August 11, 2008
www.rippletraining.com
DVD Edition $119.00 - iTunes Edition $99.00
Review by Steve Douglas
For many years I served as one of the founders and organizers of the San Diego UnderSea Film Festival, which continues to provide a showcase for underwater filmmakers from around the world. Through the years I observed that while the content and editing skills continued to improve, the audio was often poorly utilized or unbalanced. Far too frequently audio levels were too high, too low or mixed improperly. Yet, it is the audio of almost all films, which sets the tone and mood of its subject.
When Apple introduced Soundtrack Pro numerous editors saw it as a fun way to make their own musical scores without the worry of paying fees or the expense of buying royalty free music libraries. Yet, Soundtrack Pro has the ability to go far beyond that basic creationistic application which is where Steve Martin's latest product from his Ripple Training series comes in. I am frequently asked in emails, which tutorial DVDs are the best to purchase. I usually answer that most all of them have both pluses and minuses, however, for a real consistency in high quality tutorials, get thee to Ripple Training. Sound Editing & Mastering in Soundtrack Pro is no exception to that advice.
Providing comprehensive tutorials in Soundtrack Pro, the user is lead through a complete sequence of learning and becoming familiar with the tools and abilities, which lay buried within. This begins with getting a complete grasp on how Soundtrack Pro affects audio and how best to sweeten your tracks making them both acceptable to you and to broadcasters. Soundtrack Editing & Mastering pays attention to your individual workflow and demonstrates how you can make your audio editing more efficient whether repairing tracks, doing voice over, creating original music or Foley effects. What's more, you have about 5 hours of individual lessons to work from. Typical of all Ripple Training discs I have covered, a ' Whole Enchilada' movie is supplied which enables you to literally go through the entire disc from beginning to end. However, there is a lot to do and cover; thinking of this tutorial as a one shot sit down would be a mistake. Yes, you can skip different lessons and just attend to the ones which interest you, however, if you are fairly new to Soundtrack Pro or haven't kept abreast of its improvements, you might be better off just taking one lesson at a time.
Steve Douglas is a certified Apple Pro for Final Cut Pro 6 and underwater videographer. A winner of the 1999 Pacific Coast Underwater Film Competition, 2003 IVIE competition, 2004 Los Angeles Underwater Photographic competition, and the prestigious 2005 International Beneath the Sea Film Competition, where he also won the Stan Waterman Award for Excellence in Underwater Videography and 'Diver of the Year', Steve was a safety diver on the feature film "The Deep Blue Sea", contributed footage to the Seaworld Park's Atlantis production, the History channel's MegaDisaster show and is a feature writer for Asian Diver Magazine. His first National Geographic special will air in late 2008. Steve is one of the founding organizers of the San Diego UnderSea Film Exhibition and leads both underwater filming expeditions and African safaris with upcoming excursions to Kenya in Aug.09, the Red Sea for Nov.2009, and Truk Lagoon in Micronesia for July,2010. Feel free to contact him if you are interested in joining Steve on any of these exciting trips. 
