AUDIO POST PRODUCTION

Audio post production is the process of using sound design and audio mixing to bring a production, whether visual, or audio-only, to life. Sound design uses sound effects, re-recording, reverbs, delays, and more to create an atmosphere or sonic landscape. Mixing utilizes EQ, compression, volume automation, and more to balance the audio in a production for perfect clarity, impact, and audience immersion.

Audio mixing, or more often known as just “mixing”, is the process of using equalization (EQ), compression, volume automation, limiting, saturation, and effects, to unify all audio elements of a project or production. It creates a cohesive audio production that is the final key step to creating a polished piece of work.

Whether for visual or audio-only mediums, a professional, outstanding mix can be the difference between connecting with an audience, or having them view your project or product as subpar quality.

The quickest way to make any audience perceive your product as “low quality” is to have an amateur mix. When people can’t hear the dialogue or voiceover, when the sound design elements overpower the vocals, big hits aren’t impactful in a trailer, or or there’s just not enough presence of the background atmosphere to make things come alive, the audience immediately recognizes that this doesn’t sound right. Our ears are so attuned to proper, high-fidelity mixes that to go without one, is a sure fire way to make them view your project or product as a lessor quality.

If you want your project to compete with top-of-the-line productions that they’ll potentially be featured next to, whether in a commercial break, at a short film festival, or online in a sea of talented filmmakers, a crisp, clear, punchy and impactful mix is a must.

ADR and dubbing are both similar forms of audio recording, where an actor or voice actor will record over an existing piece of audio or dialogue that either isn’t working, wasn’t recorded properly, or was in a different language.

ADR is typically done as an in-studio recording as a part of the post audio process, when an actor’s lines were not captured properly on-set. This can be due to weather conditions, the particular scene location (for example talking in a convertible or on top of a tall, windy building), the actors performance or any number of factors. Regardless of the situation, an actor will typically come into a controlled recording studio like Silverside Recording, and will re-record their dialogue while watching the footage on-screen. They will attempt to synchronize their new performance with the old so it feels as if the audio was recorded on location. A mixer will then mix the new audio into the production for a seamless listening experience.

Dubbing is typically done when an actor or more often, voice actor, is recording the “dub” of a foreign language TV show. This process is also known as “localization”. It’s fairly common in the animated world, for example: a Japanese Anime show getting dubbed into english.

Foley is the a specific type of in-studio recording that is done to create a custom atmosphere and soundscape or sound design during the audio post production process. Typically done with a foley “pit”, a foley artist will have a large variety of tools and objects to re-create sound for on-camera visuals so that it is clearer, punchier and overall higher fidelity, thus creating a more immersive sound design that is tailored to a director’s vision with new, organic sounds.