Audio

As a photographer, I spend a lot of time sitting at my desk, both producing and consuming content. I have a supportive chair, high-end monitors, and all sorts of peripherals cluttering up my desk. All to make that time easier, comfortable, and more productive. One area a lot of people either don't think about or just skip is speakers. Whether you are listening to music while you work or editing your next big video project, quality speakers will improve the experience and quality of that work. In an attempt to improve the audio experience at my desktop I tried out a midsize set of speakers made by the Canadian company Kanto. The Kanto YU4 speakers are a reasonable size with a built-in amplifier making them perfect for desktop use.

Recording clean audio is extremely important but can also be infuriating. Finally, after seven years, we've found a system that seems to work... most of the time.

One thing I've found to be of paramount importance to any form of video, cinematic or otherwise, is the quality of your sound. Your movie can have beautiful visuals but if the audio is of poor quality it has the potential to turn away viewers. I started vlogging a few months back and discovered just how important sound was when it came to producing my videos on YouTube. Soon, I realized just how bad the audio was and knew it was time to invest in a proper solution. Enter the Rode VideoMic Pro Plus.

When creating videos, sometimes finding that perfect song, music score, or track takes a while. Then when you place it together and the music isn’t long enough, manually cutting and extending the track can take some time. What if I told you there’s an easy and automated way to extend your selected track to any length.

There are several brands and different models of microphones on the market which is constantly growing. Trying to pick one out of the masses can be a tough decision, especially if you are not familiar with them. What is the best mic to get if you are just starting out, or possibly looking to get a better one?

If you record audio separately from your video, which most likely you do, then part of your postproduction process will include synchronizing. This process doesn’t have to take a lot of time or require plugins or software. Premiere Pro has built-in tools that allow you to quickly and easily get your video and audio in sync. Let’s have a closer look at how to accomplish this.

If you shoot photos on a professional level, there’s a chance you also shoot video. If you shoot video, there’s a chance you edit. And if you edit, there’s a good chance you have to work with audio at some point. But, it may not be something you know a lot about, especially if you are just getting started with editing video.

One of the ways the Hans Zimmer-produced score of "Dunkirk" maintained the growing tension throughout the movie was by using a sound that gives the impression of a build-up. What makes it strange is that the tension-building nature can keep going forever without ever going out of its original parameters and sounding weird. Tension and release is something needed in a production of a film, whether it's a short film or a full-blown blockbusting, award-winning movie. This video shows how it's done.

A huge part of shooting video is audio. No one wants to look at footage with poor sound with distracting background noise. But thanks to Steven Oakley from MiesnerMedia, if you are reading this article, poor audio will be a story of the past in your videos. Oakley gives us a handy trick to eliminate almost any background noise using only Adobe Audition and Premiere Pro.

We all have an idea of how a non-linear editor works. You drag the files into the timeline, and move them around to create the interesting video you are intending to produce. But, if you're like me, setting up the project and to make sure no files go missing or aren't imported correctly can be a problem, especially if no one ever showed you how to do this. So I've put together a short way I do it, and then I've included a video to show how you can do it for a short film and how to sync audio. It's a video production starting kit.

J-Cuts can be described as having the sound enter the scene before the scene appears visually, or it can be used to play out a scene where the audio is used after the shot has ended. They're used in TV and movies, and they're a professional element that sets you and your style apart from those who just cut scenes together. This enables you to get a nice flow in your video, and it all blends and layers to make it more interesting and give your work more power.

As a photographer getting into video work, audio has quickly become the area where I had to learn the most. Anything camera related is very similar to photography, editing is not too complicated once you learn the software, but then there is the sound. Something we do not have when shooting still frames. One of the issues is how to make a track last the length of our video without having to spend too much time cutting it manually? Here’s the answer using Adobe Audition.

