In this guide to post-production workflows, we'll show you how to move smoothly from raw footage all the way to final output
Post-production is one of the most critical and complex parts of making the creative vision come to life. But it is also one of the most administratively laden elements of production. Between dumping footage, labeling clips, managing the project file, controlling versions, and collecting feedback, the process is burdened with tasks that create friction. In this guide, the MediaSilo by EditShare team will show you how to move smoothly from raw footage all the way to final output, and even start preparing it for marketing and sales.
Remote, but connected
Over 94% of MediaSilo’s customers say they are doing their post-production work either fully remote or semi-remote. With production and post-production becoming more complex and intertwined, modern workflows have to be re-thought in order to keep up with and take advantage of new technologies. This has created the need for new tools that help manage your assets, share work-in-progress, get approvals, and even facilitate pitching and selling your projects. And those tools need to work whether on set, in the office, or at home.
Stage 1: From Camera to Editing Bay
Lights. Camera. Action. Import.
A critical step in the post process is one of the first ones — importing shoot footage. Dailies need to be reviewed quickly and across multiple roles and departments. Often this process involves input from not only the director, but also from the producer(s), the editor, and sometimes the representatives of the studio, network, or client.
Remote viewing of dailies has become increasingly more global in the post-pandemic world. Having everyone on the team able to access the dailies as soon as they are available, whether on-set or remote, means that input can happen while there’s still time to address any issues.
Complexity in these early stages comes from more than just reviewing dailies. It is about importing footage in a way that is easy to find later, like ten versions from now when someone asks, “Remember that scene we shot and there was a take when he stepped forward and not back? Can we see that?” Being able to put your hands on this clip quickly, even weeks out from the import stage, is essential to keeping the team efficient and indispensable.
To stay organized, you need to import with purpose. You must design an organizational architecture that allows for multiple projects, clips, project files, assets, and multiple ways to search to find it all at your fingertips, in seconds. Tagging, adding meta-data, and creating naming conventions is possible when using a remote collaboration platform. And it’s not possible on less sophisticated cloud-based tools that may be cheap, free, or outdated.
“I think most people realized that as long as you can receive the footage in some way, you don’t need to be face-to-face to be able to create a finished video.”
— MediaSilo Customer
Along with the footage itself, there are often camera logs and script supervisor notes that correspond to the footage. Keeping all of these assets where anyone on the team can review them is invaluable and can save enormous amounts of time throughout the life of the project when key documents are constantly referenced and needed.
Using a platform like MediaSilo allows you to upload dailies directly into your account and instantly share files with your collaborators, while allowing commenters to leave feedback directly on the files, or send private links for more contained review sessions.
With a robust asset management and storage solution, relevant files can be organized in one place, allowing producers, project managers and anyone on the team to add, revise, delete, and update any documents as needed so that the entire team is always working from the most current version of the materials.
Stage 2: From Raw Footage to Rough Cut
Ready. Set. Rough.
The rough cut or offline edit is where your show, commercial, or film starts to come together as a story. Typically, this is a complicated process as the editor needs to review all the footage and determine how to best tell the story while maintaining the vision of the team. Carefully logged and tagged footage helps in this stage as it makes the work of the editor more efficient. With less time spent searching for clips and director’s notes, the editor has time to think creatively about the story arc.
In some cases, there may even be more than one editor working on a project, with various scenes divided up amongst several cutters and assistants. Having multiple editors can create issues staying on the same page while handling review and input from stakeholders. As with any collaborative project, clear communication and organization is key.
After the first pass is created, often using smaller low-quality files called proxies, the editor and director may collaborate to create a “director’s cut.” Easily being able to share project files for review with the director is essential so he or she has a broader view of the footage available.
Once the rough cut is complete, it is sent to other team members to review. At times, the team reviewing the cut can be large, and global. Using a tool that allows collaborators to make timestamped comments ensures smoother communication. All of the comments and input need to be collected and tracked, so that revisions can be made efficiently and in a way that takes all feedback into account.
“By creating proxies and sharing material internally, we were able to work remotely having great results. Then, we shared rough cuts to directors and clients for a more secure way to get feedback.”
— MediaSilo Customer
Finding a place for placeholder assets
The rough cut phase is also where temporary or placeholder graphics, sound elements, music, visual effects, and color correction are introduced for reference. These assets can be sourced from font libraries, stock footage collections, music libraries, and sound effects catalogs. Keeping track of these assets is critical to the success of the rough cut.
As all editors know, every cut has versions that use different assets, takes, or edits to achieve the ideal finished product. Versioning can be a challenge, as keeping track of subtle changes is tricky and often requires diligence and attention to detail.
A well-thought-out naming convention is a crucial, albeit complicated, aspect of any post-production workflow. While it’s sometimes seen as superstitious, many post-production veterans will tell you that you should never name a version “final” — nothing guarantees another round of edits more reliably. But there is also a practical reason for that. Small errors are caught and changes must be made, making it very difficult to tell which final version is actually final.
“Collaboration platforms make it easy to access files between teammates especially in remote conditions because it makes sending files more efficient.”
— MediaSilo Customer
Instead, using a naming convention that incorporates dates, revision numbers, and sometimes even colors, can help manage a project that has had a large number of changes made to it.
Finally, when all of the elements are in place and agreed upon in the rough cut, the cut is locked. This “picture lock” stage means that there will be no more changes made to the overall structure of the edit, and that it’s time to move on to finishing.
With MediaSilo’s versioning features, you can keep track of all of a file’s versions easily in one place. Shared links automatically update with the newest file, and reviewers can easily toggle between old and new versions to see changes and resolve comments.
Stage 3: The Post Production Team
Who’s Who
While getting to picture lock in the offline edit or rough cut is a huge part of the post-production process, there is still a lot of work to be done before the project is completed. Many details still need to be finalized, and finishing touches need to be applied to various aspects of the piece to create a finished work. Imagine an art gallery, in which all of the pencil sketches on the walls will soon be replaced with real paintings.
To create the final masterpiece, many people and players fall in and out of the workflow. It takes a village to make a movie! When watching the credits roll at the end of a film or TV show, you’re reminded of all the human touchpoints within the post-production process. Keeping track of all of them and assigning user roles at this stage is critical to ensuring that the appropriate people have access to the correct cuts at the right time.
Editors / Finishing Team / Artists – The online editing process, or “conform”, is usually when the original, full-size footage files are accessed again, and inserted into the cut in place of the smaller proxies. Close collaboration between the offline editor and the finishing and online artists is critical. When working remotely, everyone will need access to the same elements in order to accurately transition from locked rough cut to final online conform.
VFX – The creation of visual effects is a detail-oriented process that may require working on each frame of the footage individually. Tiny details, such as shadow and lighting, can throw off the realism of the effect for even the most casual viewer. And often a particular visual effect, or piece of CGI work, will go through multiple rounds of revisions and approvals before being inserted into the online edit.
Graphic Designers – The online phase of post-production is when the final type treatments are discussed, fonts and logos are designed and chosen, and overall composition is determined for any graphic elements. Often an entirely separate company may be in charge of the titles and graphics. They will provide options for the graphics work to the entire team and input will be given by the team, just as in the other phases of the cut. Once reviewed and approved, usually remotely, the finished elements will be placed in the final piece.
“Clients and directors are adapting and trusting the post-production process more and more every day. They are using technology to their advantage and shortening reviewing time by getting the videos right in their phones and computers having the opportunity to watch them anytime, anywhere.”
— MediaSilo Customer
Colorists – Careful color grading makes a film more cohesive by better matching footage from different days and places, and under different lighting conditions. This helps the finished piece feel more like a uniform whole and sets the mood and tone for the entire film. It’s always a good idea to view the work on a variety of monitors of all sizes and qualities, to simulate the experience of different viewers using all kinds of personal devices. What might seem pleasantly dark and moody on one device, may simply be impossible to see on another.
