Audio Post Production for Film 101 - Pro Tools Session Setup

[@norfsyq9660]

Just found this page trying to prepare for a potential audio engineering job. Definitely helped clear up some terms and techniques I wasn’t familiar with! I’m going to binge the rest until then, thanks! Update: Got the job 😎

[@angelogarcia1980]

Congratulations

[@elmokaikkonen8290]

Nice dude, gz! How has it been so far?

[@yiodarcangelisandthenewlordsof]

I just found this series about 48 hours ago, and although I've only just begun to scratch the surface of this content I feel compelled to send you my thank, Thomas. Truly a wonderful arrangement of your knowledge. Thank you.

[@javierivanflorescarrasco5648]

Even at university or Audiovisual academy, I haven't seen such a great organization on a single project and the patient & methodology to teach it.. Thanks Bro, this is N-th video i saw and think I should've started with this.. hahahahaha

[@iMadeMyLastUsernameWhenIWas14]

BROOOOO thank you so much. I got an internship coming up on a month or two with a post production company and this is exactly what I needed! Absolute legend!

[@marklholloway]

I don't know what to say other than a big THANK YOU. You are truly awesome for creating this video series on Pro Tools in Post. Look forward to watching all the videos! Please don't ever stop creating content :) You instruction style makes it so easy to follow along and learn.

[@rainbowkittycat627]

I just found this, I’ve been coming from the world of music production and audio engineering but i had no idea of even where to start when it came to film and tv, this is so helpful thank u

[@RafaelPSchaefer]

I've worked as sfx on numerous movies, but now i'm on a low budget project where i'm doing everthing on my on. This playlist are helping a lot, thank you so much! And for every one sepctic about this content, that's actually how we do it!

[@ccj2]

I'm so glad I found this series. I do audio engineering in music but I'm currently working on mixing a film and it's been really difficult finding information on the best way to do it. So this is invaluable for me.

[@ThomasBoykin]

Glad to help

[@lucasmunoz7038]

i haven't even seen the video but i wanna thank you in advance for this. i'm from Chaco, Argentina and i'm trying to become a soundesigner myself but i dont a lot of material to study and practice. so thank you so much man

[@ThomasBoykin]

De veras. With a little luck and lot of work anything is attainable. “Poco a poco...”

[@phineqx]

this was such a complete and thorough video, I really appreciate the time you put into this, learned a lot brotha can't thankyou you enough. Respect

[@ThomasBoykin]

Thanks Chris. I’m just trying to help out my sound family. When I got started I had to learn from a mentor but with everything going on right now that is difficult for many.

[@aambioasf9177]

Thank you ! Last time I received AAF, they already contained all the iso files on the timeline.. I really like your "Matching field recorder" technique !! It's cleaner...

[@ThomasBoykin]

Those shows are great when they use the ISO’s! But you get a hotshot editor who picks the “best” mics and it creates a need to do this.

[@0bsolet]

Best post tutorial I ever seen. Great job. I have 20 years of post and I am always learning!

[@bernardobento5943]

Hey Thomas! It was a really really good explanation of you workflow! Really detailed! Personally I learned a lot from the Field Recorder feature for I've never knew how to use it. Thank you very much for this series!

[@davidecatanzaro2590]

I love you man. I'm italian sound designer and this is for me wounderfull. Thank you so much

[@benniknop]

Great work Tom. I’ve been making similar videos since the start of last year. Not as many in the later part of 2020. Keep it up.

[@jonathanhatchmusic]

I'm an audio engineer mainly for music in live sound and post mixing. I am wanting to get into film work. I found this incredibly helpful!

[@johnburton6470]

Amazing. Watching all of these. This is the good stuff.

[@matthewmutton]

I'm studying sound for visual media and these videos have been absolutely fantastic in belong me understand more about the craft and set up. Thank you for doing these

[@mightymediaalliance3978]

Thank you, Tom, for offering these amazingly educational videos--going way beyond the basic, "Pro Tools How To's," and digging deep into advanced techniques, providing real-world advice for busy sound editors. You could, seriously, charge $$ for these!

