WHAT IS SOUND?

Sound is a longitudinal, mechanical wave. It is caused by the back and

forth vibration of the particles of the medium through which the sound
wave is moving.

The vibrations of the object set particles in the surrounding medium in

vibrational motion, causing the auditory receptors to detect them. This is
called sound.
WHAT IS SOUND?
A science term for vibrations per second is Hertz, abbreviated Hz.
This term is named after the German physicist Heinrich Rudolf Hertz.

Musical sound has a regular vibration rate (periodic

vibration/harmonic sounds).

Human speech and noise has irregular vibration rates

(aperiodic/ inharmonic sounds).
TYPES OF SOUND
There are two types of sound, Audible and Inaudible.

Inaudible sounds are sounds that the human ear cannot detect.
The human ear hears frequencies between 20Hz and 20KHz.

Sounds that are below 20Hz frequency are called Infrasonic Sounds.
Elephants use Infrasonic sounds to communicate with herds 100s of kms
away. Sounds that are above 20KHz frequency are called Ultrasonic
Sounds. Dogs, Bats can hear high frequency sounds.
ATTRIBUTES OF SOUND PERCEPTION
1. Pitch - perception of high or low sound.

2. Loudness (amplitude); the intensity of a sound.

3. Timbre (color or quality of sound) the perceived quality of any sounds'

multiple frequencies changing through time. When you hear a singing
tone, you're hearing multiple different pitches that the brain
interprets as one.
ATTRIBUTES OF SOUND PERCEPTION
4. Duration (length); not fixed, but something we perceive; our sense of
"slowness" vs "fastness" tends to be relative to our heartbeat.

5. Articulation or "envelope" of a sound; first few milliseconds of a

sound, it's attack, changes with different instruments

6. Diffusion, or sound spatialization; our brain can interpret where

sound is coming from; associated with reverberation time; perception
of how near or far away a sound's source is.
SOUND VS. AUDIO
Sound refers to waves that travel through air and that are received by the
ear, human or otherwise.

Audio refers to sound that has been, in some way or another, be it digital
or analog, processed electronically.
AUDIO WAVEFORM
Audio waveforms are cyclical; that is, they proceed through regular cycles
or repetitions. Phase is defined as how far along its cycle a given
waveform is.

The measurement of phase is given in degrees, with 360 degrees being

one complete cycle. One concern with phase becomes apparent when
mixing together two waveforms. If these waveform are “out of phase”, or
delayed with respect to one another, there will be some cancellation in
the resulting audio.
AUDIO WAVEFORM

When both channels are in phase, we hear the sound at

the same amplitude level at the same time in both
ears.
AUDIO WAVEFORM

But if one side of the stereo signal is reversed, the

signals will literally cancel each other out.
SAMPLE RATE

Each dot in the figure above represents one audio sample.

SAMPLE RATE
Sample rate is the rate at which the samples are captured or played back,
measured in Hertz (Hz), or samples per second.

An audio CD has a sample rate of 44,100 Hz, often written as 44KHz for
short. Higher sampling rates allow a digital recording to accurately record
higher frequencies of sound.

Higher sample sizes allow for more dynamic range - louder louds and
softer softs.
SAMPLE RATE
The sampling rate should be at least twice the highest frequency you
want to represent.

Humans can't hear frequencies above about 20,000Hz, so 44,100Hz was

chosen as the rate for audio CDs to just include all human frequencies.

Sample rates of 96 and 192KHz are starting to become more common,

particularly in DVD-Audio, but many people honestly can't hear the
difference.
SAMPLE RATE
o 32,000 (32kHz) used for digital broadcast and
Typically transmissions satellite

o 44,100 (44.1kHz) The sample rate for CDs and most consumer digital
audio

o 48,000 (48kHz) The most common sample rate used in

broadcast video.
SAMPLE RATE
o 88,200 (88.2kHz) engineers claim this sounds better than
Some 44.1kHz but is
rarely used.
o 96,000 (96kHz) Sometimes used in DVDs and other high-end audio
recording processes.

o 176,400 and 192,000 (176.4 and 192kHz) These ultra-high sample

rates generate much larger files and stress your computer more yet
offer no significant audio advantage.
BIT DEPTH
Bit Depth refers to the number of bits you have to capture audio. The
easiest way to envision this is as a series of levels, that audio energy can
be sliced at any given moment in time. With 16-bit audio, there are
65,536 possible levels. With every bit of greater resolution, the number of
levels double.
DIGITAL AUDIO WORKSTATION
A Digital Audio Workstation (or DAW) is a computer program that is
exclusively designed for the recording, editing and playing of digital audio
files.

DAW allows you to edit and mix multiple audio sources simultaneously on
a musical timing grid and to visually see how they line up over time. It
also makes it easy to synchronize audio clips with each other based on a
common tempo, meter, and beat.
DIGITAL AUDIO WORKSTATION
Technically, a DAW is more than just the software running on your
computer. It’s also the hardware: the computer running the software
along with any special interfaces routing audio or other signals into and
out of the computer.
COMPONENTS OF A DAW
Computer – the heart of the
DAW system is your
computer. The computer and
its subsystems will determine
how many tracks you can
record and play at once, how
many plug-ins you can apply
in real time, how long edits
will take, and more.
COMPONENTS OF A DAW
Digital Audio Software – if
the computer is the heart of
the DAW system, then the
software you choose is the
brain.

The big thing with DAW software is finding an

application that works in the way you prefer
to work. If your brain and creative process
works a particular way, you’re not going to be
happy with a program that forces you to work
in a completely different manner.
COMPONENTS OF A DAW
Digital Audio Interface –
getting sound in and out of
the computer and software.
A digital audio interface will
provide two inputs
outputs, and in analog
digital formats.
and/or
The quality of
your interface will determine
the quality of your audio.
COMPONENTS OF A DAW
OPTIONAL COMPONENTS include:

o Plug-ins – are small “helper” software programs that work inside your
main recording software and extend its capability. In most cases, plug-
ins are processors and/or effects of some type.

o DSP Acceleration – (Digital Signal Processing) if you find yourself

running out of computer power; allows to run more plug-ins without
overloading the computer
AUDIO INTERFACE CONNECTORS
XLR jack – this is compatible
microphones with otherand balanced-line
signals. Balanced lines use three
conductors, which can be designed to
minimize hum and noise pickup when
carrying low-level signals.
AUDIO INTERFACE CONNECTORS
¼-inch phone jack – this
common is with
instruments and much pro
musical
audio
gear. The jack can
balanced or unbalanced hand
le
balanced line inputs can handle
unbalanced lines as well. lines;
Headphone jacks also use ¼-inch
phone jacks.
AUDIO INTERFACE CONNECTORS
Combo jacks – a fairly recent introduction, a
combo jack can accept either an XLR or ¼-
inch phone plug
AUDIO INTERFACE CONNECTORS
RCA phono jack – a mainstay of
consumer gear, RCA jacks are also
found in some DJ audio interfaces
and video equipment.
AUDIO INTERFACE CONNECTORS
1/8-inch minijack – this is
common for on-board computer
audio, but rare for external
interfaces except when included
to interface with MP3 players and
similar consumer devices. The
1/8-inch minijacks sometimes
provide headphone outputs as
well.
TYPICAL DAW SIGNAL FLOW
LOSSY VS. LOSSLESS
Lossy means that once a file has been compressed, it can’t be returned to
its original uncompressed form from the contents of the compressed file.
This is a one-way, irreversible transformation.

Lossless means that an uncompressed version of data can be generated

from the compressed form. This is a two-way, reversible transformation.
LOSSY VS. LOSSLESS
Lossy compression schemes usually result in smaller compressed files
since they can “throw away” details and information they can’t use and
don’t need, whereas lossless compression schemes produce bigger result
files.
CODE
C
A codec, short for the type of “compression/decompression” algorithm is
a special piece of software that’s used to translate uncompressed data
into a compressed form for storage, and to decompress that compressed
form for access or playback.
 CODE
Name Ext Date Type Notes
C
Advanced Audio aac 1997 Lossy Also known as MPEG-4 AAC. Supports various
Coding compression rates (best known for iPod use)

Audio Interchange aiff 1999 Lossless Original, uncompressed Mac sound file format (not used
File Format in devices.)

Compact Disk Digital cda 1979 Lossless Standard digital audio CD format, uncompressed (not
Audio used in many devices except CD players)

mp3PRO mp3 2001 Lossy Improved version of MP3, still compressed (not
supported on many devices)

MPEG-1 Level 3 MP3 1993 Lossy Uses perceptual coding to compress signals at various
compression rates (supported on most devices)
CODE
Name Ext Date Type Notes
C
OGG Vorbis ogg 2000 Lossy Open-source codec and audio compression scheme
(supported on some devices)

Quicktime Audio mov 1997 Lossy Same MPEG-4 technology as AAC, in different
multimedia wrapper (not used in devices)

Real Audio Media rma 1995 Lossy Proprietary, compressed audio format (not used in
devices)

Waveform sound wav 1991 Lossless Used for system sounds on Windows PCs (not used for
files hi-fi music or in devices)

Windows Media wma 1997 Lossy * Offers various rates or no compression (supported on
Audio most devices) (*can support uncompressed form)
FILE FORMAT
When deciding which audio file format to use, you need to consider:

o Sound quality
o The best format for the type of player you’ll use
o The trade-off between file size (smaller files mean more music) and
listening quality (more compression normally means lower audio
fidelity)
BIT DEPTH VS. BIT RATE
Bit rate describes the speed that sound data is played back (i.e. – a 320
kbps MP3 will be processed at 320,000 bits per second)

Bit depth is how many computer bits are used for each sample in a
waveform. (how precisely a sound is represented in digital audio). The
higher the bit depth, the more accurate the digital sound.
BIT DEPTH VS. BIT RATE
For example, bit depth is important to consider when you are going to
digitize your collection of vinyl records or analog tapes in order to store
them as high-quality digital audio files. This attribute not only influences
how much detail you capture from the original analog recordings but
getting the bit depth right is also critical for keeping background signal
interference (the noise floor) at a minimum.
BIT DEPTH VS. BIT RATE
One of the most common bit rates given is that for compressed
audio files. For example, an MP3 file might be described as having a bit
rate of
160 kbit/s or 160000 bits/second. This indicates the amount
of compressed data needed to store one second of music.
DIRECT LINE INPUT
Refers to a connection, usually via common guitar‐type ¼” cable, from
the output of an electronic instrument to the line input of your mixing
console.

This is the common method for inputting signals from keyboards, drum
machines, sound modules and guitar or bass amps (via direct or line out
from the back of the amp).
DIRECT LINE INPUT
Different microphones sound different, and how they are combined,
along with how they placed, what angle they are placed, are all
important factors, so it is helpful to understand some basic differences
between microphones.
DYNAMIC MICROPHONES
Also called “moving coil”; the most common type of microphone.

Dynamic microphones use a coil wrapped around a magnet, which

vibrates when sound hits the thin diaphragm attached to it. This
vibration results in voltage waveforms which are analogous to the
acoustic waveforms which come into the microphone. Your recorder is
then able to record these voltage waveforms.
DYNAMIC MICROPHONES
Dynamic microphones are generally
very sturdy, relatively inexpensive
and can handle high levels of sound.
DYNAMIC MICROPHONES
Try them on drums, background vocals, guitar and bass amps, and just
about anything else. However, dynamic microphones often do not have
the frequency response needed for some critical applications, such as
lead vocals, cymbals or overhead drums.
CONDENSER MICROPHONES
Simply uses two plates, one of which vibrates according to sound hitting
it, with a magnetic field between them. Condenser microphones
typically have a very wide frequency response along with a very realistic,
transparent sound.

Requires separate power supply and are often many times more
expensive than dynamic microphones
CONDENSER MICROPHONES
Most small studios will buy one or two of
these and only use them for critical
applications, such as lead vocals, room
mics, cymbals or acoustic instruments.
POLAR PATTERNS
BASIC MICROPHONE TECHNIQUES
The most important thing to understand about microphone technique is
that there is no definitive right or wrong way to do anything.

