2008-05-10

Pro Tools Elastic Time

How good is elastic time?
Wow! This is an awesome new feature of ProTools 7.4 which allows audio tempo changes on the fly.
It is now so easy to create perfectly timed remix - as loop tempos can now follow your session midi tempo map. I have been accumulating many loops over the years I and I am amazed at how easily and quickly I could assemble the rhythm section to a song. One of the best features is the fact that you can also now preview your loops in the workspace at the new tempo of your track. Previously I used to time compress/ expand my loops - but now this has eliminated that step.
I also have been working on some Heavy Metal music which I have been remixing to Industrial- a big problem I was having was having to time stretch every couple of bars. NOw all I need to do is tempo map the track and all loops or additional sound s will instantly be in time. Amazing!!!


2008-05-05

Apple Drive Encryption

Due to Australia being such a large country and our broadband not being the fastest, it is often more efficient to deliver materials via courier. When working on a film which is undisclosed, often Hard drives containing picture files and audio files are transported from one place to another. If the contents of these drives were to fall in to the wrong hands than many millions of dollars could be potentially lost due to piracy etc etc. One way to combat this is to Encrypt all files and/ or all drives. The Mac OS includes encryption as part of it's drive set up. Another option is Truecrypt . The differences being: The Mac OS will only encrypt Disk Images on a drive, whereas Truecrypt will encrypt an entire volume. The Mac OS version also needs to do an encryption pass which takes time, whereas Truecrypt encrypts on the fly.

A quick way to encrypt files using Disk Utility, is to create a blank disk image on your desktop using encryption. Then just copy straight into the image.

2008-05-03

Welcome!

As a sound designer/ sound engineer in Australia with over 10 years of experience in film, television, games and music; I thought it appropriate to start a blog where I can share my thoughts and tips which I employ into my work. Being almost exclusively an Apple Mac and Pro Tools user, I often have tips to streamline productivity. This Blog is set up with intentions to give those new to the industry, or those wishing to join the industry a look behind the scenes.