Cost of a Good Mixing Job

[EKublai]

Hey guys,

So I'm a Film Studies major, heading into my senior year in college. My upcoming senior thesis film will be a twelve minute animation that will be full of original audio and I plan on breaking my back over it over the once summer begins for eight months or so.

Basically the film will be animated by me and voiced by members of my school and the local town (not my decision, department rules). Therefore the production cost turns out to be $0 as opposed to the perhaps thousands of dollars facing my peers.

That is, until I consider audio. I noticed that alot of senior thesis films tend to be very quiet. Perhaps this is because they're so focused on visual editing, but the little audio they do have is often sourced out to a company or an sound expert in the school.

What sort of price should I be looking for for a professional sound-mixing of an audio-heavy 12 minute film. Audio includes regular dialogue, sound effects, and possibly music throughout?

[Rig]

About $600 to $1000, I'd say.

[EKublai]

At 1/11/12 01:32 AM, Rig wrote: About $600 to $1000, I'd say.

Damn, that's alotta bakesales.

[EKublai]

At 1/11/12 01:32 AM, Rig wrote: About $600 to $1000, I'd say.

While I have your attention. Do you have any idea how that process works? Do I basically send them a word document that explains to them the timing of the sound effects and direct them or what?

[Rig]

At 1/11/12 02:08 AM, EKublai wrote:

At 1/11/12 01:32 AM, Rig wrote: About $600 to $1000, I'd say.

While I have your attention. Do you have any idea how that process works? Do I basically send them a word document that explains to them the timing of the sound effects and direct them or what?

Are you looking for sfx creation as well, or just mixing? If you're asking for custom sfx, I'd add another grand to the price. Keep in mind this is hollywood-grade stuff I'm talking about, and it's probably even more expensive than that.

When I do mixing and sfx stuff for films and the like, I ask for a list of things they're looking for in the overall feel as well as specific moments they have in mind. The timing of the SFX is usually self-explanatory. I do a lot of back and forth with the director, pass drafts back and for for review, etc.

[EKublai]

At 1/11/12 02:25 AM, Rig wrote:

At 1/11/12 02:08 AM, EKublai wrote:

At 1/11/12 01:32 AM, Rig wrote: About $600 to $1000, I'd say.

While I have your attention. Do you have any idea how that process works? Do I basically send them a word document that explains to them the timing of the sound effects and direct them or what?

Are you looking for sfx creation as well, or just mixing? If you're asking for custom sfx, I'd add another grand to the price. Keep in mind this is hollywood-grade stuff I'm talking about, and it's probably even more expensive than that.

When I do mixing and sfx stuff for films and the like, I ask for a list of things they're looking for in the overall feel as well as specific moments they have in mind. The timing of the SFX is usually self-explanatory. I do a lot of back and forth with the director, pass drafts back and for for review, etc.

I'm good enough at foley that I think I can do the sfx that I need custom myself. Basically it would just be the mixing that I need to pay for. I guess the helpful thing about it being an animation is that I need the audio ASAP and so will be have a ready-made proof with all the timing by the time I need the mixer.

Do you have a portfolio handy by the way?

[Rig]

Why yes.

• 
  Rig - SFX Demo Reel by Rig

  Click to listen.

  Score

  4.15 / 5.00

  Type

  Song

  Genre

  Miscellaneous

  Popularity

  165 Views

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http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=
71303682

[Breed]

What you would supply to a post mixing engineer is pretty straight forward. You would need to compile a list of sfx and their respective time codes(when they happen). Assuming vocals are synced already you could send those as one wavefile. Any music you wanted would be sent similar to the sfx, with times of the song and when they appear in the animation. Leave the cutting and fading in/out of music to the mixer.

I work with all the film students at my college and have a solid background in production with 6 years experience. If you're interesting in hiring for this position I would be more then happy to help. You can find out more about myself and my company at our official website.

Ballpark estimate with my rates would put this project around the 300 dollar range. I can also vouch for Rig who is quite good at his crafts.

Feel free to PM me or add me on Skype if you have any questions at all.

Cheers!

- Mike Breed
Sype ID: Logical-Defiance