Just finished scoring an independent film

[ZAU]

.... wanted to share my workflow with you all!

 

This is my third movie to date so I'm generally kind of new to film scoring. I've learned a lot so far though and I feel like I've hit a lot of major breakthroughs with this one and thought I'd share.

 

1. I have a separate Logic project file for each cue. I create a folder for each cue which has the Logic file and a folder called 'Bounces' that I put the bounced stems into. I've tried using Alternatives in the past but the Master project ended up getting corrupted somehow, really scary. I then put all the separate cue folders into one folder titled with the movie's name.

2. I don't use templates because they feel weird to me. I do have my Logic project set up a certain way though (zoom settings, Toolbar set up the way I like, etc). I don't use Screensets either. Just a Main window and a Mixer window and I just switch between these two using 'Command ~'. This is the fastest way I know to switch between windows because I hate that 3 second lag when switching between Screen Sets.

3. I compose everything first and worry about coloring tracks and organization after I've finished composing. So if you were to catch a glimpse of my project file in the composing/arranging stages you'll just see the default blue Audio and green MIDI regions everywhere.

4. IMPORTANT: After I've finished composing, I'll bounce all my MIDI instruments over to AUDIO. I've assigned '2' to the 'Bounce MIDI to Audio command' and the process is very quick. This has been a major discovery for me and it's a really neat way of working. After bouncing the MIDI, I label each region with the name of the instrument used so I can come back to it later if I need to. I save every preset I make. I also add Track Notes of specific preset names, sample library names, etc so I can recall them later. I then keep all the MIDI regions on a separate track in its relative position on the Timeline. Having everything in Audio makes everything really nice and clearly visible, especially the audio 'tails' which is super important!

5. I generally deliver 6-7 stems (this depends on the project of course): Basses, Mids, Percussion/Impacts, Strings, Brass, Keys, Vocals, Wet FX. So after bouncing to Audio, grouping, coloring and making Track Stacks, I then proceed to bouncing out the stems.

6. I create a bunch of folders for all the stems and this helps tremendously in keeping my projects neat and tidy. This also helps when I need to go back to something, since everything is in a folder and I know where to locate it.

 

Side notes: I finished this last film project relatively quickly and much quicker than I did my other two film projects. The organization part is very tedious but leaving it to after the composing/arranging process seemed to work extremely well for me.

 

Again, I would like to stress that I have tried the 'template' approach with several instruments set up, grouped and colored and everything.. I tried for months to like that way of working but I found that it messed up my flow even more, and I have no clue as to why it was happening that way. I think at the end of the day, everyone is different and you have to find your own way of doing things that works for you.

 

I hope that you got something out of this post and perhaps it will help you find your own way of working in Logic!

[napalm]

Very nice. Thanks for sharing this!

 

Do you have a link where I can hear your work? I'm trying to get into this business myself too.