Sitting in front of the computer for too long?

The Chiropractors’ Association of Australia has developed the Sit Right Widget as a simple tool to prompt computer users to take more regular breaks. The default setting is to prompt for a break every hour, although users can change these settings for 20 minute or 40 minute intervals should this assist with meeting advice from your healthcare professional.
It is free to download, and is available for Windows (Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7) and Mac OS X (Lion/10.7.x only).

download here

How to install Logic 9 and Final Cut Pro 7 on OSX Lion

With a clean install of Lion on your new Mac it is now almost impossible to use your original install disks to do a clean install of Logic 9 and FCP7.  Below I have some of the work arounds that will allow you to overcome this very frustrating process. Although not being a complete install of every disk, at least you can get the applications working.

For Apple FCP7 and DVD Studio use the following terminal commands:

FCP7
sudo installer -package /Volumes/Final\ Cut\ Studio\ Install/Installer/FinalCutStudio.mpkg -target /


DVD studio Pro/ Compressor etc
sudo installer -package /Volumes/DVD\ Studio\ Pro\ Content/Installer/DVDStudioProContent.mpkg -target /

For Logic 9, download the update from:
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1014

This will install the Logic Application. You do not need a previous version of the software as it installs a fresh new one.

With all of the application you will then enter your details and serial numbers on the first launch of the applications. I hope I have saved you some time! The downside of these methods is that I could not get the media disks to install properly. I tried disc images and hard drive installs but with no luck. You may be best to get the content from a friends hard drive and just re-target it after copying.

Free Avid AAX Plugin for PT10

Get a free AAX plug-in

Experience AAX for yourself—get Softube’s Saturation Knob plug-in free and add some analog warmth to your tracks.

Dolby Atmos: A Revolutionary approach to film sound

After much anticipation, Dolby have come public on their new cinema sound format. Dolby® Atmos™ delivers audiences a more natural and realistic soundfield, transporting them into the story with a lifelike sensory experience. Developed with input from professionals throughout the movie industry, Dolby Atmos represents a dynamic shift in audio, reinventing the traditional surround sound methodology and offering a complete platform for sound now and well into the future.

Technology Highlights

• Integrates easily into existing audio postproduction workflows
• Supports up to 128 simultaneous and lossless audio streams
• Allows for up to 64 discrete speaker feeds
• Expands the creative palette with overhead speakers
• Adds side surrounds closer to the screen for improved transitions
• Works across a wide array of speaker configurations and auditorium shapes and sizes
• Simplifies distribution with a single DCP inventory

Motion JPEG removed from OS X Lion

As many people in audio post have worked with the Motion JPEG A compression format for images, please beware that this codec is no longer part of Quicktime in OS X Lion. The codec works up until OS X 10.6.x only

Motion JPEG A was a great codec as it allowed for low picture sizes with relatively good image quality and almost zero system lag when working with ProTools.

MPEG Streamlip will still play the Motion JPEG files however these will need ot be converted to be compatible with Quicktime and for use in ProTools

TotalFinder brings tabs to you Mac finder

If you have fallen in love with tabbed web browsers, you may have wondered why the people at Apple  haven't adopted this for their technology and workflow as core to their OS.  The good news however, is that one solo guy (Antonin) who operates as BinaryAge has seen this as a fundamental feature for any finder workflow. Antonin as a result has created TotalFinder. TotalFinder runs as a Finder plugin and enables the tabbed browsing of your finder windows. As a workflow solution, this is amazing as it allows the user to have multiple finder windows open - perfect for auditioning sounds, copying files and general house keeping. You can also run in 'Dual Mode' which allows you to run not 1, but 2 x tabbed window sets side by side! And if you use Lion and don't like Terminal, it allows you to view ALL system files (in Lion these are now hidden by default).

Some of the key features include:

·      Tabbed Browsing

o   Add tabs on top of Finder. The same tabs as seen in Google Chrome.