Musicians and Composers – Music is one of the most powerful components of a film, tv show, or ad. When the editor first starts composing the rough cut, temporary music or a “scratch track” is often used to give a general sense of how the scene will feel with music in place. But once the picture is locked, final music needs to be locked down, too. If stock music or an existing song is to be used, the rights must be secured. If original music is to be created, the composer will begin scoring to the picture. This process can often include several rounds of compositions and revisions for each piece or scene, and tracking the versions is key, as is sharing files remotely.
Sound Editors – Sound design can play an important element in bringing a film, television show, or commercial to life. Sound design can be as simple as enhancing or adding footsteps to a scene in which a character is walking, or as complex as creating an entire auditory language for a cinematic world. Naturally, no two filmmakers will choose the same elements for a particular sound, so choosing sounds is quite a creative endeavor, and having the team review and agree on them is also an important part of the post-production workflow.
During the finishing process, an entire ecosystem of different users can focus their energy on specific elements of the ad, show, or movie — but they must all be seamlessly integrated into the process in order for the end product to be effective. Keeping track of versions, examining minute details, and providing access to those who need it (when they need it) is crucial in creating an elegant and seamless workflow.
MediaSilo’s user permissions allow you to easily control who has access to your content and exactly what they can do with it. Use one of our standard user roles, or create your own custom roles for each team member.
Stage 4: After the Final Cut
One for Me, One for You
Once the picture is locked and the masterpiece has been fully developed, it feels like the end of the line. But, wait, there is still more. Two important final steps are needed to complete the finished piece: delivery to a host of other teams, departments, and vendors who need to begin the sales and distribution process, and archiving in a media storage system.
Delivery
When post production ends, a whole new phase of the process begins. Before signing off on a project, an editor or post production supervisor must ensure that the project is delivered to any other team that might need it. This could include internal departments or outside vendors, depending on the size and scope of the production.
Marketing and distribution teams will need to generate promotional materials, that may include trailers and promos, photographic assets, printed posters and artwork, or press kits. While many of these will have been in the works throughout the post process, they are often subject to versioning and team approvals just like the film. Because the content is so closely intertwined with the film, the versions and input need to be centralized where team members can always access the latest materials.
Captioning and localization is often handled by a third-party vendor, who will need full access to audio and video files to complete their work. For an international release, the film or tv show may need to be captioned in a variety of languages, dubbed, or even reformatted entirely to fit the specifications of international distribution platforms.
Traffic managers or broadcast business managers might oversee the process as the piece gets sent to networks, studios, theaters, digital portals, or other final users. And each is likely to have his or her own preferred specifications. Some will request files in a particular file size, format, or compression algorithm that is best suited to their own systems. Security will have to be maintained for any projects that might be proprietary or attractive to eager fans or competitors.
The threat of content leaks and piracy is a huge concern for pre-release materials. MediaSilo has built-in SafeStream technology for both visual and forensic watermarking, keeping your content safe while you share to all of your vendors.
Archiving
In addition to outputs, all of the elements that went into making the piece, including the original camera footage, camera logs, XML files of metadata, sound elements, visual effects elements, graphics, and any versions of the masters will all need to be prepared for storage and archiving, so they can be found and accessed later if needed. A cataloging and naming convention is a good idea, since it’s often difficult to remember all the little things that were done months or even years later. A versatile and robust storage platform is critical to being able to find what you need for later revisions, and to create future files as needed.
Non-Traditional Workflows
While we’ve talked about how things are typically done, each project has its own unique needs, and post-production workflows can be created based on the way a particular project comes together. Today’s increasing use of remote collaboration makes non-traditional workflows even more common, and adds new challenges to designing them. Flexibility is often critical in making things happen efficiently. In some cases, a phase of post-production may start before the typical preceding ones are complete. For example, time-consuming visual effects may have to be underway before the picture is locked. Or music may be composed before the shoot is even complete, so that it can be played on set and the characters can react specifically to it. The key to managing an unconventional workflow is organization. Without it, a huge amount of time and work can be wasted. So it becomes even more important to have a well-synchronized team and a solid post-production structure when using a non-traditional workflow.
Conclusion
Today’s post-production workflows bear almost no resemblance at all to how things were done
20-30 years ago in the days of tape-to-tape editing and processing actual film. And post-production continues to change every day, as new technologies and needs arise. With an increasing percentage of production being done with all or part of the team operating remotely, up-to-date sharing solutions and digital collaboration are more important than ever.
“I think this will be the way to work from now on. I don’t think we will ever go back to the way it was.”
— MediaSilo Customer
We can already see significant changes coming, such as dumping footage from cameras to post tools, VR and AR formats, new finishing considerations for virtual production, and finishing platforms that seamlessly combine offline, online, and color grading capabilities for users of all levels.
What will never change is the need to be organized, team-oriented, and collaborative when undergoing a post-production project. New technologies will only bring new complexities and building a foundation for an elegant workflow will serve you now, and… to infinity and beyond.
Find out how MediaSilo by EditShare can help your post-production team get projects reviewed and approved faster. Contact us to get started.
The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) wrapped its 29th annual Tech Retreat in Palm Springs last week, and EditShare was honored to meet with attendees in the Innovation Zone. This show is one of the most anticipated events in the media engineering world, where industry leaders, scientists, creatives and organizations gather to discuss innovative new technologies, standards and practices.
From cutting-edge technology discussions to collaborative innovations, join us as we unwrap the key takeaways and exciting developments that unfolded at the highly anticipated event.
AI continues to dominate the conversation
HPA President Seth Hallen took on the task of programming the AI track of the main program, which discussed topics ranging from using GenAI as a screenwriting partner and pre-production assistant to demystifying AI in the supply chain.
Some worry that AI means you soon won’t be able to trust what you see, while others believe it could help accelerate content creation by as much as 50% by removing mundane tasks from your workflow. Only time will tell, but a look back at this interview on the launch of Photoshop 25 years ago might improve your outlook.
Five years into MovieLabs 2030 Vision
Our friend Mark Turner, Program Director, Production Technology at MovieLabs, led a “State of the Union,” providing an update on the progress of their 2030 Vision. Mark and his MovieLab partners hosted several sessions to discuss industry advancements and identify gaps that need to be filled.
“We’re approaching five years into our odyssey towards ‘ProductionLandia’ – an aspirational place where media creation workflows are interoperable, efficient, secure-by-design, and seamlessly flexible,” said Leon Silverman, HPA founder and past president. “It is the destination – and the 2030 Vision is our roadmap to get there. What we are finding is that this Vision resonates well beyond Hollywood and that the HPA Tech Retreat has become the vital meeting place for fellow travelers to learn all about MovieLabs’ work while MovieLabs gains visibility into pioneering developments that would otherwise go under our radar.”
Themes at the event included implementing the MovieLabs Ontology for Media Creation, Bringing the “Studio in the Cloud” to Fruition and Enabling Interoperable Workflows. Mark stressed that while there has been tremendous progress, they still have a lot of work to do to achieve the 2023 Vision.
Exciting news from EditShare
We were excited to demonstrate how our products help enhance the quality and efficiency of production and post-production processes, particularly for remote work and seamless cloud integration.
With Swift Link, we address the need for storage solutions that connect multiple facilities and integrate with the cloud, catering to users working remotely or from home. Swift Link significantly improves remote client speeds over VPNs or high-latency connections, boosting throughput up to 10 times. This technology allows users to preview and edit proxies and high-res media, optimizing connections for remote work without altering existing equipment or workflows.
