Post-Production: We Pick the Right Tools for the Job

Video Editing

For the Expedia Travel Guide videos, the team uses Final Cut. These videos are part of an ongoing project which requires the team to produce consistently high-quality videos for regular release on Expedia’s YouTube channel. Matt said the reasons the team opts for Final Cut is “due to its fast turn-around for quality grading and its ability to handle large catalogs of footage. Efficiency is key for this project, but we cannot compromise on quality.” Since we have been working on capturing footage from around the globe for years, we are constantly updating our Final Cut libraries with the latest rushes ready to be used in all forms for video.

During the process of producing a video, we will often reach the limitations one program can offer. Our custom designed workflow enables us to rough-trip our media through to programs like Davinci Resolve for more specific colour grading or fusion FX and After Effects for any planar tracking, stabilization and compositing needs. Our seamless workflow lets us work across whatever tools are necessary for the job and round trip the footage back into our non-linear editing (NLE) ready for onlining and mastering.

For videos requiring a keener focus on graphic treatments, such as those we produced for Norfolk Island, the department uses Adobe’s Premiere Pro. “The Norfolk project required a multitude of different on-screen elements, so we needed a program that would allow us to work hand-in hand with our graphics team, but also allow us to still produce high quality cuts.” 

And on the rare occasion some VFX is required (rare because so often, the footage speaks for itself), Matt does a pass-through on After Effects. See if you can spot the “spooky” additions to the Halloween Special Transylvania Travel Guide video.

Music Composition

When our edits are locked off, we send them over to composers who work across programs like Ableton Live, Logic Pro and Protools to create the soundtrack. Our musicians work closely with directors, producers and the editing team to deliver the right mood, pacing and energy for each video. We also work closely with musicians when mastering dialogue and SFX to ensure their work isn’t muddled with crossover frequencies, ensuring all of their hard work sounds just as good as it does in the studio. 

Long-term TM composer and HMMA nominee, Jacquie Joy’s go-to program is Ableton Live, which operates smoothly on her beast of an iMac Pro (64GB RAM). She relies on Ableton as a ‘shell’ for software samplers (e.g. Kontakt) and software synths (e.g. Omnisphere), while also recording audio (vocals, guitars and percussion) directly into it. Jacquie says “it’s super intuitive, super easy and quick to edit MIDI and audio tracks. My favourite function is the ‘audio freeze’, which helps it handle very large projects… one of my largest to date had approximately 450 tracks!”. That was for a horror feature film, a more usual track count is between 200-300. This program, partnered with a super fast iMac, allows Jacquie to remain ‘in the moment’ while throwing heaps of ideas and musical layers into a project at speed – “it all just works.”  

Another cherished TM composer, Luke Dowsett, however, opts for Logic Pro due to its streamlined and powerful processing and editing capabilities, which he finds perfect for large TM projects involving 200+ individual audio tracks. One of Luke’s favourite features is its deep integration with iOS. This allows for easy portability – so Luke can work from anywhere – and regular updates, which can introduce super interesting new tools and options. But perhaps most importantly, Luke says Logic Pro offers the “perfect hybrid environment between recording and writing for virtual instruments, and recording my own instruments to try and emphasise all of the fine details and emotions that a video might require”