Mic’ing techniques, like microphone selection, are subjective, and

individual techniques are developed over time. Furthermore, mic’ing
techniques vary according to musical style and tend to evolve or change
over time.
CLOSE MIC’ING
The most common type of mic’ing used in typical recording studios. Close
mic’ing means that the microphone is placed very close to the sound
source, usually about 1‐24 inches away.

Allows the sound source to be recorded relatively free from outside

noises (leakages), such as other instruments in the studio. Also provides
a tight, “in‐your‐face” sound, which is generally preferable for multi‐
instrument songs.
CLOSE MIC’ING
Getting good distant microphone placement takes experimentation.
Generally, with a single microphone, the microphone is placed in the
center of, for example, a group of singers, about five feet out front.

With two microphones, place them equal distance off center, about four
feet apart. However, it is especially critical when distant mic’ing to
experiment with placement while listening to the results in order to find
the “sweet spot”.
AMBIENT MIC’ING
Similarly to distant mic’ing – expect that its main function is to restore
the natural reverberation and room sound of a particular recording
environment.

Particularly important when making a live recording, because the

ambiance that these microphones pick up allows your listeners to
experience the feel of the live show.
MONITORING
Monitor speaker selection and placement are critical to your work
environment. Your primary studio monitors – usually the near‐field
speakers –are your most consistent and important reference point for
what your recordings sound like.
NEAR-FIELD MONITOR
Near‐field monitors have long been the principal means of limiting the
effects of room acoustics on listening. They also provide a better
reference to the “real” world of consumer speakers, which will be what is
used by most of those who listen to your recordings. That said, it should
be remembered that no speakers eliminate the effects of room acoustics,
no matter how near to your ears they are, and no speaker can give you a
complete picture of what your recordings are going to sound like out in
the real world, because of the wide variety of playback systems (and
problems).
NEAR-FIELD MONITOR SETUP
Positioning of near‐field monitors
is an important part of getting an
accurate representation of the
recorded sound. The basic rule is
that the speakers should be the
same distance from you as they
are from each other, creating an
equilateral triangle.
NEAR-FIELD MONITOR SETUP
This arrangement provides the optimal stereo imaging. If the speakers
are too close to each other, the stereo field will sound collapsed; if
they’re too far apart, it will sound unnaturally spread out.

The speakers should be angled toward you (though some recordists like
them to point slightly behind their head to lessen fatigue).

Proper aiming of the speaker affects the perception of the stereo image
and reduces frequency smearing.
NEAR-FIELD MONITOR SETUP
The speakers should be isolated (decoupled) from whatever they are
sitting on. The best way to do this is with speaker pads. If the speakers
are not isolated, the sound will be transmitted through whatever they
are sitting on and it will arrive at your ears prior to the direct sound from
the speaker (sound travels faster through solid material). Because the
sound is arriving at a different time, there will be phase problems.
POWERED-STUDIO MONITOR
Power amp is built right into
the speakers. The motivation
for this is simple: powered
speakers ensure that the
amplification for the speaker is
properly matched to the
speaker design and
capabilities.
STUDIO MONITOR VS. CONSUMER SPEAKER
Studio monitors seek a balanced
sound, whereas consumer
speakers often enhance
frequency ranges effectivel
“hyping” the, sound for y
the often with
listeners (most
high and low frequency
boosts).
LARGE MONITOR
Almost all critical listening is done on the near‐field monitors. Large (wall‐
mounted or soffit‐mounted) speakers are nonetheless useful for a variety
of other purposes.

Large monitors may be used for referencing low frequencies that may not
be sufficiently reproduced in the near‐field monitor, though subwoofers
have become a common alternative for doing this.
LARGE MONITOR
Big monitors can be useful for more general
listening evaluations if they’re accurate
across the frequency range, but this is not
easy to accomplish. Large monitors
are typically
farther away from the
position, solistening
they interact much more
room acoustics than near‐field monitors,
with and
this often causes complications in achieving
a well‐balanced frequency response.
HEADPHONE
S
1. Closed-Back Headphones

These are headphones whose backs are

completely sealed. This arrangement allows the
sound output to be channeled exclusively to that
point they can reach the ear with ease. For this
reason, they do emit music and sounds which
may not be very natural.
HEADPHONE
S
2. Open-Back Headphones

The exact opposite of the closed-back

counterparts. In these headphones, the backs are
open as there are no barriers between the drivers
and the outside world. They are also less bulky
and easy to handle at the same time. Their sound
quality is rather poor though. This is because the
real- world sound is mixed with the audio output.
HEADPHONE
S
3. On-Ear Headphones

Also called supra-aural, these are special

headphones which are designed to cover the
entire ears. They are as such much larger than the
standard earbuds. When worn on the ears, they
completely immerse you in the sound output and
minimize the leaks.
HEADPHONE
S
4. Over-Ear Headphones

Over-ear headphones are also called circus-aural.

This is to mean that they go over and around your
ears thus enclosing them tightly. With this
arrangement in mind, they do have some great
bass responses. This is the headphone to go for if
you intend to listen to music for a prolonged
duration of time.
HEADPHONE
S
5. In-Ear Headphones

In-ear headphones are also called canal phones

or in-ear monitors (IEMs). They are so called
because their tips are inserted in rather than over
or around the ears. They channel sounds directly
into the eardrums and are as such pretty
effective. These kinds of earphones are compact
in size and are hence suited for use on the go.
HEADPHONE
S
6. Earbuds

Earbuds are very small headphones which are

inserted in the ears. They are often wireless in
nature and are used for non-invasive listening of
the sound and audio output. Generally speaking,
they are smaller and hence take up less space. For
this reason, they are suitable for on-the-go
applications and circumstances of use.
MONO
Mono or monophonic describes a system
where all the audio signals are mixed
together and routed through a single audio
channel. Mono systems can have multiple
loudspeakers, and even multiple widely
separated.
MONO
The big advantage to mono is that everyone
hears the very same signal, and, in properly
designed systems, all listeners would hear
the system at essentially the same sound
level. This makes well-designed mono
systems very well suitedfor speech
reinforcement as they can provide excellent
speech intelligibility.
STERE
O
True stereophonic sound systems have two
independent audio signal channels, and the
signals that are reproduced have a specific
level and phase relationship to each other so
that when played back through a suitable
reproduction system, there will be an
apparent image of the original sound
source.
STERE
O
An additional requirement of the stereo
playback system is that the entire listening
area must have equal coverage of both the
left and right channels, at essentially equal
levels. Therefore, your home stereo system
has a “sweet spot” between the two
loudspeakers, where the level differences
and arrival time differences are small
enough that the stereo image
localization are both maintained and
MONO VS. STEREO
In monaural sound one single channel is used. It can be reproduced
through several speakers, but all speakers are still reproducing the same
copy of the signal.

In stereophonic sound more channels are used (typically two). You can
use two different channels and make one feed one speaker and the
second channel feed a second speaker (which is the most common stereo
setup). This is used to create directionality, perspective, space.
5.1
This is the primary format for creating and delivering surround sound. It’s
widely used in movie theaters, digital television, DVD-video and audio,
and even the latest game consoles. Source signals have the five main
channels and one LFE (low-frequency effects) bass channel. Playback
systems usually have five main speakers and one subwoofer.
5.1 HOME SETUP
Adobe Audition is a professional digital audio workstation that is ideal for
mixing sound for video, recording podcasts or radio shows, and restoring
and repairing audio recordings
 Audition offers two editing environments: Waveform view for making
changes to individual files, and Multitrack view for assembling recordings
on a timeline and mixing them together.
 Waveform view is designed for creating or editing a single audio file. You
can switch to this view at any time by clicking the Waveform button in the
toolbar, which is at the upper-left of the interface by default.
 Recording
If your computer has microphone, you can record immediately by clicking the red record button .

Try it Click the Record button and start speaking. You’ll see your voice appear as green waveform in the Editor panel as you speak.
When you’re finished, click the Stop button.

Click the Play button or press the spacebar to play the recording, and then again to pause the preview.
 Editing Selections

Quick volume changes can be made using the HUD (heads-up display) that appears over the waveform. You can adjust
parts of your recording by first making a selection.

Drag in the waveform to make a selection.

 Spectral Frequency Editing
Using the Spectral Frequency display option, you can view, select, remove, and edit sound using tools and techniques similar to
those found in paint and image-editing applications, such as Adobe Photoshop.

Click the Spectral Frequency display button in the toolbar to view your audio in a different manner.

Click the Marquee Selection tool in the toolbar to activate it. Use this tool to select a piece of the audio in the Spectral
Frequency display, then press the spacebar to preview only the selected frequencies within the selection duration.
 Audition comes with over 50 audio effects,
and you can acquire additional audio effect plug-ins
from the thousands provided by other
parties.
A Favorite is a preset series of actions or effects that you can apply with a
single command in Waveform view. A favorite can include effects,
amplitude adjustments, and more.
The History panel shows the edit steps that you've taken
and allows you to undo and redo previous actions.
Multitrack view is the editing environment designed for placing multiple
audio clips on a timeline to mix them together into a new file. You can
combine voiceovers, interviews, and background music to make a
podcast, or you can add sound effects and narration to a video.
You can drag audio and video clips from the Files panel to the timeline in
the Editor panel. To add clips to the Files panel, you can use the Open and
Import commands in the File menu, or you can drag files from your
operating system's file browser.
Use common editing tools like the razor and selection tools to cut, move,
group, and slip your clips on the timeline.
Work like the professionals do and adjust levels, EQ (equalization), and
effects using the powerful Mixer panel. Toggle this view by clicking the
Mixer tab or selecting Mixer from the Window menu.
 2015
Adobe
Audition CC
Shortcut
keys
REVERB
In a room, sound bounces off the walls, ceiling, and floor on the way to
your ears. All these reflected sounds reach your ears so closely together
that you don’t perceive them as separate echoes, but as a sonic ambience
that creates an impression of space.

This reflected sound is called reverberation, or reverb for short. With

Adobe Audition, you can use reverb effects to simulate a variety of room
environments.
FULL REVERB
The Reverb > Full Reverb effect is convolution-based, avoiding ringing,
metallic, and other artificial sounding artifacts.

This effect offers some unique options, such as Perception, which

simulates room irregularities, Left/Right Location, which places the source
off-center, and Room Size and Dimension, which help you realistically
simulate rooms that you can customize. To simulate wall surfaces and
resonance, you can change the reverb’s frequency absorption by using a
three-band, parametric EQ in the Coloration section.
FULL REVERB
When you change reverb settings, this effect creates a
temporary impulse file, which simulates the acoustic environment you
specify. This file can be several megabytes in size, requiring a few seconds
to process, so you might have to wait before hearing a preview.

Note: Dry sound signals refers to the raw or unprocessed sounds that
usually come from a direct recording. On the other hand, wet
sounds refer to the processed sound/signal. The processed sound or
signal is accomplished by using a special audio device.
STUDIO REVERB
Like the other reverb effects, the Reverb > Studio Reverb effect simulates
acoustic spaces. It is faster and less processor-intensive than the other
reverb effects, however, because it isn’t convolution-based.

As a result, you can make real-time changes quickly and effectively in the
Multitrack Editor, without pre-rendering effects on a track.
REVERB ESSENTIAL PROPERTIES
Room Size - Sets the volume of the virtual room, as measured in cubic
meters. The larger the room, the longer the reverb. Use this control to
create virtual rooms of only a few square meters to giant coliseums.

Stereo Width - Controls the spread across the stereo channels. 0%

produces a mono reverb signal; 100% produces maximum stereo
separation.
ECHO AND DELAY
Echo is a repeating sound as it fades away.

Delay means the sound comes late after it has been produced and being
heard for a specified period of time.
TIME AND PITCH
Automatic Pitch Correction is the sole effect under the Time and Pitch
effect is designed for vocals and corrects the pitch of notes so that they
are in tune.