Now available with all new EFS systems, EditShare Connect features new swift link technology, a revolutionary productivity tool turning your on-premise storage into your own private cloud for remote editing workflows. Reliably connect from any location using automatic latency detection and use your favorite NLE software on any OS to work on your media remotely and securely.
EditShare One, a new user experience, streamlines creative processes, with initial applications like Producer View facilitating task assignments and feedback delivery across dispersed teams. Producers can mark key points in transcriptions for editors through the FLOW panel, enhancing collaboration. AI-driven services, such as speech-to-text transcriptions, integrate seamlessly into FLOW, expediting work and enabling automatic creation of rough cuts or integration of selected clips into Adobe Premiere sequences. This can be extended even further with the new integration between FLOW and MediaSilo, allowing users to share links, create presentations and collaborate throughout the production team.
Thanks for the Double-Double®
HPA surprised us by bringing in an In-N-Out Cookout Truck to close out the show. The conversations with customers and knowledge gained were unbeatable, but an Animal Style Double-Double® comes in at a close second.
Thank you to HPA for another remarkable event that helps keep us on the cutting edge of the M&E industry.
MediaSilo’s panels for Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects and DaVinci Resolve Studio* make uploading a breeze
Sometimes, at the end of a long editing session, you just want to hit “export” and call it night. But everyone has experienced waiting for exports to complete, then initiating an upload to a review platform, and then waiting for that to complete. Then, you have to wait for the transcode to complete. Then, you have to ensure it plays right and the watermark is applied. Then, you have to send emails to producers and directors. Next, you wait for their comments.
The next day, editors try to figure out how to match the comments from emails back into their timelines. Then, you have to be careful because making changes affects the timecode, which throws off another set of comments where a reviewer typed in the timecode in a Slack message. And so on.
MediaSilo’s Panels for Premiere Pro, After Effects and DaVinci Resolve Studio solve this whole mess for editors. Let’s investigate the panels and see how they can save you time and grief.
MediaSilo Panel for Premiere Pro and Resolve
The MediaSilo panel gives you access to assets in MediaSilo right within your NLE. It also allows you to export a timeline with a single click and have it uploaded into the right project folder on MediaSilo. You can choose your upload settings and identify the people who need to be notified. Once the team has made notes in MediaSilo’s review mode, you can immediately import those comments as markers into your sequence.
Those features streamline so many manual steps in the review and approval process. Basically, the MediaSilo panel gets you home in time for dinner.
DaVinci Resolve Studio
Once the panel is installed, Open DaVinci Resolve Studio and go to Workspace -> Workflow Integrations -> MediaSilo. A floating window appears with your projects. It uses a helper app called “Electron,” so don’t quit it. Your assets appear in the projects. When you float your mouse over each asset, you can preview (Resolve only), download, create a new version, or Open in MediaSilo.
Premiere Pro
Install the MediaSilo Panel from the Creative Cloud desktop app. Go to “Stock & Marketplace” and search for MediaSilo. Once the extension is installed in Premiere, open the Window menu > Extensions > MediaSilo.
After Effects
Install the MediaSilo Panel from the Creative Cloud desktop app. Go to “Stock & Marketplace” and search for MediaSilo. Once the extension is installed in After Effects, open the Window menu > Extensions > MediaSilo.
Downloading assets into your project
If you want to include one of your MediaSilo assets in your local project, just drag it into the media. If you prefer to download a proxy version, click the download icon and select “Proxy” from the drop-down menu. Proxies are smaller, lower-resolution versions of the original footage. They are handy when you are putting together a rough cut. And when your project is ready for color grading, you “conform” it to the original, high-resolution clips.
Exporting your timeline directly to MediaSilo is a breeze with the panel. Once you’ve completed your cut, click “Export Timeline” (Premiere says, “Export Sequence”) in the MediaSilo Panel. The “Export Sequence/Timeline” window opens up. You can choose your encoding preset based on your needs. Sometimes, you need the highest quality version to go up, and sometimes, you just need a lower-resolution version for quick approval. Choose the whole sequence or just from the In/Out points. You can specify a title and add a description that will appear in MediaSilo.
“Upload Location” is the next option. Start typing the project name, folder or asset with which this upload should be associated. This step is important because an editor may work on projects with different security levels.
The “Recipients” field saves you the hassle of waiting for an upload to complete before notifying reviewers. Enter the names of the individuals who need to receive a review link, and they will be notified once the asset is ready for viewing.
Create a new version of your timeline
Typically, when I’m ready to output a new version of an edit, I export it from the timeline. If the service I’m using for review and approval (non-MediaSilo) keeps track of versions, I usually just cross my fingers and hope it picks up on the new file coming in. Most of the time, I just append a “v2” or “v3,” and then manually identify it as a new version once the upload has completed. Then, I send a message to alert the reviewer.
The MediaSilo panel takes a different, more efficient approach. This feature is so simple that it took me a moment to understand how it works.
This process applies if you have already exported your timeline once and you need to export another version after some changes have been made. Select the clip in the panel and click on the button to share a new version.
This will bring up the export window. Rather than simply exporting the asset, all these options are designed to help you streamline creating a new version of the asset. This way, you can give the new version its own title, and MediaSilo will keep it associated with the initial version. This means the links that you have previously sent out will continue to work.
You can even change the access on the new version, and reviewers will be notified when it is ready. You’ll also receive a notification when they view it. This little box saves so many steps in the process of exporting compared to the process I outlined at the beginning of this section.
Encoding Presets
The encoding presets section allows you to choose the resolution for your upload. Sometimes, you need to get a change up quickly or share a low-quality version with a collaborator. So you can choose a lower-resolution setting. If you need to upload at a higher quality, choose your “current render settings.”
Watermarking and security
If you have watermarking turned on with your project, that will get automatically applied in MediaSilo. This is really helpful for editors because they don’t need to turn on and off a watermark within their NLE. In addition to the visible watermark, MediaSilo supports forensic watermarking with SafeStream. This technology ensures that any leaks can be traced back to their source.
MediaSilo also supports the ability to use your own custom email server for email notifications and 2-factor authentication — to ensure an even higher level of security.
Support articles
MediaSilo offers support articles for Resolve, Premiere and After Effects that show you how to install and use the panels in detail.
Conclusion
The MediaSilo panels in DaVinci Resolve Studio and Adobe Premiere Pro will save you time and energy. They help to make collaboration, review and approval a much more streamlined process.
*Note: The MediaSilo + DaVinci Resolve Studio integration is only available on the DaVinci Resolve Studio paid tier. You can find their pricing here.
When you send large video files, you can encounter all sorts of challenges. When your team is collaborating on a video project, you often have to send multiple versions, track review and approval comments, and make sure everything is secure. However, video collaboration workflows are more demanding than your typical cloud-based file-sharing workflows. This can be even more challenging when the creative team and the IT team propose different solutions for sharing video files.
Here are 10 of the top ways to share large video files and their pros and cons. I’ll also share things I wish IT knew about the unique demands of video review and approval processes. So, let’s dig in to find out which solution is best for your video collaboration workflow.
WeTransfer
WeTransfer’s simple interface makes it easy to share files up to 2GB. To upload larger files, you’ll need to upgrade to Pro or Premium.
WeTransfer uses a web browser interface for uploading. With some browsers, like Safari, you can run into an issue where the browser will time out before your large upload is complete. This isn’t the case when apps feature an app that installs on your local machine.
While WeTransfer Pro does a great job of sharing your final exports in the delivery phase of your project, it lacks review and approval features, so it might not be the right tool for collaborating during the post-production phase.
The other major drawback is that WeTransfer does not recover well from an interrupted file transfer. You’ll need to re-initiate if your transfer is interrupted (maybe due to a bad WiFi connection). If your upload is a large file, this can mean a significant amount of lost time, and you still won’t know if it will complete on a second go-around.
