No where else to ask

[Rochey]

Hey guys,

I normally just record band, or record my own music, but a friend of mine has approached me with ideas for making a film.

This has really intreaged (spelling!!!) me. I've already got Logic, so i figured i could start playing with a 5.1 soundtrack.

He's getting a DV camera (either rent or buy)

I'm hoping to get a firewire card for my computer, with Adobe Premier as software.

Could we edit the video in Premiere, then use it in Logic to create the soundtrack, then mix them back together in Premiere?

I've never done this kind of thing before, any feedback you guys have would be really appreciated.

Thanks again

d

[MiXit-G]

Does premiere import WAV or AIFF files?

If so then where theres a will theres a way

Or just get sound forge or some other audio visual edit program.

[Rochey]

sound forge does a video edit thing as well???

feck, now i didn't know that


d

[jgourd]

Yes you can. If you like Logic then by all means use it. I personally think Nuendo is a better choice for 5.1 Video sound tracks but that is just because Nuendo fits my style of working better than Logic did.

What you are looking to do is easy to do with the tools you know and love. I am not certain that Premiere knows how to deal with 5.1 so I would edit the video in premiere first, then bring the video (with its soundtrack) into Logic and then work on the 5.1 stuff.

You need to think about how you are going to view and distribute this video. Since you want 5.1, perhaps DVD is your only choice right now.

A few hints:
1. Prepare both a stereo sound track and a 5.1 version.
2. Export the 5.1 as 6 files and have someone DTS or AC3 encode them for you.(We can talk privately about that at another time).
3. Create your MPEG-2 video stream using a good MPEG compressor with VBR settings that let you define min, max, and average bitrates.
4. You can author the DVD yourself, but most affordable DVD authoring packages do not let you have multiple soundtrack options or 5.1. This means you have to get a high end package or pay someone else to do it for you.

[Rochey]

well, like everyone else here,

this is a non-profit project, the rent of the camera is basically all of our budget.

As for the soundtrack - i'll probably use my C1000's and hold them over the characters, i've got a foam cover for them (stop the wind)

My only problem is, if I'm recording outside, then I wont be able to record more than 2 channels at once. (minidisk)

So, I record vocals up close, then wait around in silence whilst I record everything else (background sounds)... okay, i think i could do that.

A stereo version shouldn't be too hard to mix down.

The encoding sounds like a lot of hard work, is there a plugin, or 3rd party software i can get to do that? (relatively cheaply)

as for the DVD authoring software. I have local friends that do that kind of thing. It shouldn't cost too much. I saw somewhere that it's possible to write CD's that behave like DVD's -- but with less capacity.

The film will be about 10 minutes long. could it fit onto a 650mb CD?

All these questions. Sheesh.

Any pointers you could give, i'd be eternally greatfull.

[jgourd]

if I'm recording outside, then I wont be able to record more than 2 channels at once

Shouldn't be a problem since you are primarily concerned with dialog. You can record room tone later on when no one is speaking.

is there a plugin, or 3rd party software i can get to do that?

Minnetonka makes SureCode DTS encoding software and I think Steinberg and Emagic may have their own AC3 encoders availalbe or available soon. If you can find a copy of SonicFoundry's soft encode you can use that but it is discontinued as a product.

The film will be about 10 minutes long. could it fit onto a 650mb CD?

Yes but there are a very very few set top DVD players that play these miniDVD / cDVD hybrid disks.

You will also have to get your hands on a decent library of sound effects or spend weeks recording your own. In most films, there are virtually no sounds that you hear that weren't put there by the engineer. The dialog is recorded with picture, The room sounds, sound effects, and music are all productions in of themselves.