Vidiots has expanded its postproduction work on the popular “MTV Cribs” series to include mixing. The company, which combines full-service postproduction for film and TV with a boutique environment, has been cutting and finishing the artists homes show for the last years. Now, with the addition of its Digidesign Pro Tools HD suite, Vidiots is also mixing “MTV Cribs.”
“We have two or three of our Avid Media Composer Adrenaline HD edit rooms going simultaneously for ‘MTV Cribs’ with editors rotating on and off shows,” notes Anthony Amoia who co-owns Vidiots with his brother Michael. “Since we now have mixing capabilities, we’ve been able to add audio post to the editing and finishing services we provide for the show.”
Mixer Brian McGee begins his part of the process by importing Avid OMFs into Pro Tools HD 3 along with all the audio tracks. He separates the music, dialogue and sound effects tracks, cleans up the dialogue tracks, rides the music to picture to enhance excitement, and adds sound effects as needed from Vidiots’ extensive stock library.
“My first episode of ‘MTV Cribs’ was the series’ 100th episode,” McGee recalls. “I enjoy working on the show and creating dynamics in the music to move the stories along. Everybody at MTV is wonderful to work with.”
McGee teamed with the Amoias in configuring and equipping the Pro Tools HD suite, which was designed by Chris Harmony for 5.1 mixing. “Anthony and Michael built a beautiful room,” McGee declares. “There’s a 45-inch Sharp LCD flatscreen HD monitor above the Pro Tools console and Control 24 surface, Genelec 5.1 and Yamaha NS10 speakers. It’s really awesome!”
Also on hand are a Tubetech tube compressor, Marshall JMP1 guitar pre amp, portable Roland JV2080 keyboard module for sound and sound effects, and WAVES plug-ins.
A voiceover/ISO booth, which accommodates three, is outfitted with a Neumann TLM103 mic. There is also an ISDN line available.
McGee brings a distinguished two-decade audio career to Vidiots and his work on “MTV Cribs.” He was on staff at Sound Mixers and Hit Factory in New York City and counts the Rolling Stones’ “Under Cover of the Night,” Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colors,” Yoko Ono’s “It’s All Right,” and John Lennon’s posthumous “Milk and Honey” among the albums he’s recorded.
McGee left his staff job and went independent, producing albums and writing songs in Europe and Australia. About 14 year ago he turned to TV work, often partnering with composer Ed Kalehoff. McGee’s credits include “Monday Night Football,” ABC’s “World News Tonight,” “Nightline” and all the music for the sports teams that call Madison Square Garden home. He also recorded, coproduced and engineered the signature sound of ABC’s headline-making “The View.”
Post your comments below
