Help please: setting up dubbing studio

Razorfish · 20th May 2008

An opportunity has come up for doing dubbing work for a new Gaelic medium digital channel. My background is in music, but there are few audio engineers fluent in Gaelic, so I'm thinking of making a transition. I've got no experience with post-production work; I'm a real newbie. If anybody has any useful advice on equipment and possibly training, it would be really appreciated.

I've got mics (u87s etc), compressors (Neve/Vari mu), eqs, good AD/DA etc. I'm running Pro Tools. It looks like they may be going fully hard-disc based, but there's a possibility that they'll still be on digi-beta for a while.

Also, if anybody is based in the UK, what kinds of fees do dubbers usually charge?

Many thanks.

georgia · 20th May 2008

if you do some research in the various posts here and at http://duc.digidesign.com/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=UBB6 you will find everyhing you are looking for, and probably more. search on the following:

Dub stage
room design
room
room calibration
Dolby
design
etc. etc.

cheers
geo

jahtao · 20th May 2008

Hi,

Go for it.

You got PTHD or LE? If LE get DVTK2

Charge.... errmm... £100 per hour.... if they can afford that... is there much money in Gaelic TV? That's sort of a rough minimum in London I think..... course there's always people working for less or nothing etc but a lot of the good places are more around the £300 mark I think. What would you be comfortable with?

Investigate renting digibetas as well as how you'll hook up to one, studio wiring etc.

You might find you'll be able to supply an edit suite with a mixed wav file and they can do the 'laying back' to digi for you

If you're recording VO you'll need a cue light and picture in your booth

TV people tend to like things more comfortable than your rock drummer.

It does take a while to get good at mixing programs, perhaps you should involve someone with some experience at some level.

Hope that helps some,
Matt

Razorfish · 21st May 2008

Thanks for the replies, both of you. Yeah, there is a lot of money potentially. If I could make 100 per hour, I could, well... pay off my student loans! I'm currently on LE, but will make the move to HD in the next year, sooner if I do this probably. It's just that the current HD systems are long in the tooth and I really don't want to jump and then have the whole thing replaced. I can get DV2 through the college I teach at to tide me over in the mean time.

Cheers!

jahtao · 21st May 2008

I got my DVTK2 offa ebay, new from the states. £400 + shipping + customs. Normal retail is £750 I believe! It works with iLok, you sure you can borrow it? You know you have to pay to transfer licenses between iLoks yeah?

Try and wangle a situation where they are happy to supply you with a quicktime and an OMF and you return to them an audio file of the finished mix. Use a sync plop / '2 pop'. This is often cheapest and easiest for all involved -- only one lot of machine time when you print the final picture and final audio at the same time. Tapes require couriers etc.

To do the digibeta thing properly requires PTHD + SyncIO etc. Be a shame to invest all that only to find out they don't want you to do their mixes after all.

Matt

Berolzheimer · 21st May 2008

By dubbing studio do you mean mixing? Or recording ADR & VO?
Rather than trying to set up a studio from scratch with no post experience, I'd suggest you make a 4-wall deal with a post house where you bring in the client & are the mixer, but have access to the facility's tech staff & infrastructure. Before doing that I'd suggest you find a way to intern somewhere so you can at least observe some sessions & see how things get done.
While just jumping in with both feet sounds exciting, post is a complex job with lots of hidden pitfalls, and you're very likely to crash & burn and lose your client. Better to prepare as well as possible.

Razorfish · 23rd May 2008

I mean strictly VO at this stage. You're right, it would be well worth getting some experience--I'm looking at that. Living on an island has it's down side... But I have connections to well-known post folk in London who might be willing to come up and help out as consultants/trainers.

The 4-wall deal is an interesting angle. I'll think about that. Makes sense for the first while anyway.

I teach PT at a college here, so can get a hold of DV2, but if this flies, I'll probably just go to HD anyway. I was saving up for a Cranesong Spider, but might have to get a core card instead. If anybody knows of anyone who wants to sell a PCI-e HD1, let me know.