However, be careful when applying this effect; many vocalists deliberately

sing some notes a little flat or sharp to add interest or tension to a vocal;
correcting these can remove a vocal’s “human” quality.
STEREO IMAGERY
Center Channel Extractor is with stereo signals, some sounds
are traditionally mixed to center — particularly vocals, bass, and kick
drum.

Reversing the phase of one channel cancels out any material panned to
center while leaving signals panned left and right alone.

This is commonly used for karaoke to remove (or minimize) usually

the main vocal parts of a song.
SPECIAL – GUITAR SUITE
The Guitar Suite is a “channel strip” that emulates a guitar
signal processing chain.

However, Guitar Suite is also useful for other musical instruments

particularly to drums.
WHAT IS MIXING?
o The craft of taking multiple audio tracks and combining them together
onto a final master track — be it a 2‐channel stereo master, or 6+
channels in the case of surround mixing.

o The way we combine tracks is equal parts art and science and involves
utilizing a variety of tools to bring out the most emotional impact
from the song.
WHAT IS MIXING?
o Other times, mixing may require repairing tracks that sound sub‐par.
Each mix presents its own problems and challenges — it’s your job as
the mixer to not only solve these problems, but to present the song
the way it sounds in the client’s imagination.

o Simply layering all the tracks and playing the song, the sound is quite
undynamic and flat.
WHAT IS MIXING?
o You can change the level of an audio track at a certain point to make a
guitar come out more clearly at a specific moment. Also, unwanted
noise and clicks are removed in the mixing stage.
WHAT IS MASTERING?
o Refers to the process of optimizing the final track using all sorts of
different mastering elements such as compression, equalization,
stereo enhancement and more.

o By mastering, one can really bring a track to life and spice up the
sound. You can make the drum track more dynamic, the guitar more
or less sharp sounding, the keyboards softer.
FOUR ELEMENTS OF MIXING & MASTERING
1. LEVEL – when we want to hear something louder, we turn up a fader.
And the louder components of the mix grab the listener’s attention
more than the quieter components.

2. EQ – a more detailed level control that lets us boost and cut levels at
specific frequencies. EQ is the easiest way to shape the tracks in your
mix, so they fit together—and provides a powerful way to add
personality and character to the individual tracks.
FOUR ELEMENTS OF MIXING & MASTERING
3. PANNING – If you were to think of level and EQ as the vertical
(up/down) elements, panning would be the horizontal (left/right)
element. Panning can be very helpful on instruments that sit in the
same frequency range. By panning one to the left and the other to the
right, you can separate the two instruments and reduce the chance of
one instrument masking the other.
FOUR ELEMENTS OF MIXING & MASTERING
3. PANNING – PANNING SHOULDNT BE ALWAYS HARD RIGHT or LEFT, try
lesser percentage pan, you still hear both channels, but one channel
seems dominant and creates a HARD PAN impression. Using different
panning effects on one or two tracks in a song can also achieve a
good and unique mix.

In Audition you can listen to either the left or right channel by clicking on
either L or R to mute the selected channel. The muted channel is
grayed out.
FOUR ELEMENTS OF MIXING & MASTERING
4. TIME-BASED EFFECTS – Time-based effects form the element of depth
(front to back). Time-based effects such as reverb and delay can make
an instrument seem further away, or sometimes bigger than a dry
instrument.

Dry – no effects
Wet – with effects
TIPS ON MIXING
1. Don't assume that your ears always tell you the truth. Rest them
before mixing and constantly refer to commercial recordings played
over your monitor system, so that you have some form of reference
to aim for.

2. Don't overdo the effects, especially reverb, as this can clutter your
recording and take away the contrast that is needed to give your mix
punch. As a rule, the drier the sound, the more up front (realistic) it
will sound, while heavily reverbed sounds tend to move into the
background (example - background vocals).
TIPS ON MIXING
3. Don't pan low frequency tracks such as drums or bass instruments to
the sides of the stereo soundstage, as these high energy sounds need
to be shared equally between the two stereo speakers for best
results.

4. Leave any final EQ and effect adjustments until the full mix is playing.
If you work on any single instrument in solo, it's likely to sound
different when everything else is added. If you can avoid using any
heavy EQ, the result is more likely to sound more natural.
TIPS ON MIXING
5. Remember, the solo button is your enemy! When listening to a
track soloed, you have no point of reference for how it sits in the
fine It’ssolo an instrument to find out if there’s a trouble spot in the
mix. to
performance or how you’ve processed it, but you should
immediately take it out of solo and listen to it in the context ofthenthe
full mix.
TIPS ON MIXING
6. Have a list of songs to reference that you are familiar with. Create a
playlist of numerous songs that you know intimately. Listen to how the
vocals sit in the mix, how the reverbs and delays sound in context to
the instruments, where the drums sit in relation to the bass and
guitars, how tight or how loose the low end is, and so on.

7. If possible, fix problems by using EQ cut rather than boost. The

human hearing system is less sensitive to EQ cut than it is to boost.
TIPS ON MIXING
8. From time to time, check your mix balance by listening from outside
the studio/bedroom door. This tends to show up imbalances
level more clearly than when listening from front of the
directly in monitors. Nobody is quite sure why,
but it works.
9. Don't monitor too loudly. It may make the music seem more
exciting (initially), but the end user is unlikely to listen at the same
high level.
TIPS ON MIXING
10. Check your mixes on headphones as well as speakers. Headphones
show up small distortions and clicks that you may never hear over
loudspeakers. However, don't rely solely on headphones for mixing,
for they represent the stereo image differently to loudspeakers and
are notoriously unpredictable at low (bass) frequencies.
TIPS ON MIXING
11. Don't vary the level of the drums and bass unnecessarily during a mix,
as the rhythm section is traditionally the constant backdrop against
which other sounds move. Natural dynamics within rhythm
instrument parts is OK, but don't keep moving the level on these
sounds.
FILM VS. DIGITAL
During the first century of photography and moviemaking, everything was
shot on film – a celluloid material whose light-sensitive surface could
record lasting images.

However, as technology advances, digital filmmaking gains dominance

and poses a threat to the film hegemony. The Oscar-winner Social
Network (2010), for instance, was shot on the Red One, a video camera.
FILM VS. DIGITAL
FILM VS. DIGITAL
FILM VS. DIGITAL
FILM VS. DIGITAL
WHY SHOOT IN FILM?
Film is still preferred by most filmmakers because this is the tradition and
the technology they understand. Other two big advantages of using film
are (1) depth of field and (2) broad exposure latitude.
WHY SHOOT IN DIGITAL?
Video can really speed things up. With film, prior to the shoot, someone
has to load the magazine in a light-safe area. After the shoot, the film
must be developed, processed, and digitized (turned into a digital file in a
computer). Film is digitized because most editing are now done in
computers, using programs like Adobe Premiere Pro or Final Cut Pro.
CASSETTES VS. MODERN STORAGE DEVICE
DIGITAL FILMMAKING
The term “Digital Filmmaking” can refer to a number of
processes and techniques used in modern films, and different
can simply mean the
use of digital cameras, or more extensive digital aspects such as
characters and environments created completely within a computer.
DIGITAL FILMMAKING
Video is spreading quickly. As technology evolves, video will soon become
the industry standard. It's impossible to know when, but the push
towards it has already begun. The main reasons to choose video are (1)
workflow, (2) price, and (3) reproducibility.
ADVANTAGES
WORKFLOW

You record straight into an SD card or hard drive. The footage is then
unloaded in a computer or separate hard drives. The footage does not
need to be processed; you can watch it on the set within seconds after
taking it.
ADVANTAGES
PRICE AND REPRODUCIBILITY

Shooting film is expensive. A 400-foot role of 16mm stock costs about

$100. 400 feet of 16mm film is enough for 11 minutes of footage. That
means that, when shooting 16mm, you spend $100 for each 11 minutes.

With digital filmmaking, the preferred media is SD cards, which in theory

can be used endlessly over and over again in different projects.
MOVIE FORMATS

Source: [Link]/zV2ICC2h74s
NEW TECHNOLOGY

Source: [Link]/jS-7aSIEJ3M
NEW TECHNOLOGY

Source: [Link]/UIwdCN4dV6w
MOBILE VIDEOGRAPHY
Before the days of smartphones – if you can remember such a time –
taking a great video was a labor-intensive process. You'd have to buy a
fancy camera and editing software for your desktop computer and invest
some serious time and energy into learning how to use them.

But, thanks to our mobile devices and the editing apps that come with
them, we can now take high-quality videos and edit them without too
many bells and whistles – all from the same device that we use to make
calls.
CHOOSING A PHONE
VIDEO QUALITY
What do the videos coming out of the camera look like? Check for things
like sharpness, contrast, saturation and color (white balance and tint).
Online reviews with photo examples are a great help here!
VIDEO QUALITY
Almost all camera phones can shoot HD video (1080P). But some camera
phones support shooting at faster frame rates (for slow motion video).
And a few cutting-edge smartphone cameras can shoot at an ultra high
definition (4K) resolution in at least 60 frames per second.
NOT
E
“More Megapixels
DOES NOT Mean
Better Quality Videos”
SENSOR SIZE
Bigger sensors are better
because they allow bigger
for
pixels.
By increasing sensor size and
pixel size manufacturers are able
to make a big difference to low
light sensitivity and noise.
APERTURE
Another camera feature to look out for is the aperture. The aperture is
the opening through which the camera lets in light. If you are attempting
to take a video in low-light you may benefit from an aperture that is able
to let more light in, for example.

Aperture is represented by an f-number such as f/1.4, f/2, f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6,

f/8, f/11, f/16, f/22, or f/32. The lower the f-number, the more light is
taken in for each frame of the video
IMAGE STABILIZATION
These days, some smartphone cameras come equipped with image
stabilization – a function that reduces blurriness caused by movement of
the camera. This can make a big difference in the quality of your videos,
especially in low-light conditions

OIS & EIS

OIS VS. EIS
Optical Image Stabilization (OIS): It helps to reduce shaky videos by
manually shifting the lens in the opposite direction of the movement of
the smartphone's body, keeping the image centered. However, OIS is the
inferior stabilization method of the two when it comes to video.
OIS VS. EIS
Electronic Stabilization (EIS): It works by shifting the image after it hits
the camera sensor to re-center it. EIS can predict movements, leading to a
smoother video. However, because of the size of the image, it often isn't
available on all modes, namely 4K at 60 fps (or 4K at any frame rate in the
case of the iPhone 11 Pro Max).
 SCREEN DISPLAY
Consider things like screen size,
resolution, and the quality of the
contrast. These'll all make a difference
in how easy it is to use your camera,
especially in tricky lighting conditions,
like low light and direct sun. They'll
also influence how similar the image
on your phone looks to that same
image when it's posted online or
printed out.
POPULARITY
As a general rule, if you choose a more popular phone, you'll have more
options when it comes to apps and accessories, and you'll have an easier
time tracking down replacement parts (like USB cables and chargers).
OS & DEVICE COMPATIBILITY
If you're used to working with
a particular operating system
or want your phone to be
compatible with your other
devices, you may want to
choose a phone from the
same brand.
STORAGE SPACE
If you plan to take a lot of photos (and/or use a lot of apps) you may want
to opt for a phone with lots of storage space. Our current phones have 64
GB of space, and we wouldn't want any less.

Expandable Storage: Whether the phone supports expandable storage

via microSD. The feature, which has been an Android exclusive for years,
allows you to increase the amount of available storage so you can save
even more videos.
BATTERY LIFE
Your battery life will depend on a lot of things (like how much you use
your phone and what apps you run in the background), but it's worth
getting an idea of what the maximum battery life is.
PRICE
As a general rule, the better the camera features, the more expensive the
phone will be. If you're serious about smartphone videography, it may be
worth it to pay the premium. But don't lose sight of the fact that
smartphones still don't match the quality of DSLRs or even advanced
digital cameras.
MOBILE VIDEOGRAPHY TIPS
We all shoot video with our smartphones, but most of us aren’t trying to
make the next great Oscar-winning film. We’re just trying to capture
moments that are important to us, or footage that we think will resonate
with others.

