DV Guru http://www.dvguru.com DV Guru http://www.dvguru.com/media/feedlogo.gif DV Guru http://www.dvguru.com en-us Copyright 2008 Blogsmith, LLC. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/What we hear and how it affects what we see.http://www.dvguru.com/2007/01/30/what-we-hear-and-how-it-affects-what-we-see/http://www.dvguru.com/2007/01/30/what-we-hear-and-how-it-affects-what-we-see/http://www.dvguru.com/2007/01/30/what-we-hear-and-how-it-affects-what-we-see/#commentsFiled under:

Ecker Sound Experiment
Movie scenes, especially action sequences, are influenced by the sound effects added in post. For example, in a fight scene the punches can be off by a foot or more but what really sells the illusion is the sound effect of a hard, fleshy hit.

Lots of research has gone into placing the right sound effect at the right time, but what if a completely different sound effect was applied? Would it change our perception of what we see on the screen? That is what Adam Ecker and Laurie Heller sought out to answer. What they found was that depth perception is influenced not only by visual phenomena such as shadows, binocular disparity, and object size, but also by sound. Good to know especially for those action scenes.
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]]>audiodeptheffectsperceptionsoundRussell Heimlich2007-01-30T22:36:00+00:00Letterman: It's all about the musichttp://www.dvguru.com/2007/01/13/letterman-its-all-about-the-music/http://www.dvguru.com/2007/01/13/letterman-its-all-about-the-music/http://www.dvguru.com/2007/01/13/letterman-its-all-about-the-music/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Late Show with David Letterman music mixer Harvey Goldberg likes doing things the old fashioned way. He has a background in studio mixing, which helps a great deal with his current job. Every night, Goldberg is in charge of mixing both the house band with Paul Shaffer, as well as the musical guest... and he's still rockin' it analog.

Goldberg uses a massive (by broadcast standards) 80 input console, which he divides down the middle, allotting 40 per band. He has conceded to record everything digitally to a pair of 24-track RADAR units, which he feels are " the closest thing there is digitally to the warmth of an analog tape deck." Surprisingly, Goldberg says he has a harder time mixing the CBS Orchestra, than whatever band he met 20 minutes ago.

All this info was provided by Dan Daley over at Studio Daily, who had a chance to talk with Goldberg. Honestly, his article will be appreciated by by those of you who are much bigger audiophiles than I am. Still, it's interesting to read about all the gear, setup, and intricacies of a show like Letterman. For a link to the complete (and fantastic) interview from Studio Daily, click READ below.
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]]>goldbergstudio dailyStudioDailyAdam Nielson2007-01-13T09:18:00+00:00How they added sound to motion pictures circa 1929http://www.dvguru.com/2007/01/12/how-they-added-sound-to-motion-pictures-circa-1929/http://www.dvguru.com/2007/01/12/how-they-added-sound-to-motion-pictures-circa-1929/http://www.dvguru.com/2007/01/12/how-they-added-sound-to-motion-pictures-circa-1929/#commentsFiled under: ,

Finding His VoiceBesides the actual invention of movies itself, the next best innovation was adding sound to the picture. How they did this is probably a little hard to comprehend in this day and age let alone in 1929. Fleischer Studios, the animators of Popeye, Betty Boop, as well as Superman, made an educational cartoon to explain to the world how sound becomes joined to motion pictures.

It is certainly entertaining to see how they captured sound waves and transferred them to film. And the beauty of this piece is it is in the public domain so you can download a very high quality MPEG-2 version and do whatever you want with it. Lucky for us, the Vintage Tooncast has gone through all of the trouble of converting it to a Flash movie so you can watch it in a jiffy. But if you want to download a beefier version, then check out the Internet Archive.

