Digital Performer

R•A•M•P

Setting Up a Film Score Project in Digital Performer

These instructions are specific to the Beach Movie assignment, but may be used to set up any movie in DP.
These instructions refer to DP version 5
Click here to download work files

•Create a new project in Digital Performer 5. Save to your desktop, and name it Beach Movie.

This creates a folder on your desktop called Beach Movie Project. The DP file itself, along with some other folders, will be found inside this main project folder. You can create new folders inside this main folder, and you can move it to a different location. Throughout the project, make sure to keep all folders and files involved in the project inside this main project folder.

In previous versions of DP, you would double-click the Conductor track to open it in the Event List. In DP 4.61, double-clicking will open it in the Graphic Edit window. To open any track in the Event List, hold down Command-Option, and double click the track name.

You may also notice that DP is now using Consolidated Window to keep the desktop organized. It's a good concept but takes some getting used to.

You can change preferences regarding Tracks window behavior and the Consolidated Window in Digital Performer>Preferences.

•Insert a Tempo Change at bar 1/1/000 of quarter note=120. Do the same thing at bar 3/1/00.

•Insert a Meter Change at bar 1/1/000 of 4/4. Do the same thing at bar 3/1/00.

You should now have a Tempo, Meter, and Key Change at bar 1/100, and a Tempo and Meter Change at bar 3/1/000.

You can update this information later as your piece develops. Your piece is going to start at bar 3--that's why you have new information there for Meter and Tempo.

•Click the button to the right of the smaller counter until the display shows SMPTE Time Code.

You may need to use the triangles in the upper right corner of the Transport Window and the drawers to make this appear on your screen.

This menu toggles among several options for control over track tempo. If Conductor track is chosen, the information in the Conductor track will control tempo.

This will reset your measure numbering so that what was measure 3 is now measure 1, the first measure of your score. This is not mandtory, but it makes things clearer and will also allow you to coordinate measures if you are also creating sheet music.

In this box you are entering SMPTE code data. For information on SMPTE code, go here.

•Hit OK to close the Set Chunk Start window. Notice that the location in small transport window (SMPTE) has changed location while the location in the large (measures/beats) window has not.

•Locate to your sequence to measure 1/1/000 (the third measure). The small counter should read 1:00:00.00.

It's always a good idea to use a SMTPE start time of 1 hour or some other large even number. It avoids the "midnight problem" and helps keep track of your film's duration.

As mentioned, all folders and files used in the project should be inside this main folder. In a more complex project, you might actually create different folders for different types of media, e.g. movie files.

•Back in DP, go Project>Movie. In the resulting window, navigate to your main project folder, then to the beach_files folder, select Beach.mov, and click Open. The Movie window will open on a black screen.

A large movie window with challenge your processor. Resize the window by option-dragging the lower right corner. Make the movie window small. For other ways to optimize your project to make it easier on your processor, go here.

•In the mini-menu of the DP Movie window, open the Set Movie Start Time window. Set the Movie Start to 1:00:00:00.

This "syncs" the movie to the Digital Performer sequence. Both now start at the same SMPTE time code number.

•Locate to your sequence to measure 1/1/000 (the third measure) and hit play. Notice that the sequence and movie now play in sync.

•When you play your sequence, you should not be hearing the original sound track contained in the Beach.mov Quicktime file--it is turned off the in Properties setting of the Quicktime file.

If you do hear the audio, turn off the movie's audio playback using the small speaker icon in the bottom left corner of the Movie window.

In future projects, you may want to acquire the audio from a Quicktime film for use in your project--for example, the film may have sound effects you want to use in your mix. If so, here's what to do:

•In the mini-menu of the DP Movie window, select Copy Movie Audio to Sequence.

•DP will create an audio track with the movie soundtrack in it. The audio track will be added to your Soundbites window and to your Audio Files folder.

New DP files open with some miscellaneous tracks installed. I personally like to zip these tracks, then add only tracks I need. It prevents confusion, and I get confused easily. You are certainly welcome to skip this step, but when things get messy, I will simply give a smug smile as you pull your hair.

