1st job working with film..

[Eric Wikman]

Hi all,

I happened to get about 11 minutes from a movie to compose to, thru a friend.

I did the MacPro Video course, but are they any other basic courses to get me up to speed quickly. I think I've finished this job, and it was pretty easy, but I ran into issues.

Like how about lining a bar start in L8...up to a scene cut/frame... w/o advancing the movie.

Say I'm 3 minutes in and the director want a new music feels at the next scene cut.

To create music using 4 bars ideas, and Q... I need to compose so at least the downbeat of the first bar starts exactly at that frame. I know this must be easy, but since I never had to do it... well that's the problem isn't it.

thanks

[David Nahmani]

Like how about lining a bar start in L8...up to a scene cut/frame... w/o advancing the movie.

 

I do that with beat mapping:

 

1) marquee scene cut area

2) detect scene cuts

3) map downbeat to scene marker

[Eric Wikman]

Thanks David...

So you only actually Beatmap the first downbeat/bar?

Does this work ok with several of these in one Arrangement?

I'd like to see the scenes with the music changes flow into each other instead of working in sep L8 projects for so many diff scenes.

I've done beatmapping, but only time per song so far.

 

also, I still can't get my system's SMPTE to read 00 frames. I always get an extra 04 frames @ bar 1.

[David Nahmani]

Under Settings > Synchronization, do you have "Bar 1 1 1 1 plays at SMPTE 01:00:00:00.00"?

 

Under Settings > Video, do you have "Movie Start:01:00:00:00.00"?

 

Yes, I map the first downbeat, choose my tempo, then map a beat to itself at the end of that section to lock the tempo. That last mapping is the start of a "tempo buffer zone" where I'm going to let Logic decide of the tempo: map a downbeat to the scene marker, and logic will calculate and set the new tempo for the tempo buffer zone.

[Eric Wikman]

Now that I've used SMPTE some more.. I found that I had my settings to frames & Samples... and the samples part showed 04 samples. I turned that off to now show frames, and it's ok. But I wonder why my system seems to off by 4 smaples a bar 1.

Thanks for the help David.

[Ashermusic]

After you do the Scene Markers, however, you want to convert them to Standard markers so that they are editable and you can move them back a couple of frames. If they are dead on, they will appear early to the director/producer if he or she is experienced.

[zorro]

Hi David,

can you explane exactly your steps ?

Scenario is : I have a long reel ( 20 minutes circa ) and my downbeat is out of measure but exactly on the frame.

What your workflow ?

Thanks in advance.

[Ashermusic]

Hi David,

can you explane exactly your steps ?

Scenario is : I have a long reel ( 20 minutes circa ) and my downbeat is out of measure but exactly on the frame.

What your workflow ?

Thanks in advance.

 

Hi Zorro. I composed the music for the "Zorro" TV series.

 

I would like to help but I do not understand what you mean by "my downbeat is out of measure but exactly on the frame."

[oceantracks]

Don't forget that one of the time-honored practices of Hollywood composers has always been to start a whole new cue at that point, rather than going through what you are trying to do....much easier and just as effective.

 

 

Take Cue 1 up to where the change is, mix it.

 

Cue 2 is the new cue that begins on this new picture cut with a new tempo, feel, or whatever. Mix it.

 

Take both cues and import them into your master show reel (you DO have a master show reel, right? Consisting of only mixes of all the cues?). This makes it incredibly easy to go back and make changes to individual cues, etc.

 

TH

[zorro]

Hi Ashermusic, so you have scored my history.

Anyway : Some other softwares have a chance to "reset" completely the place you choose for the first beat of your score. Ex. Reel 1 @ 01.20.05.32 = place the first measure for 3/4 @123 bpm. In Logic i am doing something explaned above but sometime i must manually reset the first downbeat 'cause is not at the first measure movement.

[FlowerPower]

Maybe that 'resetting' is the same as Beat Mapping? BM will allow you to keep an event's SMPTE frame (time) position intact, but change the bar position (also called reclocking).

 

Have you checked what the manual says about Beat Mapping?

[stevenson]

Anyway : Some other softwares have a chance to "reset" completely the place you choose for the first beat of your score. Ex. Reel 1 @ 01.20.05.32 = place the first measure for 3/4 @123 bpm. In Logic i am doing something explaned above but sometime i must manually reset the first downbeat 'cause is not at the first measure movement.

 

 

well you do that with logic as well. open up your tempo list and make bar whatever coincide with SMPTE whatever.

 

create a tempo event for the bar position. select all. type in the SMPTE position in the tempo event corresponding to your bar position.

job done.

 

N.B. if you don't select all, then the previous tempo will be adjusted to preserve the SMPTE position of its bar position. this is actual how you go about syncing things and working out tempos between events. (minor tempo changes for exact syncs).

 

its not elegant in logic certainly, but it works.

[zorro]

Thanks,i know this way but is not exactly i need. A kind of Create Downbeat in place is required. Like other software DAWs just reach the point and set "here is 3/4 89 bpm ......usually i reach the start just copy the SMPTE value and paste at measure 1 , i get movie start exactly on the frame at measure 1. Just cut the Dialogs FX tracks at the previous point and move to measure 1.

It work fine for me. But i need something like in PT or DP : reach the point and set is measure 1. In this way i always get the previous movie and dialogs safe in song.

[stevenson]

but there is no difference. that is -exactly- what you do in logic.

 

maybe there are more elegant ways of doing it in other DAWs - in logic you have to type in the SMPTE code into a field, but in essence there is no difference

[kwackman]

Don't forget that one of the time-honored practices of Hollywood composers has always been to start a whole new cue at that point, rather than going through what you are trying to do....much easier and just as effective.

 

Agreed, and also easier to deal with "we've had to shorten that scene, drop the next 2 scenes, and change the opening shot of the next scene" type of decision.

[zorro]

but there is no difference. that is -exactly- what you do in logic.

 

maybe there are more elegant ways of doing it in other DAWs - in logic you have to type in the SMPTE code into a field, but in essence there is no difference

 

Yes i know but sometimes happen that the Director or others people want to watch from the previous scene....and that solution "drive" a little bit complicated.

Anyway a dedicated feature will be very appreciated. Logic must have !!!!!

...and do not forget something like......"oh yes is pretty good....what you think about starting 5 or 7 frame before ?.....Oh yes....good...idea...."

The only think i know is "nothing is never definitive".....so a flexible feature will be very very usefull.