Dropbox
Dropbox is well known for its ability to sync files between the cloud and your various devices. But since DropBox Business Plus caps file sizes at 250GB, it runs into similar constraints as WeTransfer Pro. DropBox does feature “Replay,” which allows for commenting on videos, but it is not available on the least expensive plan. Additionally, the replay feature is limited to 10 file uploads on their top plan.
While Dropbox offers reliable syncing, it can be confusing when working with two different organizations. It tends to demand that both parties upgrade. That makes it confusing when you are trying to figure out who is hosting which files. A common question that arises is, “If I delete this file on my computer, will it vanish from yours?”
Post-production professionals need to know that they can deliver files without confusing mismatched subscription tiers between vendors. So, if you find yourself dealing with multiple projects and multiple clients, getting everyone to collaborate through Dropbox is a tall order.
Box
Box enjoys a solid reputation for handling lots of smaller files well. Their lowest tier caps file sizes at 250MB. (The highest tier caps out at 150GB per file). This gives you an idea of where their emphasis lies. There are no review or commenting features associated with videos.
Box is a great example of the difference between typical workflows that IT supports vs. media workflows. While an IT team may be accustomed to supporting petabytes of small files, this is different from workflows that have a smaller overall footprint, but the individual files are larger.
Google Drive
Google knows how to sync and send large files. Google Drive is inexpensive and reliable. Google offers a web interface and a downloadable app that syncs locally. The downloadable app is more reliable than the web interface for large transfers.
However, by many accounts, Google Drive is slower than Dropbox. My personal experience is that Google will eventually get your file uploaded. But sometimes, you can run into a frustrating scenario where interrupted syncs hang. This causes Google to stall out until Google Drives figures out that a file has been moved or renamed. This can put a halt to your other uploads.
Google also changed how sharing works between paying and free users.
If everyone within an organization is on a paid tier, then file sharing works well. But if you are sharing between organizations, Google will basically push both sides to upgrade. It is frustrating because you cannot know whether the person on the other side of the share has a paid account. I just ran into this a couple of weeks ago. I had a paid version, and the other team had free accounts (but I didn’t know this). The other team had to get their CEO to join the shared folder to accept my shared folder because he had a paid account.
Post-production pros need to know that the delivery of their assets is friction-free. You don’t want your client hit with promotional “nag-ware” when you are trying to deliver your final assets.
OneDrive
Microsoft enjoys a solid reputation with IT teams for good reason. Their products cater to the needs of corporate users. Microsoft places an emphasis on security and integration with Windows.
However, OneDrive is not oriented toward post-production. It lacks features oriented toward video review and approval and version tracking. This makes it a good solution for sharing graphics and project files, but it isn’t great for managing video projects.
Vimeo
Vimeo has been the champion for preserving video quality for films delivered to the web. Vimeo is a great tool for the distribution of assets online, where video quality trumps workflow efficiency. It works well for embedding your finished project on your website. In the past few years, Vimeo has also been adding collaboration, AI, and live-streaming features.
However, in my personal experience, I have found uploading to Vimeo painfully slow. Transcoding also seems to take longer than other services. It will be interesting to see if Vimeo’s performance can keep pace with their aspirations.
Resilio
Resilio uses P2P technology to facilitate the syncing of large files between multiple collaborators. This is a powerful technology, but it does require the app to be installed on the computers of both the sender and the recipient. This means Resilio is a nice solution for frequent collaborators. However, it’s really a no-go for client work where somebody just wants to click a link, quickly compare versions, and leave some comments.
Frame.io
Adobe’s frame.io platform is a popular solution for review and approval. It features integration into popular NLEs, and tools for managing versions. Adobe is working to incorporate AI features into frame.io as well.
However, my experiences with frame.io over the past year have been challenging. They’ve acknowledged these challenges and reported that they are working on an overhauled version of their software.
Infrastructure solutions: Aspera, Signant, and EditShare EFS
IBM Aspera and Signant Media Shuttle are robust solutions that integrate your team’s IT infrastructure. They’re often used by broadcasters to move large files. However, many teams are finding challenges with these solutions. And they are expensive.
EditShare EFS has built-in file acceleration for large transfers from one EFS system to another. This can be particularly advantageous to customers who have multiple facilities and the transfer software is included in the standard EFS license – no additional costs are involved.
MediaSilo
MediaSilo delivers a platform designed specifically to tackle the challenges of video collaboration. It integrates right into Adobe Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve. This allows editors to save huge amounts of time when exporting, uploading, and versioning.
MediaSilo allows users to upload through the browser or the desktop app. MediaSilo’s robust uploader gives you real-time feedback on the speed and progress of your uploads. If you’re connection is interrupted, MediaSilo does a great job of completing the transfer when you are reconnected. It is also easy to cancel an upload and clear the queue. This avoids the hangs and syncing issues that other solutions run into.
The SafeStream technology ensures that assets can be forensically tracked to individual users, and watermarks deter IP theft.
MediaSilo’s review and approval tools allow for easy commenting and versioning. This helps everyone on the team to know if specific notes have been addressed. It is easy to send your collaborators a MediaSilo link, and they don’t have to worry about having an account, what tier they are on, or sync settings. MediaSilo’s strength is wrapping powerful features in a simple interface. If you need to send a collaborator a video file for review, it doesn’t get easier than MediaSilo.
Conclusion
Moving around massive video files is a challenge without the right tool. Sometimes, you just need to send someone a file, but other times, you need to gather notes, compare versions, and intelligently group assets. Video files present challenges that are different from syncing a bunch of documents. Tools like MediaSilo, and EditShare EFS can smooth out your workflow and simplify remote collaboration.
If you’re unfamiliar with the church world, the extent of video production used in megachurches’ weekly services might surprise you. The definition of a “megachurch” is any church with a weekly attendance of 2,000 or more. They come in various denominations. In the United States, they are mainly protestant and often non-denominational.
Many of these churches actually use two video teams. One team runs the “live production” for the weekly service. This generally includes multiple cameras, image magnification (IMAG), live switching, slides, and streaming the service online. Furthermore, megachurches often employ a smaller “film crew” to create elements such as bumpers that complement the week’s message, commonly known as a sermon.
We’ll take a closer look at how the video teams of these houses of worship function and some of the challenges they face.
Video is a key medium for megachurches
It’s reported that 66% of megachurches “always or often” have video segments as a part of their services. Video helps these churches communicate a consistent message to their communities. Some churches meet at a single location with multiple services, while other churches have adopted a multi-site approach to their ministries. In either case, a core creative team usually helps produce design and media (with the help of volunteers) for the entire organization.
Live Production
The “Live Production” video team helps to produce the Sunday service. 75% of megachurches use IMAGE (image magnification) technology to help the crowd get a better look at the speakers and worship leaders. This involves a multi-cam setup that generally employs professional cameras, broadcast zoom lenses, and support such as jibs, gimbals, and beefy tripods.
Volunteers trained by the staff on the live production team frequently operate the cameras. This also offers an excellent opportunity for students and older teens to get some hands-on experience with gear. Even though I didn’t attend a megachurch, I remember as a teen learning to work a soundboard, lavs, recording gear (cassette tape! It was the 90s!), and projectors, and I’m still using those skills today (well, maybe not the cassette tape skills).
These live production teams need to have a firm grasp on camera operation, running professional cabling through long runs, taking live direction over headsets, or even wireless focus pulling.
Over 90% of these churches also use streaming for their services. I was surprised to learn that 45% of Americans have viewed a church service online, even though many don’t attend church in person.