There are a lot of little things you can do to make sure the video you
shoot with your smartphone is something worth watching — whether
those moments are funny, touching, stupid, or downright shocking.
DON’T SHOOT VERTICAL VIDEO
Nothing ruins great footage like having two black vertical bars along both
sides of your video. To avoid this amateur mistake, make sure to use
landscape orientation and not portrait orientation while recording
PERFECT FRAMING
Completely fill the frame with your subject. You can also put him or her
or it slightly off-center to create a more visually interesting scene. Just
play around and see what looks best.
DON’T USE DIGITAL ZOOM
In order to zoom in while recording without losing the crisp, vivid quality
you desire in videos, you'll need a device that offers a decent optical
zoom. If you have a smartphone with more than one camera on the back,
often one of the extra lenses is a designated “telephoto” lens, designed to
give you an optical zoom effect, zooming in without losing detail.

If you want to zoom in with a smartphone without it looking like pixelated

garbage, then simply walk closer to your subject. Simple.
LIGHTING
Using the flash on a smartphone or digital camera to lighten a subject
gives it that old VHS camcorder spotlight appearance.

Smartphones come equipped with LED lights that are too bright and can
easily skew the color temperature of photos. Also, video will often still
come out poorly lit in the end. If you want to record a photo at night,
you'll have to find another light source.
DO NOT OVERUSE SLOW MOTION
Slow motion videos can be used to capture interesting movements that
we skip with our eyes. Action shots are great in slow motion, but
someone writing a message with a pencil might not be so interesting.
USE TIME LAPSE
Time lapse or time-lapse photography is a cinematography technique
whereby frequency at which film frames are captured is much lower than
that used to view the sequence. When you replay this sequence at
normal speed, time appears to be moving faster and thus lapsing.

Simply put time-lapse photography is time manipulation. Objects and

events that would normally take hours, days, months, or years can be
captured and then viewed later at a much faster speed, thanks to time-
lapse photography techniques.
AUDIO RECORDING
Most of the time, recording audio directly from the camera’s built-in
microphone will suffice, but in professional videos, namely interviews,
you will want to have a microphone as close to your subject as possible.

You can use an external professional microphone hooked up to computer

to record your audio, or a memo recorder.
THREE-ACT STRUCTURE
The 3-act structure is an old principle widely adhered to in storytelling
today. It can be found in plays, poetry, novels, comic books, short stories,
video games, and the movies. It was present in the novels of Conan Doyle,
the plays of Shakespeare, the fables of Aesop, the poetry of Aristotle, and
the films of Hitchcock. It’s older than Greek dramaturgy. Hollywood and
Broadway use it well. It’s irrefutable and bullet-proof, so to speak.
THREE-ACT STRUCTURE

Act I: Setup
Act II: Confrontation
Act III: Resolution
THREE-ACT STRUCTURE
ACT 1: THE SETUP
The first act is where all the major characters of the story are introduced,
plus the world where they live in, and the conflict that will move the story
forward. In Act I, the writer has the freedom to create any setting and
reality that he so wishes. It’s in the first pages of the script that he defines
the reasoning and logic of the story. This early in the script, anything is
possible.
ACT 1: THE SETUP
Act I must also present a strong hook – an exciting scene early in
the script that grabs the audience’s interest and hooks them.

Act I ends with the first plot point of the movie.

ACT II: CONFRONTATION
The second act is by far the longest, encompassing half of the movie and
taking place between the first and third acts. For some screenwriters, Act
II is the hardest one to squeeze out. This happens because after the initial
boost of a new story, the writer is left without plot elements to introduce.

The story, its characters and conflict are all established. At this point, the
writer has created a solid frame for his narrative. Yet he’s still roughly sixty
pages away from the ending.
ACT II: CONFRONTATION
With so many blank pages remaining, the writer faces the challenge of
keeping the story moving forward and not boring the audience. One
device to accomplish this feat is the creation of subplot. The subplot is a
minor story layered under the main narrative. It often adds a three-
dimensionality aspect to the characters by allowing them to engage in a
behavior that is not necessarily connected to the main plot, but still
relevant in the overall narrative and often linked to a central theme.
ACT II: CONFRONTATION
In the second act, the stakes escalate. If the hero is “on the fence” or
confused about what he should do, then something must happen by
the midpoint of the script to make his goal clear.

A pivotal element of this escalation inherent to Act II is Plot Point II, which
catapults the story into the third and final act. Much like Plot Point I, Plot
Point II also affects the main character by changing the direction he’s
headed. The difference is that the stakes are much higher. This is often a
moment of crisis, in which all hope seems lost.
ACT III: RESOLUTION
The last act, Act III presents the final confrontation of the movie,
followed by the denouement. This act is usually the shortest in length
because quickly after the second turning point of the script, the main
character is face to face with the villain or just about. Showdown ensues
and then conclusion.
ACT III: RESOLUTION
The third act is also when the writer ties up any loose ends and offers a
resolution to the subplots.

The resolution can also give extra information for a more

elaborate character arc.
FILM CRITICISM
Film criticism is the study, interpretation, and evaluation of a film and its
place in cinema history. Film criticism usually offers interpretation of its
meaning, analysis of its structure and style, judgement of its worth by
comparison with other films, and an estimation of its likely effect on
viewers.
FILM CRITICISM
Film theory (e.g. feminist, postmodernist, etc.) often informs the critical
analysis of a film. Criticism may examine a particular film or may look at a
group of films in the same genre, or a director's or actor's body of work.

In-depth criticism and analyses of some feature films or mainstream films,

foreign films, independent films, documentaries, etc. may be found in
more scholarly or academic publications (e.g. Film Quarterly, Cinema
Journal, Film International).
FILM THEORY
Film theory sometimes seems difficult and complicated, but
fundamentally it’s a range of different tools that you can use to explain
how film works. Following are a few of the most helpful theoretical
methods used in film studies:
FILM THEORY
Auteur theory: The idea that the director is the single misunderstood
artistic genius responsible for creating a movie, instead of the thousands
of other people typically involved.

Cognitive theory: Using science such as neuroscience and psychology to

help explain how audiences watch and understand films.
FILM THEORY
Deconstruction: Not simply dismantling films but dismantling the ways
you think about and interpret them.

Feminism: Study of film as an element of patriarchy, or structural male

superiority over women. For example, the idea of the male gaze proposes
that men control the ‘looks’ of cinema and women are present to be
looked at.
FILM THEORY
Formalism: Focusing on the formal properties of film (such as editing or
image composition) to understand how it’s different from other artistic
media.

Ideological analysis: The notion that culture shapes how people think and
behave. Ideological analysis seeks to expose the hidden politics of a film.
FILM THEORY
exerted over cultures or nations. In film studies, post-colonialism looks at films made by film-makers from countries
Post-colonialism: Analyzing
colonized (or formerly colonized) impact
by the West or at Western films or legacy
that depict of nations.
colonized colonial
the power
Postmodernism: Period of critical theory claiming that the old big ideas have run out of juice, that high art and
popular culture are now inseparable, and that images have become more real than reality.
FILM THEORY
Reception studies: Just asking film spectators what they’re thinking,
rather than theorising about how they’re interacting with what they see
on film.

Semiotics: The study of how film works like a language, using signs
symbols and formal structures to convey meaning.
FILM THEORY
Structuralism: The idea that you can boil down popular cinema to key
elements or structures. These function like modern-day mythology, or
stories that people keep telling themselves to help them understand the
world and to make themselves feel better.
MOVIE REVIEW
Film criticism differs from movie reviews in several ways: it entails both
analysis and judgement; it may be published many years after a film is
released; it is usually longer and more complex than a movie review.
A movie review documents the critical reception of a film at its time of
theatrical or DVD release. It is more "consumer-oriented," placing more
emphasis on recommendation than analysis. Reviews of feature films or
mainstream films may be found in online databases, newspapers, and
general interest magazines (e.g. New York Times, Village Voice, Cineaste).
MOVIE REVIEW
MOVIE REVIEW
MOVIE REVIEW
MOVIE REVIEW
THE ACADEMY AWARDS
The Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars, are a set of awards for
artistic and technical merit in the film industry. Given annually by the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the awards are an
international recognition of excellence in cinematic achievements as
assessed by the Academy's voting membership.
THE ACADEMY AWARDS

[Link]/winners
THE ACADEMY AWARDS
THE SHAPE OF WATER (2018)
The Shape of Water was the most-nominated film at the Oscars 2018,
and it won in four categories: Production Design, Original Score, Director,
and the all-important Best Picture
THE SHAPE OF WATER (2018)
A fantastical, watery romance between a mute woman and a fish-
man, The Shape of Water is directed by Guillermo del Toro, a beloved
director of movies in many genres — horror (The Devil’s Backbone), gothic
romance (Crimson Peak), action/sci-fi (Pacific Rim), comics (Hellboy), and
fantasy (Pan’s Labyrinth).
THE SHAPE OF WATER (2018)
The Shape of Water feels like his most accessible film in a while, fish-man
romance notwithstanding. Somewhere between a fairy tale, a fable, and a
fantasy, it’s garnered strong reviews from critics and done well at the box
office. With a cast including Richard Jenkins, Sally Hawkins, and Octavia
Spencer (all of whom were nominated for Oscars for their roles), it’s a film
that’s easy to love.
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Cinematography is the art or science of motion pictue photography.

From the Greek work kinema “movement” and graphein “to record”
CAMERA MOVEMENTS
• Tilt
• Pan
• Zooming
• Pedestal
• Dolly
CAMERA MOVEMENTS
Tilt
Moving the cameras lens up and down while keeping in horizontal axis.

Pan
Moving the camera lens to one side or another. Look to your left then
right.
CAMERA MOVEMENTS
Zooming
most familiar, involve changing focal length of the lens to make it appear
closer or further away in the frame.

Pedestal
moving the camera up and down changing its vertical or
without horizontal axis.
CAMERA MOVEMENTS
Dolly
motion toward or motion [Link] with zoom, it doesn’t
comparison change the apparent depth of
field.
COMPOSITION
• Eye Level
• Rule of Thirds
• High Angle
• Low Angle
• Oblique/ Canted Angle
• Handheld Shots
• The Bird’s Eye View
COMPOSITION
• A fairly neutral shot
EYE LEVEL
• The camera is positioned as though is a
human actually observing a scene, so that
character’s heads are on a level with the
focus.

• The camera will be placed approximately five

to six feet from the ground.

• Most journalistically sound, especially when

covering issues with 2 sides.
COMPOSITION
• Allows camera operator to move in and out
HANDHELD SHOTS of scenes with greater speed.

• Gives a jerky, ragged effect, totally at odds

with the organized smoothness of a tripod
shot.

• Good for a gritty realism, which involves the

viewer very close with a scene.

• If possible, ALWAYS use a Tripod when

filming. Shaky shots can be VERY distracting.
COMPOSITION
LOW ANGLE • These increase height and give a sense of
speeded motion.

• Sense of confusion to a viewer, of powerlessness

within the action of a scene.

• Background will tend to be just sky or ceiling, the

lack of detail about the setting adding to the
disorientation of the viewer

• Added height of the object may make it inspire

fear and insecurity in the viewer.
COMPOSITION
HIGH ANGLE

• Camera is elevated above the action.

• Make the object seem smaller, and less significant

(or scary).

• The object or character often gets swallowed up by

their setting - they become part of a wider picture.
COMPOSITION
OBLIQUE/CANTED ANGLE
• Camera is tilted (i.e. is not placed horizontal to floor
level)

• Suggests imbalance, transition and instability

• POV=Point-of-View shots

o Camera becomes the eyes of one particular character,

seeing what they see
o Hand held camera is often used for this.
TYPES OF SHOT
• Extreme Wide
• Wide
• Medium
• Tight
TYPES OF SHOT
EXTREME WIDE
• Extreme wide shot - XWS : very distant view
of subjects, relative to other shots.

