Mixing Sound for a Film: An Overview
Mixing sound for a film is perhaps one of the most satisfying things there is, especially for the first time. If you’ve been an audio professional for a while, perfecting your skills, and are ready to tackle your first audiovisual project, then you should know that there are certain differences between audio post-production for audiovisual projects or films and mixing a record for commercial intent.
Before You Start
f you have already worked with other sound professionals on similar projects before, then you certainly know the vast majority of all the things that get involved in mixing audio for film, but if this is your first time, the following points will definitely come in handy.
Depending on the experience of the producer, picture editor, the director, but most importantly the “on set” sound guy, your job can have different scopes; however, one thing is certain: mixing music for local bands is going to feel way easier after you finish your first film.
The Timeline
If you have already mixed at least five-minute songs at some point in your career, then you know how time-consuming the tracking and mixing process is before you even get to the “I finally got a polished song” part. So, how to scope out how long it will take you to mix a whole film? One thing is for certain: as an audio professional mixing a film you’re going to do way more than just mixing.
Think of all the other processes that are involved: dialog clean up, audio analysis and restoration, Foley and other sound effects design and the more than likely ADR work. Nevertheless, small budget films and indie audiovisual projects run around the 40-minute mark, so in this article, we’re going to use that scenario as a measure to base your timeline upon.
The whole process is something like this: think you just finished mixing audio and other audio and sound post-production elements for a 40-minute film. Let’s say, for the sake of this article, that you put 150 hours into it, and that was rushing it, to some extent. There certainly was more than you would have loved to have carried out for the whole audio mix, but you were on a tight deadline. In fact, you can even assert that that project could have benefited from another 150 hours of dedication, but you didn’t have that time.
Scoping Out The Post Production
For a 40 minute film, you will likely put in between 150 and 300 hours of work depending on the quality of the input you’re given — that is, the quality of the audio. If the project you’re gonna be working on has major audio problems, of course, things are going to take more time; but if you’re given pristine, high-quality audio, you might be even able to bring down your timeline perhaps 100 hours. However, it will always be much better to be prepared in advance (meaning: don’t assume everything is going to be on point.)
That said, always tell the client the truth and don’t make false promises, but strive to over deliver. If the film you’re going to be working on lasts about 60 minutes, simply double the time to 400 or 500 hours. Of course, this is a drastic decision for low-budget films. If the director of the project has the vision, the desire, and most importantly the budget, you may even wind up working for much longer. Just to give you a clear of example of this, Star Wars is said to have spent a whole year on audio post-production. High-quality demands time.
The Format
Always make sure to tell the picture editor what file formats you require. We’re most likely talking about .mov for picture lock and OMF or AAF session export from their own software. If you’re able to import an OMF or AAF into your digital audio workstation this will also help you buy some time, as you will not have to checkerboard the dialog yourself.
There are many great tools that can help you transform or convert many editing session formats into compatible formats for the vast majority of digital audio workstations called AATranslator. Here you can check of the formats they actually support, and they are really responsive should you have any question or doubt. Normally Pro Tools will import OMF and AAF files from Avid Media Composer in a proper manner, and Logic Pro will take all those imports from Final Cut and some from AMC.
If the editor you’re working with works in AMC and you don’t have Pro Tools at hand, you can either ask them to export from AMC intro Pro Tools so you can afterward export an OMF or AAF file or, better: get a copy of Pro Tools. You can even start working with the demo!
