[Randy Wheeler]

Here’s a screenshot of the the “before and after” results from the 4 minute 7 second audio waveform. The top is the original and the bottom is after I fixed it.

Randy

[Randy Wheeler]

Olivier,

Here’s my lunch bill and the link to pay for it if you’re still interested. That’s about $125 cheaper than I would normally charge to correct that amount of audio in that kind of shape:

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=4310288

Randy

[Randy Wheeler]

Actually, I didn’t spend that much time tweaking that initial test, just wanted to show that you could get rid of the distortion to a certain level.

Here’s a new version from the first 60-seconds where I corrected several major level-change problems along with taking out the high background noise and distortion.

Original version (1st 60 seconds)

https://www.randywheeler.com/audio/Soundforfixing_60sec_original.aif

Fixed version (1st 60 seconds)

https://www.randywheeler.com/audio/Soundforfixing_60sec_fixed.aif

If you like what you hear, I can do the rest and give you a download link in exchange for you treating me to a nice Cajun lunch via PayPal. It’s crawfish season now down here in Louisiana and a 5 pounds of those mud bugs with some corn on the cob and potatoes would certainly hit the spot right now.

Randy

[Randy Wheeler]

Here’s my stab at it…

Before:

https://www.randywheeler.com/audio/TEST_ARNAUD.aif

After:

https://www.randywheeler.com/audio/TEST_ARNAUD_restored2.aif

Randy

[Randy Wheeler]

I’m confused. You want to offer your clients a monitor set-up utility so that your videos look consistently good/correct on their PC monitors but you admit that between your own PC monitors the videos can look “too-light, perfect, and muddy.”

If you can’t adjust your own PC monitors to get a consistent, correct look for your videos how can you expects or complain that your clients PC monitors aren’t setup correctly?

I’ve adjusted a couple of clients video/TV monitors using a pen-size NewTek Calibar test pattern generator and they’ve never had a problem with it and enjoyed watching me go through/explain the process. I’ve never adjusted their computer monitors but I have told a couple clients that it won’t look like that once it airs on TV or is played on a video monitor. I even told one client that I would adjust the video to make it look good on their specific monitor but would make no guarantees that it would look good on anyone else’s. They decided not to have me do that.

For a recent TV commercial I did, the client saw all the revisions during the editing process on their computer monitors via a client web page and they also had a very washed out video projector and projection screen setup in their meeting room that I had to use when I showed them a demo. I knew I didn’t want to show them the final commercial on that video projector again so I brought my Sony PVM 13″ broadcast video monitor (only two people were going to be watching it) and a nice Pioneer DVD recorder that has the correct 7.5 IRE black output and showed it to them on that. I also had some Klipsch powered speakers for the sound.

After viewing the TV commercial the marketing guy immediately said how much better that looked than on their monitors during the revision process. They were happy and I left with a check in my hands.

Randy

[Randy Wheeler]

Judge Orders Apple’s New iPod and iPhone Chief to Stop Work Immediately

Mark Papermaster, a former IBM executive who’s replacing retiring iPod chief Tony Fadell, came to Apple with some heavy baggage—namely a one-year no-compete clause that IBM said he was violating by working at Apple. U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karashas sided with IBM for the time being in their lawsuit, ordering Papermaster to “immediately cease his employment with Apple Inc. until further order of this court.”

https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2008/11/judge_orders_apples_new_ipod_and_iphone_chief_to_stop_work_immediately-2.html

Randy

[Randy Wheeler]

How do you audit these stock footage websites that sell your footage to know if they are accurately reporting sales of your footage? Or, are we just supposed to trust them?

Randy

[Randy Wheeler]

I posted a response in the Creative Cow – Matrox Video Systems forum.

https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/132/857320

Randy

[Randy Wheeler]

Here is some perspective from a Matrox RT.X100 user (uh, me) for the past 6 years. What’s got me a little confused is why he is complaining in 2009 about a hardware board that came out in 2002 and is no longer sold by Matrox?

But anyways, I’m still producing videos and TV commercials on a Matrox RT.X100 and Dell 4550 (P4 pre-hyperthreading) computer using Adobe Premiere 6.5. The computer was refurbished and bought on eBay in 2003 and the Matrox board new at the same time. I was no computer tech back then and configured the thing myself. I’ll be editing a 2-3 hour Mardi Gras Parade and Ball video on it for the next 2 days. I use this computer for everything including internet and email. I still get people over here watching me edit that use the “latest and greatest” that can’t believe all the real-time capability I have with this system including full-rez and full-time DV output with the proper 7.5 IRE black/setup level to a video monitor. Of course, this is all in DV not HD. I finally bought a laptop to start getting into HD and boy I sure hate having to render again!

Here’s a link to the Dell PC’s that were tested with the RT.X10:

https://www.matrox.com/video/en/support/rtx10/rec/systems/

I suggest throwing away your current PC and getting a used Dell 8300 or 8400 computer with the right video card and other specs for a couple hundred bucks on eBay. These Dell PC’s are recommended and successfully used by people in the Matrox forums. Heck, you may as well replace your Matrox RT.X10 board and get used RT.X100 board for $300 and get more capability.

Both boards came out in 2002 and remember that Windows XP Service Pack 1 was out then and when Service Pack 2 came out and then Adobe Premiere Pro was released that caused all sorts of potentials problems with users of this system that didn’t know how to configure them properly. My Dell 4550 is still using Service Pack 1 for that reason and works fine. Don’t even think about using Service Pack 3 without knowing other users that have it working. I have configured several Dell 8400/Matrox systems for other people and they work great with Service Pack 2 and Adobe Premiere Pro.

The other important thing is what video card you are using in combination with the Matrox board and what driver version you are using. The latest driver can sometimes cause problems so you have to roll it back to one that works if that’s the case.

By the way, the Axio is not the only SD/HD choice out there from Matrox they also have the RT.X2 for people on more of a budget.

Randy

[Randy Wheeler]

The other thing you can do as a habit when initially setting up and checking the audio levels from your camera that is being sent from a unfamiliar mix board is to see if you can get a decent level on your audio meters using the line level first before switching/checking it to mic level.

If your audio meters are way too low at line level no matter how much you increase the levels then switch to mic level (after lowering the audio controls back to 0 or something low to start off with) and watch the meters to see what the difference is after switching and adjusting the faders up on your camera.

The majority of the time the feed from a mix board at a club or band is going to be at line level, especially if you are having to use a 1/4″ to XLR adapter to connect from the mixer to your camera.

Line level first then Mic level, that’s what I do. Oh, and I always have my own field mixer between any audio I get before it goes to my camera for any surprises.

Randy