[@anthonycanchola4305]

Thank you so very much for this! This one video has a wealth of information. You explain and demonstrate the process very well (better than the few I have seen pertaining to this subject). I am very appreciative of what you have shared with us here and hope to see more. Thank you again for sharing this!

[@ThomasBoykin]

Thanks for watching. That is the idea behind these. I would like to help others get started, similar to how my mentors helped me.

[@anthonycanchola4305]

@@ThomasBoykin "I would like to help others get started, similar to how my mentors helped me." That right there speaks volumes. I have been around and a lot of what I know is self taught or in these days, from the internet, and we all know that "everyone on the internet is an expert ;) A lot of the information you have shared here and your other videos (which I have already watched numerous times) is hard to come by, in fact was never really taught in schools or any institutions, that is when I went to school. When I was attended courses for audio engineering, it was all music and post was not a thing. To this day, it is still hard to come by a solid tutorial that describes and or demonstrates some of these practices or methods of design, editing and or mixing that you have shown here. A lot of this information until as of late, has been a closely guarded secret or purveyed only by those "in the biz" or like you, who had mentors. Mentors to teach you or show you the ways. I am rambling here but, I just wanted to express my upmost appreciation and thanks for taking the time to share this information with us. I hope to see more great tutorials and or videos on the processes behind the post process. I have learned a lot from the material you shared here! I am in the process of re-watching the "Mixing in Pro Tools" video so I can better understand the routing and such behind a 5.1 mix. Thank you again and I hope to see more videos from you in the future.

[@vidyoustrm1442]

I assume there is no Tutorials like this on the entire KZbin.

[@ThomasBoykin]

Thank you

[@Dustbrigade]

So useful! I am self thought when it comes to pro tools. Mainly working with location sound, but doing post work every now and then, so picked up a few small tricks in this one. Even if I have gone through and makes most things similar, I definitely feel I am finetuning by watching this, or confirming the way I already do things. I cant thank you enough for this, best tutorials so far that are made in an understandable way by a working professional.

[@ThomasBoykin]

Great to hear. There is a lot of knowledge locked up and many pros are afraid to share it for fear of being replaced.

[@Dustbrigade]

@@ThomasBoykin I can imagine, so I am thankful for that. I think it is the right spirit. I try to share as much as I can to anyone that is genuinely interested, I think that is the best approach in the long run. In location sound I don't feel so threatened by peers that are starting out and want to learn a few tricks and I am happy to help when I can. Most things are already out there, but it is the ones that keeps grinding and have a genuine interest that will master the crafts, it is so much to it. I think this is a similar thing. We that are interested in this, probably already know and have Protools, autoalign post, fieldrecorder workflow etc. We might even come to 80% of the result to you, but the work you do in a day may genuinely take me 4-5 days to reassemble, and until I have watched your videos, my project layout were definitely a mess and not a threat in any way, we are simply not bidding for the same league ;) Hats off to you!

[@joelsilloway]

Just stumbled upon this and it's extremely helpful to see your workflow. Thanks!

[@ThomasBoykin]

Great to hear!

[@toamaori]

I'm new to post with some projects on the horizon, your content is gold for me! I look forward to climbing the learning curve with the help of these vids. Thanks!! Instant sub from me

[@mitchellnelsen8827]

Hey, Thomas! Thank you very much for taking the time to put these videos together! They are incredibly informative and a huge help!

[@ThomasBoykin]

I figured instead of sitting on my butt between gigs I would... well I guess technically it’s still sitting on my butt. But it feels better to do something that will help others

[@ututut77]

thanks for this! i have zero knowledge but am interested in this stuff as a hobby and stumbled upon this. it was so informative and detailed and i learned a lot. thanks so much!

[@ThomasBoykin]

Glad it was helpful.