In this video by Andrew Saladino of the Royal Ocean Film Society, the importance of compelling sounds for storytelling is closely examined. With movie scene breakdowns from “THX 1138,” “Apocalypse Now,” “12 Years a Slave,” and many others, we are shown real examples of how the best in the business design their scenes to evoke precise emotions in the audience.

I've been focussing on my video transitions lately. I've noticed the big guys like Peter Mckinnon and Casey Neistat use transitions to create interest and make the videos a pleasure to watch. Now I already shoot for the edit, but I've never really focused on what else I can do to give my videos more punch, until this video. Zach Ramelan shows how you can use audio swells to achieve it. TV Shows have been using it for years, and you don't really notice it until you're told what it is.

DaVinci Resolve 14 looks very promising and more videos about it are popping up on YouTube every day. One feature that was left out in many demonstrations until now is the integration of FairLight for audio editing. With the new version of Resolve, it’s possible to edit sound within the software. No need for an additional costly plugin, or any round-trip of a sort. Let’s see how with Casey Faris.

A few weeks ago I shared some insight on using shotgun microphones for documentary style interview productions. This week, I’ve got a companion video that explores techniques for using lavalier mics, the standard go-to mic for most interview scenarios.

One of my goals for this year is to start working on videos again. A few of the projects I have in mind require a microphone to help capture better audio, since we know the built-in mics are not really that great. Jay P. Morgan's latest video from The Slanted Lens hits the web and couldn’t come at a better time for me.

I've always had this issue with regards to the sound design of video and how to actually get something that is usable for the video you are working on. It's either getting audio from a stock library, having a friend compose something, or making it yourself. And the latter is really very time-consuming, and I'd rather focus on the stuff I enjoy and am good at, like shooting photos or video. Once I watched the latest video by Film Riot, it seems like the problem of finding audio might be over.

Yesterday was a really muggy day here in New Jersey and my partner and I both had off. We came downstairs to the office and worked on a few things when I realized we should be going out in this crappy weather and making something of it. We thought of a few ideas together and one stuck with us over the others, that was to shoot a car video using our Sony a7s ii and DJI Ronin M.

Adobe Sneaks is the software company's behind-the-scenes sneak peek into ongoing projects that could eventually — if we're lucky — find their way into one or more products. This year at MAX, Adobe previewed a number of tools that should excite virtual-reality editors, desktop designers, and audio editors working on long-form speech formats.

It's not your average audio editor. Adobe is working on a piece of audio manipulation software that has a peculiar artificial intelligence built in. It's so smart that it allows you to fix verbal mistakes in a way never seen before. This functionality can be so helpful and, at the same time, massively abused.

Audi took advantage of Monday night's presidential debates with its "Duel" ad spot. Nearly the entire clip plays in reverse, allowing the chronology of the true story and how the action unfolded to the point at which you began to unravel itself in an action-packed scene. The rewound clip -- fit for a 007 film -- features quite the production, complete with excellent, blockbuster-born sound effects to sell every punch and shattering glass shard. But it doesn't take much studying to see this was hardly as easy as rewinding an otherwise-normal action sequence: it took great audio to create this spectacle.

In the wide world of video, one of the most important aspects of production is the sound quality. Sound sells the realism behind your favorite movies and TV shows. In fact, a lot of what you hear when you watch the latest blockbuster or HBO hit series isn't "real." It's created by Foley artists in a studio and mixed in later. This gives the editors maximum control over each individual sound, from footsteps, to gunshots, to engines. Of all the sounds, however, there is one in every feature film that just can't be faked: dialog.

Last week, the team over at RocketJump Film School released this awesome video about sound production in film. Sound production is probably the most overlooked aspect of filmmaking, mainly because you don't notice great sound design; it seamlessly helps you submit to the willing suspension of disbelief. Check out RJFS's experiment to see how much sound actually does affect the audience.

I shot and edited a narrative film in the last month. It was a first for me. I had this scene in my mind of a person burying a suitcase or bag in the woods, like it’s something he or she wanted to hide or get away from. I had a second idea about a guy walking down a long passage way and knocking on a door with no one opening for him. I decided these two contrasting visual ideas will be my story.

