PT11 First Impressions

I've been on a bit of a hiatus from blogging the last couple months. I recently moved and I'm very stoked to be back in Oregon.

So the big recent news is that Avid has released Pro Tools 11:

The first thing I did was dive into the system requirements and make sure that everything was compatible.

There are definitely some cool new features in this version (Of course some of which have been available for quite some time in other DAWs).  I particularly like the new video engine. Hopefully no more transcoding videos!

One concern for me and a lot of others is making sure that all plug-ins, interfaces and peripherals would be supported. Having to wait for plug-in developers to port their plug-ins to the 64-bit AAX format is a big inconvenience at the moment. But I'm confident that this issue will be corrected in time.

Perhaps the biggest thing for me in holding off from upgrading right away is the ongoing documented issues with the iLok License Manager software. I know that at some point I'll upgrade to PT11, but being deep in the middle of a project is simply not a good time to be updating. My setup does everything that I need at the moment for my workflow. For the time being I'm good with that!

Lastly, Ceri Thomas has a great blog post about what PT11 does for post. Recommended reading.

Mahna Mahna

So it appears that I haven't been doing a very good job of keeping the blog updated.

I've had a very busy start to 2013 as an Assistant Sound Editor at 740 Sound Design collaborating with some great clients. I was stoked to see some of the spots we've been working on at 740 air during the Super Bowl. Here are a few to check out -

• Taco Bell "Viva Young"
• Volkswagen "Get Happy"
• Hyundai "Stuck"

And here's a non-SB commercial I'd like to share, just because it makes me laugh every time I watch it -

Outside of work, the more I've been diving into iZotope Iris the more I've fallen in love. It's amazing the unique sounds you can create. I've been having a blast losing track of time with it. It's the most fun I can remember having since I first started using NI Kontakt. 4 out of 5 times when I import sounds into it thinking nothing more than 'this could be cool' I don't end up with anything much, but that 1 time when I do it's awesome! Perhaps the biggest challenge with Iris is coming up with descriptions and tags for the crazy sounds. I honestly don't think I'd turn to it if I was for example under a deadline for a revision, but I'm hopeful someday I'll be involved on a project where I'll get to use some sounds from my Iris folder. If you haven't yet, I absolutely recommend demoing it.

Granular Synthesis Experimentation

I've spent my fair share of time with instruments in Avid Pro Tools such as Xpand! and Structure. Now that I heavily use Steinberg software on a more frequent basis, I'm finding that there are some truly fantastic instruments right at my fingertips. HALion is amazing, but one instrument in particular that I've been getting familiar with in my free time is Padshop.

The user interface is for this granular synth is great. Padshop has two independent layers that can be individually mixed and edited with effects and filters plus other parameters you can tweak to create unique sound combinations. Also it comes with a ridiculous amount of presets and samples!

What is fun about experimentation is the creative freedom you get when you're not trying to conceptualize a particular sound or bound by deadlines. Padshop has a lot of versatility, and I could definitely see myself turn to this in a situation where I need to create an ambiance or atmospheric effect. Here is a good tutorial video and if you're interested in granular synthesis like me, definitely check out Padshop.

Native Instruments Awesomeness

Yesterday I was geeking out with Dave Braxton at Dog and Pony about The Mouth, an amazing sound controlled synth. I love Native Instruments software. Kontakt is one of my favorite tools for processing sounds, and there are more than a few things within Reaktor that easily spark sound generation creativity. However, Dave opened my ears to some new Native Instruments awesomeness that I was not hip to: BATTERY.
I knew of Battery as a drum sampler, but after Dave showed me some of the ways he uses it for sound design, I was blown away by the capabilities! I'm definitely going to try to incorporate Battery into my workflow more now, especially for footsteps when Foley is not an option due to budget or time. Here is a great demo video of some of the possibilities Battery holds for creating sounds:


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