[@petersrin7016]

Really solid. It's nice to see things adjacent to my workflow. You kinda get stuck sometimes and new perspectives are welcome! Also, the first time you said a shortcut out loud I knew exactly what was happening. It SOUNDED like you were re-performing the shortcut and calling it out visually. Made me laugh. Looking forward to following along!

[@ThomasBoykin]

Some of that muscle memory goes so far back it is hard to put into words

[@petersrin7016]

@@ThomasBoykin I only moved to Pro Tools 11 years ago, but within 30 minutes the shortcuts made more sense than anything I'd used previous. Still amazes me how much I don't know considering how much muscle memory is already in there lol

[@icrodriguez21]

Thank you so much, Thomas! It was a fantastic video, looking forward to watching the next one..., greetings from Colombia!!!

[@JOEBOBSTANTON]

Just found this series, and this is a gold mine. Thank you!

[@ili6065]

outstanding detalisation of your working workflow. I do olmost the same but it`s interesting to see how other professional works. Thanks alot for the video!!!

[@ThomasBoykin]

Thank you very much!

[@HubLocationSound]

Awesome video, Thomas. I'm a Production Sound Mixer and always interested to see what happens with our tracks in Post. Subscribed and looking forward to part 2! Wouldn't mind seeing a more about how you setup/use the field recorder sync process within Protools. I believe it's an HD/Ultimate feature?

[@ThomasBoykin]

Yes, and there are a few tutorials on detailed FRGT setup already. Each show is different! I will circle back and drill down on a few things once I get through the rest of the process. Probably based on what is most requested.

[@legowigs]

excelent. thank you for being so informative and for sharing. i'm still struggling to learn some of the concepts. you're helping a lot.

[@ThomasBoykin]

If you have any specific questions I can answer please let me know.

[@legowigs]

@@ThomasBoykin all good. cant wait for the next part.

[@damianzubczynski9301]

Great job man! I've been looking for this kind of knowledge everywhere. Thank you for your work :D

[@angelogarcia1980]

This have been very helpful, thank you for sharing your workflow.

[@danwool]

Gosh these are great video! So much useful detail! @4:37 Is the "Guide Track" referred to here simply the editors stereo mix of the tracks in the AAF? Thx.

[@ThomasBoykin]

Yes

[@soundforfilmandtv]

This was a fantastic demonstration! So great to see your workflow and think about ways to improve mine.

[@lampadinha]

Solid content Thomas! Congrats on your channel! Keep rocking!

[@ozo1489]

Your video is so wonderful, everything! workflow explain! you are an amazing teacher!

[@jphormiga]

most helpful series of videos ever. thanks a lot!

[@Skijump100]

Great Content! That helps me very much! Many thanks for this Playlist!

[@rollsound3606]

Love from Nepal...Thank you so much

[@stephentaylor4261]

This is great! Is there a video explaining the reels workflow when importing session data?

[@TheElectricPoetCo]

Thanks for doing this bro. Really appreciate it

[@ThomasBoykin]

My pleasure

[@Tommy202_GLHFStudio]

19:15 🤣🤣🤣 ... Thanks fot this video 😍

[@tobybajrovic]

really helpful video mate. much appreciated.

[@AndresZzGtr]

Tommy ! You are the best, this is gold. I hope more videos like this, can you give me a advice how can I enter the industry like audio editor and postpo

[@ThomasBoykin]

Best way to enter the industry is talk to people who are working in it.

[@nolanpugh1632]

Great stuff, Thomas. I'm trying to learn post-production audio from a zero-knowledge base, and I think this exactly the guide I was looking for. Would you possibly be able to post a breakdown of the terminology used in the editing process? I saw that you defined a few terms as you went along the video, but I'm wondering if there's something I can look at to see it all in one place.

[@ThomasBoykin]

I think it’s best picked up in person. It is like another language

[@Agusrsaputra]

its really helpful! thanks mate! keep it up

[@user-pw6dd9ui7o]

Amazing video great insight on your workflow, too bad I can't afford Pro Tools.

