Dialogue Editing
You Give Me
An AAF file containing edited media with dialogue or Voice Over as a separate track
I Give You
A stereo track or AAF file with:
- Verbal fillers removed (um, uh, like)
- VO edited to cut
- Voices sweetened and thickened to a professional sounding finish
Audio Editing
You Give Me
An AAF file with edited media that contains music, foley, and / or atmospheric effects.
I Give You
An a stereo track or AAF file with all elements edited for time and impact. examples of this service may include editing a song to fit within a selected piece of media, sweetening or enhancing exiting effects,
Restoration
You Give Me
An AAF file or individual audio files that are damaged, poorly recorded, or contain unwanted noise
I Give You
A stereo track or AAF file with those pieces of audio restored and ready for a professional mix. Not all audio can be restored to studio quality, but often the results can keep a take salvageable that is otherwise un-useable.
Sound Design
You Give Me
An AAF file containing edited media that needs atmosphere, foley, or sound effects
I Give You
An AAF file with all those elements added in and ready for a professional mix.
Composition
You Give Me
An AAF file with edited media that needs a custom score.
I Give You
A a stereo track, stems, or AAF file with a custom score. That has been produced, mixed, and mastered.
Final Mix/Master
You Give Me
An AAF file containing edited media that needs a final audio pass to achieve a polished, professional finish.
I Give You
A stereo track or AAF file that is professionally mixed, sweetened, and delivered to spec for the final format of your choice (cinema, streaming, socials, etc).
FAQs
What is an AAF File?
AAF is a file format that can be exported from your editing station and sent to the audio department along with a render of the media being worked on. The key benefit to an AAF file is that all audio arrives in separate tracks just like it would in your editing station, and can be imported into the audio workstation of their choice. This allows for true, multitrack editing, mixing, and mastering
How do I create an AAF file?
Instructions for exporting an AAF file from Adobe Premiere can be found below, and should be similar for all other media editing software.
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Uncheck the “Mixdown Video” box.
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“Sample Rate” and “Bits per Sample (Bit Depth)” should match the project settings.
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“Files” should be set to “Separate Audio.” This ensures that each clip is exported as its own file.
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“Format” is “Broadcast Wave “ and select “Trim Audio Files”.
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Since we are exporting trimmed files, set “Handle Frames” to 60 frames. We do this so the audio engineer can drag out the clips if they needed.
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Upload a render of the video, the exported AAF file, and audio folder to the file transfer platform of your choice.
How long does each service take?
Generally speaking, it takes about one hour per minute of footage to perform an audio post production task, but some efficiencies can be exploited for longer pieces. So if you want Sound Design, Dialogue Editing, Restoration (on one track) and final mix, that is likely 4 - 5hrs of work on a 1 - 2min. piece of media such as a commercial or social media clip. However, this can vary widely based on a variety of factors.
Music composition generally takes about 3-4hrs per minute of music produced, but again this varies widely depending on the kind of music requested.
Audio Restoration typically takes about an hour per minute per track. So if you send an AAF file for a 1 minute piece of media that has 4 tracks in need of restoration that will likely take 4 - 5hrs. to complete.
For a case study on what it takes to complete a very complex, very involved project, check out this breakdown of how I took a piece of Creative Commons material and created an entirely new soundtrack for it including music, foley, and atmospheric effects.
