Chapter 12. Music and Sound for Video

Producing audio for video requires specialized techniques for synchronizing sound and picture. Whether your end result is an edited audio soundtrack, recorded dialog, sound effects, or a musical score, you'll need to understand how timing and synchronization function in video, and how to match your sound to image.

Essentials

Music and Sound for Video

We'll look at the technology for adding audio to video, including tools and formats:

• Synchronization, spotting hit points, and adjusting cues to fit music to picture

• Workflow, integrated software suites, and file exchange

• SMPTE timecode and measuring time in seconds and frames

• Recording sound so it can easily be synchronized

• Synchronizing sound and video when they've been recorded separately; recording dialog

Essential Terms

• Cues/hit points; spotting

• Postproduction

• Codecs

• Frame rate; SMPTE timecode

• Click track

• Slate/clapperboard

• Free run/record run/jam-sync synchronization

• File formats: MPEG, BWF

• ADR

Where to Start

If your goal is creating music for film, you'll want to learn to identify hit points and match musical tempos to cues. If your goal is sound editing and video postproduction, take a look at slates and synchronization based on in/out points for use in a video editing program like Final Cut Pro or Vegas.