·      Dual Mode

o   Display two Finder windows side-by-side in dual mode.

·      Folders on Top

o   Don't make me think. Folders should always go first in list view.

·      Show System Files

o   Show me all files on the disk. I'm not afraid to see the cruft.

·      Visor

o   Convenient system-wide Finder always one key-press away.

·      Cut & Paste

o   Use keyboard shortcuts to move files around. Faster than drag & drop. 

TotalFinder is compatible with both Snow Leopard and Lion and is available as a 14 day trial and is priced at only $18US. Well worth it!  And if you have 2 other friends who would like this, you can get 3 licenses for only $36. Maybe a great birthday gift for someone??? I have been using TotalFinder for a few weeks now and there is no way I will be going without it again.

2012 MPSE Nominees anounced

Best Sound Editing: Sound Effects, Foley, Dialogue and ADR in an Animation Feature Film

The Adventures of Tintin
Cars 2
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss in Boots
Rango
Rio
The Smurfs

Best Sound Editing: Sound Effects, Foley, Dialogue, ADR and Music in a Feature Documentary

Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey
Cave of the Forgotten Dreams
George Harrison: Living in the Material World
Lemmy
Pearl Jam Twenty

Best Sound Editing: Sound Effects, Foley, Dialogue and ADR in a Feature Foreign Language Film

1920. The World's Most Important Battle
Circumstance
The Flowers of War
In the Land of Blood and Honey
Sarah's Key
The Skin I Live In
Tropa de Elite 2 (Elite Squad 2: The Enemy Within)

Best Sound Editing: Music in a Feature Film

Drive
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hop
Hugo
Priest
Super 8
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
The Tree of Life

Best Sound Editing: Music in a Musical Feature Film

Footloose
The Muppets
Perfect Age of Rock 'n' Roll
Pina

Best Sound Editing: Dialogue and ADR in a Feature Film

Abduction
The Help
Moneyball
Quarantine II: Terminal
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Super 8
War Horse
The Way

Best Sound Editing: Sound Effects and Foley in a Feature Film

Drive
Fast Five
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Super 8
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
War Horse

Best Sound Editing: Sound Effects, Foley, Dialogue and ADR Animation in Television

Fanboy and Chum Chum "A Very Brrr-y Icemas"
Futurama "Law & Oracle"
Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas
Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil "Truth or Daredevil"
Kung Fu Panda: The Legends of Awesomeness "Sight for Sore Eyes"
Lego Star Wars: The Padawan Menace
The Penguins of Madagascar "The Return of the Revenge of Dr. Blowhole"
Phineas and Ferb "Across the 2nd Dimension"

Best Sound Editing: Long Form Documentary

Gettysburg
Harlistas: An American Journey
Koran By Heart

Best Sound Editing: Long Form Music in Television

The 12 Dates of Christmas
Alphas "Pilot"
Avalon High
Magic Beyond Words - The JK Rowling Story
Terra Nova "Occupation/Resistance"

Best Sound Editing: Long Form Dialogue and ADR in Television

Big Love "Where Men and Mountains Meet"
Cinema Verite
Homeland "Marine One"
Terra Nova "Occupation/Resistance"
The Walking Dead "What Lies Ahead"

Best Sound Editing: Long Form Sound Effects and Foley in Television

Cinema Verite
Homeland "Marine One"
Red Faction: Origins
Terra Nova "Occupation/Resistance"
The Walking Dead "What Lies Ahead"

Best Sound Editing: Short Form Documentary

Above The Ashes
Man Made "Bugatti Super Car"
Tim Tebow: Everything In Between

Best Sound Editing: Short Form Music in Television

Camelot "110 - Reckoning"
CSI: Miami "Crowned"
Damages "Failure is Lonely"
Fringe "The Day We Died"
Justified "Brother's Keeper"
Raising Hope "Prodigy"
Revenge "Pilot"

