Hello. Need help with audio

[Inzane Productions]

Hello! I am currently in the process of starting a team for web-based cartoons and (in the near future) games. I'd like full length 20-30 minute cartoons, and completely full length games. After looking around, this was the most expensive thing I could buy for that purpose. Now, two months later, I need an audio program to go with it.

 

What would you guys suggest?

 

I need it to have a full range of sound effects (explosions, mystical magic sounding stuff, mechanicle gears moving, etc), along with the ability to create music (preferably click and drag), and finaly voice acting. I'm very completly serious about this, and if I have my way you guys'll be hearing about me soon enough. I just needa program or two to help with this. I've looked around but it was all for naught, and none of my friends know.

 

So, I ask the AM guys what they use for it.

 

Also, I read in another topic (while cruising around for this answer) that AM has a problem doing anything over 2 gigs in size. I'm not sure how large my toons are going to be, but if I have my way they'd be detailed and full, with nothing left that could be considered 'junk'.... Combine that with the audio and all that, and I'd like to know how large you think they'd be (Honestly, I'm not expecting more than 50MBs at most).

 

I need serious help with this. Not only am I running around in circles via Google and Yahoo searches, I'm trying to finish a college course on Visual Basic while taking care of my own personal life.

 

Also, on a side note... I'm still learning this by the way (busy as I've stated)... How do you avoid clipping, people walking through things, and how can I get wind effects and physics to work? For some reason all the stuff I've been doing so far has completely went berserk in those areas.

[brainmuffin]

Well, I can make some suggestions.

 

For sound effects, shop around at walmart, staples, etc. Be on the lookout for big collections of sound effects. I have two single cd collections, an one 3 cd collection.

 

These won't cover everything, however, so you'll probably have to make some yourself, or buy them seperately on the net or something.

 

As far as music goes, I would recommend Cakewalk for music editing, you can buy it cheap at staples or circuit city. Then get some loops. You can buy loops on cd at some music stores, or by searching for Acid Loops or Fruity loops on the net. (Two other editing programs that are way more expensive than cakewalk.) Or just search for music loops...

 

I think Audacity is a free program you can get for doing your own soundFX recording and editing, and Goldwave is an inexpensive one that has some good filters, especially if you want to do robot voices.

[robcat2075]

Welcome to A:M!

 

Now, two months later, I need an audio program to go with it.

 

What would you guys suggest?

 

Audacity is a free audio editing program,

 

I need it to have a full range of sound effects (explosions, mystical magic sounding stuff, mechanicle gears moving, etc), along with the ability to create music (preferably click and drag),

but audacity is not really "music creation" software. You need a sound effects library and and some sort of "Band in a box" program.

 

Also, I read in another topic (while cruising around for this answer) that AM has a problem doing anything over 2 gigs in size.

2 gigs of what? projects file? rendered images? generally you do 1 shot at a time in A:M and edit them together later. You wouldn't do your entire movie in one project.

 

 

How do you avoid clipping,

explain

 

people walking through things,

don't animate them walking thru things. I'm serious.

 

and how can I get wind effects and physics to work?

experiment with small sample projects first. then if you're stumped ask specific questions with examples here.

[Inzane Productions]

Hrmm, I coulda swore I animated them without walking through eachother.... Bah. Thanks, I'll give the audacity program a try, but the problem is I dont have a library of sound effects or music. And I really just want a music making program. A friend of mine had one a few years ago that was a simple click & drag to the time-bar.... Need to find one like that.

[AndyDavis]

Start small and figure out your production pipeline. Not all programs will do all things, those that try usually do most of them badly.

 

I use Sony Vegas Movie Studio to comp together movie clips. I have a version from a couple of years ago which allows three audio and three video tracks. I think the latest version has increased those numbers. Vegas Movie Studio is also adequate for very basic audio work, you can also drag acid audio loops onto the audio tracks so it doubles as a low rent compositional tool as well. There's a demo available on the web.

 

For serious audio work, I would agree with BrainMuffin and recomend Cakewalk's line of products. I have the Sonar 5 product and it even supports a video track.

 

Start small and figure out your production pipeline. Not all programs will do all things, those that try usually do most of them badly.

 

Oh, and did I mention...Start small and figure out your production pipeline. Not all programs will do all things, those that try usually do most of them badly.

[Inzane Productions]

Alright AndyDavis, I get it, start out small and figure out whats what. It's generaly what I had in mind (do a few short projects, get better, move on to full-length). And sorry about missin yer post Brainmuffin. I'll look around and give Cakewalk a try. As for the sound effects.... Geeze, when did things get so complicated? But yes, thanks guys.

 

Being almost 11pm here, and seeing as I've been up for almost 24 hours, I think it's time for me to finish up what I'm doin and hit the hay. Thanks for the help!

 

On a side note: The audio is alot more complicated than I was lead to believe, and learning this stuff single handedly is taking a bit longer than I had initially hoped... I hate my interfering life right now...

[Stuart Rogers]

As a quick aside... Can I suggest you change your avatar? Yours looks remarkably like Emilio Le Roux's.

[the_black_mage]

Anvil studio can make midi music.

[cstanton]

One more suggestion based on personal preference:

 

I use Sound Forge 7 (they're now up to version 8) for audio effects and Acid Pro for music and mixing. They both can handle audio effects; Acid Pro can handle unlimited tracks while Sound Forge can only handle a single track of stereo or mono. Sound Forge has the advantage of being able to apply effects to a segment of any length on the track rather than to the whole track. There is also Sound Forge Audio Studio 8 and Screen blast Sound Forge which are less expensive.