P.S. If you like classic cartoons like this, the Vintage Tooncast has quite a collection.
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]]>animationaudiocartooneducationFinding His VoiceFindingHisVoicehistorymotion pictureMotionPicturemoviesoundvintageRussell Heimlich2007-01-12T10:45:00+00:00A complete audio recording starter kithttp://www.dvguru.com/2007/01/11/a-complete-audio-recording-starter-kit/http://www.dvguru.com/2007/01/11/a-complete-audio-recording-starter-kit/http://www.dvguru.com/2007/01/11/a-complete-audio-recording-starter-kit/#commentsFiled under: , ,

RODE recording systemGuy Cochran from DVCreators.net reviews the Rode to recording package. If you are looking for a kit that has everything you need to capture great sounding audio, then listen up. This comes with:
  • (1) RODE NT1-A Microphone
  • (2) EVENT ALP 5 Biamp Powered Monitors (studio speakers for the laymen)
  • (1) PRESONUS INSPIRE Firewire Audio Interface
  • (1) STEINBERG CUBASE LE
  • (1) SONY ACID XMC
  • (1) PRO PAK Software Suite
  • (2) 10' premium RCA cables
  • (1) 25' premium Mic Cable
  • (1) RODE TRIPOD tabletop mic stand
  • (1) Comprehensive Setup Manual
At the end of the episode Guy gives you a taste of what it sounds like and it sure sounds beautiful. What would you expect to pay for something like this? $2,000? $1,000? How about $750 from the DV Creators store. He certainly makes a persuading case.

Watch the video after the break or download the higher quality M4V.
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]]>audiokitmicmicrophoneproductionrecordingrodesonysoundsteinbergtripodxlrRussell Heimlich2007-01-11T10:24:00+00:00The Levelator moves out of beta and gets a face lifthttp://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/23/the-levelator-moves-out-of-beta-and-gets-a-face-lift/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/23/the-levelator-moves-out-of-beta-and-gets-a-face-lift/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/23/the-levelator-moves-out-of-beta-and-gets-a-face-lift/#commentsFiled under: ,

The Levelator has grown up since we first posted about it a month ago. It's now out of beta and has a whole new look. Gone is the Java interface that's shown in the earlier post and it now sports a snazzy new native UI for each platform.

They've tweaked the algorithms, using "challenging" audio files that users sent in to test with, plus improved the handling of background noise and stereo files. You can find a full list of changes here. This little program comes in very handy for quick audio fixes and best of all it's free and available for Windows and Mac (universal).
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]]>audioaudio softwareAudioSoftwaregigavoxlevelatornormalizepodcastingSheila Ward2006-12-23T12:11:00+00:00Adobe Soundbooth Beta 2 now availablehttp://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/21/adobe-soundbooth-beta-2-now-available/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/21/adobe-soundbooth-beta-2-now-available/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/21/adobe-soundbooth-beta-2-now-available/#commentsFiled under: ,

Adobe Soundbooth Beta 2Adobe has made available a 2nd public beta for Soundbooth, free to anyone willing to give it a download. Some of the highlights include:
  • The Lasso tool in the Visual Healing task is active
  • Many new effects added (including EQ, Reverb, Compressor, & Dynamics)
  • Copy and Paste between audio files
  • Mix paste audio into and between audio files
  • High-quality time and pitch shifting
  • Normalize button now "Louder" button--multiple clicks apply hard limiting
  • Click and drag the CTI to scrub
  • Auto-heal cut/paste boundaries to eliminate clicks on edits
  • AutoComposer saw many improvements
  • Familiar Adobe tools panel
  • Many performance and usability tweaks throughout
Of course one thing they didn't fix is the support for PowerPC Macs. But I guess you kind of expected that one, right? More details about the changes in beta 2 can be found at CreateDigitalMusic.com

It is also worth mentioning Adobe unveiled their new application icons, that perodic table looking Sb you see up there. See the rest of them at John Nack's blog.
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]]>AdobeaudiobetaeditsoundSoundboothRussell Heimlich2006-12-21T21:04:00+00:00Quick audio performace tip using Soundtrack Prohttp://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/20/quick-audio-performace-tip-using-soundtrack-pro/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/20/quick-audio-performace-tip-using-soundtrack-pro/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/20/quick-audio-performace-tip-using-soundtrack-pro/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