Best Sound Editing: Short Form Musical in Television

Glee "The First Time"
Grey's Anatomy "The Song Beneath the Song"
The Playboy Club "Pilot"

Best Sound Editing: Short Form Dialogue and ADR in Television

The Big C "A Little Death"
Game of Thrones "Cripples, Bastards and Broken Things"
Hell on Wheels "Bread and Circuses
Leverage "The Van Gogh Job"
Person of Interest "Witness"
Smallville "Dominion"
Sons of Anarchy "To Be, Part 2"
The Walking Dead "Save the Last One"

Best Sound Editing: Short Form Sound Effects and Foley in Television

The Borgias "Death, On A Pale Horse"
Breaking Bad "Faceoff"
Fringe "The Day We Died"
Game of Thrones "Winter is Coming"
Homeland "Pilot"
House M.D. "Bombshells"
Rizzoli & Isles "Can I Get a Witness?"
Smallville "Dominion"

Best Sound Editing: Computer Episodic Entertainment

Aim High
Dagedar
Polly Pocket
Warehouse 13 "Of Monsters & Men"
When You Find Me

Best Sound Editing: Computer Interactive Entertainment

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Diablo III Cinematics - Black SoulStone "Doom" and Intro "End of Days"
Gears of War 3
Need for Speed "The Run"
Skylanders Spyro's Adventure Cinematics

Best Sound Editing: Direct to Video - Animation

Dragon: Gift of the Night Fury
Kung Fu Panda 2: Secrets of the Masters
Megamind: The Button of Doom
Quest for Zhu
The Smurfs: A Christmas Carol

Best Sound Editing: Direct to Video - Live Action

Beethoven's Christmas Adventure
Love
Street Kings 2: Motor City

Best Sound Editing: Special Venue

Rocky Mountain Express
Tornado Alley
Wildest Weather in the Solar System

Verna Fields Award in Sound Editing for Student Filmmakers

Alma
Inferno
The Maiden and the Princess
The Pride of Wade Ellison
The Secret Numbers

Adobe - Rubbadub

Having used many forms of audio editing software over the years I have been yet convinced that any of the Adobe software is comparable to other software such as Avid Pro Tools. I find that with any audio software made by "visual" software developers they miss the point with "creative flexibility" of there audio software. Sure you can record edit and mix, however I always feel constrained,  and all creativity is lost and it is purely "technical" software. For most video editors wanting to knock up a quick audio mix than this is fine, but for creative sound designers this is like working 15 years ago.

I am always open to new technology, and especially technology that is not only allows for creativity, but also technology that streamlines workflows. Adobe have just showcased a new piece of software which could redefine dialogue editing and ADR editing in particular.

Having used Vocalign for many years for various tasks including tightening lip sync and backing vocals on music tracks, I have found that I end up making as many edits either using vocalign or just using time stretch from Pro Tools. Adobe now have something that looks truly amazing, something  quite mind blowing indeed! Check out Rubbadub... you won't believe your eyes.

Pro Tools 10

Avid have released the next installment of Pro Tools. PT10 includes many new features including:

Speed up editing and mixing with Clip Gain, and easily adjust and match gain levels, pre-mixer (watch the video) Use multiple audio formats in a session—including interleave—without file duplication Record and master higher resolution sound with more headroom in 32-bit floating-point format Get great responsiveness on slower hard drives with the enhanced disk handler Record in low-latency mode, with direct monitoring when using third-party audio interfaces Get the sound of System 5 console EQ and dynamics with the Avid Channel Strip plug-in

Get access to over 500 additional Pro Tools commands when using EUCON controllers (watch the video) Work more easily with AudioSuite-rendered clips with reverse processing, handles, and more (watch the video) Create extra long-format projects for sequential versioning with the extended 24-hour timeline Open fade-heavy sessions faster and get better responsiveness with real-time fades Export mixes directly to SoundCloud to share and promote your music to the world

Available in both PT10 and PT10HD, I am glad to note that owners of Complete Production Toolkit also gain many of the HD features as with PT9.

