This page is for those who are getting their sound mixed and want us to handle all of the technical stuff. We will need two things from you to begin work: an OMF export and a reference tape of the audio and video from your picture editing system. It doesn't matter if your system is Avid or Final Cut Pro. Other editing sytems may not support OMF exports, you'll have to contact us to figure it out.

OMF export
This is the audio from your picture editing system, as it is laid out in your system. We mix on Pro Tools systems here, and an OMF is how we get the audio from your system to ours.

1. Lock you picture. Any changes you make in your project after you have given us the OMF will have to be made manually in Pro Tools by one of our engineers.

2. Make sure the audio in your timeline is the same sample rate, bit depth and sound file format.

3. Though systems vary, you would generally find an export option under the file menu of you editing software.

4. The OMF export should be embedded, which will make a single large OMF file. If you have an option, make the the export 16 bit, 48Khz, 300 frame handles (10 seconds) and .AIF file format. Picture is not a part of an OMF, it is audio only.

5. Copy the resulting OMF file to CD, DVD, firewire drive or other piece of media and bring it to us. An embedded OMF includes not only the track and editing information from your project, but the audio media as well, so it should be somewhat large. A 15 minute film will be anywhere from 200 megabytes to a gigiabyte depending upon how much audio is in the session.

6. We'll take the OMF and turn it into a Pro Tools session.

You should deliver the OMF to us a few days in advance of the mix so we can be sure it works.

Reference video tape
For us to mix, we'll need a video to watch while we work. This tape should reflect the final image that the audio being mixed must synchronize to. A reference video tape is mostly about checking sync. If you are making a film print, we should mix to a video transfer of the answer print or the cut negative. If your final product is a video master, we should mix to the color corrected onlined final. If you are finishing in your own editing system, we should mix to a DV output of your locked picture edit.

Your reference tape must have an academy leader with a two beep on the timeline. It should also have a tail beep. Download DV versions of them here:

Academy leader - coming soon
Tail beep - coming soon

The first frame after the black at the end of the academy leader is called the first frame of action, it is where the audience will begin to experience your film. The tail beep comes after the audience stops experiencing the film, including the credits at the end. The title cards at the beginning and the credits at the end are a part of your film.

Output your reference image along with the rough mix of the sound to a single DV, DVCam or Digibeta tape. A DVD won't work, a VHS tape won't work, and a Quicktime movie won't work because we must use the digial picture cards that are in our mixing systems that require a type of video that is particular to those cards. The video must be continuous with no dropped frames or other hangups in the output.

The time code on the reference tape should match that of the final video tape output.

 DuArt Film & Video • 245 West 55th Street • New York, NY 10019