I never paid much attention to Soundtrack Pro for whatever reason, but I digress. This helpful tutorial will get you started on sending audio from within Final Cut Pro to the application, removing some noise, and bringing the sound files back into FCP. Of course, this is not the end-all be-all tutorial for correcting for noise in your audio, but it will help to give you a better sense of how you can use Soundtrack Pro in conjunction with FCP to have better control over the quality of your audio. Useful stuff.
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]]>audioeditingfinal cut proFinalCutPropost-productionsoftwaresoundtrack proSoundtrackProBrian Liloia2006-12-20T18:27:00+00:00DIY: Voice over booth, travel sizehttp://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/14/diy-voice-over-booth-travel-size/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/14/diy-voice-over-booth-travel-size/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/14/diy-voice-over-booth-travel-size/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Who better to come up with a road warrior setup for audio recording than a popular voice-over actor. After a bit a trial and error, Harlan Hogan came up with a setup that allows him to do his work pretty much anywhere. He follows the logic that for good sound you don't need to be inside a sound box, the microphone does. Checkout the setup he came up with and it might spark some ideas for your own version. While he may use this as a portable solution, something similar will work as a more permanent solution for those of us who don't have official sound booth areas to work in.
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]]>audioharlan hoganHarlanHoganmicrophoneportableroad warriorRoadWarriorsound boothvoice overSheila Ward2006-12-14T15:25:00+00:00Blogging audio productionhttp://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/13/blogging-audio-production/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/13/blogging-audio-production/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/13/blogging-audio-production/#commentsFiled under: ,

sync.sound.cinema is a blog dedicated to bringing news on different elements of audio production. As we all know, audio is a bit of an unfortunate underdog when it comes to the filmmaking process. People love to talk about their shiny new cameras with 24p, HDV, etc., but the audio end of producing films seems to play second fiddle to the overall artistic process, despite its great significance. Anyway, it's nice to see a new site devoted strictly to sound, and hopefully it will shape up to become an important resource.

(via Self-Reliant Filmmaking)
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]]>audioblogsoundsyncsoundcinemaBrian Liloia2006-12-13T15:12:00+00:00Portable digital recorder info and podcasthttp://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/09/portable-digital-recorder-info-and-podcast/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/09/portable-digital-recorder-info-and-podcast/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/09/portable-digital-recorder-info-and-podcast/#commentsFiled under: ,

There's a good podcast over at Digital Media Insider about portable recording devices. The discussion with Mark Nelson centers around what to look for in a portable digital recorder. A nice added feature is in the production notes where you'll get the details of the equipment and software used to create the podcast and how it was all pulled together. Good stuff worth checking out.
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]]>audioaudio recordingAudioRecordingpodcastportable digital recorderportable recordingrecorderSheila Ward2006-12-09T18:12:00+00:00Digidesign releases Pro Tools 7.3 for all platformshttp://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/07/digidesign-releases-pro-tools-7-3-for-all-platforms/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/07/digidesign-releases-pro-tools-7-3-for-all-platforms/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/12/07/digidesign-releases-pro-tools-7-3-for-all-platforms/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

The title is misleading because I am pretty sure that Pro Tools is not on Linux as of yet. But good news Mactel-based audio people! DigiDesign has released Pro Tools 7.3 which is now compatible with Macs equipped with Intel processors. Pro Tools is the industry standard with audio. I know many sound designers who were not going to upgrade to the new Macs till Pro Tools became compatible.

For more info on new features, check out these video one & two (Flash video). Besides compatibility, there aren't any major new features, a lot of interface improvements. Free upgrade for existing users.
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]]>digidesignmacmactelpro toolsProToolsAjit Anthony2006-12-07T14:36:00+00:00Quick voice level adjustment with The Levelatorhttp://www.dvguru.com/2006/11/26/quick-voice-level-adjustment-with-the-levelator/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/11/26/quick-voice-level-adjustment-with-the-levelator/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/11/26/quick-voice-level-adjustment-with-the-levelator/#commentsFiled under: , ,

I was catching up on some podcasts today and heard the guys on TWIT talking about using The Levelator on the audio for their podcast. Of course I had to go check it out. It is a little software app that adjusts variations in audio levels within an audio file. Just drag and drop your audio file into The Levelator's window and it spits out a new version of the file with the level variations reduced. I tried it out on a clip I had where one speaker was pretty loud and another spoke very soft and it did a pretty good job on it.

