Using Automation While Mixing

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Automation is the most powerful feature for mixing in Pro Tools. It allows one operator to act as four or five in a traditional film-mixing situation. With this powerful set of automation tools, you can handle any amount of tracks that are before you. Doing it yourself might take more time than having four or five operators on a gigantic mixing board, but automation allows you to accomplish what would otherwise be impossible .

In addition to being able to adjust levels of so many tracks, you can do more interesting things such as automating equalizers to compensate for mic positioning in a scene. Automating Sends provides reverb and ambience dynamically as the scene changes.

Levels

Writing levels or automating the faders is the simplest form of automation and is the most widely used. Pro Tools offers several modes with which to write fader automation. These modes determine how the fader functions when writing automation. Following is a list of modes and how they operate :

Write mode. In this mode, the fader will record its current position as automation data. As you change the fader position, those changes are recorded exactly as you perform them into the automation playlist of the track. This mode is useful when you wish to override complex automation completely. Automation is written whether you are touching the fader with a mouse or not. When you set a channel to the Write mode, as shown in Figure 8.27, it will stay in Write mode the entire time you are playing the session. Once you have stopped , any channels that are in Write mode will automatically change to Touch mode in order to prevent accidental erasure of automation data.

Figure 8.27. Setting a track to Write mode using the Automation pull-down menu.
Touch mode. Touch mode works just like Write mode except that you are writing automation data only when you are clicking and holding a fader or touching a fader on a control surface.
Latch mode. Latch mode is similar to Touch mode except that once you have touched or clicked on the fader, you will continue to write automation data until the transport is stopped.
Read mode. Read mode works just like the name says. No automation is written during Read mode, no matter what you do. The automated parameters will "play back" the moves you have already encoded.
Trim mode. Trim mode is available only on TDM systems. In this mode, the fader will remain stationary even if the volume automation data is fluctuating. The reason for this is that Trim mode enables you to either add or subtract gain to the automation data already present on that track. When in Trim mode, the volume indicators in both the Edit and Mix windows will show the amount of gain you are adding or subtracting, the delta value, while displaying a triangle to the left of the gain indicator, as shown in Figure 8.28. Trim mode can be useful for adjusting the balance of the mix without affecting the fader moves that correlate with the action onscreen. Being able to subtly adjust the balance of things without affecting quick fader moves that have been programmed is a great benefit.

Figure 8.28. The Trim mode's gain adjustment indicator, a triangle next to the dB reading in the Edit window.
Off mode. Off mode means no automation is played back or written, and all parameters remain static.

Automating Panning

Unlike music mixing, where most instruments remain static in their panned positions, film and video post-production requires almost constant motion with regard to pan automation. This is especially true of surround-sound mixing where there are so many different angles and positions for panning. Panning can be automated as well. Make sure that the pan parameter is on in the Automation Enable window, as shown in Figure 8.29. Stereo and surround panners can both be automated.

Figure 8.29. The Automation Enable window. Here you can determine what parameters will record automation data. This can be helpful when you wish to automate fader and pan moves but still be able to adjust aux sends without writing automation data for them. You may also suspend all automation here as well. In this figure, only volume and pan parameters are enabled.

Automating EQs

Automation of EQs can help you accomplish several tasks while mixing for video or film. In sessions that exceed the possible track count for your system, automating EQs can allow you to have different types of sounds contained on one track.

For instance, you could have a certain character's dialog on track 1 in one scene and then on that same track have another character's dialogue in a later scene. Using automation, you can change the parameters of the equalizer to match the character in each scene. You might have an equalizer preset for the first character that you use whenever he is onscreen, and another preset for the second character. So long as those two characters are never in a scene together, this technique will work, thereby freeing up other tracks.

You could automate a single band of an equalizer to compensate for mic placement that changes within a scene in order to even out the response. Using a hi-shelving EQ, you could raise its gain as a character turns away from a microphone in order to compensate for the dissipating high frequencies.

Heavy "s" sounds, called sibilants, can be controlled by automating a narrow high-frequency band centered around the sibilant frequency, dipping when the sibilants are too strong and returning to normal when they aren't. Another example of this would be using a high-pass filter to eliminate microphone pops by momentarily engaging the filter when the pop occurs and then turning it off for normal speech. These are very surgical types of uses for automated equalizers.

Following is a step-by-step example of how to use an equalizer (Waves Renaissance EQ2) to compensate for a mic pop:

Instantiate the Waves EQ on the track in question.
Set up the first band as a high-pass filter, as shown in Figure 8.30. Play the affected dialog part and adjust the frequency until the pop sound is minimized. (By "pop" sound, I'm referring to the sound made when wind from the person speaking catches the mic, and a bad low-frequency "boom" occurs. Bumping the mic can also cause this sound.)

