Comments on: Cinema Inspiration in Machinima Technique http://binarypictureshow.com/blog/archives/39 A blog By Dr. Nemesis following the progress of Binary Picture Show's work, as well as other Machinima. Fri, 29 Jan 2010 07:05:52 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Dr. Nemesis http://binarypictureshow.com/blog/archives/39/comment-page-1#comment-51 Dr. Nemesis Wed, 13 Aug 2008 11:24:00 +0000 http://binarypictureshow.com/blog/archives/39#comment-51 Hot. Thanks for the comments guys.<br/>This is gonna be a very interesting one sound wise. Hot. Thanks for the comments guys.
This is gonna be a very interesting one sound wise.

]]> By: Overman http://binarypictureshow.com/blog/archives/39/comment-page-1#comment-50 Overman Tue, 12 Aug 2008 15:10:00 +0000 http://binarypictureshow.com/blog/archives/39#comment-50 Ricky's right on the money. Mixed properly, even robot movement foley can blend very nicely and almost work on a subliminal level.<br/><br/>Re: Motionbuilder output, if the sound coming out of Motionbuilder is clipping, there are a couple things to keep in mind:<br/>1) That clipping might be fixed simply by backing off the level on the sound by 1-2 dB to give it some headroom, so if MB is boosting it a bit it won't push it over the limit.<br/>2) The other solution, which is much preferable, is to simply let your Motionbuilder sound output serve as your scratch track for synchronization, saving ALL your original individual sound files (bits of dialogue, sound fx, etc.). Then deliver the video render to your sound guy with the rough sound mix (not worrying at all about clipping), and also deliver to him all your original (hopefully pristine quality) sound files, and he'll rebuild the mix for you from scratch. This will not only make your sound guy very happy to have this level of control, but will yield the best possible end result. For an engineer to really make the most of sound mix, he/she must have the ability to control individual levels (and effects) on each individual track (and sound within that track). If what you deliver to him/her is something already mixed, without those separate individual parts, there is only so much that can be done.<br/><br/>I look forward to working with you and Ricky to bring this to life! Ricky’s right on the money. Mixed properly, even robot movement foley can blend very nicely and almost work on a subliminal level.

Re: Motionbuilder output, if the sound coming out of Motionbuilder is clipping, there are a couple things to keep in mind:
1) That clipping might be fixed simply by backing off the level on the sound by 1-2 dB to give it some headroom, so if MB is boosting it a bit it won’t push it over the limit.
2) The other solution, which is much preferable, is to simply let your Motionbuilder sound output serve as your scratch track for synchronization, saving ALL your original individual sound files (bits of dialogue, sound fx, etc.). Then deliver the video render to your sound guy with the rough sound mix (not worrying at all about clipping), and also deliver to him all your original (hopefully pristine quality) sound files, and he’ll rebuild the mix for you from scratch. This will not only make your sound guy very happy to have this level of control, but will yield the best possible end result. For an engineer to really make the most of sound mix, he/she must have the ability to control individual levels (and effects) on each individual track (and sound within that track). If what you deliver to him/her is something already mixed, without those separate individual parts, there is only so much that can be done.

I look forward to working with you and Ricky to bring this to life!

]]> By: Ricky Grove http://binarypictureshow.com/blog/archives/39/comment-page-1#comment-49 Ricky Grove Sat, 09 Aug 2008 23:41:00 +0000 http://binarypictureshow.com/blog/archives/39#comment-49 I love these in-depth writeups you do when you are working on a project. Just the range of ideas and of experience you address is inspiring, Leo. <br/><br/>I know what you mean about the facial/animation and eye movement. CT5 has a much better set-up to create seemingly random movement. In fact, just with the mouse-jitter you can create an approximation of natural eye movement. I've experiemented with it quite a bit. Now, I didn't see it as a problem in Beast since the characters were so focused and the situation so tense. Staring, focused eyes would make sense, so i don't think it hurt the film. But had the film been longer or in a different style, I definitely think blinking and other facial tiks would have made a difference. <br/><br/>Re: Sound Effects. Read David Sonenchein's "Sound Effects" and you'll get the whole history of sound aesthetics. Now, if you want to you have your robot make a noise, you can mix it so that the sound is not forward, but back in the mix with everything else and it won't become overstated. One trick is to remember that audiences tend to recognize/pattern a character within the first minute or two on having seen/heard them. If you make your sound for the robot louder in the first minute, then you can lower the sound for later scenes and the audience will still hear it as being as loud as it was at the beginning. <br/><br/>Very happy to be working with you on this project. The amount of work is not an issue. It's the quality of the work that is important to me. <br/><br/>Man, they are going to be so lucky up there in Edmonton. I love these in-depth writeups you do when you are working on a project. Just the range of ideas and of experience you address is inspiring, Leo.

I know what you mean about the facial/animation and eye movement. CT5 has a much better set-up to create seemingly random movement. In fact, just with the mouse-jitter you can create an approximation of natural eye movement. I’ve experiemented with it quite a bit. Now, I didn’t see it as a problem in Beast since the characters were so focused and the situation so tense. Staring, focused eyes would make sense, so i don’t think it hurt the film. But had the film been longer or in a different style, I definitely think blinking and other facial tiks would have made a difference.

Re: Sound Effects. Read David Sonenchein’s “Sound Effects” and you’ll get the whole history of sound aesthetics. Now, if you want to you have your robot make a noise, you can mix it so that the sound is not forward, but back in the mix with everything else and it won’t become overstated. One trick is to remember that audiences tend to recognize/pattern a character within the first minute or two on having seen/heard them. If you make your sound for the robot louder in the first minute, then you can lower the sound for later scenes and the audience will still hear it as being as loud as it was at the beginning.

Very happy to be working with you on this project. The amount of work is not an issue. It’s the quality of the work that is important to me.

Man, they are going to be so lucky up there in Edmonton.

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