This is not an audio editor and there aren't any settings to adjust. It's being promoted in the podcasting world, but there might be an occasion where you need a quick fix and don't feel like busting out the big gun editor. It's free, and it's available for Mac and Windows.
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]]>audiocomressorlevelatorlimiternormalizeSheila Ward2006-11-26T22:18:00+00:00Ambient noise reduction on Intel Macshttp://www.dvguru.com/2006/11/23/ambient-noise-reduction-on-intel-macs/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/11/23/ambient-noise-reduction-on-intel-macs/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/11/23/ambient-noise-reduction-on-intel-macs/#commentsFiled under: , ,

At some point, Apple updated its OS for Intel Macs to include ambient noise reduction preference. This is a helpful tool if you are recording sound directly to your computer or around it. When you decrease ambience, the OS lessens the fan noise somehow. If you have one of these machines, you can find the option under sound prefrences (Apple icon>system preferences>sound).

(via Mac OS X Hints)
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]]>applenoise reductionNoiseReductiontigerAjit Anthony2006-11-23T18:15:00+00:00Fission 1.1 releasedhttp://www.dvguru.com/2006/11/22/fission-1-1-released/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/11/22/fission-1-1-released/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/11/22/fission-1-1-released/#commentsFiled under: ,

If you've been working with the audio editor Fission, version 1.1 was just released . New features include:
  • Normalize command
  • Native WAV support
  • Save selection command added
  • Looped playback
  • The normal bug fixes and enhancements
The update is free for current users. Fission costs $39 and is available for the Mac (Universal binary). Windows users need not apply.

[via TUAW]
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]]>audioaudio editorAudioEditorfissionSheila Ward2006-11-22T10:44:00+00:00DIY: Desktop Microphone Standhttp://www.dvguru.com/2006/11/21/diy-desktop-microphone-stand/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/11/21/diy-desktop-microphone-stand/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/11/21/diy-desktop-microphone-stand/#commentsFiled under: , ,

This is as easy as it gets for Do-it-yourself (DIY) projects. If you are in need of a microphone stand and have no cash to spend, a regular metal coat hanger could work as an acceptable solution. Just fold the hanger into a diamond shape, attach the mic on the open end, then bend in half with the bottom triangle acting as the tripod. Perfect for scratch voiceovers.

(via Lifehacker)
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]]>Ajit Anthony2006-11-21T11:12:00+00:00Switch: Sound Conversion Softwarehttp://www.dvguru.com/2006/11/19/switch-sound-conversion-software/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/11/19/switch-sound-conversion-software/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/11/19/switch-sound-conversion-software/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Switch is a sound audio conversion software for both Windows and Mac platforms (it is possible to run it with Unix). The app can be as simple as drag and drop or as fancy as command line automation (allows up to 32000 files to be converted in one batch). It works with almost all audio formats. MP3 encoder supports constant or variable bit rates from 8 to 320kbps with optional error correction and stereo modes. WAV encoder supports sample rates between 6000 and 196000Hz in PCM as well as a number of other audio codecs. Prices start at $39.
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]]>switchAjit Anthony2006-11-19T16:05:00+00:00Video Tutorials: Mastering GarageBandhttp://www.dvguru.com/2006/11/19/video-tutorials-mastering-garageband/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/11/19/video-tutorials-mastering-garageband/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/11/19/video-tutorials-mastering-garageband/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

If you are music novice like me, creating a soundtrack in Garageband is much easier than Final Cut Studio's Soundtrack. They can share the same loops but creating music is much simpler on the Garageband side. Of course, Soundtrack is much better at mixing audio and interacting with Final Cut Pro. MacProVideo.com has released new video tutorials for Mastering GarageBand. Veteran audio producer & educator Paul Garay shows production techniques, important DSP (effects) tips, and time-saving mix-trick. GarageBand 101: Mastering GarageBand is priced at US$39.50. Currently, if you use MacMinute's coupon code: GBReleaseSF, you will receive an additional discount of 10% off.

