Session Brief

This is a fun commercial with a great voice over. As I instructed you in the first lesson, make sure to put this mix at one hour. What exactly do I mean by one hour? I mean one hour timecode. After loading up the AAF file, you'll have to move the mix to 1 hour on your timeline.

Spot length:

This is a 15 second spot. Please note, the VO is cut to around 12 seconds in your AAF file. You will have to masterfully re-edit this spot to be exactly :15! Space out the copy tastefully and creatively. I have a rule about voice over. Never start the VO right at the 1 hour mark. Give yourself a 6 to 10 frame buffer at the head and the tail of the spot. In other words, don't start VO until 6 to 10 frames into the commercial and make sure you give an equal buffer at the end.

Script:

I've included the script and the raw voice takes. I'd prefer if you take the time to load in those takes, go through them and cut your own version. This is a great exercise in building your creative decision making skills.

Music:

I've arranged a simple rendition of this classic piece. It is unmixed except for some basic panning and levels. It's also overlength, so you will have to cut it down to fit creativity in the spot.

Check your Pro Tools Settings:

If you come from the Pro Tools music world, you going to want to change some settings in Pro Tools. Change bars and beats to Timecode and make sure your nudge values are set to timecode as well. Also set your grid to one frame. And finally on the upper left hand corner of Pro Tools, put yourself in slip mode. There's no snapping to a grid in audio post. Although sometimes it comes in handy, but we'll go over that in a later lesson.

Remember, when you purchase the course, you will be able to contact me any time you like via the messaging system on the Accelerator work group! This is a free lesson, so let's get to work!

A note about spot length:

In commercial work you should be EXACT in your timings. That means you cant hang over past :15 seconds by even just a frame. Zoom in and make sure you start exactly at 01:00:00:00 and end exactly at 01:00:15:00. Again, your 2 beep (1 frame of 1k tone) should be exactly at 00:59:58:00 and last for 1 frame only. You can generate a 1k tone in Pro Tools by selecting one frame on your timeline and holding keys Control, Option, Shift, 3.

Mix this commercial to -24LKFS

Deliverables

In audio post we are always mixing using stem busses. Dialogue, voice over, sound effects and music are your most basic stems. They sum together to create your full mix. So in Pro Tools, create sub busses that feed a Full Mix aux bus. Your Full Mix aux bus should feed your speakers. Although some people do use Pro Tools Master Faders in audio post, it's not necessary and I never use them.

If you are new to everything I'm saying about Pro Tools and bussing I'll have in depth lectures on Pro Tools via live events and 1-2-1 coaching for you. If you choose to purchase the course I'll teach you everything I know. You'll get my step by step process and mix setup checklist. From the plugins I use, the way I set up my routing and much more.

But right now, just have some fun with this mix and continue getting a feel for the course. Good luck.

Backup

Back up your session!

*Please note; if you decide to purchase the APCA before you are finished with the free content, you must "Complete and Continue" all the lessons in the free week to move onto the paid Week 01 content. After that, new content drops on a weekly basis for 40 weeks.