[@santiagoboada9843]

This was so helpful! If you can cover deliverables in some video that'd be great! Thank you!

[@ThomasBoykin]

It will be on the mixing video

[@Percussive5]

Love the video! Im having problems not being able to see the other mics in each take?

[@Dakoyoyo]

This is gold. thank you.

[@simonguitar66]

Hi, thank you for your tutorials ! Do you know where I can find some projects to train ?

[@these63]

I’d like to know too

[@BB5AB]

Hello Thomas ! I’m very appreciate you share this workflow is very helpful 🤩 I have a question is that, my track’s option doesn’t have field recorder guide track! So I can’t continue the process 🥲 I don’t know if is the setting problem or not 🥹

[@ThomasBoykin]

You will need PT Ultimate for this workflow

[@jiminleesound]

You help me a lot, thanks :)

[@kabed9413]

Hi Thomas, do you know where to find an AAF, to practice alongside the video? Thank you!!

[@nobbystyles4807]

awesome! subbed thank you.

[@austinlee6130]

If there are a bunch of setups for the scene, let's say up to Kilo, do you add more DX tracks to keep them on all the same track? Thanks Tom. Enjoying the process of learning through your videos.

[@ThomasBoykin]

Usually I just put them on tracks that sound similar.

[@benm8214]

Hey, Loving this tutorial. Quick question, how do you go about making a blank session as its shown in the video at @3:24? When I start up a new session it opens with a really busy with a bunch of tracks and windows that arnt shown in your tutorial. Cheers

[@ThomasBoykin]

Sounds like you are starting PT with a template. Click the blank session option on startup.

[@user-wv6bp8nw5q]

Amazing dude, thanks so much! What do Futz tracks stand for?

[@ThomasBoykin]

For dialogue through a speaker

[@hochichiu5049]

Hello Tom, Thank you for your great sharing! Its really help! just wanna ask that my Pro Tools is a Studio version, its there any solutions for tacks manage without the "matching field recorder Channels" function? Have a good day and thankful for the lesson again!

[@ThomasBoykin]

Yea but you will need to spend money on software like Kraken, or do it by hand

[@hochichiu5049]

@@ThomasBoykin Thank you so much!

[@georgexydous2891]

Thomas, if i understand correctly, DX1(straightup?) is used in generic take? DX2 and 3 are the booms (Alpha-Bravo?) ,DX5 and 6 are the lavs.

[@ThomasBoykin]

No, they are booms separated by the shooting angle, or you might call it a camera setup. Straight up would be the master shot (no letter designation).

[@ianyapxw]

What film is this? I'm now invested in the characters haha

[@xiaoyuwu2580]

I'm a starter of post sound and your channel is recommended by many. I really learn a lot! Only one thing I don't get is, why separate the straight up track?

[@ThomasBoykin]

Tone shift means you change tracks

[@nicolineeaiirways8303]

Great video! I just didn't understand why you have the B DX tracks..😅

[@999yuiop]

Thank you so much for creating this series. I can't find a lot of post audio workflow stuff for narrative films so this is a godsend. I was wondering how did you learn this in the first place? Are there any books or courses you can recommend? I still feel like I need a more fundamental understanding of everything going on.

[@ThomasBoykin]

I learned from mentors at the places I worked in Los Angeles.

[@mdmamusicproduction]

Hi Thomas, your tutorial should be taught at sound design school, i've learned more in your video than in my school. one question. do you differentiate radio mic than boom dialogue tracks or you just put everything in A DX and B DX all togheter?

[@ThomasBoykin]

Depends on the show and scene. Each is different. I usually don’t care which tracks they go on since I mix clip by clip.

[@mdmamusicproduction]

@@ThomasBoykin i see, thanks buddy :)

[@e.a.c_audio]

Fantastic video. The only thing that is baffling me is that when I right click my "frt" track, there isnt an option for " Field Recorder Guide Track" . Cannot find it in session setup or preferences.