 

Sony Audio Products

 

Acid Pro is a loop based music creation program that provides lots of flexibility, but you are on your own when it comes to finding the appropriate loops and building multiple tracks of loops, one shots and beat mapped clips to create your masterpiece. It can be fun.

 

Both programs allow you to import a video clip so you can sync your audio to the video.

 

Sonicfire Pro 4 by Smartsound is another type of music creation program that is designed specifically for adding music tracks to video. It uses music tracks that are actually complete pieces that are broken into segments so you can create your own arrangements and variations. The music can be lengthened or shortened and it always preserves a proper beginning and ending. The CDs of music tracks are a little expensive, but you can buy single tracks online. The program assembles all of your music tracks into a library that is divided into various categories that makes it very easy to find what you're looking for. You can ask it to list only the tracks you own or all of the tracks online as well. You can listen to samples of the online tracks and buy them on the spot through the program--very artsy/capitalistic. The advantage of Sonicfire over a loop based program like Acid Pro is that the music can be stretched or squashed to match your video scene--very cool--and much faster than working with Acid Pro.

 

The advantage of Acid Pro is that you have much greater flexibility in "composing" your own music. The program has the ability to change the beat of a track to match the entire piece and you can change the beat of the entire piece to match the video. It can also change the "groove" from, say, 16th note swing to blues, hip hop, funk, jazz, etc. Acid Pro 6 includes a media management data base and is more sophisticated than previous versions in helping you to manage your musical components.

 

I also use Acid Pro to add voice over and effects (usually created in Sound Forge) to the audio track. Acid Pro has the ability to record, but I usually record and edit in Sound Forge because of its greater flexibility of being able to work with segments of a track and it's very easy to see what you're doing on the wave form with only a single track taking up the entire screen. And, if you're recording voice over or whatever in a home studio, Sound Forge has very effective noise reduction software.

 

You can find lots of free sound effects on line. Find Sounds is a good place to start. They allow you to search for keywords by minimum resolution and minimum sample rate. I usually start with a high resolution and sample rate and then lower them if I can't find what I'm looking for. Google for "free sound effects" and you'll find lots more sites. Acid Pro comes with something like 1,000 loops and a number sound effects one shots, some of which you can play from a soft synth keyboard.

 

Curtis

[AndyDavis]

Alright AndyDavis, I get it, start out small and figure out whats what. It's generaly what I had in mind (do a few short projects, get better, move on to full-length). And sorry about missin yer post Brainmuffin. I'll look around and give Cakewalk a try. As for the sound effects.... Geeze, when did things get so complicated? But yes, thanks guys.

 

Being almost 11pm here, and seeing as I've been up for almost 24 hours, I think it's time for me to finish up what I'm doin and hit the hay. Thanks for the help!

 

On a side note: The audio is alot more complicated than I was lead to believe, and learning this stuff single handedly is taking a bit longer than I had initially hoped... I hate my interfering life right now...

 

I wasn't just being flip. It isn't so much a matter of figuring out what your programs can do, it's a matter of figuring out your production pipeline.

 

As an example, consider how you will deal with a decision that a certain clip of animation needs to be 20 seconds instead of 16. If you have already spotted a bunch of sound effects to the track, this could end up being a major PITA.

 

Those moments will certainly arise, but a good process sohuld accomplish two goals:

1. make those moments infrequent

2. lessen the pain of those moments

[popster]

Reason is good, with synths, samplers, manglers and MIDI all in one (and it integrates well with other music/audio apps). Audacity is very handy (esp. free). Band In A Box is also handy, allowing you to generate MIDI music in many different 'styles'. The bundled Garageband with Macs is a useful loop-based music creation app.

For samples (and libraries), visit www.sounddogs.com, select Sound Effects CDs to get a good overview of libraries on the market (with prices). Alternatively, you could invest in a small portable audio recorder, and start recording & designing your own library! cheers

[luckbat]

As a quick aside... Can I suggest you change your avatar? Yours looks remarkably like Emilio Le Roux's.

Stuart, that icon is from the IPB Community Pack, one of the pre-fab icon sets accessible by clicking on "Avatar Options" on your Profile page. If you visit that page, you may spot some other icons that you associate with particular members...

[Stuart Rogers]

As a quick aside... Can I suggest you change your avatar? Yours looks remarkably like Emilio Le Roux's.

Stuart, that icon is from the IPB Community Pack, one of the pre-fab icon sets accessible by clicking on "Avatar Options" on your Profile page.

Ah, it never occurred to me that it was one of the stock icons. Either way, it's spooky seeing what I've always recognised as "Emilio's face" with someone else's "voice"!

[Inzane Productions]

As a quick aside... Can I suggest you change your avatar? Yours looks remarkably like Emilio Le Roux's.

Stuart, that icon is from the IPB Community Pack, one of the pre-fab icon sets accessible by clicking on "Avatar Options" on your Profile page.

Ah, it never occurred to me that it was one of the stock icons. Either way, it's spooky seeing what I've always recognised as "Emilio's face" with someone else's "voice"!

 

Yes, well, I'm not keeping it for long. Soon as I make the character for my team avatar (we're all going to have one), I'll use his head for all of my forum avatars....

 

Thanks guys! I've been working on A:M for 13 hours straight with no sleep and only bathroom breaks (I ate while I worked).... I'm about to fall over, but I've lost enough time as is.... My personal life has kind of been getting in the way...

 

Anyways, yes... Sounds good... If I get enough I'll just buy all of em, heh.... Bwah.... I'm off to go work... Hope I get that email soon... Asked two j-rock bands if I can buy a song off em for my toons.... Only one of which is an actual celeb (Gackt).... But yes... Time to go... Actualy... I'm going to bed.... Already saved all my stuff...

 

Hopefully alittle later on in the month I can entertain you all with an, at least, WIP.