Figure 8.30. Setting up a high-pass filter in Renaissance EQ2.
Press the auto button in the upper-right-hand side of the plug-in window to open the automation parameter-enabling window.
Select Band 1 On/Off and press the Add button. This allows that parameter to be automated by Pro Tools. Click OK.
With the plug-in window still open, place the track in Auto-Touch mode.
Press the band Enable switch to disable the band while the transport is stopped.
Play a few seconds before the problem spot and get the mouse positioned over the EQ's Band1 In/Out button, as shown in Figure 8.31. Right before the pop occurs, press the Enable switch to engage the high-pass filter.

Figure 8.31. The mouse is placed over the Band1 Enable switch in preparation for automating this parameter.
After the pop has passed, disable the band to return to normal. You might have to choose a moment when no dialog is present to engage the filter, as turning it on might produce a slight click or pop itself.
It is possible to edit this automation by choosing the Band1 In/Out parameter in the Track view pull-down menu, as seen in Figure 8.32.

Figure 8.32. The Track View pull-down menu. This menu allows you to choose what type of data you will see on that track. In this case, we are selecting the Renaissance EQ2's Band1 In/Out parameter.
You can drag the automation points to change the time when the band is engaged and disengaged, as shown in Figure 8.33.

Figure 8.33. Dragging the automation points to help fix an improperly executed automation move. Here, the Band1 enable is being moved so that it occurs prior to the pop sound shown in the waveform.

Building Dynamics

Building dynamics in a mix is an art form. There is no way for me to explain how to artistically create a compelling mix for a film, video, or commercial. Time, experience, and the study of other people's mixes are the only teachers of this subject.

That being said, use your reference level as a clue to where you sit dynamically in a mix. If you are building a scene up to a climactic point, notice what your average VU meter reading is as you build to the climax. Once you've reached this climax and need to return to normal, the VU meter can help guide you back to normal level. Conversely, you will find that the average levels of sensitive and intimate moments drop well below the -20dBFS point.

Always using a calibrated volume when setting in your studio can help you control dynamic fluctuations in the mix. If you're constantly adjusting the volume while you listen, it will be harder to tell how the dynamics are working within your mix. Obviously, you do need to check your material at different volumes to see how it plays if it is intended for home or television broadcast. But always have a reference point to return to.

Using a favorite movie or program to use as a reference can be extremely helpful. Checking your mix against others is one of the most challenging tests you could impose on your work. Music engineers have known this for years and constantly use reference CDs to improve their own mixes. When referencing another mix, make sure that the volume of your reference mix is set up properly. If it is too loud, psychoacoustic principles at work will tend to make you perceive it as being "better." Level matching will give you a more accurate comparison between two different mixes.

Try recording your mix once it has been broadcast over TV or cable systems and compare it to the original mix in the studio. You will be able to clearly hear the effects of the broadcast signal processing. This might not help you with that particular mix, but you will learn things that you can use in the future to improve your mixing for broadcast mediums.

Control Surfaces

When working on a complex film or video post-production mix, the amount of tracks and controls that need to be accessed can become daunting. Tactile control surfaces provide a method for accessing more parameters of a mix than the mouse and keyboard will allow by themselves . Digidesign offers several control surfaces for use with Pro Tools.

The Digidesign 002, shown in Figure 8.34, is the latest addition to the Pro Tools hardware line. This control surface can operate Pro Tools parameters such as faders, aux sends, pans, and even plug-in settings through the use of knobs and faders instead of the mouse.

Figure 8.34. The Digidesign 002 functions as both a control surface and a small digital mixer when not connected to the host computer.

The Control 24, shown in Figure 8.35, is the next level up in control surfaces designed for Pro Tools. This work surface has 24 moving faders, along with a slew of parameter knobs, transport controls, and many function keys that provide dedicated controls for many Pro Tools operations. This larger control surface gives the user a better look at more channels at once.

Figure 8.35. The Control 24 provides many faders, rotary encoders, and function keys dedicated to the operation of Pro Tools.

The Pro Control, pictured in Figure 8.36, is Digidesign's flagship control surface. It is expandable and can accommodate up to 48 individual channel strips along with surround sound panners, function keys, a control room monitor section for surround monitoring, and a host of other features that can speed up the operation of Pro Tools in a complex post-production environment.

Figure 8.36. Digidesign's flagship control surface, the Pro Control. This unit is expandable, with additional fader packs , surround sound modules, and other functions.

Many third-party control surfaces have recently entered the market. Mackie has made several control surfaces that have been used to control Pro Tools. The original HUI, or Human User Interface, is a very popular unit providing eight faders, transport controls, and some additional encoders and function keys. The Mackie Control is a newly updated version of this same type of control surface. The Baby HUI is intended more for project studios on a limited budget, and provides fewer dedicated functions.

Many popular digital mixers that feature motorized faders have also implemented control-surface functionality into their hardware. The Yamaha 01V96 comes standard with a template for controlling Pro Tools. This can be a popular option for studios wishing to expand their mixing and routing functionality while adding A to D and D to A converters and a control surface in one box. The internal EQ, dynamics, and effects processors of the dedicated digital mixer can augment the functionality of the Pro Tools system and provide a control surface at the same time. In a complex surround sound film mix, these features will be very useful.

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Using Automation While Mixing