Members markmakingmusic Posted February 3, 2006 Members Share Posted February 3, 2006 I am currently working as an Assistant Music Director at a non profit video production company that is based out of Cambridge, MA. We are in the process of buying a space for our new video editing studio. To fill out the audio portion of the editing studio, we will need a good BOB (break out box) including editing software, 3rd party plugins (if need be) or hardware, mixing console (nothing big, just 4x8 I/O), preferrably something with "decent" mic pres (hard to come by?), and an external VU meter. So far, we got a price quote from several vendors for the Digidesign Digi 002 (external console, Protools LE software, software plugins) and it seems ok but I would like to get a professional opinion on the matter. What is your opinion of this software/hardware system? Is there a better package that will be more 'video' friendly; i.e. exporting/ importing audio from Final Cut Pro/ Avid Adrenaline. The Digi 002 is supposedly optimized for use in conjunction with Avid products (Digi Translator). Is Logic Pro meant to be used in conjunction with Final Cut Pro? We will be using the audio package in conjunction with Final Cut Pro or Avid Adrenaline (both video editing BOB's). Thanks in advance for any advice on this matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kptkarl Posted February 3, 2006 Members Share Posted February 3, 2006 Pro Tools is pretty much THE defacto standard for post studios. If compatibility with others is something to be concerned with then go for PT.Logic will work as well but is more geared towards music/composing and not so friendly with regards to audio editing.Nuendo is something to check out as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Alndln2 Posted February 3, 2006 Members Share Posted February 3, 2006 Originally posted by markmakingmusic The Digi 002 is supposedly optimized for use in conjunction with Avid products (Digi Translator). Just so you know,the Digi Translator is software and exports Audio(not sure about video) projects in OMF format(Open Media Framework)and is a seperate purchase($495.00) for use in PT only. I know it's used to to be able to open up projects between different software platforms,particularly between Pro Tools and everything else basically ,but I'm not sure how compatible Final Cut Pro is with PTLE overall as opposed to Avid's video software or wether it even exports to OMF. I would hazzard to guess Final Cut Pro might be more compatible with Logic since their both Apple Products. Also keep in mind that Apple is in a transition at the moment switching to Intel based machines which means all software and hardware will change,so whatever investment you make now might be obsolete sooner than you think. Proceed with caution,get as much info regarding that as much as possible. I wish I could help you more,but I'm on a different platform entirely(PC/Sonar). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chris Groegler Posted February 3, 2006 Members Share Posted February 3, 2006 Final Cut Pro does export out OMF files for the audio, but like Alndln2 said, you'll have to get DigiTranslator to be able to import those into Pro Tools if using the standard PT software that comes with the 002. But...I'd recommend the DV Toolkit (Toolkit 2 coming soon). This will give you some extra tools for post production and includes DigiTranslator (and the latest version of PT with Toolkit 2), so you can use it with the 002. The other big question...what is your plan for syncing to the movie? External tape deck, imported movie? Make sure you beef out your computer too...fast CPU, mucho RAM, a few fast hard drives. I'd also recommend and external firewire drive for the 'sneaker net' option. This has saved me a few times. Having a really nice computer will save you headaches down the raod. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members markmakingmusic Posted February 3, 2006 Author Members Share Posted February 3, 2006 Thank you all for the heads up. As far as syncing to the movie, that will be done in FCP (then later sweetening of the audio will be done in Protools). I'm wondering if it is even worth getting Protools LE with the plugins...I know the FCP system has some kind of audio editing software, but not sure how good it is. As far as the Intel chip/Mac question, we have done some research on that already and are well aware of the potential problems. Apple is going to release Final Cut Extreme at the NAB show this year (April I think) which is going to be a potential rival to the Avid Adrenaline System (so they say). I'll do some more brain picking of the director as far as using external tape decks. Thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chris Groegler Posted February 3, 2006 Members Share Posted February 3, 2006 If you are doing everything in Final Cut, and that can give you the quality that you need for your projects, you might not want to spend the money on a PT system. It all depends on what the deliverables will be. I'm familiar with the Avid system and it's editing/mixing capabilities for audio and Final Cut should be pretty similar to the feature set. There have been low-budget projects that didn't even come to me because it was easier/faster to keep it on the Avid and export from there. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gdoubleyou Posted February 3, 2006 Members Share Posted February 3, 2006 The products in the Final Cut Pro Suite, are no longer going to be available as seperate products. If you can locate one of the individual products, it would qualify you for a $199 ugrade to the whole FCP suite. Sountrack Pro is the sound design tool of the suite, and integrates beautifully with FCP, and DVD Studio Pro. More info here. http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members markmakingmusic Posted February 3, 2006 Author Members Share Posted February 3, 2006 Thanks Chris and gdoubleyou. "There have been low-budget projects that didn't even come to me because it was easier/faster to keep it on the Avid and export from there." This video production company specializes in documentaries on human rights and the environment. So as far as sound design needs, we usually don't need anything too flashy. Probably the most tracks of audio recorded at a time were 4 channels. The tools mainly used for editing audio are (this is a guestimate...I'm new to the company) some EQing, compression, and leveling. As far as the video is concerned, our recent prison documentary was shot in HD and there is not really any background music...some songs played by the prisoners here and then, but no effects were added in post. So with that said, will using Soundtrack Pro with FCP and a nice outboard mixer do the job and make the audio sound as professional as the video looks (of course with the right audio editor, anything is possible, right?). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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