Quote:
Originally Posted by charles maynes  Being on the receiving end of mixer wrath too many times, I have to stress first- communication.
second, consistency.
For low budget shows this extends to picture departments as well- The most important shift I have seen is the idea of dubbing from a show length output- (something I am doing right this second, on a show from Universal) this cuts time and effort substantially- it requires however time- because piece-meal reel by reel turnovers are not possible inside the paradigm- where the real strength of this paradigm lives is in cutting any repetitive materials like BG's- you can freely cut and past through the timeline, maintaining track arrangement, and having setup time dramatically reduced. |
I totally agree with you on this. We call it a "Super Session", meaning the session contains all reels, each starting on a new hour. If the show isn't too busy and it is laid out efficiently, then one HD6 can handle all BGs, FX and Foley, which I love.
I know some mixers are very skeptical about Super Sessions because there are inherent risks to putting all your eggs in one basket and also because there can be unintended consequences for previously mixed reels if you invoke certain commands. You can blow away a lot of automation really fast if you hit the wrong button sequence, but that's what backups are for. It is probably more problematic for Dialogue/Music mixers than for us FX mixers. Also, the editor has to prepare the session with this in mind so that the layout is consistent from reel to reel. I prefer to work in Super Sessions whether I am on the ICON , a Neve, or any other type of console.
You can still deliver the sessions separately as long as the editorial sessions are consistent. If the track naming scheme is mutually agreed upon in advance between the mixer and editor, then importing new reels into the existing tracks is a snap, although you need to import them in order. If you go out of order, importing is only slightly more complicated. You just import as new tracks and then drag the regions up into the existing tracks using the object grabber. Then delete the emptied tracks and you're good to go.
As a mixer, I see Super Sessions as a
major advantage for several reasons.
1) I can save an enormous amount of time by only having to set up the mix template once. This can mean as much as an hour or more saved per reel.
2) Crossover reels can be made to reliably match extremely quickly. A change at the end of the outgoing reel can be executed in the incoming reel very quickly. This is an huge time savings in those cases compared to the alternative methods I know of for checking changeovers.
3) Reel changes are instantaneous. If you add up all the time you spend loading sessions on the average mix, this is also a big time savings.
4) I can instantaneously locate to any point in any reel to steal FX or automation. If I decide to change a reverb setting for a recurring location, I can update the entire movie fairly easily. I can also compare relative levels between scenes and reels to check for consistency.
5) File management is much more simple, although prudence requires making a separately named back up of the super session every time you change reels. That way you don't wind up with catastrophic surprises with reels you mixed days ago. It is extremely rare that I have those kind of issues because I'm very careful and have adapted my mix methods for safety when working in Super Sessions, but I'd be a fool not to cover my ass.
The biggest downside is doing conforms. Not impossible, but definitely requires some careful thinking and a change in standard procedure for most editors.