Studio, Archive, Field- Sound Effects Studio (Foley)

SFX Proficiency Guideline

1. Return keys to Media Loan as soon as you are done. This greatly reduces your financial responsibilities and security risk to the studio.
2. If you lose your keys report it to police services immediately
3. You are to access the studio only at your scheduled time or you will lose your privileges. The computers send us a list of user logins and times.
4. Time can be scheduled at Media Loan or Electronic Media
5. Check out keys from Media Loan
6. Do not ever under any circumstances let anyone into the studio. This is for security and safety reasons.
7. Sign in the log book, report any problems or encountered issues with the space
8. No drinks or food in studio-leave them outside the door
9. No open flames or smoke allowed in the studio
10. Vacuum before you leave
11. Replace lids on the foley pits
12. Put all noise makers away in appropriate bins
13. Take everything you came in with away with you. If you want to contribute items they would be appreciated. Items must be approved by Zena X5277.
14. The center front pit is for organics only. You are responsible for cleaning, sanitizing and drying the pit afterwards so plan appropriately. Bring towels or paper towels. The shop vac is for dry materials only.
15. Normalize the work station, turn off computer, and power down.
16. You must bring your own headphones, mic cords, and microphones.

Step by Step Proficiency

• Turn On Power.
• Turn On Computer.
• Make sure Speaker Level is all the way down if you want to monitor with your headphones.
• Open Adobe Audition.
• Save your project in a folder labeled with your name on the desktop.
• Record using inputs 1 and inputs 2 from the Motu 828 soundcard on the desk.
• Monitor using output analog 1 - 2.
• Use the talent headphone mixer for headphones. Turn up CH1 or CH2 to hear your live microphone. Turn up Playback Monitor to hear your Audition project.
• Back up your project on your program Orca Server or portable hard drive.
• Please normalize the room and vacuum if necessary.
• Log out and report any problems.
• Shut down computer and shut off main power on the power strip.
• Make sure to pull the door shut and make sure it's locked.
• Not following these studio guidelines will result in loss of studio access.

Recording in the Waveform Editor

You can record audio from a microphone or any device you can plug into the Line In port or XLR input.

1. Plug in EV RE27 with a XLR cable and a desk stand and pop filter—this mic is good for voice over or narration.

2. Emphasize good mic and mouth placement.

3. Do test recording to check audio meter levels.

4. Do one of the following:

• Create a file.

• Open an existing file to overwrite or add new audio, and place the current time indicator where you want to start recording.

• If you are using one mic, set your track to mono.

5. At the bottom of the Editor panel, click the Record button to start and stop recording.

6. In the toolbar, select the Time Selection tool.

7. Do any of the following:

8. To select a range, drag in the Editor panel.

9. To rerecord only in selected range, make selection, and hit the Record button.

10. Hit the Delete key to remove the selected portion.

11. Spacebar is the shortcut for playback.

12. + or – keys for zoom shortcuts.

13. Command z for undo.

14. Head and tail of recording can be trimmed.

15. Record around a minute of room tone with microphone.

16. When recording is complete, under File menu select Save As and name and browse location to folder on desktop.

17. Set frequency at 48khz and bit-depth at 24 or 32. Use .wav or .aiff file formats.

Record sync sound to video in Adobe Audition

1. Use APS Shotgun mic with fishpole—great for recording sound effects.

2. Do test recording to check audio meter levels.

3. Load a video into Adobe Audition:

i. Import your video file into Audition

ii. Right click on the video file and select Open in Multitrack Session

4. Using the Audition Multitrack Editor, Voice, Music, and Sound Effects Tracks

5. Record sync sound by:

i. Click the Arm for Record button

ii. At the bottom of the panel, click the Record button to start and stop recording. iii. Space bar starts and stop play

6. Export recorded audio as Tracks or Mixdown. Make sure nothing is soloed or muted. Zoom out to see entire session.

i. Choose Multitrack > Export Multritrack Mixdown.

ii. Specify a name and location for the exported session folder(s), and set the following options:

iii. Sample Rate: by default, it reflects the sample rate of the original sequence.

iv. Export each track: converts the full timeline duration of each track into a single clip. Will reflect the total duration on the session.

v. Mixdown Session: exports the session to a single mono, stereo, or 5.1 file.

vi. Always playback exported files to make sure everything is like you expected.

7. Upload files to Orca or save to hard drive.