a whole quite delivers what the title suggests, they do present a nice summary of the better audio-related applications and options for the GNU/Linux platform.

During production of the 1951 movie Distant Drums, a sound effect was born. Collectively entitled “man getting bit by an alligator, and he screams”, a sequence of short scream sound effects were recorded in studio, and take number 5 was used in the film during a alligator attack scene. Two years later the scream was recycled in The Charge at Feather River when a character named Private Wilhelm was shot with an arrow. In the ensuing years, the “Wilhelm Scream”, as the collection of takes became known, was used in a number of Warner Brothers films. And somewhere along the way the Wilhelm Scream developed a cult following of sorts. Damn Interesting has the story:

Since it was first blurted out upon the world, the scream has been featured in over two hundred movies, TV programs, commercials, video games, and theme park attractions, and it has been heard by countless people. Notable filmmakers have also specifically requested the Wilhelm scream for their movies after learning of its history, including directors Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, and Peter Jackson.

It’s a distinctive sound sample and quite recognizable when you hear it in a film. There is a handy montage of various scenes and movies the scream is featured in at Youtube. Here’s a sampling; Star Wars, Willow, The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Gremlins, Spaceballs, Lethal Weapon 4, Batman Returns, Resevoir Dogs, Toy Story, Wallace & Gromit, and most recently, Superman Returns. Where have you heard the Wilhelm Scream? Take a look at this list if you need a hint.