It appears it will be disc-based stuff they'll be doing, but they might stick to Digi-beta for a while. In that case, it'll be quite an investment it seems.

Has anyone done Digi's 210p course? Would that be a decent intro to working in post in any wayl? I've done the music courses up to 310m and got a lot out of them; made me learn all the shortcuts anyway.

20th May 2008	#1
Razorfish Gear maniac Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Edinburgh, UK Posts: 242 Thread Starter	Help please: setting up dubbing studio An opportunity has come up for doing dubbing work for a new Gaelic medium digital channel. My background is in music, but there are few audio engineers fluent in Gaelic, so I'm thinking of making a transition. I've got no experience with post-production work; I'm a real newbie. If anybody has any useful advice on equipment and possibly training, it would be really appreciated. I've got mics (u87s etc), compressors (Neve/Vari mu), eqs, good AD/DA etc. I'm running Pro Tools. It looks like they may be going fully hard-disc based, but there's a possibility that they'll still be on digi-beta for a while. Also, if anybody is based in the UK, what kinds of fees do dubbers usually charge? Many thanks.

20th May 2008	#2
georgia Lives for gear Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: NY NY Posts: 1,250	if you do some research in the various posts here and at http://duc.digidesign.com/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=UBB6 you will find everyhing you are looking for, and probably more. search on the following: Dub stage room design room room calibration Dolby design etc. etc. cheers geo __________________ ms georgia hilton mpe(editor) mpse cas NY NY http://www.filmdoctors.com http://www.hiltonmediamanagement.com http://www.hmmproductions.com http://www.editingtruck.com http://www.stage32.com/profile/6569/georgia-hilton http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0385255/resume MEMBER: IATSE LOCAL 700

21st May 2008	#6
Berolzheimer Lives for gear Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: El Lay Posts: 2,207	By dubbing studio do you mean mixing? Or recording ADR & VO? Rather than trying to set up a studio from scratch with no post experience, I'd suggest you make a 4-wall deal with a post house where you bring in the client & are the mixer, but have access to the facility's tech staff & infrastructure. Before doing that I'd suggest you find a way to intern somewhere so you can at least observe some sessions & see how things get done. While just jumping in with both feet sounds exciting, post is a complex job with lots of hidden pitfalls, and you're very likely to crash & burn and lose your client. Better to prepare as well as possible. __________________ Purveyor of fine sounds since 1961. My very incomplete IMDB list: My very incomplete IMDB list I'm all ears.

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21st May 2008	#5
jahtao Lives for gear Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: London, UK Posts: 626	I got my DVTK2 offa ebay, new from the states. £400 + shipping + customs. Normal retail is £750 I believe! It works with iLok, you sure you can borrow it? You know you have to pay to transfer licenses between iLoks yeah? Try and wangle a situation where they are happy to supply you with a quicktime and an OMF and you return to them an audio file of the finished mix. Use a sync plop / '2 pop'. This is often cheapest and easiest for all involved -- only one lot of machine time when you print the final picture and final audio at the same time. Tapes require couriers etc. To do the digibeta thing properly requires PTHD + SyncIO etc. Be a shame to invest all that only to find out they don't want you to do their mixes after all. Matt

23rd May 2008	#7
Razorfish Gear maniac Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Edinburgh, UK Posts: 242 Thread Starter	I mean strictly VO at this stage. You're right, it would be well worth getting some experience--I'm looking at that. Living on an island has it's down side... But I have connections to well-known post folk in London who might be willing to come up and help out as consultants/trainers. The 4-wall deal is an interesting angle. I'll think about that. Makes sense for the first while anyway. I teach PT at a college here, so can get a hold of DV2, but if this flies, I'll probably just go to HD anyway. I was saving up for a Cranesong Spider, but might have to get a core card instead. If anybody knows of anyone who wants to sell a PCI-e HD1, let me know. It appears it will be disc-based stuff they'll be doing, but they might stick to Digi-beta for a while. In that case, it'll be quite an investment it seems. Has anyone done Digi's 210p course? Would that be a decent intro to working in post in any wayl? I've done the music courses up to 310m and got a lot out of them; made me learn all the shortcuts anyway.