Also: Final Cut Pro Tutorials, Motion Tutorials, DVD Studio Pro Tutorials
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]]>applefinal cut studioFinalCutStudiogaragebandmacmacprovideosoundtrackAjit Anthony2006-11-19T13:35:00+00:00SmartSound Presents: DIY Music Scoring for Independent Filmmakershttp://www.dvguru.com/2006/11/13/smartsound-presents-diy-music-scoring-for-independent-filmmaker/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/11/13/smartsound-presents-diy-music-scoring-for-independent-filmmaker/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/11/13/smartsound-presents-diy-music-scoring-for-independent-filmmaker/#commentsFiled under: ,

OK west coast readers, here's more fun for you. On November 16th at 7:00pm, SmartSound Software will present "Do-It-Yourself Music Scoring for Independent Filmmakers" as part of the "Works on a Mac" series. Philip Hodgetts, production/post production guru and Digital Production Buzz host, will present the session at the Apple Store Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, CA. Hodgetts will demonstrate how to score films in Final Cut Pro using SmartSound Sonicfire Pro 4 and that feature-I-love called Mood Mapping. The session is free and if I wasn't 1600+ miles away I would so be there.
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]]>applemacmood mappingmusic scoringMusicScoringsmartsoundsonicfire prosoundtrackSheila Ward2006-11-13T15:50:00+00:00TetraMic: Tiny microphone, big impacthttp://www.dvguru.com/2006/11/13/tetramic-tiny-microphone-big-impact/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/11/13/tetramic-tiny-microphone-big-impact/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/11/13/tetramic-tiny-microphone-big-impact/#commentsFiled under: ,

Look at this little bugger. It's the TetraMic by Core Sound and it looks more like a medical instrument than a microphone. The mic contains 4 capsules arranged in a tetrahedral pattern that picks up sound in the Ambisonic format (I don't know what I just said either). You can place this mic in front of a subject and record 4 channels of audio and later decode those channels to playback in any format including mono, stereo, 5.1, 7.1 and more. I'm obviously no audio expert, but this is very cool.
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]]>ambisonicaudiomicrophonesurround soundtetramicSheila Ward2006-11-13T14:42:00+00:00Gruber on Intel-only Soundboothhttp://www.dvguru.com/2006/11/03/gruber-on-intel-only-soundbooth/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/11/03/gruber-on-intel-only-soundbooth/http://www.dvguru.com/2006/11/03/gruber-on-intel-only-soundbooth/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

A lot of people commented on my rant on Adobe and Soundbooth. Some believed Adobe was being lazy or misguided and others felt Adobe was doing the right thing because it was too hard to develop for two processors. I had planned on writing to John Gruber of Daring Fireball, hoping he could explain all of these coding issues to someone like me who isn't a developer.

Incredibly, Gruber addressed this very issue in a recent post. And like he always does, his post is full of reasonable answers, questions and thoughts. He even talks to the developers of Fission on how hard it is to create audio software. Like me, Gruber finds it hard to believe some of the technical excuses some of the Adobe developers have stated. But he does also say that this isn't as simple as some of Adobe's critics have stated because Adobe is writing code without Xcode, Apple's software developing platform.

I still believe Adobe can bring Soundbooth to PPC platform without too much trouble. Paul Kafasis (Rogue Amoeba Software) states "We all had PowerPC code that got rewritten and it's not that hard, it's just time-consuming. Rogue Amoeba has six people, and we managed to port from one platform to another. Adobe has almost 6,000 people and they can't pull it off?"

Adobe's claim that PPC is a dead platform also makes no sense since they are developing Lightroom as Universal Binaries. And like Soundbooth, Lightroom is in beta. So there is still plenty of questions that remain. I believe Adobe is being extremely arrogant with Mac users, they are taking us for granted.

Also read: Implications of Adobe's Intel-Only Soundbooth
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]]>adobeapplefissionintellightroommacppcsoundboothAjit Anthony2006-11-03T12:01:00+00:00