This actually produces a large amount of data that needs to be managed and referenced for special events, compilation videos, or social highlights. Increasingly, ministries have needed more robust digital asset management tools to help them disseminate these assets to their teams.
Multi-site megachurches
Many megachurches have adopted the multi-site model. In this model, there is a main campus and satellite campuses. Generally speaking, each satellite campus has its own set of volunteers and worship music leaders. The sermon may be live-streamed from the central location. Other times, the satellite locations use local pastors to deliver the message. There are multiple ways of executing this strategy and many times, the satellite locations grow into their own autonomous congregations.
Church film crew
In addition to the live production crew, megachurches often have a “film crew.” Typically, a smaller team focuses on producing pre-recorded material intended for playback during the service. In many ways, this parallels the setup of professional sports broadcasts or even “Saturday Night Live.” In both kinds of shows, there is a live presentation, and they also cut away to pre-recorded segments.
The teams that create these pre-recorded segments function as small film crews rather than broadcast teams. So they might use equipment such as cinema cameras, cinema lenses, and audio techniques more commonly found on a movie shoot.
The film crews could be volunteers or even contracted on an occasional basis. The sermon series “bumpers” could also incorporate motion graphics and 3D effects. The goal of these teams is to use the beauty of cinematography and the emotional impact of storytelling to touch their audience. These teams use aesthetics and story as an extension of the Sunday message. They try to find ways to visualize the text of scripture or the stories of their community.
Challenges of video production in a megachurch
Most of the time, church leaders aren’t media professionals. This leads to challenging situations around review and approval processes. All video professionals know that it takes a long time to do high-quality work. We also know that people outside of production have difficulty understanding the necessary timelines to deliver solid work. Sometimes, those mismatched expectations can lead to burnout. In the article, Life after Church, several filmmakers describe those challenges.
Communication is key to helping leadership teams and creative teams work together in healthy ways. Creative briefs, budgets, and time estimates can help align expectations regarding production.
When you enter post-production, the review and approval process can be tricky on any project. This is where tools like MediaSilo can come in and streamline the process. It makes it much easier to work together as a team.MediaSilo also makes it simple for teams to find and repurpose archival footage. This helps to keep the video team’s efforts valuable into the future so that you aren’t digging through hard drives looking for clips.
Streamlining review and approval
Church film crews (often just a couple) also cover things like international mission trips, fundraising videos, testimonials and more. When working on the road, it is common to need to “get something up so they can see something.”
However, WiFi networks can be slow and unreliable in the field. MediaSilo’s uploader is one of its best features. It gives you the percentage uploaded, the upload speed, and the estimated time for the upload to complete. If the upload is interrupted, MediaSilo will let you know. Then, it will continue where it left off once a connection has been re-established.
When you approach the end of a project, you can enter into a phase where you repeatedly upload versions and tweak a video. We all know how disappointing it is to attempt a large upload to a cloud provider and have it fail after partially completing the upload. You can waste hours trying alternative services, re-uploading, or changing formats.
MediaSilo features panels for Adobe Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve so that you can go right from your timeline into the cloud, and reviewers will be notified. This eliminates the frustration of a multi-step export, upload, checking the upload, and then sending out a review email/message. This automation can distinguish between getting home in time for dinner or getting stuck late in the edit bay on a Saturday night.
Churches and feature-length films
As filmmaking has become more accessible, churches have embarked on feature-length documentaries and even narrative films. The Kendrick brothers (Fireproof, Courageous, War Room) started their film career out of Sherwood Baptist Church. That experience helped them grow as filmmakers, and they eventually started their own production company, Kendrick Brothers.
The church has a complicated and evolving relationship with Hollywood. The award-winning documentary Reel Redemption, directed by film critic Tyler Smith, goes into the history of how the church has engaged Hollywood. Smith covers it all from the Hayes-code to the international hit, Passion of the Christ, to schmaltzy faith-based films, to the latest entrants that have sought to improve on the craft of filmmaking. It’s an insight deep-dive into this little known chapter of Hollywood history.
This system has provided a network where young people can start as volunteers on a live production team on Sundays and move up to bigger projects with larger audiences while growing their careers as filmmakers.
Conclusion
According to NPR, there are over 1,800 megachurches in America. Many of these are amongst the fastest-growing churches in America. However, the pandemic did have a substantial impact on in-person church attendance. But with over 60% of the US population attending church at least once a month, we will continue to see the importance of video production grow in the faith-based space.
In the same way, as we are seeing the cross-pollination of disciplines between television broadcast tools and film production techniques, we’ll see collaboration between live production and film crews in churches.
EditShare tools like MediaSilo and EFS can help facilitate that collaboration with solutions for on-site storage, remote collaboration, and review and approval.
It will be exciting to see this space continue to grow. And it will also be good to see it develop in its capacity to nurture artists while still faithfully sharing its message.
Data breaches are costly – creatively and financially. Trust your content to a product that values data security. With just a few clicks, you can easily protect pre-released or confidential content, ultimately protecting creative impact and revenue potential.
Users can now watermark images and documents with email, name and/or custom text with SafeStream technology at the Workspace, Project or Review Link level. Whether you’re trying to protect scripts, key art, screenplays or call sheets, we help keep your projects safe and sound. Sleep better knowing you don’t have to worry about waking up to a catastrophic content leak.
Apply Watermarking Requirements to Your Workspace
As an administrator, you can require visible image and document watermarking for every new project created in your workspace.
Start by clicking the gear icon in the left-side navigation bar, which will take you to the Administration page. In the SafeStream tab, select Watermark Settings from the menu to open your workspace-level watermark settings. Now, toggle on Apply Visible Image and Document Watermarking.
Next, use the dropdown menus under Image Template and Document Template and select your default watermark template to apply to new projects. You can choose a template that displays a viewer’s full name and email address, the viewer’s email address only or a custom template created for your workspace.
On all templates, the watermarks will be displayed in a “wallpaper” format, which repeats diagonally across the entire image or document.
Apply Watermarking to a Project
You can apply visible image and document watermarking to all images and documents inside a project, provided the files match our list of supported file types.
From the project settings, a project owner or administrator can find watermarking options in the SafeStream tab. Simply toggle on the Apply Visible Image and Document Watermarking tab and use the dropdown menu to select the template you want to apply to the images and documents in this project. Whichever template you choose, the viewer’s identifying information will be displayed in a “wallpaper” format, which repeats diagonally across the entire image or document.
Apply Watermarking to Unwatermarked Files in a Review Link
Applying watermarks to images and documents at the Review-Link level allows you to protect select items you’re sending without using those watermarks on the entire project.
Click the Advanced button in the bottom left in the Share for Review window, and toggle on the Apply Visible Image and Document Watermarking tab in the Watermarking section. The default templates chosen by your administrator will display automatically. You can keep these selections or choose a different template. Whichever template you choose, the viewer’s identifying information will be displayed in a “wallpaper” format, which repeats diagonally across the entire image or document.
If these watermark templates display a viewer’s identifying information, you must enter link recipients in the Audience tab on the left side of the share window.
Your choice of watermark template can affect the link’s Access setting.
If a watermark displays the viewer’s name, you must select Workspace users and enter workspace users as recipients.
If a watermark only shows the viewer’s email address, then you have the additional access options of Public and Password protected. When you select Public or Password protected, you can enter any email address in the recipients field, even if that email does not belong to your MediaSilo workspace.
For more detailed information, please visit our support page or contact us at sales@mediasilo for a demo.
You already know how important good audio and sound is for a film. When was the last time you watched through the entirety of a video with bad-quality audio? As an audience, we can deal with a certain level of poor video quality, provided the sound quality is still good. However, as soon as the sound is bad, we’ll stop watching.
