How to create Pro Tools templates for post production
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- Опубліковано 22 сер 2024
- In this video I cover the process of creating two templates for audio post production. The first is a template for a stereo post production mix which includes layback tracks for the full mix and an undipped DME mix. The second template is for a 5.1 feature film mix and has provision for a variety of bounces, including the full 5.1 mix and a host of 5.1 and stereo stems.
I go into detail about the process of creating each template and explain my reasoning for each and every step of the process. The video also contains explanations about how to understand and cater for a variety of different audio deliverables for a film mix. You can follow along and create your own templates based on the information in this video or, for a limited time, you can download the two templates I create in the video for free. Just drop these into the Session Templates folder within the Pro Tools folder on your system drive.
Here's the download link for the templates:
drive.google.c...
It is so hard to find PT tutorials specific to film/tv, thank you so much this is exactly what I've been looking for!
Thanks. I've got a few more video ideas lined up but let me know if there is anything specific which you think would be useful to cover in a future video.
Yeah, I agree. - Paul Maunder video's brilliant, very helpful. Thank you so much!
If you think that's hard - try to find similar content for REAPER :)))
This is a seminar for post sound. That's great even for experienced mixers. Thanks for sharing your knowledge Paul!
No problem!
This is so incredibly useful, I keep referring back to this video over and over again...and I've been working in post for over 20 years!!! Amazing.
Please keep the videos coming Paul! Much appreciated!
I intend to :)
Paul I just want to say that you are probably the best guy on youtube to teach audio post it doesn't get clearer than that
Because of your deep knowledge of Pro Tools (keyboard shortcut savant right here) and incredible education/communication skills, this 50-minute long tutorial sped along like an offline bounce - 15 mins tops! (Hope I can say the same about Tribal Get Out Alive...)
Also, this may sound ridiculous, but if you ever get permission from a production company, screen-recording a day in the life of you one-man-banding a feature or short narrative film and you'd have your magnum opus tutorial to end all tutorials. I, for one, would gratefully set aside the 12 to 14 hours to watch and take notes. Might be a Guinness Record breaker to boot!
Thanks for all you do, Paul. I've really appreciated your videos over the years.
Sorry for the late reply on this Mike. I didn't spot your comment when you first posted it.
Thanks for your kind words! I'm pleased that you enjoy the videos and find them useful. I've just uploaded a new video about dialogue EQ and compression. It's over an hour long!
There will be more videos soon too!
We just got into 5.1 mixing and this is truly an outstanding tutorial, thanks a million Paul!!!
Oh man. Perfect timing. I'll watch this later. Been having trouble trying to get a mix down to output in stereo in a 5.1 session.
I hope you find it useful then!
I love checking out template videos. There's always something to pick up. Thanks Mr. Maunder!
Wow!! Thank you thank you thank you!! I have been looking for a post prod template video like this on youtube and here it is! You are a legend. Thank you 😊
I'm glad that you found it useful!
Please do the video with folder tracks! This was so informative
I'll add it to the list
All the videos I watched from your pro tools sessions have been excellent. This has inspired a lot
Finally another video Paul haha! Many thanks, brilliant video as usually. Hope you are keeping well and safe these days.
I've had more time since the lockdown so I should be able to get a couple more videos done in the next week or so as well.
It’s funny how much of post production operations now have moved to home studios. I was recoding for past few days VO talent using session link pro. It works pretty well I must say. Hopefully we can be back to “normal” soon!
@@The1mars1 Yes, a lot of work is being done at home now. You're right though, we'll all welcome a return to normality.
This is truly outstanding. The most helpful video I've found on post-production templates so far. Thanks for such a thorough walkthrough!
Oh my God!!! This video is like a gold mine🤩 Thank you for always sharing your knowledge. I feel so greatful to you😇
I'm glad you found it useful. Thanks for watching!
@@paulmaunder3007 Is it possible to do a 5.1mix with Headphones(DT990) in 12.5HD with Focusrite 2i2 solo interface????
@@gokulv.k.2347 It's possible but you'll basically be guessing the surround panning as you can't monitor it properly in stereo.
