Storyboard to the animatics for a animation project

In building a animation we often provide a animatic for the client. A simple explanation of a animatic is a storyboard in motion with simple zooms and pans to simulate camera movement.  Animatics are animated video storyboards. This is the stage that we do the timing of the images with simple motion.  In a .60 sec. animation this helps to determine the length of the section and where the time should be spent on telling the story.

Sometimes the sound effects or soundtrack are included to give the client a feel of the piece. This is a inexpensive way to test the animation before all the elements are added.

Below a example of a motion comic we produced from still image drawings.

Binary Recording Studio is a Video / Audio Production Company in Bellingham Wa.

Reducing excess sibilance (“ess” and “shh” sounds) from vocals or voiceover

When working with vocal and voice in the studio that have a lot of “shh” or “ess” sound in their recorded voice track (sibilance), we often need to reduce that sound without effecting the quality of the voice. This is where the DeEssor plugin can be used.

With the DeEssor plugin you can find the high frequency where this sound hangs out.  For example the Waves DeEssor plugin you can identify the frequency where it is found with the sidechain button. Sweep the upper frequency to find just the sibilance. When you find the trouble frequency then reduce the threshold to minimize the sibilance sound. DeEssors are found in most video and audio production / editing programs. Give it a try and play around with it, you will see a improvement in the vocal.

Binary Recording Studio a Audio / Video Production Company in Bellingham Wa.

Vimeo or Youtube for your content?

When people think of online video they think of Youtube.  YouTube is the number one video-sharing site on the web.  If you're a casual video uploader, blogger etc... and uploading convenience or longer videos might be more of a priority, YouTube may be a better choice. I think Youtube is a great service that has allowed film makers an audience that they could never accessed before.

I have noticed many film makers use Vimeo. If you're a creative filmmaker, you might get better feedback and engagement from the community on Vimeo or better access with their premium business account option. Vimeo videos are much cleaner and require much less bandwidth for viewing.  They are slowly but surely raising the quality ceiling in its encoding of your media with different frame rates.

The guidelines now properly state support for 23.976/24, 25, and 29.97/30 frames per second. Videos of higher frame rates are recommended to be halved in encoding — for instance, 60p would be encoded at 30 frames per second. This is some good stuff for film makers to show their work in the frame rate it was produced in!

Online video is getting better all the time!

Binary Recording Studio is a Video / Audio Production Company in Bellingham Wa.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Celebrating the birthday of a man who spoke of peace and equal rights, Martin Luther King Jr.

He was a teacher and advocate for the children of the civil rights movement. This is a trailer from the film we are producing, about the children who were involed in the sit-ins of the civil rights.
 “ You must get out there and be a headlight not a tail light”  Congressman John Lewis.

Binary Recording Studio a Bellingham Video Production Company.

ShotOnWhat is IMDb' on steroids for film makers

Being a film maker, I often see some film that blows me away on the production side.  How did they get that look etc......  Here is a site that will give you what format, camera model, lens type, finishing format, lens manufacturer, etc. was used to create a certain film? While IMDb has a lot of other coverage like cast and crew lists, you may find yourself wanting a more detailed and dedicated technical breakdown — enter ‘ShotOnWhat?‘

Binary Recording Studio a Video / Audio Production Company in Bellingham Wa.

The storyboard might be more important then the script.

The storyboard pitch.

Over the last year of two I have noticed that many of my clients really don’t read the synopsis or script for their project I propose.  They will tell you that they did, then often they are surprised with the content as the progress moves along.

I have found that one of the reasons that this happens is that they really don’t not know how to read a script with visualization of the scene.

This is no fault of the client, often it is a learning process that even for myself takes experiences.

This is where the storyboard becomes as important as the script in pitching the project to you client.  Using a storyboard as your main tool to pitch your concept to the client creates better communication  and helps the organization in production.  This in the long run saves money for everyone.

I would suggest that the storyboard pitch you present to the client not be to detail.  This is the idea stage, then develop your storyboard for production.

Best of luck!

Binary Recording Studio is a Video / Audio Production Company in Bellingham Wa.

Getting ITunes to recognize song titles instead of track numbers.

In the studio we master CD’s for many independent music groups who want their song titles to show up in ITunes, instead of just a track number.

Its easy to do once it is submitted to the data base called Gracenote.  This can be done within ITunes.  It can take a week or two before you see the results.

1. Open iTunes

2. Insert CD

3. Locate CD in iTunes (do NOT import yet)

4. Highlight all of the cd tracks

5. Right click and select “Get Info”

6. Click the “Info” tab

7. Change the album title/artist name/year/genre

8. Click “OK”

9. Now use this procedure for individual track names

10. Highlight track 1 and right click to select “Get Info”

11. Click on the “Info” tab

12. Update the “Name” and then click “Next”

13. Once you finish writing in your info for all tracks click “OK”

14. Highlight all of the tracks again

15. Click on the “Options” symbol on the upper right corner of the tracklist window

16. Select “Submit CD Track Names…”

17. Allow the progress bar to complete

Binary Recording Studio is a Audio / Video Production Company in Bellingham Wa.