Go Behind The Scenes At Røde Microphones

From the very beginning RØDE was created to be a company of difference.

At a time when the only recording solutions available to artists and engineers were either incredibly expensive or generally poor quality, RØDE set out to change the status quo, offering world class recording tools for everyone.

Almost 20 years later and still here in Sydney, Australia, RØDE manufactures some of the world's very best microphones, regardless of price.

And for the first time, you can see how this is done

INTENSIVE MASTERCLASS + WIRED EARS Opportunity for emerging artists…

On Saturday 29th October The WIRED Lab will be hosting Wired Open Day. Now a biennial event Wired Open Day provides the general public with the opportunity to interact with the ‘wires’ and witness its vast array of creative applications.

In the lead-up to Wired Open Day Alan Lamb, David Burraston and Sarah Last will facilitate an intensive masterclass for 12 artists and musicians. This funded masterclass, a continuation of our WIRED EARS professional development program, will provide emerging artists with the opportunity to work with core members of The WIRED Lab including Alan Lamb, a pioneer of experimental Australian music, David Burraston, a widely recognised computer scientist/artist and Lambs core collaborator over recent years, and Sarah Last experimental curator/artist.

During the three day masterclass participants will learn about the wire instruments and the interdisciplinary strategies Lamb, Burraston and Last employ to realise their compositions. Masterclass participants will also be integral to realising a new composition by Lamb, Burraston and Last which will be premiered at Wired Open Day.

FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR ARTISTS: WIRED EARS

(EMERGING ARTISTS RESIDENCY SCHEME)

The WIRED EAR Scheme provides financial assistance for emerging artists from around Australia to attend WIRED Lab workshops and initiatives. For this intensive masterclass we will be offering funding support to assist 12 emerging artists with the costs to attend the masterclass. Artists who consider themselves to be ‘emerging’ are invited to submit a brief expression of interest (EOI) detailing their arts practice and how they feel they will benefit from being a WIRED EARS participant.

On your EOI please cite the cost of your return travel to/from Cootamundra NSW and keep your EOI to 1 A4 page. Also note that we don’t follow standard industry definitions of ‘emerging’ we expect you to determine where you place your practice and experience. Interdisciplinary artists are encouraged to apply.

WIRED EARS expressions of interest are due Friday 7th October
INTENSIVE MASTERCLASS DETAILS
Wednesday 26th, Thursday 27th and Friday 28th October

with live performance at WIRED Open Day on Saturday 29th October
* The workshop is offered for free to 12 WIRED EARS participants

* This is a national initiative artists from around Australia are encouraged to apply

* Previous WIRED EARS recipients are eligible to apply

* Successful EOI’s will be confirmed Monday 19th October

* Costs of your travel to/from Cootamundra to be paid for by The WIRED Lab (please schedule to arrive on Tuesday for a Wednesday morning start)

* Accommodation to be provided by The WIRED Lab

* Materials will be provided by The WIRED Lab

* Lunch will be provided by The WIRED Lab and a per diem for your other daily meals

For further information about the location of The Wired Lab and travel information please email workshops [at] wiredlab.org to be sent an FAQ

The Wired Lab and its programs are supported by:

The NSW Government through Arts NSW

and

The Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body

Motion Picture Sound Editors now on YouTube

Subscribe to the Motion Picture Sound Editors YouTube channel

OSX 10.7 Lion and some new Mac models out now

Well the release of Lion and two new Mac models have been highly anticipated and today they have been officially released. If you are running Pro Tools do not rush to install Lion as it is not yet qualified! Lion doesn't bring many more features to the table, however it does offer quite a few refinements, including re-sizable windows from any corner. You can read more here.

Appart from Lion, Apple today also released a new range of MacBook Airs and Mac Minis. The Airs  now come with Core i5 and i7 processors claiming speeds up to 2.5 times as fast as the previous model.