@@paulmaunder3007 yeah I can get it... Because I've somehow created a Template for it,after watching your "Setting up for surround mix in protools"(42min)video😇❤️
@@gokulv.k.2347 Can't say much about it at this point, but a certain Japanese company that makes video game consoles and distributes films will be soon announcing a relatively inexpensive multi-channel headphone system that's very similar to The Realiser A16. Prototypes are already being used by post sound editors working remotely.
Complet et précis !
Bravo
Fred L.
Merci!
Great video
Useful info
Thank you brother I'll update to my templetes
Thanks. I'm pleased that people are finding it useful :)
@@paulmaunder3007you are one my mentor on mix
Thank you paulmaunder brother💐☺️
This is life-changing. Thanks a lot for this.
You are GENIUS ! You just don't know how much you are helping me !
This was great, very useful. Was wondering about the DME 6 track combined wav, never used that before. Then you opened it to at the end demonstrate. Read my mind! Thanks
I'm glad that you found it useful! Thanks for watching.
Paul, this video was great!! Very logical (at least for my brain). I usually do an internal layback in stereo because that's what I mostly work in. I had not thought of doing the surround versions and deliverables as a bounce to disk to save on the track count. Great tip!
Thanks!
So thankful for all this very useful information!!
Wow! Great video. You explain everything so well and perfectly. This tutorials are precious. Thank you so much.
No problem :)
I'm going to wait for the higher-resolution video because you be dropping knowledge!!!!
Yes, it's a lot better at a decent resolution. UA-cam can be slow with the processing sometimes so it may be a few hours or even tomorrow before at least 1080p is available.
@@paulmaunder3007 Are you on Instagram?
@@Moltown Yes, but there's not that much audio stuff on there. My Instagram user name is Obsidian1138
@@paulmaunder3007 Copy that!
Thanks Paul, very useful.
Thank you
this is FANTASTIC, thank you so much, really enjoying your videos.
Thanks Tim. There will be more soon!
Great video! I let it play as I was actually updating my templates today lol. Subbed.
Thank you
Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge, one of the best Pro Tools tutorials out there.
Thank you for an awesome tutorial! Please coul you explain us how you manage to have this level of display resolution for ProTools? What I need to have to achieve that? All the best!
I just have a 4k screen and I capture the videos at that resolution. Pro Tools will display at whatever resolution your screen is capable of.
Very helpful thank you!
Thank you so much for making this.
On a controller Console such a Qcon where we have small LCD per track limited to 5 to 6 letters "Dx VOx SFx" helps naming tracks. Such as DxMark/ DxJane/ DxJult/ VOxVic/ SFxWnd/ SFxCar/ where the small x is nothing else than a consistent separation between words.
That makes a lot of sense.
This is awesome, thanks for the knowledge!
Thank you!
hey paul ! great video! for sure the mike thornton video about dipping came in hand!
This is gold, thank you.
My pleasure
Thank you very much for this tutorial it was exactly what i needed !
Hi Paul. Just stumble on this awesome video. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and I hope and wish I can still get access to downloading this template. Thanks again.
This is magnificent, thanks Paul.
GOD BLESS YOU
you're the best!!
So Helpful! Thank you for making this!
Ahhhh !!!! Finally !!
It's been a while but the lockdown has meant I finally have time again to make some more content
@@paulmaunder3007 An off topic question but what's your thought on Avid Certification of various levels like 101, 201(M & P ) and 301 ? Are they relevant to get a pre-production job at a studio ?
@@paulmaunder3007 Would you personally recommend them ?
Thank you for this.
thank you very much!
No problem! Thanks Julian.
Beautiful!!!bravo!
Cheers!
This is a life saver, thank you!
This is great!
He's Back!!!!
Hi Paul, always a pleasure to watch your videos.
One question, does it make any difference setting your stems / prints with sends or outputs? As for example you ve done with the stereo DME.
Thanks for all your lessons!
Excellent explanation as always. Thanks for this video. I would like you to tell us how you work the LFE channel and what is your method of sending information to 5.1. Paul, could you give us the leader30? I think it's great to be able to include it in the projects. Thanks again
Thanks Rueda! You can find more information about using the LFE channel in my video 'An introduction to surround mixing in Pro Tools'.