Note that Select All selects all tracks including the Conductor track. When you Delete, it will not delete the Conductor track--in fact, there is no way to do that since each sequence needs Conductor track info to operate.

•Find the Sequence Menu in the upper left section of the Tracks window. Option-click its current name to pop-edit the name window. Rename the sequence Beach Movie 1 and hit Return to rename the sequence.

Digital Performer allows a single file to contain several different sequences, also called Chunks. You can only play-enable one sequence at a time. You can change from one sequence to another using the Sequence Menu.

Most work-in-progress films will contain some "pre-roll," or blank picture before the start of the actual movie. This pre-roll will often include "Academy leader," the familiar counting down from 10 to 2. This film does not contain pre-roll. In any case, it is customary to put a "2-pop," an audio pop sound, at exactly 2 seconds before the first frame of picture to facilitate audio track sync. I recommend doing this for every film score project as a routine part of the setup.

•In your main project folder, inside the beach_files folder, find the audio file 2_pop.aif.

•Drag the 2_pop.aif file into the Soundbites window. It will appear in the Soundbites window with a mono waveform icon in the MVE column to the left of its file name.

•In DP, go Project>Add Track>Mono Audio Track to add a mono audio track to your sequence. Rename the track 2Pop.

•If necessary, scroll your track so that you can see measure 0 in the Tracks window.

•Find the file 2_pop.aif in the Soundbites window. Using the mono waveform icon in its MVE column, drag the file directly into measure 0 of the the new 2Pop track. A "soundbite" should appear at the start of measure 0.

Earlier, you created a tempo setting of 120 beats per minute that starts at measure -1. This means that each measure (of 4/4) has a duration of 2 seconds. A soundbite at the start of bar 0 will occur exactly 2 seconds before the start of picture. If you change the tempo information in your Conductor track, be sure to preserve the real-time position of your 2- pop.

When we set the movie start time, we actually set things to start when the movie file starts--the very first frame of the movie file. Most of the time, however, we want the time 1.00.00.00 to correspond to the first visible frame of picture. Most work prints you would receive would have a long pre-roll. For this film the "re-roll" is short, but we can still locate to it.

•In DP, locate to measure 1/1/000 (the third measure). Notice that the time code reads 1.00.00.00.

The right and left computer keyboard arrows move the picture one frame at a time in either direction, and the sequence follows along in sync. In this film, the first frame of picture is only the second or third frame into the film.

•Notice the time code location. Calculate the time code change from 1.00.00.00.

In this case, we've located to something like 1.00.00.02, so it's only a diference of 2 frames.

•In the Movie window, access the mini-menu and select Set Movie Start Time. In the resulting window, the start time currently reads 1.00.00.00. Subtract the difference in frames from 1.00.00.00 and enter the result. Hit OK to close the window and change the movie start time.

In video, there are 30 frames per second. In this case we would enter 0.59.59.28.

Adding and subtracting time code can be tricky. In the old days, I actually had a special calculator that would add and subtract time code because we had to do it so often. Now the computer does it for us most of the time.

•Now locate to 1/1/00 and notice that the start of the sequence corresponds to the first frame of film.

DP has a bug that will sometimes offset things by a single frame. Don't sweat it on this project, but on a mission critical project like an animated film, a frame can count, and you may need to tweak the sequence start time to compensate.

•With the Transport at 1/1/000 (the first frame of picture), hit Control-M to place a marker.

•Locate to the last frame of picture (the end of the dissolve out), and drop another marker.

•Option-click on the first marker's name and type Film Start. Rename the second marker Film End.

In DP, locked items will stay at a given SMPTE code locations. This means that they will stay locked to points in the film even if the tempos of the sequence change. Unlocked items will stay in given Measure/Beat/Sub-beat locations, so they will stay in the same place in the music (but different places in the film) as tempos change.

To keep things like sound effects or musical hits locked to picture, click in the Lock column in the specific track where those items are located.

Spot Sound Effects (Films 2-4 only--for Film 1, skip to Create a MIDI Score)

When first beginning a film project, a sound editor will often sit with the director and "spot" the film, namely defining which sound effects should be included and specifically where they should go.