Establishing shot - ES: first seconds of video,

shows setting & sets mood in our broadcasts.
TYPES OF SHOT
WIDE • Long shot - LS/Wide shot - WS: shows the big picture
from side to side and front to back.

• Location, the characters, and the relationship between

characters & location: a person's entire body is visible
on the screen.

• Head to toe.

• Similar to the XWS as it shows a lot of the area and

environment around the subject, but in this case, the
WS moves closer to the subject so it can been seen
more easily
TYPES OF SHOT
MEDIUM
• Medium shot-MS: closer to scene: advances action & information to
understand why of location & action; shows a person from the waist up.

• Medium close-up - MCU: shows a person from the chest

• This is how we see the world. Must break away from only MS.
 TYPES OF SHOT
TIGHT
Tight shot or Close-up - T/CU: on a single object; person's
head & down to just below shoulder reveals details of
emotion & personality, tension & excitement on person's
face

Extreme tight Close-up - XT/XCU: relative to other shots, a

small part of person's body; it is OK to cut off the top of a
person's head, but never cut off their chin--remember the rule
of thirds about a person's eyes!
FRAMING
• Rule of Thirds

• Eyes on Third

• No Head room

• Nose Room

• Shoot to edit protocol - give extra

time

• Don't forget the XWS

• Establishes the setting Always shoot

in sequences
o Wide
o Medium
o Tight
SCRIPTWRITING
The first phase of preproduction is to get your great ideas down on paper.
Depending on the project, this written phases can take many form: a
proposal, a treatment, a screenplay, a television script or a voice-over
script.
SCRIPTWRITING
PROPOSALS
• Can be anywhere from one page to over a dozen
• It has no fixed form and can change accordingly with every
project.
• Its purpose is to force you articulate the vision in your head.
• By explaining your ideas for the project, potential challenges can
be anticipated in advance.
SCRIPTWRITING
PROPOSALS
1
First begin to summarize
your project into a
sentence or two.

2 Refer to it from time to

time to refocus your ideas
3 and help yourself to be
track.
on
Identify the details of your
4 video. Outline the story
or the information you
need to convey.
SCRIPTWRITING
SEQUENCE TREATMENT
• Is much more involved than the proposal
• Is more formal than the proposal
• Should fully develop your story and characters.
• A typical film treatment tells the story and describes the character
but has little or no dialogue.
SCRIPTWRITING
SCREENPLAY
• Also known as film script, follows a specific structure.
• Organized by scenes, or the various location where filming takes
place whether inside (INTERIOR) or outside (EXTERIOR)
• The approximate time of the day is also included.
• Description and actions run the width of the page.
• Dialogue is centered on the page under the name of the speaker
• When a character is first introduced, the character’s entire name
is capitalized. Sounds are also capitalized.
SCRIPTWRITING
THE PREMISE
Before writing, you need to be able to summarize the idea of your
screenplay in a single sentence. It is called the premise. Once you have
established the premise, you can stay focus on it.

Example:
“A young boy befriends an alien who is lost and longing to go home”
SCRIPTWRITING
SCRIPTWRITING
PRODUCING AN EFFECTIVE SCRIPTS
1. Creativity
You must bring some out-of-the-box ideas to your video marketing
campaigns if you want to garner the attention of your audience. A
scriptwriter must be creative enough to bring new ideas and concepts to
the table. They should be able to develop these ideas and keep them
interesting enough for the audience. Look for inspiration and follow the
best ones.
PRODUCING AN EFFECTIVE SCRIPTS
2. Research
If you are selling a product or service through your video, then you must
research your competitors and tell your audience how your offering is
better than theirs. Research about their current advertising and marketing
campaigns and then brainstorm how you can create a better video script
that gives you the results you need.
PRODUCING AN EFFECTIVE SCRIPTS
3. Understand the Problem
You must know the objective of the video before you begin writing the
script. You must understand the problem you are solving before you go on
and start writing the script. You will only be able to write an effective
script if you know the main point yourself. Otherwise, the script will be
vague, and it will only turn your audience away.
PRODUCING AN EFFECTIVE SCRIPTS
4. Elevator Pitch
Every video script has an elevator pitch and as a scriptwriter, you must be
able to create a compelling and creative pitch. The elevator pitch will
make the audience interested in your video. The better your elevator
pitch, the higher your chances of achieving your video goals.
PRODUCING AN EFFECTIVE SCRIPTS
5. Use the Right Tone
If the objective of the video warrants the use of a friendly tone, then use
it. On the other hand, if it is an explainer video for top-level executives,
then you must keep it professional.

The tone you would like to convey can be fun, conversational,

professional, etc. It on your message and the
humorous, depends
audience you are creating the content for.
PRODUCING AN EFFECTIVE SCRIPTS
6. Tell a Story
A professional scriptwriting service begins its scriptwriting process by
identifying the pain point. They present a problem that the audience can
easily identify with. They also sometimes walk them through case
examples and scenarios to establish a connection with the audience. Once
they have painted a compelling picture of the pain point, they then
present a solution to this problem. They continue by telling the audience
why this solution is the ideal one.
PRODUCING AN EFFECTIVE SCRIPTS
7. Clean and Simple Writing
Keep it short and simple. Shorter and simpler sentences make the content
easy to understand. People like simple things when they don’t have to
make a lot of effort to understand the gist of the message.
PRODUCING AN EFFECTIVE SCRIPTS
8. Personalized for the Platform
Different platforms have different requirements when it comes to videos.
A YouTube video will be different from a Twitter video. Therefore, make
sure you create your video and script accordingly. Choosing the right
platform for your video is another story altogether. Make sure that the
platform you choose caters to your audience.
PRODUCING AN EFFECTIVE SCRIPTS
9. Be Proud
It is important to be clear about your value proposition. Be confident that
it will incite an urge in the audience. A good scriptwriter is confident
about their abilities and knows that their script will convert the audience
into customers.
PRODUCING AN EFFECTIVE SCRIPTS
10. Get a Second Opinion
There’s no harm in getting a second opinion on your video script before
you go on and finalize it. This will bring a new perspective to the content,
and the other person may point out some things that can increase the
effectiveness of the content.
VIDE
O
Video is an electronic medium the recording, copying
for broadcasting of moving visual and
images.
Latin vidēre to see + -o (as in audio)
First Known Use: 1937
USES OF VIDEO
• Entertainment
• Education
• Information
• Gaming
• Promotion/ marketing
• Documentation
WHAT IS DIGITAL VIDEO?
Digital video is audio/visual in a binary format. Information is presented as
a sequence of digital data, rather than in a continuous signal as analog
information is.

As a point of reference, good quality movies and videos are recorded and
viewed at 60 FPS, while super slow-motion videos are taken with high-
speed photography equipment at more than 1,000 FPS and then viewed
at standard rates. The higher the captured video's resolution, the higher
its clarity and quality.
WHAT IS DIGITAL VIDEO?
Digital video is audio/visual in a binary format. Information is presented as
a sequence of digital data, rather than in a continuous signal as analog
information is.

As a point of reference, good quality movies and videos are recorded and
viewed at 60 FPS, while super slow-motion videos are taken with high-
speed photography equipment at more than 1,000 FPS and then viewed
at standard rates. The higher the captured video's resolution, the higher
its clarity and quality.
LEGAL STUFF
• Licensed Software
• Audio and Video Resources
• Public Domain
• Royalty-Free Music
VIDEO ESSENTIALS
Frame Rate

Frame rate is number of

the pictures per of still
time of
ranges from
unit six or video,
eight frames per
second [(frame/s)FPS] for old
mechanical cameras to 120 or more
frames per second for new professional
cameras.
VIDEO ESSENTIALS
Frame Aspect Ratio

Frame aspect ratio describes the ratio of width to height in the dimensions
of an image.

For example, DV NTSC has a frame aspect ratio of 4:3 (or 4.0 width by 3.0
height). A typical widescreen frame has a frame aspect ratio of 16:9. Many
cameras that have a widescreen mode can record using the 16:9 aspect
ratio. Many films have been shot using even wider aspect ratios.
VIDEO ESSENTIALS
Frame Aspect Ratio

For example, two common

techniques are used for
showing a 16:9 movie on a
4:3 standard television. You
can fit the entire width of the
16:9 movie frame within the
4:3 television frame.
VIDEO ESSENTIALS
File Format

Not every video format is compatible with every digital platform when it
comes to production and playback. This can create tremendous problems
while attempting to input, output, upload, and download necessary files.
And that’s why there’s no real best video format out there, rather best
video formats for doing different things.
VIDEO ESSENTIALS
File Format

h.264 is very widely supported and can be found in multiple different

types of container formats. mp4 or m4v are probably the most widely
used extensions, but particular support for files varies based on what
players are installed on devices.
TYPES OF FOOTAGE
A-Roll

A great way to think of A-Roll is media that

“tells” the story, such as an interview or a
news segment. It’s the primary audio and
video that often consists of one or more
people discussing a topic or relating a
narrative. A-Roll is the driving media in most
documentaries, news broadcasts, talk shows,
and reality shows.
TYPES OF FOOTAGE
B-Roll

B-Roll is supplemental footage used to visually

support the A-Roll. Think of it as video that
“shows” the story. If the A-Roll narrative talks
about residences, then the B-Roll might show
a house. Using B-Roll footage helps break up
the monotony of a common A-Roll interview
shot, making the whole thing much more
engaging.
PRODUCTION PROCESS
PRE-PRODUCTION

PRODUCTION

POST-PRODUCTION
PRE-PRODUCTION
• For pre-production to start, producers must commit themselves to a
project – a screenplay.

• The script furnishes the framework for the production.

• Location scouting, casting, equipment rental, storyboard, and

shoot script all happen in accordance with the screenplay.

• The producer secure funds for the production to progress to the next
level.
PRE-PRODUCTION
• Meals for the crew is often the biggest expense to young filmmakers.

• For bigger studios, the most expense goes to the star's salary, which is
higher than the entire crew's combined.

• Equipment rental, contracts, permits, and insurance are also costly for
the independent producer and should not be ignored.

• Creatively and artistically, many decisions must be made.

PRE-PRODUCTION
• First and foremost, a director must be chosen; he or she will be in
charge of creative decisions from that moment onward unless fired.

• The director must be extremely familiar with the screenplay to the

point that he knows what and how he wants to shoot the movie.

• Writing the shooting script is huge responsibility in this phase. The

director must be extremely familiar with the screenplay to the point
that he knows what and how he wants to shoot the movie.
PRE-PRODUCTION
Everything you do before you actually start shooting video, gathering still
images for import, recording sound, and so on.

Translate thoughts into words

• Try to write/ two sentences logline for your story
• What is the goal of your story? Try to make an outline of your story
• Who is your audience?
• What is the medium (distribution channels)?
• What makes this story an interesting story?
PRE-PRODUCTION
Are there any legal issues or ethical considerations?
• Clear copyright/place and people
• Paperwork: site/ character release, permissions
• Decide who will have the copyright

Visualize the story

List some possible introduction and endings for your story that will make
the audience react the way that you would like
PRODUCTION
Execute the idea/plan and convert it to raw footage and audio.

Framing, camera shots, camera angles and camera movements are the
vocabulary of the visual storytelling language. They are very important in
shaping the meaning of a story.

The main part of the production phase is called principal photography –

which is the moment when camera rolls to record the actors and make
the movie.
PRODUCTION
• The purpose of pre-production is to make everything during principal
photography go as smooth as possible.

• Mise-en-Scène - a French term which literally means, “putting into the

scene” or “placing on stage”. It is the arrangement of everything that
appears in the framing – actors, lighting, décor, props, costume.
POST-PRODUCTION
Editing, Titling, Special Effects insertion, enhancement,
image mixing. audio

• Post-production only starts when principal photography ends, but they

may overlap.

• The bulk of post-production consists of reviewing the footage

and assembling the movie – editing.
POST-PRODUCTION
• To complete time editing is directly proportional to the
amount of footage recorded and how good camera notes are.

