Musical timings

[trulytango Profile Private message]

Hello there

I am currently working on a trio of shows for a wedding photographer... the music is very fast paced and timings will be crucial. I'm wondering... is there a program or tool in existance that will actually count the beats per minute in any given track or selection?

Thanks in advance
Iris

[bellzerr Profile Private message]

SonicFirePro does this for the SmartSound music. I wish Proshow would provide a feature where you could set the beats per minute and help adjust slides and keyframes to "snap to" the beats per minute.

In the past, I have just counted beats as the music plays and use that for the overall show. Since most transitions are gradual and adjustable, getting it close is usually close enough, then I adjust key slides to really hit a matching point in the music to keep everything on track and keep the viewer believing that I've done more work than I actually have.
Good luck, and please share if the client permits.
Mark

[BarbaraC Profile Private messageWebsite]

Iris, Mark has the right idea in counting the beats, though it sure isn't an easy chore on my part. BUT, I've found that by bringing the soundtrack into Producer, then looking very, very carefully at the peaks and adjusting slide times to them, I can (after adjusting a number of slides) get the timing. It definitely takes a number of adjusted slides to start seeing it because not all music has its strongest beat as the first one in the bar. One more thought: Even if you get it figured out that, say, there's a stronger beat every 2 seconds, unless it's electronic music, it'll still be a hair off here and there because we humans, including musicians, aren't perfect.

Right. I haven't helped you at all.

Barbara

[Deadman Profile Private message]

Set up 2 screens. Put Pro on one and your music on the 2nd and go for it. Works for me. Thats becuase I have to look at my toes if counting past 10 and then I can't pay attention to whats on the screen . Don't know if I helped, but I tried.

[BarbaraC Profile Private messageWebsite]

So, Iris, are you sorry yet that you asked?

Barbara

[trulytango Profile Private message]

Thanks everyone!

No, Barbara... I'm not sorry I asked! I spent a whole hour this morning tweaking the timings on this troublesome trio of shows (that are actually coming along quite nicely) and between us, my husband and myself (with stopwatch and tapping fingers n feet) got it down to 0.694 seconds per beat for one show Not 0.693 or 0.6935... and even 0.398 for another of them. Lord, help us! I usually manage by looking at the waveform and recognising/adjusting timings as necessary, but these particular tracks are unusual in that the wave form is pretty solid - no visible peaks and troughs.

Anyway, the upshot is this, the slides are really ripping along with their appropriate 'cut' transitions... and stay in tune for the whole selections! Blink and some of them are gone.

Will share if I can, as this one's been a bit of a learning curve. Gorgeous pictures but challenging overall.

TTFN
Iris

[Deadman Profile Private message]

If your really into the music and the vid, purchase Sonicfire Pro 5. You can put your vid on it. It keeps the time on the music along with the video. Don' t think goes past .00 but its one of the best out there, and you can purchase music that your able to use with your vids. Also can use on 2 screens and it has the timer on it.

That may help... Don't be sorry you asked.

[bellzerr Profile Private message]

Hey Iris,
Tell us about how you got the wedding shows gig.
Mark

[trulytango Profile Private message]

Thanks Deadman, for the info on Sonicfire Pro - if I get to do more shows for this particular guy, it may be worth getting. When you're working with snappy, short slide durations and predominantly 0/Cut transitions, the two decimal places would be a good place to start It's amazing though, how soon you start needing to time to a hundredth of a second to keep things on track! In these latest shows, I also added Photodex slide styles at strategic points, that saw me over changes in the music, breaks etc.

Mark, a little over a year ago I made a real effort to get some photographers interested. I did not have top notch professional wedding photographs with which to do my initial samples, so I concentrated on a straightforward presentation style, well timed. A handful were impressed enough to take me up on the offer of a freebie for their chosen client, and I was at last able to work with some quality pics and end up with better samples to show others.

I have had quite a bit of upheaval in my home life this last 12 months and consequently I haven't chased up any commissions, but the two photographers I am working with so far, have very different styles and their own ideas. It's totally alien at first, to be interpreting a detailed brief, but hopefully worth it in the long run.

TTFN

[bellzerr Profile Private message]

Iris -
Thanks for the photographer tips. It sounds like challenging fun.
On show timings, I can't imagine trying to keep it on track to a hundredth of a second. I use forgiving transitions like fades and focus on tweaking individual slides at key musical points when the sync is obvious to keep the audience believing the sync is closer than it is.
SonicFire Pro will help a lot for sync. Go to the SmartSound web site and watch the tutorials. They will show you what you can do with the softawre:
http://www.smartsound.com/sonicfire/tutorials/

Mark

[Astra Profile Private message]

To Iris:

one trick (I've learned by trial-and-errors) for "fast" adn dramatic transitions is:
it doesn't matter so much: where PHOTO starts,
- but most important is: WHERE TRANSITION starts exactly on the "peak-of-beat" !!!

=========================================

To Deadman:
glad to hear another positive review from user of SonicFire.


Alexandra

[Deadman Profile Private message]

Another feature of sonic fire is you can put your video in the screen in the program and play with the time that way.
Well enough promotion of that program..

[Astra Profile Private message]

To Deadman:

Another feature of sonic fire is you can put your video in the screen in the program and play with the time that way.

Yes, love it - and glad you like (& using) it, too ...

P.S. ... (and how-about "Smart Razor" ?? - to chop the music, re-arrange it, add/delete something and have it EXACTLY as you want to look/sound.)

Alexandra

[Deadman Profile Private message]

Alexandra

The whole program is great. And the amout of music availabe seems to be almost unlimited.

[Astra Profile Private message]

To Deadman:
I'm very glad you like it - and see a great potential in it.
(And - of course - using it already - that's major part: USING IT !!! )

Alexandra