Today, video is everywhere. Whether it be an iPhone shooting super-slow-motion footage, or a RED Weapon eating away at hard drive space in 8K resolution, capable cameras are available to almost everyone who wants them. And while we can’t all shoot on RED, it’s possible to get amazing production quality out of consumer-level cameras. Here are a few things to look out for and keep in mind when purchasing gear.

Imagine editing your film and getting to the phase where the production sound needs to be added or perfected. This can be a fun part of editing and getting things together, but it can also be a very time consuming part of the process. If you didn’t have a recording of the live sound, you need to run through the various samples you have available in your library, or get them online, and see which sound works best. If you have the budget, you can add a Foley artist to your team to physically produce the sounds for your video. These sounds must then be edited in for the various sounds you need, be it the footsteps down the alley or the gunshots fired by the assassin that form part of your story. What if this can all be done automatically?

Last weekend, my wife and I enjoyed a wonderful spaghetti dinner at the house of wedding photographer, and fellow survivor of the Australian music industry, Col Hockey. As the night drew on and we sat around the warm glow of his Spotify account, taking turns picking dinner party background music, we set our minds to solving all of the problems inherent in the modern wedding photography world. We discussed gear, marketing, and the mountain that must be climbed: the post-wedding cull and edit. We’re both musicians, so the thought of spending days editing in secluded silence seemed completely alien, but it got me wondering if we were making the right choice.

Not too long ago, I remember going through a phase when the process of building up a camera rig was, for me, the most exciting part of owning gear. My decisions were based less on functionality, and more on the question of “will this item make my rig look more like a cinema camera?” Big and bulky was the order of the day, and if people ever advised cliches like: “the best camera you have is the one that’s on you” or “it’s not about what gear you have, it’s about how you use it,” their advice was taken with a pinch of salt.

Shooting or being involved in a fashion or beauty shoot is a lot of fun. It’s a day where creative personalities, the photographer, stylist, hair and makeup and assistants as well as the client's creative team get together to produce a story, a body of work that they want to show the world. Everyone is focussed on bringing their best ideas to the party.

Almost every video you see online holds an element of sound production made up of music and sound effects. For us to produce a quality body of work, we need to know where to look. I’ve recently started focusing more on producing, shooting, and editing and wanted to share this list I created where you can find awesome music for your projects.

The DJI Osmo gimbal has been getting some pretty favorable reviews. It hits the sweet spot for a portable "run and gun" style gimbal when you consider many of its features and price point. That is not to say it has no downsides, and the audio quality just so happens to be one of them. Here is an easy way to add some good audio to your Osmo while still maintaining its portability.

To continue the string of Holiday deals that have been coming out, B&H is offering savings on a variety of Sony lenses, as well as audio recorders and mics. Most of the lenses that have been put on sale come with rewards up to 10% in addition to instant savings of $50 or $100. You could also get up to $250 off some audio recorders and mic bundles. The deals only last until Saturday, Dec 12th at 11:59 PM EST so make sure not miss out on the opportunity.

As announced at Adobe MAX 2015, Adobe released new updates to its professional Creative Cloud suite of applications. Photoshop CC, Illustrator CC, InDesign CC, Premiere Pro CC, After Effects CC, Audition CC, Dreamweaver CC, Photoshop CC, Fuse CC (Preview), Adobe Stock, and more have been updated. You can download the new versions from the Adobe Creative Cloud app.

While some photographers stay close to home, others travel quite regularly. I’ve been traveling my entire life for one reason or another. And whether it was for a newspaper job I was essentially commuting to (living four days in Southern California and three days in Northern California every week) or a short trip on a personal photographic exploration, I quickly learned that it’s great to have some creature comforts to keep you company along the ride once whatever glamour of traveling that’s left these days fades away.