What I was interested in was the new Mac Minis. These too have had the i5 and i7 upgrade and now appear to be a desktop version of the MacBook Airs.  This includes the redesign of the housing to EXCLUDE the internal DVD drive. I was completely optimistic in hoping that this model may of included Blu-Ray as many people are using Mac Minis for home theater use. Apple have been having licensing issues with the inclusion of Blu-Ray drives,  however I had hoped that this may have been resolved. Now if you want a Mac Mini you need to purchase an external SuperDrive separately. Something that MacBook Air owners have already been doing. I feel that Apple will lose sales on the Mac Mini on this detail alone... unless they release an external Blu-Ray drive in the near future. If you are wanting the mini for a HTPC you may be better off buying the recently outdated generation... it will be cheaper and includes an internal DVD drive!

iTunes Australia just got 20% cheaper

Apple has adjusted the international App store pricing to reflect current currency exchange rates. For Australians this means that the $1.19 apps are now selling for $0.99. This is also reflected on some of the more expensive Apps for example V-Control also being reduced quite heavily. With Apple on the verge of releasing the new Lion operating system and new hardware models, hopefully we can also see a reduction in prices reflected here. Now we just have to wait for these new HIGHLY anticipated hardware models!

Neyrinck V-Control Pro for iPad

Neyrinck have just released an update to their V- Control for ProTools. Version 1.1 now adds dual surround panners and peak hold meters to the already impressive interface. Having used version 1.1 for a few days now I have to say that I am very impressed indeed. I have tried and worked with various control surfaces over the years, however for the size of an iPad and quality of this software, this is hard to beat.

My initial  impression was that V-Control was a gimick, a toy, and something used just to show your friends as I was quite dubious about not having "actual" faders to push and pull. However this is not the case. This is actually a very serious piece of software and  the response of the touch faders is excellent. Panning using the virtual pan pots takes some getting used to, however the new surround panners compensate for this. It also supports flip mode, sends, a scrub and shuffle, group suspend and many more features...

At US$49.99 or AUD$59.99 V-Control on the iPad is now a far cheaper option than any other control surface.... plus you can check your email, read the paper and play games in your downtime! even factoring an iPad, the price and flexibility of this configuration is amazing!

Do you run 2 monitors on your mac?

If you run 2 monitors on your Mac and are sick of always having to go to only one monitor to get to your menus then there is a solution! Andreas Hegenberg has created a nifty little app called Secondbar.

Apple Magic Trackpad and Pro Tools

After hypothesising about the new Apple Magic Trackpad in July last year, I have now had a chance to have a proper play with it in conjunction with my Pro Tools setup.

I have been using a Kensington Trackball ever since I started my working career, so jumping across to the Magic Trackpad was rather peculiar to start with. I have a MacBook so using it's inbuilt Trackpad always seems so limited when working within Pro Tools. In many cases I would just connect my trackball to keep my work flow efficient. The Magic Trackpad is quite different however. Although seeming to  be a bigger version of the laptop trackpad, the Magic Trackpad is so much more.

After setting up the Magic trackpad via bluetooth  the system preferences allow some customisation of the gestures which now allow you to control and customise your magic Trackpad. I did find these very limited, and the settings are all global controls meaning that you cannot have specific gestures for specific programs- something that Kensington allow for with its Trackballs. The program BetterTouchTool, a freeware application opens up these gestures by having this program sit on top of the Apple System Prefs. This allows for specific gestures for specific applications. Once BTT is running, the Apple Magic Trackpad comes into it's own. This makes the Magic Trackpad ideal as an editing and mixing peripheral, as you can fade, pan in surround and edit far quicker than using a conventional mouse. I also have BTT setup to switch between Pro Tools and AudioFinder, with a gesture (single click in middle at top) setup to export my AudioFinder sounds straight into my Pro Tools timeline! Very Cool indeed!!!