[@ThomasBoykin]

It might not be in your version of Pro Tools. I’m using Ultimate

[@FLAMENCO961]

Hi, I am new to post, and I just can't afford PT, so I got two questions for you: 1. Do you know any other DAW with FR guide track capabilities? 2. Do you think it is possible to be efficient at this job without FR guide track Workflow? Or is it a must? PD: Thanks a lot for the videos, they are pure gold

[@ThomasBoykin]

1. No. 2. Yes. I have hand-synced entire features without FRG. It is mind-numbing work but can be done.

[@FLAMENCO961]

@@ThomasBoykin thanks a lot Thomas, you helping me out big time

[@raaqel4326]

Hey Tomas, thanks for this super informative video! I'm wondering how you set up the FRT track to be able to search for the production sound takes with the same TC stamp... you did it so quickly not sure I got that part!

[@Windovaca]

Thanks for the video man, helps a lot, only thing i didn't get is what do you mean by alpha, bravo and charlie

[@ThomasBoykin]

They are just names for the tracks. For organization

[@dautzhantassov8410]

Thanks for the informative video! Could you explain why do you separate DX to A and B? Lets say we have one scene on A tracks, with certain adjustments. So we place second scene on B tracks, thus we have some flexibility in processing. But the third scene will be placed on A tracks again, right? So you will have to automate some adjustments anyway

[@ThomasBoykin]

Yes I automate clip by clip on each track. You could do an a and b bus, but I route all my tracks to one bus and automate at the track level. However some mixers use what’s called a reassign setup with different buses for different processing. I like to keep it simple so the a/b is just to keep scenes checkerboarded. But sometimes I don’t even do that.

[@dautzhantassov8410]

@@ThomasBoykin thanks!

[@robmacneacail3262]

Hey - great video! I'm not sure if I missed you saying, so sorry if you did, but which version of Pro Tools is being used here? If you're going to be working as a sound editor from home rather than in a studio, is it possible do perform this job optimally without Pro Tools Ultimate or HD?

[@ThomasBoykin]

I use Ultimate. The other versions don’t have enough grunt for me

[@inderkumar3280]

So FRT channel basically has all the input options from what we recorder on field from ZOOM. We have to just drag drop the tracks in that and select the good takes, then throw them to their respective category. Is that correct?

[@ThomasBoykin]

Yes

[@youmackovski]

Nice - Feild recorder workflow made easier

[@lotus5540]

hi Thomas! thank you for uploading this video. it is very helpful and I like to ask if there are websites sharing free sound clips with video thank you

[@ThomasBoykin]

Best option for that is to find a local filmmaker

[@patfavreau]

Great, great tutorials ! Question : if I have a crowd shouting a phrase on the production sound, do you put it on a track named "Crowd" or on a DX track ? I understand that "Crowd" would not be part of the naming convention ?

[@ThomasBoykin]

You can use whatever tracks you need. Crowd would be fine and would need to be on the dialog stem if it’s an intelligible word

[@dankot87]

Thanks for making these videos, definitely finding them very useful :) got a question though.. how do you shortcut toggle solo between tracks?

[@ThomasBoykin]

Shift s

[@chayansenshred]

Thank you so much. 🙏🙏

[@charlesandhisworld]

Thank you for this video...really useful! What would you recommend for editors who have regular Pro Tools but not Pro Tools HD? Regular Pro Tools doesn't have the Field Recorder Guide Track option

[@ThomasBoykin]

Pay the toll and upgrade to Ultimate

[@charlesandhisworld]

@@ThomasBoykin oof ok

[@ahoymatey1234]

Hi Tom, the template you mentioned is no longer available on google drive. Is this the template and files that will be used through this course?

[@ericemeryshulman]

I am having a hard time deciding which sounds go on PFX or just keeping them in the DX tracks. A few times it seems like a sound or background noise was kept on the primary take and not shifted down to PFX. Do you have a way to explain how to allocate these?

