Comments on: Tim Nielsen Special: Interview on Backgrounds

By: Luka Barajevic

Luka Barajevic — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 23:45:09 +0000

I just wanted to say thanks for shearing. I have few questions but now I saw that this article is from 4 years ago.

By: Designing Ambiences in Max/MSP | Uber Patrol - The Definitive Cool Guide

Designing Ambiences in Max/MSP | Uber Patrol - The Definitive Cool Guide — Sat, 11 May 2013 11:32:54 +0000

[…] for an “Ambience Designer”. I’m a big fan of working with ambiences in sound design and the interview with Tim Nielsen a couple years back on Designing Sound nicely articulates the importance of well-crafted […]

By: Designing Ambiences in Max/MSP : Designing Sound

Designing Ambiences in Max/MSP : Designing Sound — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 10:21:46 +0000

By: Graham Donnelly

Graham Donnelly — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 04:42:32 +0000

Tim, this article is awesome. In fact I am loving this series you are doing and am grateful that you are sharing your knowledge with all.

This article has inspired me to try a new project and I have managed to source some raw material of NYC from a couple of generous film makers. I plane to edit the footage together and build a few landscapes, then utilise some location recordings that I obtained whilst on holiday. I can’t wait to get stuck into this project as I have always believed that its the little details that make for good sound.

Thanks again Tim

Graham Donnelly

By: Brad Dale

Brad Dale — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 20:19:55 +0000

Great interview. I tend to struggle with the balance of too much, too little, and my favorite movies seem to take a less is more approach to bgfx and yet be very intentional and specific rather than immersive. Any advice on where you draw the line between hard fx and bgfx other than the obvious definition?
thanks, enjoyed the reading.

By: Tom Blakemore

Tom Blakemore — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 21:37:08 +0000

Tim – Another great article in the series and a must read for my students. Like many of the responders to this article, BGs are my favorite thing to cut. Creating whole worlds in sound that all of the rest of the film lives in. And we call this work?

By: Tim Nielsen

Tim Nielsen — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 01:39:06 +0000

Well usually recorder has 8 tracks so a pre dub can have up to that many. Sometimes we will only use five of the tracks (5.0 is it’s like a rain background pre dub that doesn’t need subwoofer) or 5.1. Other times we might use the 8 tracks different like to make a 5.0 and an LCR. We do that in FX pre dubs sometimes. Or in Foley we might use the 8 tracks as LCRLCRCC. Dialog is the same, they will often use the leftover channels to store something they want separation on later, or an alt line perhaps they want to mix and have ready later.

By: Pepe

Pepe — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 22:25:54 +0000

Never mind, I misread your answer.

Thanks Tim.

By: Pepe

Pepe — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 22:04:33 +0000

Thanks, yes it does.

One more question though I was commentating the article with a sound design friend and we both have the same doubt about what you call pre dub, are they banks of eight tracks? or something similar

Thanks again Tim!

By: Tim Nielsen

Tim Nielsen — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 16:15:47 +0000

Hi Pepe. These days I’m likely to deliver my tracks to the mixer in one of two ways. Either I’m delivering a pre panned 5.1 output from PT, where I’ve done the surround panning, or I’m delivering straight tracks to the board. In that case I will have marked in the tracks or made mental notes about which sounds I think would work best in the surrounds.

But either way, each pre dub will be a full 5.1. Does that make sense?