I'm not even sure they existed five months ago but since then the prolific crew over at RocketJump Film School have pumped out some really great educational (and often funny) content, quickly becoming one of my personal favorite crews out there. In this humorous short, "Droneward Bound," Ashly and Lauren (both adored) have to chase down a super sexy Inspire 1 drone as it takes on a life of its own. From there, director Kevin Senzaki jumps in on the second video to show us how they went about repairing the audio for the video. Senzaki jumps in on the second video to show us how they went about repairing the audio for the video.

While the original source couldn't be independently confirmed, the studio behind the recently released movie, "Everest," apparently sent BBC a clip of the still unreleased film without audio effects. Instead, throughout the entire otherwise hair-raising scene, the actors speak to each other in a tone seemingly more appropriate for a focus group discussion between amateurs trying to solve a Rubik's cube than for a life-threatening situation climbing Mount Everest.

The Sound Advice Workshop by MZed is one of those workshops that, until you go and attend it, you don’t realize just how important it is. The Sound Advice Tour does something I don’t know that anyone else is doing – offers up a wonderful, engaging in depth way to take from beginner to advanced audio practitioner and set you up to manage all your audio needs in a way that is informative, fun and rewarding

As we all know, even the most stunning visuals require an equally amazing and unique soundtrack to bring the audience's emotions to their full potential. Supervising Sound Editor and Sound Designer Christopher Boyles from Skywalker Sound discusses his work and the burden of creating original sounds for "Avengers: Age of Ultron" that will stand the test of time.

Ornana Films is a small production company based in San Rafael that is no stranger to awards. They took home the Jury Award at the SXSW film festival in 2012 for their short "(notes on) Biology" which continued on to win several other awards that same year, including Exceptional Short at Santa Fe Independent and the Grand Jury Prize at FFF. Two years later at SXSW, they premiered their latest short "Confusion Through Sand" to much acclaim. Now, after a year of waiting, the hand-drawn masterpiece is online for free along with a behind-the-scenes video documenting the work that went into this brilliant animated short.

As a professional photographer I have always been curious about the art of videography since the two seem to go hand in hand, but I have never made the jump to shooting my own content because I was always quite unsure of where to start. I wanted to quickly learn the basics and start shooting right away. I’m a visual learner, and I figured a crash course in an online tutorial would be my best bet, but searching for tutorials scattered across Youtube seemed tedious. Recently Jared Polin, better known as Fro from FroKnowsPhoto released a comprehensive guide to shooting video using a DSLR called The FroKnowsPhoto Guide to DSLR Video.

Undoubtedly, audio is one of the most important story telling tools in cinema. Improper use or overuse of sound can dramatically affect the impact of the viewing experience. After the recent release of Christopher Nolan's Interstellar, there has been a lot of buzz about the 'mix being muddy'. Many theater goers are reporting sound issues; that the booming sound effects are too loud.

FilmmakerIQ.com and RØDE Microphones have launched a new education series on sound! Starting with the included "intro" video showing the history of sound at the movies, John P. Hess and team have started a six part educational series which, in their own words, will cover science/microphones, recording, editing, foley, and ADR.

My friend Chris Lavigne is what I like to call the "master of media" over at Wistia, which means he gets to make all their product videos and also spends a lot of time sharing tips and tricks he uses as a cinematographer. He recently released this video which explains how he records audio to his 5D Mark III in a somewhat unconventional, yet still effective, way.

Zoom North America has officially announced the release of their brand new H5 Hand Recorder. With many features you will find on the flagship H6 microphone but for more than $100 less, the H5 employs a system of interchangeable input capsules, allowing the best microphone to be used for every recording situation. The H5 is currently available for pre-order for only $269.99.

Sound is critical to a successful video. Clear sound. Crisp sound. Real sounding sound. Once you get into audio (and I mean really get into it), it's hard to get out. "Pictures say a thousand words? Sounds say 10,000 words." It's rather literal, but it's true. Sound is often under-appreciated in video and that's a shame. This video is an ode to sound.