Thanks for your very useful video!
Amazing! Thank you so much for laying this all out. I will be immediately implementing this into my workflow. Have you ever used the Waves DTS upmix/downmix plugins? They don't specifically say Dolby Pro Logic, but I believe it does do special encoding for surround content into stereo.
Thanks!
I remember reading about the Waves DTS plug-ins when they first came out. I haven't actually tried them though. It certainly won't be Pro Logic as that's a Dolby technology but it could be useful. I will take a look and maybe download the demos. Thanks for the reminder :)
precious stuff! thx a lot!
AWESOME!!!
Thanks Paul!
Thank you for another great tutorial video Paul!!
How would you change the template if you had to include the dynamics processing (done on the Submaster Aux) when taking the M&E outs?
That's an interesting point. You'd have to either re-configure the routing a bit or do another duplicate of the music and effects auxes but with the same dynamics processing found on the submaster, purely so it's included in the bounce.
What about if the deliverables request SMTPE order 5.1 files? Since Pro Tools works in Film channel order
That's something which would have to be done externally to Pro Tools. From Pro Tools you could either bounce the 5.1 WAV's interleaved or as multi-mono and then use something like Wave Agent from Sound Devices to re-order the channels in the WAV file (in the case of an interleaved file) or combine the multi-monos in the SMPTE channel order. A little bit inconvenient but Pro Tools always bounces in the Film channel order so it's one of the only ways to do it.
I liked it, but I believe you got short. I would've made more divisions: sfx + foley + ambiences; sometimes I recieve music by families so I would make tracks for those (being prepared). Rever isn't only one for the dialogues, the rest needs them aswell.
Yet this was an amazing video (I'm already following you). Could you make one about mixing for streaming (youtube, vimeo, netflix, and so on)?
thanks buddy :)
Thanks - very helpful! I am using the UA Apollo x6 audio interface, and the UAD Console software always send L and R to the Monitor 1-2 -output when working in surround (5.1, 7.1 etc), so using L, C, R, LFE, Ls, Rs (Film) is not working. I used the SMTP format when creating the 5.1 Template.
Do you expect folder tracks to be part of your workflow?
Yes, since they're there now I might as well start using them. Obviously I'm very used to working without them and I usually show and hide tracks with memory locations to assist with session management but folder tracks will be handy.
Paul hits again...
Really enjoyed this video Paul, thanks for making it! Wondering if you could do a short addendum for the 5.1 version showing the "Record to Disc" version as opposed to "Bounce to Disc"? And secondary question, can you setup your template to do both RTD and BTD? I typically RTD because I like to monitor it, but this got me thinking for time considerations. Would be a nice option. Just haven't thought it through yet.
Missed you ..
When we getting how to compress dialog and eq
I'll do that one very soon!
@@paulmaunder3007 Looking forward sir thats the most important one
@@paulmaunder3007 thank you for the documentaries
@@ShroomJesus Thanks
Hey Paul thanks a lot for this amazing video and your attention to all details in it!
would like to know about the setting for the second template [5.1] I noticed that you used the default for I/O Setting as "Last Used" does it means the template and the whole project is in stereo mix or 5.1? or Last Used means something else? how does the I/O Settings is acting on the project in manners of 5.1 mix?
Can you please do a video on creating the leader30.mov file you mocked up? Did you use Premiere?
I think that would be a bit outside the main subject area of these videos, which is Pro Tools. Thanks for asking though. The leader was created using a combination of After Effects, Premiere Pro and of course Pro Tools. As a point of trivia, there are a couple of hidden things within the opening audio. One of them happens when the triangle shape flies towards the screen. The 'whoosh' type sound is actually dither noise, but it blends from standard dither to triangular probability density function dither. :) Also, the opening sequence ends on an F sharp major chord, the same chord heard in the mac startup chime. It's a reference to my preference for using macs for audio work.
Does mapping of i/o in setup affects deliverables?