While filmmaking is a visual medium for storytelling, it’s undeniable that audio plays a huge role in the process. To create great films and videos, you need to produce great audio and sound. Let’s take a look at 8 tips to achieve great film audio production.
Microphone choices
First things first, let’s talk about microphones. Yes, every camera nowadays comes fitted with its in-built microphone, but let’s be honest…these simply don’t cut it.
If you’re serious about capturing great audio and sound, you must invest appropriately. Just as we invest in cameras to achieve beautiful visuals, we need to invest in microphones and develop professional microphone techniques to capture stunning audio.
For video production, there are two main microphones to consider:
Shotgun mics
Long and cylindrical, the shotgun microphone is directional. It picks up sounds directly in front of the mic while rejecting and toning down ambient sounds to the rear and sides.
Shotgun microphones are highly versatile, allowing you to capture all kinds of sound, from actor dialogue to room noise and wild sound. Because of its directional nature, you will need to think about where you place a shotgun microphone and how you use it. We’ll take a look at how to do this below.
Some of the broadcast-grade shotgun mics you may want to consider:
Lavalier microphones, often termed “lav mics” or “lavs” in the industry, are the classic small-form clip-on microphones you’ll see used frequently in interview videos or where a presenter is talking to the camera.
Unlike their shotgun counterparts, lavalier microphones are very small and designed to be lowkey and unobtrusive. Because of this, Lav mics don’t really pick up that much background noise. Lavs are much more about capturing quality, clear audio from the person they’re attached to.
Some of the broadcast-grade lavalier mics you may want to consider:
To boom, or not to boom? That’s a common question when tackling how to capture great audio during video production. As discussed above, there’s a clear difference between shotgun and lav mics. To capture really high-quality audio and sound for your film project, you need to consider the following:
Which one you’re going to use
When you’re going to use it
Where you’re going to use it
With a lavalier microphone, you’ll capture clear, crisp human speech from the actor. However, it can create a sense of closeness for the audience, which may feel a little jarring or strange if we’re watching a wide shot. This is where you need to think about the microphone perspective.
Shotgun microphones can be attached to a boom pole, which then gives you the freedom to experiment with the microphone perspective. If you’re looking for closeness, you can bring the boom in closer to the actor. Equally, if you’re going for a wider shot and want to capture a bit more of the room tone or environment, you can bring that boom away so that the audio recording feels more natural with what you see on screen.
Stop and listen
When you’re in the middle of production, firing on all cylinders and juggling ten things at once, it can be easy to forget to check your audio before hitting record. However, it’s an essential part of any professional production.
When you take the time to listen to your audio before each shot, you’re allowing yourself to catch any potential mistakes or errors. You may notice that you can hear the traffic from a distant highway or planes from a nearby flight path. All these details help you to adjust and rethink the way you shoot this particular scene. Or perhaps (I’ve experienced this plenty of times), you realize you need to switch on your microphone!
By taking the time and slowing down to listen and double-check things, we save ourselves a lot of pain further down the line in post-production.
Invest in necessary accessories
Again, just like with cameras, where we buy different lenses and ND filters for specific scenarios, along with tripods, lights and whatever else you can think of, you need to invest in additional accessories and gear for your audio-capturing gear.
Noise-canceling headphones
On the topic of listening to audio before shooting, it’s well worth purchasing a high-quality pair of noise-canceling headphones. These will eliminate all the background noise on set and enable you to focus on the actual sound of the film. This approach often helps you detect any potential mistakes that need to be smoothed out. When the guy with the headphones on set says do it again, you do it again.
Some of the best noise-canceling headphones you may want to consider are:
It’s advisable always to avoid filming in windy conditions at all costs. However, that’s sometimes easier said than done. As filmmakers, we can’t control the weather; therefore, it’s well worth ensuring all your microphones (lavaliers and shotguns) have deadcats. These fluffy mic buffs will shield the condenser from any unwanted noise, such as wind or even a sharp exhale of breath, that could cause the audio to clip and create all kinds of issues in the edit.
Compressors and limiters
Making use of compressors and limiters can help you to smooth out an audio signal. On many higher-end microphones, you may well find that they already come with an in-built option for limiting. Employing a limiter prevents the amplitude of a signal from exceeding a predetermined value. In other words, you hopefully stop any potential clipping from happening.
Meanwhile, a compressor will reduce the volume of louder sounds while amplifying quieter sounds. This effectively compresses the audio signal’s dynamic range, making it “smoother” and easier to work with.
Think about your location
When you’re location scouting in pre-production, don’t just analyze a space from a visual perspective. Think about location in terms of audio.
How does your voice carry in a certain location – is it bouncing off walls and echoing? Are you on a busy flight path? What elements of the environment can you control, and what can you not?
Developing location-sound strategies will help you immensely later in post. Ideally, the more things you control, the better.
Room tone
On the topic of location, it’s a great idea to pick up room noise and ambient sound from the places you shoot in. Think of this as Foley on set.
When you’re in post-production working on your film sound design (more on that below), it can be very difficult (often impossible) to recreate the exact ambiance and match it with the scene you’re working with. Sometimes called “room tone,” this process helps you precisely capture the tone of your room.
For this, you may want to invest in an audio recorder, or you can use something like a shotgun microphone. However, you do it, it’s a really useful habit to have, giving your sound designer much more to work with in the edit.
Clean dialogue
Depending on the type of video or film you’re making, you may want “clean dialogue” capture.
Even if two actors are interacting with each other, going back and forth in a scene, it’s a good idea to have them redo their lines afterward, just one actor at a time. Capturing these lines crisply and clearly, with no interference from anyone else, gives you much more to work with in post-production. Clean dialogue can allow you to speed up lines, cut them out, overlay them elsewhere, and perform many other little tricks in the edit.
Post-production
Typically, the phrase “we’ll fix it in post” should cause you to run for the hills. As a professional filmmaker, you should never rely on post-production as a surefire way to patch up bad production. However, certain elements of post-production audio are essential when it comes to quality audio and sound.
For example, don’t be afraid of SFX. Great filmmakers understand that not everything can be captured during production. When you’re editing your film, you need to work closely with SFX to help build out your environments with sound design, helping to bring the visuals to life and make the audience feel like they’re truly there. This is where capturing things like room tone and ambiance can lend a helping hand.
Additionally, if working with actors, you may also need to capture ADR (audio dialogue replacement) to ensure you’ve got the best-sounding edit possible.
Wrapping up
So, there are 8 great tips to help you capture great audio and sound in your next video. It’s a challenging part of the filmmaking process to perfect, and many filmmakers can shy away from it. However, as this arti
In the ever-changing world of broadcasting, remote projects have transformed the industry. The pandemic showed us what was possible, with production moving from inside studios to live locations and even peoples’ homes, using techniques that may include remote desktop software and cloud platforms such as Zoom and Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Several elements are needed to execute remote broadcasting successfully, including a reliable internet connection, quality broadcast equipment and web-based tools for collaborating on video editing, graphics and more. Broadcasters also face continuously shifting, imminent deadlines, so streamlining workflows and sharing files quickly is imperative. That’s why employing the right collaboration tool is so important.
Why team collaboration is essential for remote broadcasts
Remote broadcasts require capturing massive amounts of audio and video content from remote locations and sending it all to a central facility or studio. The remote production team must collaborate efficiently with that facility to ensure a seamless broadcast.
Digital video transmission enables the delivery of high-quality content and timely updates to their audiences, regardless of the geographical distance between facilities. That’s why having the right equipment is imperative for the success of a remote broadcast.
