A key part of our Cellar Master marketing strategy was to have an informative video, to be available as a download and on DVD. This would be used for mailings and to support telesales activities. This is a description of how we achieved the finished result.

First of all, we wrote down what we wanted to say, in the same kind of language we would use if we were talking direct to a customer. The text was then broken down into logical sections, i.e. introduction, background, business issues, product features, etc.

The paragraphs were then put into a Word table, with extra columns for time duration and content details. The voiceover was then recorded. We tried recording using a mic direct into the PC, but there was too much fan noise, etc. We then used a DV camcorder with an external, high quality mic on a stand. This is very important, otherwise you get all the motor noise as well! A silent environment is vital here!

Once we were happy with the narrative (which needed a lot of ‘takes’!), the files were transferred from the DV tape to the PC into a video editing package. This created a “video” with an audio track and a blank screen. We then exported the audio track as a WAV file and deleted the video. Then we opened the new audio file using a WAV editor. This allowed us to chop up the big WAV file into sections corresponding to our master storyboard. Now we knew the exact running time.

One of the most time consuming parts of the process was finding the right backing music. I probably spent 8-10 hours listening to dozens of music tracks off the Internet. It had to be royalty-free, reasonably cheap and of good quality. Most of the stuff I found was cheesy rubbish which sounded like it had been composed on a Stylophone. I knew what I wanted… It needed to be engaging, but discrete enough not to overpower the narrative, and with enough variation not to sound too repetitive. When I found the UniqueTracks site, I quickly located and decided upon “Waiting For Tomorrow”. For more information on the UniqueTracks Production Music Library, please visit http://www.uniquetracks.com. It fitted the bill almost exactly. I hooked together a quick demo intro sequence in Pinnacle Studio. This was just a collection of relevant images with an oil painting effect, with dissolve fades and some title sequences. I timed the video to fit Remix 2, then cut a DVD and showed to everyone. It was met with great approval, so the decision on the backing track was made. WFT was quickly purchased as an MP3 download.

Our voice narrative was ‘topped and tailed’ with a newsreader-style video. Allowing for the right periods of silence between sections, we now knew the exact running time of the video – around 12 minutes. I now had to make the backing track fit the narrative, but even the longest (full) version of WFT was only 5 minutes or so. The track was opened in the WAV editor. The track comprises 3 main sections. I was able to copy the middle section and paste it multiple times. This brought the track up to 8 or 9 minutes. Luckily, it has a bridge section which has no percussion, so it was quite easy to join. (Note – don’t try doing this working in MP3 format, otherwise you will get a short silence at the beginning and end.) I also ‘cut’ various samples from the track, which would come in handy later. Finally, the whole track was ‘normalised’ to increase the volume of the quiet sections and to reduce the loud parts. We needed a very level soundtrack!

The next part was done in a PC-based multi-track mixer. Firstly, the original narrative audio was laid on Track 1. This included the audio from the video ‘interview’ sections and gave me an exact template of the timeline to work from. The extended WFT track was then loaded up on Track 2, and was ‘slid’ into position until the first sequences worked together. From then, it was mainly a question of doing a ‘DJ mix’: raising the music volume when the voice was absent, and lowering during speech. This is done quite simply on the track timeline. It was also essential to get the music to fit the narrative. In some cases, a mini-loop was added, in others, a silence was introduced into the narrative to get the timings right. At one point, the intro is replayed to create anticipation, using some of the samples as a bridge. The piano riff was also looped a number of times to get the right timing and effect. This was achieved using Tracks 2,3,4,5 etc as necessary. I timed the backing track to end about 18s after the narrative, to allow for the closing credits as the music finishes. Once I was happy with all of the timings and relative volumes, the narrative on Track 1 was muted and the whole thing saved as a WAV file, so we now had the original audio track with linked video, plus a separate synchronised backing track.

The finished WAV file was then imported into our video editing software, which allowed us to infill all the titles, screen cams, photo’s, silent video clips and closing credits.