After taking a couple of days of getting use to and setting up gestures, the Magic Trackpad has now become my new "must have" editing and mixing tool. Because you can also import and export gestures from BTT, I can now easily use the Magic Trackpad with my laptop with no differences in my workflow.

Free ProTools plug-in from Soundtoys!

Want a free ProTools plug-in?
Soundtoys are giving away an audio level destroyer - for free!
All that you need to obtain this goodie is an ilok...

Here is the link

 - link has now expired - 

AudioFinder as a Plugin Manager

Although AudioFinder was reviewed in my previous post as being a great sound library database tool, I wanted to touch on another features of the software.

Firstly, AudioFinder can be used as a plugin manager. What does this mean? Well quite simply you can create sets of your plugins and have AudioFinder activate and deactivate your plug in sets. Why is this handy? Well if you are running a swap of plugins and you don't happen to want say your "Waves" plugins loaded as your dongle is on another machine, you can simply omit these from one of your sets. You may also have sets set up for particular tasks you are doing. ie - editing or mixing. Another great aspect of the AudioFinder Plugin manager is that each plugin is listed with tits release version, making this easy to check for any updates/ clashes etc.

AudioFinder: audio library and production database software

While wanting to speed up my editing time, I decided that I was going to purchase an audio library database application. Looking for a recommended industry used and affordable sound effects library database I studied the features of SoundMiner and Netmix Pro. These are two of the leading industry database software platforms for sound design in film. In my research however I also came across a lesser known cheaper software application, Audiofinder.  Visiting the website of Iced Audio, Audio Finder it is apparent that this software is not produced by a large company. Theer are not multiple versions of the software at varying prices, it is just one product and one price.

 At only $70US, I decided to download the demo to see if this would suffice my needs. Being time limited to 20 minute blocks I soon became frustrated with the software, so much so that I bought it as I was interested in pushing it. Although appearing to be set up for music libraries, I soon learned that Audiofinder is just as fluent with SFX libraries. A few limitations were annoying with the first version I downloaded, however I have since trialed a new beta version of the next release of the software and these annoyances have been answered. The software works seamlessly with ProTools with the spotting of sounds directly into your sessions. If you work with the ProTools Workspace - STOP. Get Audiofinder as it is incredibly fast for searching and auditioning your sounds. You can audition files, select a snippet right click and instantly the audio is imported into your ProTools timeline. Audiofinder also works the same way with Logic. You can also pitch on the fly, and process using your plugins.

What I also like about Audiofinder is that I can bring in my own sound effects recordings and use the slice tool, and embed meta data for even quicker more precise library searches. This software is quite simply, amazing value for money and a MUST for any sound editor.

Some features include:

• Sophisticated Metadata Database
• Groundbreaking Mac OS X Finder Integration
• Integrated Sample Tool trim/loop/fade editor with beat slicer
• Browser, bookmarks, history, favorites, and navigation tools
• Database Notes for keeping track of things.
• Play multiple sounds at one time and explore layering.
• Instant playback with mouse and MIDI input for pitch control
• Peak analysis and pitch analyzer tools
• Find Duplicate sounds by analyzing the sound content.
• Drag-and-drop integration with Finder and all audio apps
• Direct Pro Tools and Logic support for spotting sounds to the track/cursor location.
• High-quality sample rate, depth, and format conversion
• Most operations available in automated batch processing mode
• AU/VST/MAS/RTAS plugin manager and AU presets management
• Create single sample EXS instruments with one click
• Direct connect with SoundCloud.
• 100% Non-destructive, AudioFinder will not modify your files. Instead it creates new files when processing leaving the originals intact.
• Supports ReCycle/REX playback and export to AIFF
• Apple Loop, BWF and ACID Wav Metadata display
• Formats: Apple Loops, CAF, AIFF, AIFC, SDII, BWF, WAV, REX, RX2, MP3, ACC, M4A, SYX, MID, FLAC and OGG Vorbis