Sound FX Editing update...

It took the good part of a week and a half to soundfx my battle scene, which as you can see from the pic above, is pretty intense in the action department, and the sound fx has to carry the full weight of the scene. I had though of making it silent, with just music in the background, but that would have been a bit of a copout, and not as much fun.

The final mixdown has 10 tracks:

1. Vocals
2. Music
3. Footsteps
4. Rifle shots and Ricochets
5. Sub Bass explosions
6. Engines
7. Environmental fx
8. First segment actions / foley mixdown
9. Second segment actions / foley mixdown
10. Additional fx

Each of these tracks (except for the vocal and music) is itself anywhere from 16 to 32 tracks mixed down into it's own .wav file. Obviously, I had to streamline my work process for the sound in order to get it done in any reasonable time.

I started by doing all the footsteps, while easy enough, can get tedious after a while. Much like lip syncing. Then it's a matter of going back and doing all the effects for each element, like expolsions, shard effects, machinery, environmentals, etc.

There are 4 more action sequences to be soundtracked, but none as intense as the battle scene, which is why I wanted to get it out of the way first. A bunch of dramatic sequences, those are mostly environmental fx and footsteps / foley. So it's on to the next sequence ... get the sound done, and the voiceovers done, the last bit of music, credit roll, and the film will be ready.

Voiceover and filmmaking process

A little audio outtake from a recording session with one of my voiceover actors where I discuss my workflow and process in the development of my film.

Overheard on IRC...

<nodelete> I need a 'plants growing' sound
<nodelete> hmm
<nodelete> I think I need to go get some celery
<nodelete> and then record me twisting it
<@st_basil> :)
<@InterLNK> romaine lettuce may be good too
<nodelete> yeah I have some of that
<@InterLNK> or someting with plastic wrap
<@InterLNK> for a crinkly sort of growing sound
<nodelete> can't sound plasticy
<nodelete> dont want ppl thinking "hey-- he just
took a bunch of plastic wrap and recorded it,
that's not real plants growing quickly"

<@InterLNK> just record yourself saying
"growing real fast" and speed it up a lot
<@fdask> lol
<@fdask> just say 'growing'
<@fdask> speed it up
<@fdask> the 'real fast' is redundant!
<@InterLNK> not as redundant as your face

Foley fun

Ah doing foley for footsteps... Now I've found something even more tedious than lip syncing.

Don't get me wrong, I *love* working on this film. It's just some jobs that are inherently repetitive. And only noticeable if absent.

Luckily I've come up with a shortcut that will make life easier ;D