• Working with:
o Music
o Titles
o Acknowledgments
o Promotional Materials
VIDEO EDITING WORKFLOW
Transfer the Organize
Shoot the video video to your files
your hard sort your files according
to its type
drive

Create text,
Build your edited Place transitions credits, or
video between clips, apply video basic graphics,
by selecting, trimming, effects to the clips and
and adding clips to composite clips. and apply them to your
the timeline. project.

Mix multiple Export your

Add audio audio tracks finished project
be it narration, music, or and use transitions to a file on your desktop
sound effects. and special effects on computer, to streamingvideo
your audio clips. on the internet, or to DVD.
WORKFLOW ENHANCEMENT
• Advance Audio Editing
• Color correction
• Key frame controls
• Clip Notes
• GPU- accelerated video effects
• High-definition video support
• Support for tapeless workflows
• Multicamera editing
• Project Manager
WORKFLOW ENHANCEMENT
• High-end 3D motion effects
• Detailed text animations
• Layered graphics
• Vector artwork
• music creation
• advance audio mixing, editing , and effects
processing
PROJECT SETTINGS BY SEQUENCE
The basic rule of thumb when selecting a project and sequence setting is
to match the setting to your source material and not to the final output.

Maintaining the original quality of source material means you’ll

have more options later.
3 TYPES OF SETTINGS
Project Setting: these applies to the entire project, and most cannot be
changed once the project is created

Sequence Setting: you set these when you create a new sequence and
deal with the type of media you will be using.

Preferences: these generally apply to all projects, and you can

change them at any time.
PREFERENCES
PREFERENCES
General: This primarily sets default times for audio and video transitions,
still-images duration, preroll/postroll for camcorders during capture, and
bin behavior.

Appearance: This sets the interface brightness.

Audio: customizes the audio setting, (will be discussed on the Audio

Mixer Module)
PREFERENCES
Audio Hardware: Sets the default audio hardware device.

Audio Output Mapping: This specifies how each audio hardware

device channel correspond to Premiere Pro audio output channel.

Auto Save: This sets the frequency and number of autosaves.

To open an autosaved project,
choose File > Open Project, navigate to Premiere Pro Auto Save folder,
and double click the project.
PREFERENCES
Capture: This set four basic capture parameters.

Device control : The choices here are Preroll and Timecode

Offset (used only during analog video capture)

Label Colors: This lets you change the default Project

Panel medialink label colors
COMMON SHORTCUT KEYS
Project Commands Mac/Windows
New Project Cmd-Opt-N/Ctrl-Alt-N
New Sequence Cmd-N / Ctrl-N
New Bin Cmd-/ (forward slash) / Ctrl-/
(forward slash)
Import Cmd-I/ Ctrl-I
Import From Media Browser Cmd-I/ Ctrl-I
 COMMON SHORTCUT KEYS
Timeline commands Mac/Windows
Next Clip Down Arrow
Previous Clip Up Arrow
Start of Sequence Home
End of Sequence End
Snapping S
Zoom In =
Zoom Out -
Zoom to Sequence \ (Backslash Key)
Match Frame F
COMMON SHORTCUT KEYS
Trimming Mac/Windows
Add Edit Cmd-K/Ctrl-K
Add Edit to all Tracks Cmd-Shift-K / Ctrl-Shift-K
Delete Clip Delete
Ripple Delete Opt-Delete / Alt-Delete
Open Trim Monitor T
Change Trim Type Ctrl-T/Shift-T
Trim Backward Opt-Left Arrow / Ctrl-Left Arrow
Trim Backward Many Opt-Shift-Left Arrow / Ctrl-Shift-Left
Trim Forward Arrow Opt-Right Arrow / Ctrl-Right Arrow
Trim Forward Many Opt-Shift-Right Arrow / Ctrl-Shift-Right Arrow
Extend E
COMMON SHORTCUT KEYS
Common Panels Mac/Windows
Project Shift-1
Source Monitor Shift-2
Timeline Shift-3
Program Monitor Shift-4
Effect Controls Shift-5
Audio Mixer Shift-6
Effects Shift-7
Media Browser Shift-8
IMPORTING ASSETS
When you import items into an Adobe Premiere Pro project, a link is
created from the original media to a pointer that lives inside your project.
This means you are not actually modifying the original files; you’re just
manipulating them in a nondestructive manner.

You’ll import media into Adobe Premiere Pro in two principal ways:

• Standard importing by choosing File > Import

• By using the Media Browser panel
IMPORT COMMAND
Using the Import command is straightforward (and may match
you’re used to from other applications). what

To import any file, just choose File > Import. You can use the
keyboard
also shortcuts, Control+I (Windows) Command+I (Mac OS),
or open the standard Import dialog. to
MEDIA BROWSER
The Media Browser is a robust tool for reviewing your media assets and
then importing them into Adobe Premiere Pro.

The Media Browser is designed to properly show you media formats

acquired by modern digital video cameras and can convert the complex
camera folder structures into easy-to- browse icons and metadata.
SELECTION (V)
This is a multi-purpose, all-round aid. You use
it frequently to drag, drop, select,
and trim clips
TRACK SELECT (A)
Not to be confused with the Selection tool, the
Track select tool enables you to select all clips
to the right of whatever you position it on the
video or audio tracks. You can Shift-click to
select other tracks for sliding, deleting, cutting,
copying or pasting them
RIPPLE EDIT (B)
A ripple edit trims a clip and shifts
subsequent clips in the track by the amount
you trimmed.
ROLLING EDIT (N)
A rolling edit trims adjacent Out and In points
simultaneously and by the same number of
frames. This effectively moves the edit point
between clips, preserving other clips’ position
in time and maintaining the total duration of
the sequence.
RATE STRETCH (X)
You can stretch or shrink a clip, putting it in
slow motion or speeding up the action.
RAZOR (C)
The Razor slices a clip or clips in two. It can be
useful when you want to use different effects
that can’t both applied to a single clip
SLIP (Y)
By dragging with slip tool, can change a
you starting and ending frames
clip’s
without changing its duration or
affecting adjacent clips
SLIDE (U)
A slide edit shifts a clip along the Timeline
while trimming adjacent clips to compensate
for the move
PEN (P)
Use the pen tool to add, select, move, delete,
or adjust keyframes on a sequence as well as
create and adjust curves in the Effects control
panel and Program Monitor.
HAND (H)
Use the hand tool to scroll an entire sequence
by grabbing a clip and sliding it. It works the
same as moving the scroll bar at the bottom of
the timeline.
ZOOM (Z)
Works like the zoom in and out buttons in the
lower left corner of the Timeline and the
viewing area bar at the top of the sequence
above the ruler.
SHORTCUT KEYS
SHORTCUT KEYS
Effects Mac/Windows

Paste Attributes Opt-Cmd-V / Alt-Ctrl-V

Change Speed Cmd-R/Ctrl-R

Apply Default Video Transition Cmd-D/Ctrl-D

Apply Default Audio Transition Cmd-Shift-D Ctrl-Shift-D

 SHORTCUT KEYS
Playback and marking clips Mac/Windows
Start/stop Spacebar
Dynamic Playback J-K-L
Mark In I
Go to In Shift-I
Clear In Opt-I/ Ctrl-Shift-I
Mark Out O
Go to Out Shift-O
Clear Out Opt-O / Ctrl-Shift
Mark Clip Shift-/
COLOR CORRECTION
Editing your clips together is just the first part of the creative process.
Now it’s time to work with color.

Consider the way your eyes register color and light; the way cameras
record it; and the way your computer screen, a television screen, a video
projector, or a cinema screen displays it.
COLOR CORRECTION
There are two main phases to working with color:

1. Make sure your clips have matching colors, brightness, and

contrast.
2. Give everything a look — a particular tonality or color tint.
COLOR CORRECTION
Other application are as follows:

• Fixing exposure problems

• Fixing white balance problems
• Repairing excessive noise from aggressive ISO settings
• Expanding contrast from LOG- or Flat- recorded images
• Developing the image from RAW recordings
• Setting the initial black-, white- and gamma points
COLOR CORRECTION WORKSPACE
Like the other specialized workspaces, the Color Correction workspace
mainly just repositions and resizes multiple panels to make a convenient
layout for the task at hand.
VIDEO SCOPE ESSENTIALS
Why is the Adobe Premiere Pro interface is so gray?

Vision is highly subjective. In fact, it’s also highly relative. If you see two
colors next to each other, the way you see one is changed by the presence
of the other. To prevent the Adobe Premiere Pro interface from influencing
the way you perceive colors in your sequence, Adobe has made the
interface almost entirely gray.
COLOR CORRECTION TOOLS
Brightness and Contrast:

Use this to control the brightness and contrast of an image. Keep in mind
that when you adjust the brightness, the contrast level will also change.
Also, be aware that exposure is not the same as brightness. Use the
exposure tool only when you need to adjust an underexposed or
overexposed image.
COLOR CORRECTION TOOLS
White Balance:

This tool, which is common in professional video and DSLR cameras, allows
you to adjust the white balance settings to make the image appear cooler
or warmer. If the footage is bluish, it has a cooler setting. If it looks like the
sunset, it has a warmer setting. The White Balance is also used to make
your images or scenes look more natural.
COLOR CORRECTION TOOLS
The Unsharp Mask and Sharpening Tools:

Although it does not correct shots or scenes taken out-of-focus, it helps

make your images appear sharper through adjustments of the contrast. It is
good for sharpening edges. It is important, however, to learn how to use
these tools in moderation. Unlike still images, overly sharpened videos are
not a good sight to see.
COLOR CORRECTION TOOLS
Curves:

Color grading and correction is easier with Curves, even if they are quite
difficult to use. If you want a total brightness overhaul of your scene, this
should be your primary tool. It is a bit complicated because you need to
drag points and bend curves to achieve the effect you want. A horizontal
curve decreases contrast, while a vertical one increases it.
COLOR CORRECTION TOOLS
Curves:

Color grading and correction is easier with Curves, even if they are quite
difficult to use. If you want a total brightness overhaul of your scene, this
should be your primary tool. It is a bit complicated because you need to
drag points and bend curves to achieve the effect you want. A horizontal
curve decreases contrast, while a vertical one increases it.
COLOR CORRECTION TOOLS
 Click the Settings
button menu in the
YC WAVEFORM Reference
Monitor and set it
to YC Waveform.
• It shows the brightness and color intensity of your images.
• YC stands for luminance (brightness) and chrominance (color).
• As you play your sequence or scrub the time ruler by clicking and
dragging with the mouse, the YC waveform updates to show
analysis of the current frame.
YC WAVEFORM

Every pixel in the current frame is displayed in the waveform.

The brighter the pixel, the higher it appears.
 Click the Settings
button menu in the
VECTORSCOPE Reference Monitor
and set it to
Vectorscpoe

Pixels in the image are displayed in the vectorscope. If a pixel appears

in the center of the circle, it has no color saturation. The closer to the
edge of the circle, the more color a pixel has.

