What Is Audiovision? Part II

Bob Moore continues his explanation of how he works
and why, in his opinion, AudioVision is the best system.

Its very simple - my client hands me a VHS hifi stereo tape, with production sound on the left channel and SMPTE timecode on the right channel. I digitize that into the Audiovision for digital picture and sound. I design and assemble the FX on the AudioVision. Last, I layback my FX to 24 track analog tape for the dub.

Well...almost. Its not quite that simple.

Audiovision And
Open Media Framework

Using Avids there are two ways to get your project from the picture editor:

1) OMF
2) video.

OMF is best, especially for dialogue editing. OMF can save days of waiting and expense.

The Avid Media/FilmComposer picture editor can export an OMF sequence with a Consolidate of all associated media files. The picture, sound elements, edits, fades etc. remain intact for your use. Avid is the only system that does this.

With OMF you are editing immediately after receiving the hard drive. Without OMF it takes two days for the online and auto-assembly. Using MediaComposer at video frame rates, OMF projects are trouble free. Using FilmComposer with 24 frame to video frame rates, OMF can be tricky and may result in timing problems if the project is not prepared properly. AudioVision experts Frank Smathers and Sabrina Buchanek told me they don't have timing problems using OMF.

Digitizing Picture
(Aka Recording)

The method I use is a little more olde world. I receive picture on VHS hifi. Using the Capture Tool I digitize picture at AVR 3. SMPTE is patched into my MicroLynx for sync. After digitizing, a Clip Icon is displayed in a preselected Bin. I drag this clip onto the Timeline. An untitled Sequence Icon appears in the same Bin, which I rename.

Timeline

The Timeline window displays up to 24 tracks of audio, which can be Grouped into any combination. These Groups can be a stereo pair or all 24 tracks. This is great when I want an identical fill or edit to occur on more than one track.

Using scrub or arrow keys I can locate the picture to any frame. The AudioVision playhead is indicated by a stationary vertical bar. Tracks move past the playhead. When grabbing a Clip or Sequence from any Bin and when passing over the playhead, the cursor changes to indicate Playhead Sync. This makes it very easy to sync a sound or sequence.

Spotting

For a one hour TV show, I prepare one long sequence. I spot the entire show for scene changes. AudioVision lets you create a list of Locators that you can jump to easily. This list helps me determine what FX I need and how long to edit the show.

Backgrounds Editing

After spotting, I start cutting the backgrounds. Using Locators, I jump to and program In/Out points for filling in the backgrounds.

AudioVision lets me use any sequence or subsequence within a sequence. A helicopter sequence I spent hours on last year can be dropped into my new show and within minutes I'll have re-cut that sequence to work, including all backgrounds! I can also turn tracks off within the helicopter sequence if I don't want the backgrounds. I can create a set of location sequences to drop at any point within a show. Using Loop Fill, any length scene, with BGs and hard FX are cut.

Hard FX Editing

Next, I edit the "hard" FX. Dragging any element from my Library of Bins directly into the Timeline makes FX assembly very simple and quick. Creating fades is also very simple and clean. Several DSP functions, including Reverse, Time/Pitch Change, are all very useful.

The volume of any element within the Timeline can be set. Tracks can be bounced down if I need more tracks. I have mixed entire FX and music projects within the AudioVision.

Copying a clip or range of clips within the Timeline is as simple as using the Option key and dragging the sound(s) to the new location, or using the F9 or F10 keys to snap the copied sound to the Playhead. 32 levels of Undo and Redo is great for that mistake 10 edits ago, or if you want to quickly listen to different edits.

Foley, ADR And Meters

On occasion I have recorded Foley directly into the TimeLine. Recording is performed manually or with automated punch In/Out. The AudioVision also has an ADR record system, which is the best I have seen!

Charting And Other Applications

After editing I chart my FX with Track-It. I can rename any clip within the Timeline. After naming all Clips, I export the sequence as a Track-It file. Track-It then lets me produce great looking charts of any size.

I also like having my FX database running in the background for immediate search of my FX.

Conclusion

Running programs on one computer, and simultaneously, is the way I like to work. Using a different computer for autoassembly, charting etc., like other systems, is a little too cumbersome.

I use AudioVision for audio post production on film and TV, picture editing, music mastering and multimedia. The AudioVision is a very feature rich and versatile system.

In my opinion the advanced features of the AudioVision with digital picture, OMF file sharing, Loop Replace and multiple Bins to create an efficient library system makes the AudioVision the best system for all editorial. No other system has all these features.

If you have questions call me at (310) 454-8893 or via e-mail.