I had a question of what other stuff I might need to be a Sound Editor and/or Sound Designer. I have a shotgun, condenser, and a pair for stereo - recording on a sound devices 702t. Edit and design on Pro Tools, ADAM A5X monitors, midi keyboard, and a powerful computer. I was wondering if there is something missing that I would "need" or might want to think about getting? Maybe more microphones? Control Surface to mix? Thanks, Luke F.
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2 Answers
I don't think you necessarily "need" anything else. A lot of it comes down to the part of the industry you want to work in and how you envision your self doing that work. At various times I've been freelance or staff and sorta a mixture of the 2. If your staff you really don't need to provide anything else. When I've been freelance I find that unique and different types of mics (contact, electromagnetic etc) come in handy as well as props and some processing chains, plugins or apps that you think you might find yourself using in the future. As well as some good sfx libraries. Good monitors in a room you know well are super important. If you don't have ProTools HD I would consider that almost a must have over the vanilla version, mostly for being able to have multiple video clips and tracks.
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Thanks for your comment, In what sort of instance would I need to have multiple video clips and tracks? Dec 30, 2015 at 3:52
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Most commonly for me is when working on multiple commercials or videos in a series. It also helps if you need to conform your work to a new cut you can line up both videos and easily nudge things into time based on the thumbnails. On longer form projects I've been sent updated VFX shots that are a small (2-30 seconds) section instead of the entire video. You can get away with with Vanilla ProTools for a while but if you routinely work with picture I think you'll appreciate HD soon enough, not to mention the other post production workflows.– coaxmwDec 30, 2015 at 4:40
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What are your opinions about control mix surfaces - for an example the Avid Artist Mix? Are they much faster than just mixing inside of protools? Does it speed up work flow that much to invest in that? Dec 30, 2015 at 17:32
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i personally really really rarely use control surfaces, even when i have great ones sitting right in front of me. For sound design I would say i never use one. for mixing i will sometimes make a pass riding the music with faders or for things like ADR where you want to ride certain tracks down for the talent. If your planning on having clients come by or other engineers potentially working on your system you might want to think about one for the " Pro" look. One of the few things I absolutely have to use is my Kensington expert mouse.– coaxmwDec 30, 2015 at 18:36
If you want the most supreme sounds ever. Kinds of like a supreme pizza, but better...id suggest taping a toilet paper core to your Adam monitors and then recording stereo and mixing in mono for that. It really gives a realist approach that most sound designers can't grasp. Do yourself a favor and stop worrying about the equipment and focus more on the skill and expertise. A really good trick to practice this, is to turn off everything in your room...even unplug stuff so you don't have any buzz or hum. Then just sit there with your eyes closed and imagine what sounds you should be hearing at that point. There's a little pointer for you. Good luck and thanks for the little conversation.
~John Rakerman "God Bless those who have not made it"
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Can you elaborate more on the taping a toilet paper core? hahaha Dec 30, 2015 at 17:31
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Have you ever heard of worldizing? THAT is what I'm talking about. You can play and have fun with it too. Try putting just the core on one of the speakers...let's say...the right one. It just gives different effects that you can use to help yourself be unique. And after all...it's also very fun;) Dec 30, 2015 at 22:04
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Okay, cool. I worldize sounds almost everyday. hahaha I just never heard of the toilet paper core. Dec 30, 2015 at 22:15
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