If you look closely at the vectorscope, you’ll see a series of markings

indicating primary and secondary colors: R = Red, G = Green, B = Blue,
YL = Yellow, CY = Cyan, MG = Magenta
YC WAVEFORM
TINT
Use the eyedroppers or color pickers to reduce any image to just two
colors. Whatever you map to black-and-white replaces any other colors in
the image.
BLACK AND WHITE
Convert any imageto simple black-and-white. This is when
useful combined with other effects that can add color.
COLOR CORRECTION TOOLS
These effects include a range of controls to adjust the overall look of your
video or to make precise selections to adjust individual colors or color
ranges.
FAST COLOR CORRECTOR
As the name suggests, Fast Color Corrector is a
quick and easy-to-use effect for adjusting the
colors and luminance levels in your clips. It is
also used to adjust the white balance for a
shot.
THREE-WAY COLOR CORRECTOR
Very similar to Fast Color Corrector, this effect
has separate controls for adjusting color for
the shadows, midtones, and highlights of your
clips. This effect also has powerful secondary
color correction controls that allow you to
selectively color-correct pixels that have a
specific color, brightness, or amount of color
saturation.
RGB CURVE EFFECT
results. A straight line from the bottom- left corner to the top-right corner means no change. Drag the line to reshape
The RGBtheCurves
it, changing relationship effect is original
between the a simple
clip levels and the resulting output levels.

control that gives graph subtle

natural-looking,
Compositing seamlessly integrates digital assets with
live- action footage to bring together the
final
game. shot of a
Compositing is film or step of the animation
the final
production pipeline. A skilled Compositor layers together
various elements in a way that makes them appear to
naturally belong in the same space.
A production company shoots a background (referred to as a
plate) that contains a building up close and a cityscape behind. The
Animator has animated a missile, and the Effects
Artist has added smoke effects and an explosion with
building destruction. Once this all rendered out,
Compositor layers the missile, smoke, the explosion and building
is
destruction into the shot, using things like color correction and z-
depth to bring it all together.
The Compositor may be in charge of
creating entire worlds or merging worlds. In
movies like 2012 and Independence Day:
Resurgence, the Compositor's job was to
destroy our world by mixing a bevvy of
destruction assets with 3D modeled cities
and live-action plates. As a Compositor, you
have to be prepared to receive many unique
tasks.
In many cases, compositors have to key all the green/blue screen,
sometimes do the tracking, get all the different 3D elements from
other team members, put those together and do all the necessary
fixing and adjustments.
Footage Review
Whether you are integrating 3D into live action or compositing
flashy effects to spice up some stock footage, you should always
check the type of footage you're going to be working with. Don't
just jump in and start working without knowing the clip inside and
out. Take time to think through the task and the best way to
accomplish this particular composite.
Footage Review
Study the camera movements. If there aren't markers for
matchmoving in the footage, what elements in the video will
suffice? As a digital compositor you may find that the footage
given to you could be a whole lot better. You won't always be
supplied with the easiest footage to work with so it's up to you to
figure out ways to work around it.
Save Presets
Most compositing applications, whether it's After Effects, NUKE,
or Fusion will give you the ability to save out custom presets. This
could be anything from a simple color correction to a grainy film
effect. Find the things you use most often in any composite project
and create custom presets for them.
Save Presets
Custom presets will allow you to save a lot of time because you
won't have to re-create the effect again. Of course, you can still
make adjustments to the presets as needed when implementing
them into different elements of your composite, but having these
presets will give you a great starting point to build from.
Be organized
Nothing is more confusing than having a lot of different layers
within a composite with no name. Sure, you may remember what
each one does for the time being, but if you save your file and
come back at a different time you are likely to be more than a little
confused. This is especially important when you're working with
very complex composites that can get into a ridiculous amount of
layers.
Be organized
Organize and name your layers appropriately as you create them is
a great habit to get into. Don't do it an hour from now or ten
minutes from now. Naming them right away will also ensure you
give them the appropriate name. Another very important reason for
getting into this habit is when your footage needs to be passed off
down the pipeline; it can be very frustrating and confusing to a
person opening up a composite without a proper naming
convention.
Auto-save
Utilize an auto save function in your application. Nothing is more
devastating than spending hours on a project only to have your
computer or application suddenly crash. Just about every artist has
been burned by this at some point; due to that fact that they're
probably backing up their files in every way possible.
Auto-save
However, if you haven't had this happen to you, there's a chance
you aren't saving as often as you should. If you're one of the
lucky ones, avoid the frustration by using some type of auto save
feature, because applications will inevitably crash at some point.
Blur CG elements
If you're incorporating CG into live action footage you should try
to avoid the sharp and perfect look that CG often brings. One of
the common mistakes of integrating CG into live action is
ignoring that the CG is always perfectly clear, causing it to feel
very unrealistic and the viewer can easily tell it's not part of the
footage.
Blur CG elements
With a real world camera it's difficult to get the perfect sharpness
that's a key part of CG. There are different factors, like depth of
field and motion blur. As soon as you plop a crystal clear CG
element into this real-world footage, it will stand out like a sore
thumb. So incorporate blur and little imperfections into the CG that
will allow it to blend much more convincingly with the live action
footage.
Create different lighting passes
If you're integrating 3D elements into your footage, it's a great idea
to render out each light separately. Separate lights give you much
more flexibility over the lights, and you can composite all the
lighting passes together in post. This will allow you to make any
slight adjustments to each individual light and give you much more
control over your final composite.
Create different lighting passes
You can never predict what type of changes will need to be made
so by rendering out separate passes, you can avoid having to do
time-intensive re-rendering in a 3D application. This same
principle can also apply for any of the other elements for the 3D
render, like a global illumination pass or ambient occlusion,
allowing you to make adjustments to each individual render pass
without destroying any of the other passes.
Experiment with a versatile palette of projects. For example, you
could gather footage and images and build out a large landscape.
You could create and gather elements to build an out-of-this-world
sci-fi scene. Practice digital painting in Adobe Photoshop to really
learn how light and shadow are portrayed in the digital space.
Nowadays, a small, inexpensive green screen is easy to come by.
This won’t be the quality of screen used on blockbuster films, but
it’s good enough to practice keying with. Pick one up and shoot a
simple scene with a friend. Work on keying and replacement. Get a
similar shot without the screen and use that opportunity to practice
rotoscoping. These are essential skills for a junior compositing
artist to have.
Another thing you may want to experiment with to stay ahead of
the pack is stitching together 360 video. You may get a job as a
junior artist at a studio that does this kind of work for clients.
Impress your seniors and show that you are keeping up with
current trends in technology by practising this technique.
GETTING STARTED
A basic After Effects workflow follows six steps:

1. Importing and organizing footage

2. Creating compositions and arranging layers
3. Adding effects
4. Animating elements
5. Previewing your work
6. Rendering and outputting the final composition
THE WORK AREA
After Effects offers a flexible, customizable work area. The main window
of the program is called the application window. Panels are organized in
this window application window in an arrangement called a workspace.
The default workspace contains groups of panels as well as panels that
stand alone.
THE WORK AREA
A. Application window
B. Tools panel
C. Project panel
D. Composition panel
E. Timeline panel
F. Time graph
G. Grouped panels (Info and
Audio)
H. Preview panel
I. Effects & Presets panel
CREATING A PROJECT
An After Effects project is a single file that stores references to all the
footage you use in that project. It also contains compositions, which are
the individual containers used to combine footage, apply effects, and,
ultimately, drive the output.
CREATING A PROJECT
When you begin a project, often the first thing you’ll do is add footage,

Choose File > Import > File

A footage item is the basic unit in an After Effects project. You can import
many types of footage items, including moving-image files, still-image
files, still-image sequences, audio files, layered files from
Photoshop/Illustrator, other After Effects projects, and Premiere projects.
You can import footage items at any time.
CREATING A PROJECT
When you import files, After Effects doesn’t copy the video and audio
data itself into your project. Instead, each footage item in the Project
panel contains a reference link to the source files. When After Effects
needs to retrieve image or audio data, it reads it from the source file. This
keeps the project file small and allows you to update source files in
another application without modifying the project.

After you’ve imported footage, it’s a good time to save the project.
Choose File > Save
COMPOSITION AND LAYER
The next step of the workflow is to create a composition. You can create
all animation, layering, and effects in a composition. An After Effects
composition has both spatial dimensions and a temporal dimension
(time)

Compositions include one or more layers, arranged in the Composition

panel and in the Timeline panel. Any item that you add to a composition
becomes a new layer.
COMPOSITION AND LAYER
To create a composition, you’ll drag the footage items into the Timeline
panel, and After Effects will create layers for them.

When you add a footage item to a composition, the footage becomes the
source for a new layer. A composition can have any number of layers, and
you can also include a composition as a layer in another composition,
which is called nesting.
LAYERS
Layers are the components you use to build a composition.

Any item that you add to a composition – such as a still image, moving-
image file, audio file, light layer, camera layer or even another
composition – becomes a new layer. Without layers, a composition
consists only of an empty frame.
THE TOOLS PANEL
As soon as you create a composition, the tools in the Tools panel in the
upper left corner of the After Effects application window become
available.

When you hover the pointer over any button in the Tools panel, a tool tip
identifies the tool and its keyboard shortcut. A small triangle in the lower
right corner of the button indicates that one or more additional tools are
hidden behind it. Click and hold the button to display the hidden tools,
and then select the tool you want to use.
THE TOOLS PANEL

A. Selection, B. Hand, C. Zoom, D. Rotation, E. Camera tools, F. Pan behind

G. Mask and shape tools, H. Pen tools, I. Type tools, J. Brush, K. Clone Stamp,
L. Eraser, M. Roto Brush, N. Puppet tools
ADDING EFFECTS
Now that your composition is set up, you can start having fun – applying
effects, making transformations, and adding animation. You can add any
combination of effects and modify any of a layer’s properties, such as size,
placement, and opacity. Using effects, you can alter a layer’s appearance
or sound, and even generate visual elements from scratch. The easiest
way to start is to apply any of the hundreds of effects included with After
Effects.
ANIMATING THE COMPOSITION
Aside from static effects, you can also add some movement to your
composition.

In After Effects, you can change any combination of a layer’s properties

over time using conventional keyframing, expressions, or keyframe
assistants.
THE TIMELINE PANEL
Use the Timeline panel to animate layer properties and set In and Out
points for a layer. (In and Out points are the points at which a layer begins
and ends in the composition) Many of the Timeline panel controls are
organized in columns of related functions. By default, the Timeline panel
contains a number of columns and controls.
THE TIMELINE PANEL

A. Composition name, B. Current time, C. Time graph/Graph Editor area,

D. Audio/Video Switches column, E. Source Name/Layer Name column,
F. Layer switches
THE TIME GRAPH
The time graph portion of the Timeline panel (right side) contains a time
ruler, markers to indicate specific times, and duration bars for the layers in
your composition.

Before delving too deeply into animation, it will help to understand at

least some of these controls. The duration of a composition, a layer, or a
footage item is represented visually in the time graph. On the time ruler,
the current-time indicator marks the frame you are viewing or editing,
and the frame appears in the Composition panel.
THE TIME GRAPH
The work area start and end brackets indicate the part of the composition
that will be rendered for previews or final output. When you work on a
composition, you may want to render only a portion of it by specifying a
segment of the composition time ruler as a work area.

A composition’s current time appears in the upper left corner of the

Timeline panel. To move to a different time, drag the current-time
indicator in the time ruler or click the current-time field in the Timeline
panel or Composition panel, type a new time, and click OK.
THE TIME GRAPH

A. Time navigator start and end brackets, B. Work area start and end brackets,
C. Time ruler, D. Timeline panel menu, E. Composition marker bin,
F. Time zoom slider, G. Composition button
TIMECODE AND DURATION
The primary concept related to time is duration, or length. Each footage
item, layer, and composition in a project has its own duration, which is
reflected in the beginning and ending times displayed in the time rulers in
the Composition, Layer, and Timeline panels.

The way you view and specify time in After Effects depends on the display
style, or unit of measure, that you use to describe time.
TIMECODE AND DURATION
By default, After Effects displays time in Society of Motion Picture and
Television Engineers (SMPTE) timecode: hours, minutes, seconds, and
frames. Note that the figures are separated by semicolons in the After
Effects interface, representing drop-frame timecode (which adjusts for the
real-time frame rate)
KEYFRAMES
Keyframes are used to create and control animation, effects, audio
properties, and many other kinds of changes that occur over time.

A keyframe marks the point in time where you specify a value, such as
spatial position, opacity, or audio volume. Values between keyframes are
interpolated. When you use keyframes to create a change over time, you
must use at least two keyframes – one for the state at the beginning of
the change, and one for the state at the end of the change.
MOTION GRAPHICS
• In its simplest form, it refers to the movement of objects within your
design.

• Any combination of the elements of motion graphics cannot be

considered motion graphics without movement. Typography without
motion cannot be considered motion graphics.

• The three main elements used to create motion are speed, direction,
and the motion path that the object travels along
ELEMENTS OF MOTION GRAPHICS
1. Shape / Form
2. Typography
3. Image & Live Action

Motion graphics take many forms, but to be considered a motion graphic,

these elements must incorporate movement or be in motion
SHAPE / FORM
• In addition to form is the most basic element of visual
line, communication.