[@ThomasBoykin]

Every show and mixer has different needs. I try to move bigger sounds to pfx and leave smaller ones on dialog if it sounds better.

[@runander]

This was really inspiring! Is there any way/place to get practice files or practice sessions with both audio and video?

[@ThomasBoykin]

Not right now

[@runander]

@@ThomasBoykin Ok, so not for this project. Do you know of any place one could get practice files for audio/video? I've scoured the internet but I can't find anything to practice on.

[@andreash8662]

very nice video! are there any ressources or ways to get AAF files for practising this kind of work?

[@auros_shabd8981]

Thankyou soo much!!

[@ForAHappierLife]

Hi Thomas, I have an issue with FRT Guide, when I click on Matching Field Recorder Channels I don’t get any channels. The OMF tracks in the AAF and the Production Sound folder are linked but their named different. Could that be an issue?

[@ThomasBoykin]

Most likely to be some metadata got kerjiggered wrong. You should make a blank session, rescan the production sound folders and play with the metadata match. But sometimes it just doesn’t work

[@ForAHappierLife]

@@ThomasBoykin So I shouldn’t worry about the names being different? Because I tried to playing with the match criteria but Pro Tools can’t seem to identify the channels

[@georgexydous2891]

Hey Thomas, my ProTools 11 havent FRT Guide Track Option, as this is a feature which is used only in PT Ultimate. What can i do?

[@ThomasBoykin]

Upgrade

[@anupamc176]

GOLD

[@maniravandi5983]

How do you practice when you don't have any project?

[@ThomasBoykin]

You have to find projects to work on to practice. Even student films. I might be able to set people up with a practice session eventually, so that could help.

[@chriscapaudio]

Sub's and following! Great info! ;)

[@jiminleesound]

Plus, could you tell us the definition of the OMF, A DX, and B DX are? I am a little confused about that since I set the name of track DIAL instead of A DX.

[@ThomasBoykin]

OMF- tracks from the editor A DX - A DIAL, B DX - B DIAL. I checkerboard the tracks for some projects to separate scenes.

[@jiminleesound]

@@ThomasBoykin It helps me to understand your workflow, I appreciate it again :)

[@sebastianagredo_]

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@peeyuspradhan9041]

Boss I need to assist u. Please take me as assistant

[@alexandre7634]

😃

[@jeffnuts2402]

You kind of sound similar to alex hormozi

[@WarSwan]

Who wanna get hired? Im lost lol😩😂

[@ThomasBoykin]

Let’s get you found then. What do you need to know?

[@zsolteditor]

why you waste time with a MAC? Mac destroyed 11 years of my life making documentaries (45 mins per week). Just buy something close to 4090 and you will see the sun on your street.

[@sabinbadea94]

Backing up constantly it was not an option?!

[@AA-zq1sx]

FYI... it's possible for editors and directors to be female.

[@ThomasBoykin]

For sure, or they could be neither or both. Impossible to be completely inclusive of every possibility.

[@AA-zq1sx]

@@ThomasBoykin It's actually pretty easy to be inclusive of "every possibility" by refering to the editor as simply.... wait for it... *the editor*. 🙄 When you say "editor bro" "editor dude" "edit-man" "edit-homeboy" etc it sounds like you don't acknowledge or accept the fact that women actually DO work in film... and that's a bummer as a female film maker who is otherwise really enjoying your content. Because the industry has enough sexism as it is.... and your potential clients are watching. PS. Fun fact, historically editors have been overwhelmingly female - as in during the birth of, and golden age of Hollywood. PPS. Fun fact #2, all of Scorsese's films were edited by the same brilliant woman - Thelma Schoonmaker. I bet you wouldn't refer to her as "editor bro"... and if you did I hope she smacks you with one of her Oscars. LOL

[@TheSuperGuitarGuy]

Would be nice if you chose something with no swearing.

[@ThomasBoykin]

I agree but finding content I can use is difficult since studio projects are very protective of their content.