Ask Him Yourself!

[Kc]

Hi, Kc! Just wondering...now that the series has come to an end...is there or will there possibly be a complete series box set of the CD's coming?

Yes, in time. It won't be right away as we have some larger plans for something like this.

[Gnex]

Yes, in time. It won't be right away as we have some larger plans for something like this.

Signed photo of KC in a Speedo in the Collector's Edition??!?! LOL!!!

[Kc]

Signed photo of KC in a Speedo in the Collector's Edition??!?! LOL!!!

Our goal would be to sell copies... not to have them returned

[laxspartan007]

I have not read all 48 pages so I apologies if it has been asked already, will there be another xbox/halo/generic game night with the staff?

I participated in the very first one (Halo Reach?) and I believe you guys had another or a few, but I never was able to get on again. Are there regular game nights with devs or will there be another soon?

[zombeh-kitteh]

Yes, in time. It won't be right away as we have some larger plans for something like this.

Awesome! I will look foward to that. I've just finished the series finale, and I will say...standing ovation, complete with tears streaming down my face! Bravo!

[Litmaster]

Hi Kc,

Should've asked some of these last night but I forgot and am not sure what 'general interest' these answers might have. As I'm currently slogging through my fan audio drama thing, these are more technical questions that have arisen in my mind:

The Script
So in preparation for each recording session, did you email the cast a copy of that chapter ahead of time so they could acquaint themselves with their lines? Or just hand out the script and ran it cold once they got to the studio?

Panning
Since everything is recorded on separate tracks, to what extent do you use panning to simulate space distribution in the audio field? (e.g., two characters talking face to face, one panned left, the other right, etc.)

Organizing Tracks
Ok, so when you're working with 50+ tracks of voices, background, foley, music, etc... how to you keep all that organized in Pro Tools? Color coding? You keep all the vocal tracks in one area, the music in another, etc? A specific system for labeling tracks (so you're not looking at a bit of audio and wondering what the hell this is...)

Foley
Boy, I can really relate to when you said it's often faster and easier just to record your own Foley than try to find something from a sound library. For example, just now I needed the sound of a character tossing a cloth to another character. Simple, right? Quick little 1 second bit of audio, but I needed it to simulate some movement in the scene. So I spent about 10 minutes rooting around in various libraries: tearing cloth, ripping cloth, flapping curtains, unfurling flag, rustling skirts, blah, blah, shit, shit, shit.... Ugh! I finally gave up and just grabbed a dishcloth and headed out to my car with my Zoom H2. Had the sound in about 2 minutes.

So my question is this: in recording We're Alive, did you try to front-load all the sounds you thought you would need ahead of time, shifting them in the right spot in post-production, or did you tackle each sound individually as it came up in the script? I imagine some of them, like the zip-line, you'd have to record ahead of time, but what about something like a chair creak or clinking glasses? Just did that on the spot?

Also, how much of the time did you have to add audio that you didn't realize you would need when you first wrote the script? (e.g., if you found that a scene was lacking in movement or tension).

[Kc]

I have not read all 48 pages so I apologies if it has been asked already, will there be another xbox/halo/generic game night with the staff?

I participated in the very first one (Halo Reach?) and I believe you guys had another or a few, but I never was able to get on again. Are there regular game nights with devs or will there be another soon?

We might- the problem is we would have to play a very LARGE game that allows a lot of people. So, hopefully, yes in the future.

[Kc]

Hi Kc,

Should've asked some of these last night but I forgot and am not sure what 'general interest' these answers might have. As I'm currently slogging through my fan audio drama thing, these are more technical questions that have arisen in my mind:
The Script
So in preparation for each recording session, did you email the cast a copy of that chapter ahead of time so they could acquaint themselves with their lines? Or just hand out the script and ran it cold once they got to the studio?

Of course! The actors would receive it typically the week before we record. They need to acquaint themselves with the scene and such.

Panning
Since everything is recorded on separate tracks, to what extent do you use panning to simulate space distribution in the audio field? (e.g., two characters talking face to face, one panned left, the other right, etc.)

I used to do it for the first few episodes, but then quickly reversed that decision once the production was underway. A lot of other productions thinks that it helps by making spacial environments, I find it to be distracting. In real life the difference between left and right panning perception can't properly be represented in an audio production without LOADS of time and effort. It's better to just make everything centered and move on. There are a few effects we do for left and right, but it's rare and we make the ones we do count.

Organizing Tracks
Ok, so when you're working with 50+ tracks of voices, background, foley, music, etc... how to you keep all that organized in Pro Tools? Color coding? You keep all the vocal tracks in one area, the music in another, etc? A specific system for labeling tracks (so you're not looking at a bit of audio and wondering what the hell this is...)

Color coding and names are the key. The tacks I set up are typically not just a placeholder for the sound files, but also they're bussed to other tracks with then have reverb effects applied. That way there's more control for what amount of reverb the voices have while keeping the sound fx slightly different. Sometimes it's the same, but the sound fx also get one more level of compression so they don't go too loud to distort. There are also bypass tracks that just go strait to the main out. Atmospheres have separate tracks as well as reverb unusually doesn't apply to them and they bypass the other busses as well. There's a method to the madness. We used to try and put footsteps on one set of tracks, and effects in the others, but that didn't last long. I try to keep the track count down to a minimum, so we just make them mono or stereo fx tracks as labels. More flexibility that way.

Foley
Boy, I can really relate to when you said it's often faster and easier just to record your own Foley than try to find something from a sound library. For example, just now I needed the sound of a character tossing a cloth to another character. Simple, right? Quick little 1 second bit of audio, but I needed it to simulate some movement in the scene. So I spent about 10 minutes rooting around in various libraries: tearing cloth, ripping cloth, flapping curtains, unfurling flag, rustling skirts, blah, blah, shit, shit, shit.... Ugh! I finally gave up and just grabbed a dishcloth and headed out to my car with my Zoom H2. Had the sound in about 2 minutes.

So my question is this: in recording We're Alive, did you try to front-load all the sounds you thought you would need ahead of time, shifting them in the right spot in post-production, or did you tackle each sound individually as it came up in the script? I imagine some of them, like the zip-line, you'd have to record ahead of time, but what about something like a chair creak or clinking glasses? Just did that on the spot?

Also, how much of the time did you have to add audio that you didn't realize you would need when you first wrote the script? (e.g., if you found that a scene was lacking in movement or tension).

In the beginning, yes, I did try to frontload the footsteps and misc track environments we would need. But, as our quality improved it because clear that each and every scene would need to be tackled separately. Footsteps needed to be foleyed for each person, rather than using stock stuff just because it was one of the few ways to really illustrate a scene. It sets the pace, location, and feel for what's going on. For complex sounds like the zip-line, that required something very different and actually had some planning on that. We went to a zip-line and did the real thing.

The general rule of thumb is, "does a character touch it?" Yes? Then foley it.

For any scenes that felt lacking- that's how every scene starts. The sound design is how you illustrate the scene to support the dialogue and characters. There's a few scenes that could stand without much work, but others, like any and all action sequences, that require extensive work. Episodes can be anywhere from 30-60 hours of combined editing... so you can see why.

[Windsor995]

So for the new series are you going to be dealing with back stories of characters that perished over the previous seasons?
What character was the hardest for you to kill off?

[Kc]

So for the new series are you going to be dealing with back stories of characters that perished over the previous seasons?
What character was the hardest for you to kill off?

It could be old or new characters- the first one is mostly new, but there is a chance others could have small cameo's for characters in the past.

And I would say the Soldiers. Yes, I lumped them together, but they were very fun to write.