[LAU] Blender Open Movie Projects: Soundtrack made by Open audio tools!?

[Patrick Shirkey]

On 08/27/2009 03:23 PM, Thomas Vecchione wrote:
> Yes but Ambisonics by themselves won't solve problems in as far as 
> easily creating a 5.1 panning output system.  5 Channel sure, but that 
> extra LFE is a bit troublesome.  And until we get a working and easy 
> to use 2D panner in Ardour, it will still be lacking in that regards.  
> There are a few parts to this in fact some of which I am hoping to 
> start implementing the basics of sometime later this year myself if I 
> manage to have time.
>
> Ardour is slowly getting to this point, and I firmly believe A3 will 
> be a HUGE step in the right direction for it and will help as a major 
> boost.  There are a few other projects I know of to continue to help 
> with this as well.  But it isn't quite there yet.  Getting there and 
> improving with each release, but not quite there yet.
>


While I agree with you that we are not quite there yet in terms of 
Hollywood A grade production I find it hard to believe that a good 
quality feature length movie and soundtrack cannot be made right now 
using just Blender, Linux Sampler and Ardour-2.8 or 3.x dev. Add in 
jack-rack, seq24, zyn2, hydrogen, xwax, supercollider, pd, audacity and 
the now innumerous list of plugins and we have everything we need to 
create samples for any soundscape .

IMO, this talk from Jan about not having access to the best sample 
libraries as an excuse for not using the excellent tools that are 
available needs to stop.  It's more about the quality of the workmanship 
and the vision of the producers as well as the available time to make 
something happen. I'm surprised that there is not a way to generate a 
surround sound 5.1 track on Linux but if that is the final step that 
requires mastering in a different closed source program then it is a 
small price to pay.

I see the problem as much more an issue of Jan not feeling comfortable 
to delegate some responsibility for the production of the soundtrack and 
work with the community to see it through / crack the whip than a case 
of not having the tools to do something cool.

I have to say that to a degree I can understand why that barrier exists. 
Getting the Linux Audio Community as a group to willingly contribute to 
a project is an often painful, time consuming and challenging process. 
That's not to say that there aren't many people who can contribute but 
getting them to coordinate and be productive is a mighty task.

For example, if we had a list of all the samples that Jan is missing in 
order to make his vision for the soundtrack happen and everyone could 
make a concerted effort to provide the samples (without having to go 
into a debate for every single one) then we might have a viable method 
to make some headway. However if it is case of Jan presenting his vision 
and then being forced to account for every possibility for the next 
three weeks ad infinitum then we will probably turn him off and he would 
find it more effective to continue going it alone.

Another option would be for Jan to hand the project management of the 
sample collecting process over to someone else and keep his mind free of 
the hassle of the inevitable mailing list debate so he can get stuff done.

Either way Jan would have to delegate some responsibility in order to 
work with the Linux Audio Community on this project.

He should still be in charge of production and direction. In this way he 
would have a team of people who he could entrust some responsibility to 
and they would have to commit to coming through with the goods that they 
sign up for.

*Hint. To get people to contribute requires a regular call out with 
details on what needs to be provided by the community and people will 
step up and make things happen. It has to be regular as people often 
forget and many times will only contribute if they are given a few weeks 
to digest an approach that will work for them and find some time to do 
the work (often at the last minute). Give between 3 to 6 weeks for each 
phase/cycle and make sure the deadline is solid. Make sure people are 
updated weekly and warned a few days out from the deadline as well as 
the day before.







Patrick Shirkey
Boost Hardware Ltd