In this industry, creating and editing content quickly is nonnegotiable. If a single copy of media gets lost or destroyed, finding something else to plug in for that evening’s broadcast in a pinch can cause a frenzy, with producers and editors scrambling to fill the slot. That’s why resilience is essential, along with having alternate media available online at all times. If a producer needs to pivot to a new story at the last minute, they must have access to all the required assets without adding the unnecessary delays of searching for the proper files.
Employing the right video collaboration software can increase your team’s overall efficiency and help establish clear goals. Sharing information quickly and easily saves you the most precious resource available in broadcasting – time. Additionally, when your team sees the results of their work in real-time, it can help boost morale and strengthen the culture.
How MediaSilo accelerates collaboration
MediaSilo’s cloud-based video management and collaboration software is designed to streamline your workflow and video collaboration process. The software provides real-time feedback and file sharing in a secure web-based environment ideal for remote teams.
From a production and post-production standpoint, employing video collaboration software like MediaSilo is an essential ingredient in a remote broadcast team’s success. The tool makes it easy to manage, share, review and present your video projects all in one place. MediaSilo is a creative collaboration HQ that provides the following capabilities:
Asset management
Save time with fast file uploads that allow you to store everything from clips to scripts to project files in one secure location so they are ready to use. Accelerate your team’s creative process with intuitive folder navigation, metadata-rich search and tagging, and flexible user permissions. You’ll also be able to keep your assets current, track changes and update versions as needed.
Streamlined communication
Expedite your review process and make edit requests clear using time-coded comments or on-screen drawings. Brainstorm and collaborate with your entire team, whether in the field or the studio, in real-time with MediaSilo’s cloud-based software (available through the web browser or app). Enable private or password-protected external links—allowing outside collaborators to interact with your team. You can also limit comments to a select user group to keep your information assets confidential.
Showcased content with Spotlight
MediaSilo empowers broadcasters to create bespoke digital experiences that showcase content as intended with customizable templates, pitch decks and microsites. Share access with specific users via password or to a broader audience with open access. Gauge what content gets the most engagement with Insights, the analytics tool that allows you to track activity, viewing location and history of any individual user, file, link or presentation.
Trusted security
Ensure only specific users can access your content with MediaSilo’s password-less login and multi-factor authentication. The most effective theft-deterrent measure is available by placing user-specific SafeStream™ customizable watermarks on your content. You can also generate one-time links to verify user identity, grant secure access to login, and share content securely with private expiration-dated links and role-based user permissions.
Data-driven insights
MediaSilo makes it easy to see your videos’ performance in real time within one central dashboard. You can measure the engagement of your content, review user logs, monitor drop-off points, and more—to see which users and files are the most active. You can also export your data in different formats and track review links to see views, comments, and approvals.
Why broadcast professionals choose MediaSilo
MediaSilo solves many common problems faced by broadcast professionals. Remote broadcasters often encounter unreliable internet upload performance. MediaSilo tracks the progress of your uploads, reports on the speed and recovers the files if your connection is interrupted. Our robust tools for managing user permissions and two-factor authentication mean you never have to worry about gaining secure access to station video and graphic assets.
MediaSilo also helps broadcast professionals with the following:
Organizing, storing and sharing digital media files
Collaboration for vital feedback
Synchronization with your timeline for adequate changes
Managing, sharing, reviewing and presenting video projects
Faster project approvals
Today’s broadcast professionals and post-production teams want the freedom to choose the tools they prefer without compromising the creative process, and that’s where MediaSilo comes in.
Widely known as a go-to platform for post-production professionals in the TV, media and entertainment industries, MediaSilo is used by production companies, broadcasters and content creators worldwide. Providing a centralized hub for media management, collaboration and distribution, MediaSilo streamlines your workflows, accelerates team collaboration and helps you distribute content to the market faster.
MediaSiloallows for easy management of your media files, seamless collaboration for critical feedback, and out-of-the-box synchronization with your timeline for efficient changes. See how MediaSilo is powering modern post-production workflows with a 14-day free trial.
Kim is a seasoned content marketing professional with over 15 years of corporate communications experience. Her sweet spot is with creative writing, both short and long-form, and she has a proven track record working with IBM, Jackson Healthcare, and Walt Disney World, among many others. Kim is also a singer and actor and has been performing on stage and screen since she was a child. She has a great passion for TV and film production and went to school for broadcast journalism.
It’s no secret that Automated Dialogue Replacement (ADR) is not the most revered part of post-production. ADR mixer Greg Crawford jokes that “there are three things people don’t want to do…number one, go to the dentist. Number two, go to the DMV. Number three, do ADR.”
Despite being often shunned or feared due to the perceived complexity of ADR (not to mention the extra work involved), it is a great way to improve audio quality and clean up less-than-perfect dialogue captured during production. Nowadays, the available tools and technologies make it a more viable, easier option than ever before.
A quick recap – what is ADR?
First up, let’s recap on what exactly ADR is. Automated Dialogue Replacement refers to the process of re-recording audio in post-production – typically in a more controlled, quieter setting.
There are a few main reasons why you may want to utilize ADR. These include:
Tech issues. There could have been a problem with the audio captured on set caused by a plane flying overhead or too much bleed-through from another actor’s microphone.
You may want to replace an actor’s vocal performance. This is particularly popular for (but not exclusive to) musicals.
If you’re creating a “TV safe” cut that removes the adult language, for example, ADR is a great way to achieve this.
Creative purposes. From time to time, both actors and directors prefer ADR. There’s a particularly famous example of this: Marlon Brando confessed to mumbling on purpose during his performance in “The Godfather” (1972). He wanted to see the final edit so that he could improve his performance with the full context!
The ADR process today
While the technology has advanced, the principle of ADR is the same. In general, you’ve got two different ways to carry out ADR. First, there’s visual ADR – the process by which an actor listens to a line of dialogue and then aims to match that line of dialogue while watching the performance on screen (with no sound).
Alternatively, you have audio ADR, where the actor will listen to the line of dialogue and recite that dialogue over and over, with the audio recording playing in their headset. It’s agreed that audio ADR may give a slightly better, more accurate result, but these different processes come down to the preference of actor and director.
How to achieve great ADR
Because ADR is recorded in a “clean” environment with no interference, it will most likely feel very jarring and completely wrong if you edit it straight into a scene. Audiences will know almost immediately that this audio was not recorded on set, and it will make for awkward viewing.
Expert ADR mixer Greg Crawford (responsible for ADR on blockbusters including Avengers Infinity War and Spiderman) gave a great interview, shedding light on the process of achieving great ADR.
Ultimately, he always aims to keep as much of the original production performance as possible. Sometimes, his ADR is as nuanced as just pulling a syllable or one word to cover for a moment where there was a rustle of clothing on set. He calls this “surgical ADR.”
However, there are other scenarios where full-blown ADR is called for. Greg discusses the “three Ps” of pitch, performance and placement. He’s constantly looking to match the actor’s ADR pitch and performance with the pitch and performance they gave during production. Alongside this, he’s always looking to match the placement of the microphones on set.
To achieve this:
The same microphones used on set during production are used for ADR
The microphone placement is the same as during production
The room is as large as possible (a smaller room creates more problems with reverb and echo)
The environment reverb is matched
The first three-pointers here are self-explanatory, but the fourth requires a little more work and begins on set.
Matching reverb with Adobe Audition
Reverb is a small detail, but it can make the difference between good ADR and great ADR. Considering you’re already recording room tone anyway, this isn’t too much extra hassle, as the folks at The Film Look expertly demonstrate on YouTube.
ADR recording software to consider
Naturally, when it comes to recording ADR, you’ll need to decide which software you will use for recording, editing and syncing the new dialogue. While the example of Adobe Audition is used above, there are plenty of others to consider:
Pro Tools is a popular, versatile DAW (digital audio workstation) offering plenty of features and plugins for ADR, including Revoice Pro, VocALign, EdiCue and EdiPrompt. You can record multiple takes, edit and refine the dialogue, sync it with video and export in various formats.
