Erik Pontius
Forum Replies Created
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Did foley for a no-budget horror film. Used a shotgun mic that was pretty close to the subject/item.
Rotissery (sp) chicken is great for cracking bones, dismemberments, etc… It has a real good visciral wet sound (and makes a good meal while you’re at it…)
Watermelon rind is good when cut through with a chef’s knife.
Hitchcock stabbed melons for his Psycho shower scene.
Keep in mind it doesn’t need to be loud. Often times finding a several softs sound, mixing it together with other sounds in post can get you the effect. It’s not what it is but what it is percieved to be when synced with the visuals.
The majority of foley sounds you hear in movies are not the actual item. The Terminator 2 special edition has a good commentary from the sound guys. The shotgun sounds were often multiple sounds like a cannon fired in a canyon, mixed with several other gun sounds. If you’ve ever heard real firearms they sounds weak compared to their movie impersonators.Erik
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I think you’re probably right. Avid software is extremely picky about any hardware attached to it and is very limited in that regard (as opposed to FCP/Premiere, etc…that seem to encourage 3rd party hardware development). So 3rd party hardware is most likely not going to work…the Mojo and Adrenaline are going to be your choices.
Erik
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I did a hundred or so small clips that had an actor keyed out of the background that were then handed off to a flash developer to be incorporated into a long training piece. In my case the flash developers told me the exact dimensions of the clips they needed. I pulled the keys from the clips, created comps the required size and then output directly to flash 8 using the On2 Technologies Flix 8 Exporter. It has an option to keep or preserve the alpha channel. The resulting flash clips looked a lot like they were straight mattes and not premultiplied. In the end the developer just had to drop these flash clips into their flash project. Best thing to do is to discuss it with the flash developer and find out what they need specifically. In my case I was able to control the quality of the clips since I was pulling the keys using keylight from uncompressed footage, resizing, etc… and then exporting directly from AE to flash preserving as much quality as possible.
Erik
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I did a similiar project recently. I captured and cut all my selects on Avid Xpress Pro, exported the clips and keyed using AE and Keylight. The green screen the actor was shot against wasn’t the best and I had hundred or so clips to do. With Keylight I was able to set up the settings after finding the right combination and then save it as an preset. I was then able to just drop the preset on the clips and adjust a little if needed.
In my case, the clips were going to be incorporated into a larger flash piece as a kind of avatar, so I exported the clips directly from AE using the Flash 8 Flix exporter from On2 Technologies. Flash 8 supports an alpha channel and the On2 flix exporter has option to include the alpha.Erik
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I’d call them…spend the 40 mins on hold in the queue and talk with one of the reps. They’ll most likely be able to show in their records that you are a registered owner of 1.6 and give you some options.
Erik
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Also make sure that you are exporting in a codec that supports an Alpha channel Quicktime Animation is usually a favorite. You’ll most likely have better results with a straight alpha than a pre-multiplied, but make sure that whatever app they are using supports it.
Erik
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Couple of words of advice from the other side of the fence (I’m employed as an editor/producer/shooter for a large corporation).
Professional attitude. Mass mailing (either letters or email) propaganda promoting your video skills is likely to be overlooked and thrown in the trash…we get hundreds of offers from around the country for various services 99% are circular filed or used to clean up spilt coffee. A professional call to the business and stating who you are and that you would like set up an appointment to meet with a member of their company that deals with video to present your services. If you’re turned down or don’t hear back, try again in a few months…DO NOT call everyday! If you are able to set up an appointment, make sure that you arrive promptly (5-10 minutes early at most). If you run late, forget it, you’ll most likely have lost the chance and business. Do a “drive by” the day before at approximately the same time as the appointment so that you can judge how much time you’ll need to arrive on time.
Bring a good reel. Have a version you can play on a computer to show and bring a copy on DVD for the client to look at a later time. If you don’t have a reel with corporate video work, spend some time to make one. It’s not uncommon for people trying to get into that business to make fake commercials, mock interviews, training videos, etc… Just get a few friends together and make some stuff up. As you start to get actual work you can start replacing the fake with the real. It’s not to prove who you’ve done work for but rather can you do the kind of work and the quality of work that the client wants.
Make sure you’re using pro equipment. Most corporate work we farm out to local shooters and post houses is shot on beta, digibeta or HD and the occasional DVcam shot on ENG style 3 chip cameras. Get a good set of lav mics, a good 3 point lighting kit for interviews. Probably at least 80% of our work ends up being talking heads and interviews, learn how to shoot them well.Erik
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You might also check the timecode format…if you are working with NTSC video the tape may have been recorded with Non-Drop Frame timecode.
You might also check to make sure that you are giving enough pre-roll for your deck.Erik
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A good intermediate that supports an alpha is the Animation codec at highest quality (lossless). Also it may not be your fault…the NLE may need to have a setting set in it’s software to be told what to do with an alpha channel, it maybe set to ignore an alpha channel. Also, it may require either a straight or pre-multiplied matte, both of which can be created in AE. If all else fails export the alpha channel as a separate file which can then be imported. I believe Aharon did a tut on this a while back.
Erik
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I’d second that. Soundkeys will allow you to isolate specific frequencies, say a kick drum hit and keyframe those points, you then build expression to tie it to whatever value you want changed. Takes a lot of the guess work and frustration out of it…
Erik