I had to deliver one 5.1 mix and they told me they heard dialogues in surround left instead of center. A help/ explanation would be great
The mapping of I/O in Pro Tools doesn't affect the order of channels in the bounce. Pro Tools bounces in the film channel order which is L C R Ls Rs LFE. Cinemas tend to use the SMPTE channel order, L R C LFE Ls Rs. This doesn't explain why your dialogue would end up in the left surround, but it would mean that every channel apart from the front left would be mapped incorrectly. Provide them with a multi mono bounce so there's no confusion, and they can map it as needed.
@@paulmaunder3007 that's the thing, while I'm monitoring, there's no issue. And yes I selected SMPTE from the dropdown menu in setup-> i/o
@@vivekpatel264 The I/O setup doesn't affect the actual bounce though. Irrespective of I/O channel order, the bounce will always be in the film channel order of L C R Ls Rs LFE. A multi mono bounce might be the best option.
Hi, great video. Learned a lot regarding the Routing for the different playout versions. A quick question to the separate stems, let's say the guy on screen is saying something, that what he says goes to dialogue, if I add forest Atmos because that that was recorded isn't enough, does the added atmosphere go to the SFX stem or in the Dialogue stem, seeing as there is forest atmosphere in it, just not enough? Is it somehow possible to get a copy of your leader in a neutral version ;)?
PS: can you maybe do a video on the UM 226? I'm getting phasing problems in the rears and wanted to know if that's normal?
Thanks!
When I compose music for these types of projects, it's a stereo track that is delivered. Never a 5.1 Those extra channels are for other audio elements...no need for the score to be in the surround channels, imho. Great vid, btw.
Yeah most of the time we mix with a stereo file for the OST but we upmix it in 5.1
@@Cristalskulle what is "OST"?
@@davidcottrell1308 Original soundtrack !
@@Cristalskulle Interesting.....I written a few hundred..never heard them referred to in that manner.....mine were for docs, so, that may be why.
@@davidcottrell1308 hum yeah that's strange 🤔 But yeah maybe we use it more for movies
Im guessing that in your second template the DX channels correspond in every character, I have seen that many people work with scene A/scene B. Is this easier?
Hi Paul Maunder,
What kind of voice count would be needed for a project like this? Just a rough estimate. Thanks,
It really depends on the project you're working on, how many of tracks you use and whether or not you add additional tracks to the template. For most moderately sized stereo post projects for TV, short films and corporate video mixes, the voice count of standard Pro Tools (128) is fine. For more complex mixes in 5.1, 7.1 or Dolby Atmos, the voice count requirement will go up considerably. It's impossible to put a number on it because it's project dependant.
can i ask you about metering R128 in your setup. why are you put metering on master bus? maybe you should metering dialog bus ?
hello, sorry for inconvenience, i have been working with cubase for 9 years and recently i converted to pro tools, i have a serious problem with erasing the waveform when i put one on the other , please how can I fix this problem on pro tools ,thnx
Hi Paul ,thank you very much for your videos. I find them very interesting. I had in mind to take a short course(2 3 days) with you this year to get better at what I do ,but because of Corona I had to postpone it till next year ,of course if you agree. I have some friends who work in Manchester at Flix studio, and for me it would be a good opportunity to come and see them while I attend the course. If you agree please advice how it is best to connect and discuss the matter. Hope to hear from you soon.Thank s a lot.
Hi Sol and thanks for your comment. It depends on what you're interested in learning. I teach at Spirit Studios in Manchester and we offer a number of different courses. If it's the Avid Pro Tools courses that you're interested in, I teach all of them from 101 through to 310P and 310M and also the 301 S6 and 310 S6 courses. Alternatively, if it's a 2 or 3 day course on post production, we occasionally provide bespoke training to individuals. The best thing to do would be to go to www.spiritstudios.ac.uk and use the 'Contact Us' page and mention that you're interested in doing a short course with me. Someone will then get back to you with more details.
@@paulmaunder3007 Thank you for your reply. In this moment i am not interested in Avid Pro tools courses .I have 210 M ..but i am very interested in one to one postproduction course with you. I made some short films, animation movies, some series from Hbo Romania , i have some experience in post but i like very much your style and i want to improve my skills in postproduction and i think that you are the right person to teach me. my site is www.solmarker.com ,it s advertising music oriented but i have there some post projects. Meanwhile i update my post plug ins with Izotope rx 7 advance and Cedar Dns one and 2. So you recommend to write to spiritstudios . Thank you very much for your time.
