Audio Mixing and Videotape Rescue

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It's time to put the final touches on those New Years projects! That means that we're going to need to mix some audio, and adjust some levels. It can affect the outcome of how our audience views our video, which is why Mixing for Mood is this week's Hot Video Tip! Plus, an exclusive story to eNews looks at the best practices for backing up projects safely.

In week's edition of Tips & Tricks, focuses on editing tools used to help make green screen effects easier and more precise in three different software programs!

Hot Video Tips: Audio Mixing for Mood

By Hal Robertson

Imagine your favorite movie or TV show without the music. It just doesn't work, does it?

What would a Batman movie be without the dark, brooding score? Where would Napoleon Dynamite be without its quirky soundtrack? The selection, timing and mixing of music are critical to the success of your project. They set the mood for current events and can even signal events to come. So it's worth focusing some time and effort on the sound mix. It doesn't matter whether you have a big budget or no budget, you can create equally powerful mixes using common tools and software you already own...Continue

Test Bench: MAGIX Videotape Rescue Package

By Tom Skowronski

The Analog Bridge
For most of us over the age of 20, memories of VCR recording are still stuck in the back of our brains. Over the years, we've all found some embarrassing childhood memories under a couch on some dusty videotape. The birthday with that invincible piñata. The trip to the theme park when your brother fell off the ferris wheel. The soccer games where your brother would beat up the ref. We could go on, but two things are certain: the death of VHS is imminent, and some of those tapes are worth saving!...Continue

More New Product Reviews

• DoubleSight DS-1900S Dual-Monitor LCD
• Panasonic HDC-HS100
• Imagine Products' ShotPut Pro Video Offloading Software
• NVIDIA Quadro CX Video Card

Feature: Backing Up - Best Practices

By Morgan Paar

Your project's done. How do you archive it? Helpful notes for someone who has to open the project after you're gone.

Archiving media and other assets has always been an important issue. But, as video moves away from magnetic tape (e.g., Mini DV tapes) toward solid-state Flash memory (e.g., Panasonic's P2), optical storage (e.g., Sony's PD), hard-drive storage and other media (can we even call it video anymore, now that it is no longer tape-based?), the need to archive has become not only more important but, in many ways, more difficult.

There is little doubt, at least outside the walls of videotape manufacturing companies, that videotape is going the way of floppy disks. I'm pretty sure the generation being born today will someday ask their parents, "What is that stuff they call videotape in those old 2000 movies?" Flash memory, optical storage and hard-drive storage are quickly replacing the linear acquisition format we have been using for the last 58 years...Continue