• The element of shape/form includes various primitive geometry,

abstract shapes, logos, character animations, as well as other various
2D and 3D elements.

• All objects can be broken down into basic geometric shapes or

combinations of geometric shapes.
TYPOGRAPHY
• Type is one of the principle means of constructing messages in graphic
design. Working with type is an essential part of being a motion
graphic designer

• Typography is a regularly used component in motion graphics. Text is

no longer limited to static, spatial forms of communication; it is also
governed by time and motion. These added dimensions further
enhance its communicative power.
IMAGE & LIVE ACTION
• Images can be used in motion graphics as main content, background,
or to add texture to other elements in the design.

• Factors that should be considered when working with live-action

content include the form or context of the project, filmic properties,
and cinematic properties such as tone, contrast, lighting, depth-of-
field, focus, camera angle, shot size, and mobile framing.
PRINCIPLES OF MOTION GRAPHICS
• Motion graphics borrows its principles from diverse forms of art and
design. Each of these art forms has their own set of principles and
guidelines for creating successful work.

• Motion graphics design has four dimensions: X, Y, Z, and time. The

dimension of time leads to the use of the principles of animation.
PRINCIPLES OF ANIMATION
• Squash and Stretch
• Timing
• Anticipation
• Staging
• Follow through and over lapping action
• Straight ahead action and pose-to-pose
action
• Slow in and out
• Arcs
• Exaggeration
• Secondary action
• Appeal
• Defining the rigidity and mass of an object by distorting its
shape during an action

• The most important rule to squash and stretch is that no matter

how squashed or stretched out a particular object gets; its
volume remains constant
Proper timing is critical to making ideas readable. It is important to
spend enough time (but no more) preparing the audience for: the
anticipation of an action; the action itself; and the reaction to the
action. If too much time is spent on any of these, the audience’s
attention will wander. If too little time is spent, the movement may
be finished before the audience notices it, thus wasting the idea.
• Preparation for an action.

• An action occurs in three parts: the preparation for the action,

the action proper, and the termination of the action. Anticipation
is also a device to catch the audience’s eye, to prepare them for
the next movement and lead them to expect it before it actually
occurs. Anticipation is often used to explain what the following
action is going to be.
Staging is the presentation of an idea so it is completely and
unmistakably clear.

An action is staged so that it is understood; a personality is staged

so that it is recognizable; an expression so that it can be seen; a
mood so that it will affect the audience.
• Just as the anticipation is the preparation of an
action, follow through is the termination of an action.

• Actions very rarely come to a sudden and complete stop but

are generally carried past their termination point.
There are two main approaches to hand drawn animation. The first
is known as straight ahead action because the animator literally
works straight ahead from his first drawing in the scene. The
second approach is called pose-to-pose. Here the animator plans his
actions. Pose-to-pose is used for animation that requires good
acting, where the poses and timing are all important.
The spacing of the in between frames
to achieve subtlety of timing and
movement.
The visual path of action from one extreme to another is always
described by an arc. Arcs in nature are the most economical routes
by which a form can move from one position to another. In
animation, such arcs are used extensively, for they make animation
much smoother and less stiff than a straight line for the path of
action. In certain cases, an arc may resolve itself into a straight
path, as for a falling object, but usually, even in a straight-line
action, the objects rotate.
Accentuating the essence of an idea via
the design and the action.
The action of an object resulting from another
action.
Creating a design or an action that the
audience enjoys watching.
LAYER BLENDING MODES
• Blending modes for layers control how each layer blends with or
interacts with layer beneath it.

• Blending modes for layers in After Effects are identical to blending

modes in Adobe Photoshop.

• You can’t directly animate blending modes by using keyframes.

• Each layer has a blending mode, even if that blending mode is the
default Normal blending mode.
LAYER BLENDING MODES
• To apply a blending mode to selected layers, choose a blending mode
from the menu in the Mode column in the Timeline panel or from the
Layer > Blending mode menu.

• To show the Modes column in the Timeline panel, choose Columns >
Modes from the panel menu.
BLENDING MODE REFERENCE
• The blending mode menu is subdivided into eight categories based on
similarities between the results of the blending modes.

• The category names do not appear in the interface; the categories are
simply separated by dividing lines in the menu.
BLENDING MODE REFERENCE
• Normal category: Normal, Dissolve, Dancing Dissolve.
• Subtractive category: Darken, Multiply, Color Burn, Classic Color Burn,
Linear Burn, Darker Color
• Additive category: Add, Lighten, Screen, Color Dodge, Classic Color
Dodge, Linear Dodge, Lighter Color
• Complex category: Overlay, Soft Light, Hard Light, Linear Light, Vivid
Light, Pin Light, Hard Mix
BLENDING MODE REFERENCE
• Difference category: Difference, Classic Difference, Exclusion, Subtract,
Divide.
• HSL category: Hue, Saturation, Color, Luminosity
• Matte category: Stencil Alpha, Stencil Luma, Silhouette Alpha,
Silhouette Luma
• Utility category: Alpha Add, Luminescent Premul
LAYER STYLES
• Photoshop provides a variety of layer styles – such as shadows, glows,
and bevels – that change the appearance of a layer. After Effects can
preserve these layer styles when importing Photoshop layers.

• You can also apply layer styles in After Effects and animate their
properties
LAYER STYLES
• In addition to the layer styles that add visual elements – like a drop
shadow or a color overlay – each layer’s Layer Styles property group
contains a Blending Options property group.

• You can use the Blending Options settings for powerful and flexible
control over blending operations.

• Though layer styles are referred to as effects in Photoshop, they

behave more like blending modes in After Effects.
LAYER STYLES
• When you import a Photoshop file that includes layers as a
composition, you can retain editable layer styles or merge layer styles
into footage.

• After Effects can preserve all layer styles in imported Photoshop files,
but you can only add and modify some layer styles and controls within
After Effects.
LAYER STYLES IN AFTER EFFECTS
• Drop Shadow
• Inner Shadow
• Outer Glow
• Inner Glow
• Bevel and Emboss
• Satin
• Color Overlay
• Gradient Overlay
• Stroke
BLENDING OPTIONS
• Each layer style has its own blending mode, which determines how it
interacts with underlying layers.

• The underlying layer in this context may or may not include the layer
to which the layer style is applied.

• For example, a drop shadow does not blend with the layer to which it’s
applied, because the shadow falls behind the layer; whereas an inner
shadow does blend with the layer to which it’s applied.
BLENDING OPTIONS
• Each layer style has its own blending mode, which determines how it
interacts with underlying layers.

• The underlying layer in this context may or may not include the layer
to which the layer style is applied.

• For example, a drop shadow does not blend with the layer to which it’s
applied, because the shadow falls behind the layer; whereas an inner
shadow does blend with the layer to which it’s applied.
PRECOMPOSITING AND NESTING
• If you want to group some layers that are already in a composition,
you can precompose those layers. Precomposing layers places them in
a new composition, which replaces the layers in the original
composition. The new nested composition becomes the source for a
single layer in the original composition.

• You can nest compositions by adding an existing composition to

another composition, just as you would add any other footage item to
a composition.
PRECOMPOSITING AND NESTING
• Nesting is the inclusion of one composition within another. The
nested composition appears as a layer in the containing composition.

• A nested composition is sometimes called a precomposition, which is

occasionally abbreviated in casual use to precomp or pre-comp.

• When a precomposition is used as the source footage item for a layer,

the layer is called a precomposition layer. Precompositions in After
Effects are similar to Smart Objects in Adobe Photoshop.
PRECOMPOSITING AND NESTING
Precompositing and nesting are useful for managing and
organizing complex compositions:

• Apply complex changes to an entire composition

• Reuse anything you build
• Update in one step
• Alter the default rendering order of a layer

Because a precomposition is itself a layer, you can control its

behavior using layer switches and composition switches in the Timeline
panel.
PRECOMPOSITING AND NESTING
• Nested compositions are sometimes referred to as being upstream of
the compositions that contain them, and the containing compositions
are said to be downstream of the nested compositions that they
contain.

• The root composition is the most downstream; the most deeply

nested composition is the most upstream.
PRECOMPOSITING AND NESTING
• A composition flow path is a chain of compositions that are related to
one another by containing or being nested within one another.

• A composition network is the entire set of compositions that

are related to one another through nesting.
3D CAMERA TRACKER EFFECT
• The 3D Camera Tracker effect automatically analyzes the motion
present in existing 2D footage, extracts the position and lens type of
the real camera that shot the scene, and creates a new 3D camera in
After Effects to match it.

• The effect also overlays 3D track points onto the 2D footage, so you
can easily attach new 3D layers onto the original footage.
3D CAMERA TRACKER EFFECT
• These new 3D layers have the same movement and perspective
changes as the original footage.

• The 3D Camera Tracker effect even helps create “shadow catchers”, so

your new 3D layer can appear to cast realistic shadows and reflections
onto the existing footage.
CAMERA SETTINGS IN AFTER EFFECTS
CAMERA SETTINGS IN AFTER EFFECTS
Focal Length

As you probably know, the focal length on a real camera lens tells a
photographer how zoomed in they will be to their subject. The same is
true in After Effects. By default, the active camera view in After Effects is
50mm so if you select the 50mm camera equivalent in the dropdown
menu you will see that nothing changes when you create the camera. A
smaller focal length will create a wider angle lens and a larger focal length
will create a more zoomed or telephoto lens.
CAMERA SETTINGS IN AFTER EFFECTS
Film Size

Film Size is not the most essential concept to lock-in when we’re talking
about cameras in After Effects. This is mainly because a computer-
generated camera and a physical camera are totally different things. In
the real-world film size is important for understanding crop-factors,
bokeh, and even low-light sensitivity. In After Effects none of these
physical limitations exist so you should just keep the film size at the
default 36mm which is After Effects’ full-frame equivalent.
CAMERA SETTINGS IN AFTER EFFECTS
Angle of View

Angle of view is exactly what the name implies. The wider the angle of
view the wider your camera. You’ll notice how your zoom and focal length
will also be adjusted as you change the angle of view.
CAMERA SETTINGS IN AFTER EFFECTS
Zoom

Zoom is another way of saying focal length. If you adjust the zoom your
angle of view and focal length will follow.
CAMERA SETTINGS IN AFTER EFFECTS
Depth of Field

Depth of Field is an optical effect that blurs out your foreground and
background.
Aperture: Similar to a camera in real-life Aperture adjusts how shallow
your depth of field is. The larger the Aperture the shallower the in-focus
area will be.
Blur Level: Blur Level is a nifty slider that allows you to adjust how much
blur is applied to your out of focus areas.
TRACKING THE FOOTAGE
1. Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) the footage layer in
the Timeline panel and choose Track Camera.

2. After Effects opens the Effect Controls panel and displays its progress
as it analyzes the footage in the background. When the analysis is
complete, many tracking points appear in the Composition panel. The
size of a tracked point indicates its proximity to the virtual camera:
larger points are closer and smaller points are further away.
CREATING A CAMERA AND TEXT
1. When you hover the cursor between three or more neighboring track
points that can define a plane, a semi-transparent triangle appears
between the points. Additionally, a red target shows the orientation of
the plane in 3D space.

2. Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) the plane and choose

Create Text and Camera.
CREATING SHADOWS AND LIGHT
1. Select the 3D Camera Tracker effect under the footage item in the
Timeline panel. (If the 3D Camera Tracker effect isn’t visible, press the
E key)

2. Select the Selection tool in the Tools panel. In the Composition panel,
hover until you find the same plane you used to create the text layer.

3. Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) the target and choose

Create Shadow Catcher and Light.
CAMERA LAYERS
• You can view 3D layers from any angle and distance using camera
layers.

• You can modify and animate camera settings to configure the camera
to match the real camera and settings that were used to record
footage with which you’re compositing.

• You can also use camera settings to add camera-like behaviors – from
depth-of-field blur to pans and dolly shots – to synthetic effects and
animations.