•Go through your film and list at least five places where sound effects would be appropriate.

•Now locate your sequence/film to the precise spot where the first sound effect should occur.

•With the sequence located to the precise spot where your sound effect should occur, access the mini-menu in the Marker window, and select Add. A marker will be added to your Markers list, and to the Tracks window at the same point as the playback wiper.

A quicker way to add Markers is to locate to the desired spot, then hit Control-M. This can be done with the transport stopped, or with the transport moving for rough marker placement.

•In the Markers window, find your new Marker. Option-click the Marker's name to pop-edit it, and rename the Marker.

•Still in the Markers window, find the column labeled LOCK. Click in this column next to the name of your new marker. A lock icon will appear to show that the Marker is locked.

Markers may be locked in the Markers window, or by option-clicking the marker in the Tracks window.

•Continue through the film and set markers for each sound effect on your spotting list.

A sequencer like Digital Performer orients itself according the musical meter. In other words, event are located according to where in the music meter (measure number, beat number, sub-beat) they occur.

This is good for events that occur within a piece of music like a melody line or a drum hit. If we change the tempo of the piece, these events will still occur in the proper spot musically.

However, when we sync a sequence to a film, some events need to orient themselves according to running time, the time that the SMPTE time code shows. For example, a sound effect (door slam) need to occur in the same time code location whether or not the tempo of the music changes.

To accommodate events that sync to running time, DP allows us to "lock" markers and tracks. Once events are placed in a time code location, they will not move even if the tempo changes.

A Marker is locked by clicking in its LOCK column in the Markers window, or by option-clicking the Marker in the Tracks window. A Track is locked by clicking in its LOCK column in the Tracks window.

Often, the process of inputting sound effects involves first placing a locked Marker in the desired spot, then placing the sound effect itself into the same spot in a locked audio track.

Find and Insert Sound Effects (Films 2-4 only--for Film 1, skip to Create a MIDI Score)

This assignment asks you to place five sound effects in your sound track. You may certainly add more effects if you desire, in which case you may need to add more tracks as needed. Often, you might create tracks specifically for a purpose, like Ambience or Footsteps and may end up with many dedicated sound effect tracks.

•Go Project>Add Track>Mono Audio Track to add a mono audio track to your sequence. Repeat to add a second mono audio track. Now go Project>Add Track>Stereo Audio Track Create to create a single stereo audio track, then repeat to add a second stereo audio track.

We usually create at least two tracks of each type (mono, stereo) for sound effects. This allow us to place adjoining sound effects even if they overlap.

•Option-click the names of your new tracks to rename them SFX1, SFX2, SFX3, and SFX4.

•Click in the Lock column of each of your new tracks to lock them to SMPTE code.

Often, one can find free sound effects online using a search. You might go here to get started. After you download, put the sounds in Beach Movie Project>Audio Files, then drag them into your new sound effects tracks in a measure near the corresponding spotting marker.

•In DP go Project>Sequence Editor to open the Sequence Editor window. Use the Expand button in the SE menu bar to expand the Track Select column, and select the your sound effects track(s) to show the tracks in the SE window.

•In the sound effects track(s), find the blue grid button in the upper right hand corner and turn it off.

When the grid is on, objects will only slide to pre-selected value locations, such as from measure to measure. Turning if off allows you to slide objects to any location.

•Slide your effects into a location that makes them sync up with the events in your picture. Use your spotting markers for reference.

Remember that the beginning of the sound effects audio file may begin somewhat before the sound actually occurs.

If you were working with a film director, your first step would be to decide what kind of music to write, and where it would go.

I often found it helpful to create a document that would describe the music score in words, both to nail down the purpose of the music, and potentially the type of music to write.

At a very early stage, it is common for the director and composer to screen the film to decide where music would go--more specifically, where it would start and stop. On a large project, this process would also involve the music editor, who might take notes on the decisions made.

Using the score description and the spotting sheet, composers often create a scoring plan, that would potentially include very detailed cues occurring at specific time code locations.

We will eventually create two scores for this film. For the first version, we will not use a score description--it simply wants to be some fun background music, possibly with a Caribbean quality.