Nuendo is another specialized DAW with a dedicated ADR module. Processes such as spotting, cueing, recording, editing and syncing are all simplified here in an easy-to-use interface.
Meanwhile, Fairlight is a DAW integrated into the DaVinci Resolve suite. Its comprehensive ADR toolset enables you to record, edit and sync dialogue, all within the same interface as the video.
ADR recording hardware
Alongside software, there’s hardware. Greg Crawford touches on it briefly in his interview, confirming what you should already know. If you can, use the same microphones as used in production. It will make your job that much easier. When it comes to microphones, here are a few great choices to consider:
The Neumann U87 (mentioned in the interview with Greg)
The Sennheiser MKH 416
The Rode NT1-A
Meanwhile, the quality and compatibility of your hardware will undoubtedly impact the quality of your ADR. You may consider looking at intuitive controllers that adjust sound levels, sync and playback during your ADR session. Here are a few:
Avid S1
Steinberg CC121
Blackmagic Fairlight Desktop Console (great when paired with the Fairlight DAW)
Of course, a great pair of noise-canceling headphones will be needed, too. Popular throughout the industry are:
Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro
Sony MDR-7506
AKG K240
Remote ADR collaboration tools
Post-covid (and in general, in modern times), it’s not always feasible to get everyone together in the same place at the same time. This is one of the most challenging aspects of ADR – coordinating and communicating with multiple people in different parts of the world and different time zones. Fortunately, there are some great tools out there that can enable you to carry out ADR remotely.
Source Connect effectively takes your studio global, allowing you to stream high-quality audio over the internet and record or monitor your ADR sessions remotely. You can integrate with other DAWs or even video conferencing platforms such as Zoom and Skype.
SessionLinkPRO is a web-based service where you can conduct ADR sessions using your browser and microphone. You’ll find an array of features, including video playback, chat, file transfer and encryption.
Meanwhile, cloud-based ipDTL offers video sync, ISDN bridging, multi-track recording and live streaming.
The future of ADR
In the past few years, AI has been a hot topic of discussion, advancing at a blistering pace and infiltrating just about every part of the filmmaking process. ADR is no exception. What has typically been a long, painstaking process of refinement, requiring many takes and long hours, could soon get a whole lot easier and shorter.
Check out this astonishing example of TrueSync in the movie “Fall” (2022).
Using AI, TrueSync analyses and tracks the performance of Virginia Gardener, recreates her face with a 3D model, removes her original dialogue, and then replaces it flawlessly with language that can take the scene from R-rated to PG13. You just watched the future of ADR.
This example demonstrates a new and exciting way of conducting ADR – one that could save hours of time, as well as money and resources. Lengthy processes in software such as Adobe Audition, where you have to sync up multiple tracks and experiment with impulse response recording files, could be rendered unnecessary. Things could be achieved with a few clicks.
While we’re not quite there yet, it’s clear that lip-synced dubs with custom-made AI-recreated voices could become commonplace in the next five to ten years. TrueSync is not the only example of how AI is starting to make its mark on the ADR space.
Lovo.AI, for example, now offers the ability to clone any voice and create high-quality custom voice content. Similarly, Murf.AI offers the tools to “clone once. Use forever” – a foreboding phrase that would make any SAG-AFTRA member rightly shudder. When you listen to the examples on these sites, they’re not quite there yet. But they are pretty impressive and, in some cases, definitely usable.
Other notable AI technologies doing a similar thing include Respeecher, which uses deep learning and neural networks to transform one voice into another (again, without requiring the original actors). And then there’s Lyrebird, which creates a digital copy of your voice using a few minutes of audio samples. Then, you can generate a totally new dialogue or alter the existing dialogue with different emotions, tones and effects.
The writing is on the wall here. This technology is only going to advance, and as we’ve already seen, the rate of that advance is extremely fast.
Wrapping up
So, that’s the rundown on the state of ADR today and where it’s headed tomorrow. It’s no secret that ADR has often been a laborious, tedious process (remember Greg Crawford’s joke about ADR being one of the only three things people hate to do). However, there are many great tools out there that ensure you can get the job done to the high-quality standards we expect from all big blockbusters.
As we move forward into a new post-production landscape in which AI increasingly dominates, we can expect to see drastic changes to how ADR is conducted in the future. If you told the folks experimenting with ADR in early 1930s Hollywood that one day, ADR may be an almost irrelevant, minuscule aspect of the post-production process, they may have fallen off their chairs.
MediaSiloallows for easy management of your media files, seamless collaboration for critical feedback, and out-of-the-box synchronization with your timeline for efficient changes. See how MediaSilo is powering modern post-production workflows with a 14-day free trial.
Josh is a filmmaker and storyteller based in Indonesia. He is passionate about travel and shares and documents adventures and stories through his films because he is a firm believer that travel is the greatest education tool out there. If you want to do anything in life, the experiences travel offers you can set you up with the perfect foundation on which to succeed.
In my last blog, I introduced the thinking behind our new workflow management layer, EditShare One. If you have not read that yet, you can find it here. In this blog I’ll explain how it is used in a real-world production.
Footage is shot, in a studio or on location. Those files are ingested into the shared storage, along with the metadata. That may include information from a production assistant on set, about good or bad takes and other details.
Depending on the nature of the production, a producer or director may want to make another decision on preferred takes, or an edit assistant will need to build bins making it clear to the editor which is likely to be the best material.
The editor then cuts the scene and hands it on for review. That may lead to rework later, or the scene may be locked ready for final assembly and finishing. In parallel, the sound designer will be mixing and sweetening the audio to match the cut.
The producer will be monitoring progress at all times and will be commenting on scenes as they are cut, giving notes to the editor and sound designer. The final cut will be passed to the colorist, and again the producer and director will make comments on the grade.
There may be other people taking note of the progress too. For marketing, there may be a second editorial team creating trailers and teasers, for example. Where an independent company is making programmes for a broadcaster, the executive producer will want to check progress.
The huge advantage of collaborative file-based workflows is that every stage is non-destructive. You can go back and tweak any stage of the post production until everyone is happy, because all of the material is still available in the shared storage.
EditShare One and the Produce Tool provide access to the material throughout the process. There is a single sign-on to all the content and metadata, but each user has different requirements, and will be presented with different tools, different media and metadata, and different capabilities.
A producer could be alerted to new cuts that need to be reviewed and signed off. The user interface would simply offer the new material, a player, and a text tool for comments. No need to know how the underlying technology works, or even where the content is at that moment: just focus on the job at hand.
More generally, the Produce tool is a simple dashboard that saves time and potential confusion in searching through media spaces and folders. It is completely independent of all the other tools, so users simply see what is relevant to them.
For the editor, the EditShare One intuitive interface appears as a panel within the edit software itself. Editors are, of course, free to choose whichever software package works best for them, but within the Adobe or DaVinci user interface is a panel or integration tool which is linked to EditShare FLOW asset management and its management tools.
Producers can highlight interest points in transcriptions through EditShare One’s web-based UI, which editors can then import using the FLOW panel. Services, like AI speech-to-text transcriptions, can also be seen in the FLOW panel to speed up work even further. This automated process creates rough cuts or integrates selected clips into Adobe Premiere sequences, enhancing overall efficiency in the editing process.
Once the sequence or program is completed, the same simple user interface exports it as new material in the shared storage and drives it to other EditShare One users who need to see it.
The goal is to make it simple to create and expedite collaborative workflows, wherever the individuals are, by offering just the functionality and material each needs, at the time they need it. By simplifying everyone’s working environment, more time is available to concentrate on making great content.