Very Nice Video, I have a doubt, If I am using any Dynamic Plugin or EQ in the Submaster track for the overall control, these Plugins will not be affected in the M&E and other Stems. So if I need that also, there will be change in the routing.
That's true. If you wanted them on the stems, you'd have to add the plug-in on the aux for that particular stem.
@@paulmaunder3007 exactly. I faced this issue. But again it’s depends upon the M&E requirements. Some people don’t need the Musical Ride in IT. Because the language to language, the length of dialogue may vary. In that case, better dont use the Master Plugins in the stems. So many conditions..!!😀. I so much excited on your video. Very well explained.👏👏👏
love your video's. But why max 360p? or is this just me?
Thanks. The master file is 3840x2160 so higher resolutions will appear soon. It must be taking a while for UA-cam to process.
@@paulmaunder3007 I thought that was the case. Thanks
When setting up laybacks in this fashion, will the stems that are created from the aux sends contain the processing from the submaster? it seems like the sends would be pre-the submaster, so you would need to level the printed tracks to proper LKFS separately after they've been layed back inside the session. Is this correct? Either that or you would need to level them at their individual bus stages before printing...
The laybacks from the individual stems won't include the submaster processing. Generally the stems would be used for subsequent re-versioning or additional work anyway so there would need to be a final levelling and metering process when using those stems.
Hi thanks for the video! Do you typically use any VCA faders to say control each group (dia, music, fx)?
Not on every mix, but on larger mixes such as film mixes, yes.
Waaaooohhhhh !!
Why would you want to have a Submaster, Master and Mix Print?
Nice video Paul. I had a question regarding 5.1 track order exports. The clients I work for require SMPTE order for 5.1 mixes which I set in the I/O. When I output the 5.1 by itself the track order is correct but when I combine the 5.1 mix with an LoRo to create a single 8 channel file, the 5.1 track reverts to Film order. I have a workaround of exporting the 5.1 mix and St mix as separate files but then combining them in a different unnamed DAW but why wouldn't Pro Tools maintain the SMPTE order when combining with the LoRo mix?
Hi When you bounce to disk (including the buses like in the video, the track order is SMPTE. When you record to track, the order is Film) see here : duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=404932&highlight=smpte+file+order
Hello, Your video is very helpful me and i used your template. But i have noticed that the Reverb track is not getting input. Can you help me how to solve this issue
Very precious tutoral. But i have many difficult to anderstan as well cause i'm not good to the anglish listening😥😥😥
For got sake can i find this similard in frensh😭😭😭😭😭😭
Hi paul, how to consider the "ambiences" track in the DME ? i often have a lot of ambiences track in a fiction mix, do you consider they are sfx ? thank you :-)
Do you not add a low pass to the LFE?
Yes I do. That's a good point. I forgot to add it while making this video. I usually use the Waves LFE 360. Thanks for pointing it out!
Is there a smart way to route real time noise reduction. Was thinking automating sends or something
Paul... superb videos! I'm learning so much from your videos!
just one question, but a complex one
is it possible to edit/pre-mix a 5.1 pro tools session at home in 2.0 setup.
studio is not available at this moment and I want to prepare content for later on.
i'm also new and just starting out with this.
how would i proceed with such a setup?
does the down mixer work in this way or I need to get some 3rd party plugin to
help me monitor the 5.1 session in a truncated 2.0 stereo???
does it make sense what I'm asking?
thank you so much for sharing all of your knowledge
PAUL PLEASE ANSWER THIS QUESTION. I AM ALSO IN THIS SITUATION. ALTHOUGH I WAS ABLE TO DO 5.1 MIX DOWN FROM MY SCARLET 2I4 BUT COULD NOT MONITOR IN 5.1. THEN I MADE STEREO DOWNMIX TO LISTEN IN STEREO.