•Go through your film and find 3-4 spots that might be significant musically. Set markers (Control-M) at each spot, and give each an evocative name.

For this assignment, use the DLS Softsyth as your MIDI device. Information on setting up a DLS Softsynth can be found here.

•Create some MIDI tracks and assign their output to the DLS instrument. Choose some appropriate patches for your new tracks.

•Work with your conductor track to create tempos that will accommodate your hit points. Then, using just a few MIDI tracks, sketch some musical ideas into your sequence.

This process is very subjective, and not all composers work this way. I find it helpful to get a rough tempo in mind, especially for rhythmic music, and then see where beats fall, after which I put in musical ideas. Others might create some sketch tracks first, with a corresponding tempo, then lay them in and move them around until they fit.

•For Film 1, you need to create at least one "hard hit" in the track that corresponds to one of your markers.

•Be careful to not allow your music track to exceed the bounds of the film itself, either before or after film start or end.

If your music is longer than the film itself, it requires the director to change the length of the film (unlikely) or chop off your music (likely and unpleasant).

•Once you have sketched your music into your sequence in a way that fits the film, flesh out your music with additional MIDI or audio tracks.

These instructions apply to a project that contains both audio and MIDI tracks. You may prefer to create audio tracks of the MIDI tracks, in which case you can ignore the references to MIDI in what follows.

•In DP, go Project>Mixing Board to open the Mixing Board window. Use the Expand button in the Mixing Board menu bar to show the Track Select column and highlight all your tracks, both MIDI and audio.

•Reset the level of all MIDI tracks to 90, and add a Trim plug-in to the top plug-in slot of each audio track.

•Using audio tracks only, remix your tracks. You might also include effects like reverb, creative panning, level changes, etc. to create a pleasing mix. Make sure to include a master fade that ends on the last frame of picture (see Regarding Fades/Mastering below).

If you have created sound effects, make sure to include them in your mix at the proper level, pan, EQ, and so forth.

•Select all your audio tracks, and go Audio>Bounce to Disk to create a final audio mix. Information on bouncing audio can be found here.

Make sure your bounce selection exactly matches the length of the movie (markers can help the selection process).

Films and especially television shows are exacting when it comes to time. In particular, they are unforgiving when it comes to adding time at the end of scenes and reels. In the case of TV commercials, you must deliver scores that finish at an exact frame number, usually 0.00.29.15 for a 30 second commercial.

In this project, the scene ends with a fade to black. Your score should not continue past the last frame of picture. This includes any ring out from an ending chord.

Also, after you have mixed individual scenes, you may find subtle differences in overall level or EQ, and you may want to smooth out those differences before you deliver your final product.

I almost always go through an additional mastering step, during which I create my final fade. The disadvantage of working this way is that is adds a step, and it also can add a lot of audio data to your project. I don't recommend it for this project, but you may consider it in the future, especially on a multi-cue project.

Music and sound effects are frequently created by two different teams, and often they don't communicate with each other until the movies is mixed. Editors sometimes bring their music, effects, and dialogue tracks to the mix in mono or stereo "stems" that have been pre-mixed to sound good together, but that would allow changes in the mix to one specific aspect of them without affecting the others. These tracks usually start at or before the 2-pop, and continue to the end of the film (or reel) even if the audio does not. 8 or more stems of both music and sound effects are not uncommon, sometimes as mono tracks, sometimes as stereo, pre-panned pairs.

If a composer is asked to bring stems to a mix, they will usually be instrument groups in stereo pairs, e.g. brass, strings, rhythm section. Sometimes bass or a vocal might appear on a mono stem. Again, these tracks would start with the 2-pop and continue to the end of the film or reel.

Usually the music stems constitute a "mixed" stereo track, meaning that if all stems are played back at unity, they would form a mix that would sound good if no changes were made in the final film mix.

•In the Soundbites mini-menu, select Export Selected Bites. In resulting window, export your mix as an AIFF file, saving it in your project folder (more info here).

•Add the AIFF file to your Quicktime file, Export as Movie to QuickTime Movie (DSL/Cable - High). Information on this process can be found here.

•Post your completed movie to your website with a link on your assignments page.