"Fix It In The Mix" (or the video editor)

Musicians are sometimes too eager to "fix it in the mix":

From a mix engineer: "One of the most dreaded phrases you could possibly hear as a mixer was, “We’ll fix it in post”. That meant that whatever problem had popped up (during recording) had instantly become my problem to fix ... de-pop, de-hiss, de-noise, de-verb, re-amp, sample replace and so on ... "

But sometimes with animation, the video editor can avoid yet another LONG render.  I was trying to get a nifty transition between two scenes using a passing vehicle that blocked both scenes briefly, with the second scene appearing after the vehicle passed.  But I didn't let the vehicle fill enough of the frame for long enough, a little slice appeared on the wrong side of the transition.  So in the video editor I zoomed in a little in the middle of the clip to get the vehicle to overfill the frame slightly.  Then zoomed back out.  Yeah, no big deal, & its a little kludgy, but in a pinch, e.g. the 48 Hour Film Contest, it may be the difference between making the deadline or not.

Any other video editor tricks?

Comments

  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,169

    Great tip, thanks.  

    Where would you suggest getting started with a bunch of "free for any use" sounds?

  • Steve KSteve K Posts: 3,235

    I have a very large collection of quality, nicely catalogued Sound FX from Digital Juice, which I bought before they went subscription only.  Now you have to subscribe for $300 (current sale vs. $400 normal), a lifetime subscription it says which includes a lot of elements in addition to sounds.  More here - scroll down for samples of the sound FX.

    https://www.digitaljuice.com/

    Its probably a good deal, I just avoid subscription based stuff.  Amazon has a lot of low priced royalty free sound collections, but none as comprehensive I think, except for a pricey collection from Sony Pictures.  So you would be doing it piecemeal, hard to avoid duplication I think.

  • WendyLuvsCatzWendyLuvsCatz Posts: 38,214

    YouTube audio library has a nice collection of sound FX too

    I bought some sounds from a site years ago I cannot use as I get flagged for matched content if I do, on facebook too so apparently not legit, just on things like a laugh or bird sound.

  • mindsongmindsong Posts: 1,701

    www.producerplanet.com - a 'MAGIX' (video/sound apps) partner (?) - has sound effects and sample loops that are pretty well produced. Note that their base-prices for most of their loops-sets are for personal-use, but on the info-page, there's a commercial-use option/version that's usually twice the current base-price. Instrumental, vocal, and sound-effects are available.

    Any set of type 'acid-loops' (a format/packaging from their Sony Software 'ACID' Pro acquisition) are more expensive as a base-price, but I believe that they are OK to be used in commercial projects at that price (e.g. all 'acid loop' sets arre inherently commercial).

    If you browse their site, look for the sales. A sound effects pack that's on-sale for $3.99, (vs 9.99-19.99) may well be worth $8 (double), given full commercial usage rights.

    YMMV, (no other affiliation, other than I've picked up a few packages and the production quality is at the bottom of the pro tier, but good - 44.1k ogg or pcm - clean)

    --ms

  • ed3Ded3D Posts: 2,190
    Diomede said:

    Great tip, thanks.  

    Where would you suggest getting started with a bunch of "free for any use" sounds?

    _ and this one _

               soundimage.org

  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,169

    Thank you, ed3D, mindsong, Wendy, and Steve K

  • mindsongmindsong Posts: 1,701
    ed3D said:
    Diomede said:

    Great tip, thanks.  

    Where would you suggest getting started with a bunch of "free for any use" sounds?

    _ and this one _

               soundimage.org

    nice one - tnx,

    --ms

  • Steve KSteve K Posts: 3,235

    I recall another video editing trick, from Mel Gibson of all people.  (He did win an Oscar for Best Director, after all.  In his acceptance speech, he said he always wanted to be an actor.)  He said he was learning stuff like cutting out a few frames just before a collision, so the impact was more shocking/surprising. 

    surprise

  • ed3Ded3D Posts: 2,190

    mindsong and Diomede

    _ you're welcome+

  • Steve KSteve K Posts: 3,235

    I recently decided to blur an animated scene as it played, so it starts out crisp, then gets a little fuzzy at the end.  This was very easy in the video editor, which allows setting keyframes for the amount of blur.  Fun stuff.

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