If you have Pro Tools Ultimate at home then yes, you can do the provisional work in stereo. The best way to go about this is to create all of your 5.1 bussing at the start of the project, including the 5.1 master bus. In I/O Setup, you can route this to your stereo speakers in the Output tab. Pro Tools will automatically down mix this for you but you'll be able to route everything and even do provisional surround panning (albeit with a bit of guess work), whilst still hearing everything through just 2 speakers. When you're ready you can then move the session to the studio with the 5.1 monitoring and finish off the mix there.
See my response above.
@@paulmaunder3007 Thank you for this
@@noisegate_media No problem
On your Prints, why do you use sends instead of multiout?
and why no ambiences or pfx?
I have a question that I need answered. How would the mixers mix massive sound effects for a big film? I cannot see them going to each sound effect and adding eq and compression like you would mixing a track; that would take insanely long..so what is the process? How would a mixer mix all the robots, magic effects, dragon wings, gunshots all together? Do the sound editors after editing these files in also have mixers working side by side for each section THEN only the rerecording engineers mix and balance the final pieces only? Explain please.
Sound effect editors will build out the sound effects and hand off to the mixers when the film is ready to be mixed. Team effort for bigger budget films.
@@michaelweinstein3056 Thanks but that didnt answer my question. My question isnt about who mixes it my question is more so about mixing workflow for a massive film. For e.g. how do they manage and eq and compress all of these individual tracks. Do they just route all footsteps to one bus and process..route all fire effects to a bus and compress? All of the film effects always seem smooth and controlled nothing is harsh and I hightly doubt it is only due to db balancing via fader..the low end and top end always seem craftly eq and mixed well. Cant really get that one answered but thanks anyway.
@@allexfenty Most films I work have eq applied to literally every clip of audio. Compression, especially multi-band and especially on SFX, is ubiquitous as well. The technology available to the layman nowadays is astounding. Of course, the most important piece of gear is the 3 pounds of squishy stuff between your ears. But to be fair it only really starts to work its magic after you've added to it roughly 10,000 hours of steady, intense and repetitive practice. Although when you're routinely working 14-hour days you can get decently competent in a mere 7 years :-/
hey paul can i mix a song in this just to get a better image and then bounce it down to stereo like u showed
Does it matter when making your stereo downmixes, if you just send a down mix off of every stem and that's it, or is it better to down mix the stems only, and then sum those down mixed stems into a new stereo print master, or does it not matter.... if that makes any sense?
5.1 DX + 5.1 MX + 5.1 FX = 5.1 PM 5.1 DX + 5.1 MX + 5.1 FX = 5.1 PM
V V V V OR V V V
2.0 DX 2.0 MX 2.0 FX 2.0 PM 2.0 DX + 2.0 MX + 2.0 FX = 2.0 PM
I usually create a down mix from the 5.1 full mix. I don't think it would make too much of a difference vs down mixing each steam individually and then combining into a stereo file. You could always try it and see if there is any difference but I don't believe there would be.
@@paulmaunder3007 Hi Paul, thanks for the reply. I guess I was thinking along the lines of instances when the audio is getting close to true peak, with downmixing the surround channels to stereo and an increase in level, and then those stereo stems could then peak when summed to the final mix. I guess a downmix of the 5.1 printmaster would be the better way to manage that. Unless you limit the stereo stems post downmix as well? I dunno, I think I'm over thinking it haha.
Do you typically compensate for the slight volume boost when downmixing and is there a typical amount you reduce by?
can you make a video for song mix for 5.1 surround
That 6 track DME doesn't seem to have much sense to me. You have just bounced out 3 stems onto a single stereo file, so it's basically the same thing as the LoRo Stereo Print of the whole project. It doesn't have 6 tracks, so it's not an interleaved 6-channels WAV DME. You are just printing a stero file made of 3 stems containing 6 tracks, but it's still just a stero file. Am I missing something here?
It's not a stereo file. It's a poly WAV file which contains 3 separate stereo mixes for Dialogue, Music and Effects. They're not mixed together but are stereo mixes within their own right. They just happen to be contained within a 6 channel WAV file. This is where the 'single file' option comes in when bouncing to disk. It's probably not a common requirement but worth being aware of as it crops up occasionally in deliverables.
@@paulmaunder3007 but is it a peculiar ProTools feature? Because in Cubase I have never encountered anything such as a PolyWaw export option.