How to send us your recording files

Files we can work with

Pretty much anything. If it plays on a computer, we can almost certainly edit it. These are the formats we see most:

• Audio: WAV, AIFF, FLAC, MP3, M4A and AAC, from a recorder, an interface, a mixer like the RØDECaster, or a phone.
• Video: MP4 and MOV straight from cameras and phones, including H.264, HEVC (H.265) and ProRes.
• Remote recordings: downloads from Riverside, Zoom, Zencastr, Descript, SquadCast, StreamYard, Teams and Google Meet.

If you edited in GarageBand, Audition, Premiere, Final Cut, DaVinci Resolve or Descript, send us the raw files you recorded rather than the project. Project files point to media on your own computer, so they rarely open anywhere else.

The best files to send

The closer a file is to what the microphone or camera captured, the more we can do with it.

Audio

• WAV is best. Ideally 48 kHz and 24-bit, which is what most recorders and interfaces already use.
• One file for each microphone, not a single mixed-down file. See one track for each person.
• Untouched. Skip noise reduction, compression and “enhance” buttons. We'd rather clean it up ourselves than try to undo an effect.
• An MP3 is fine if it's all you have. It just gives us less to work with when there's noise or a level to fix.

Video

• The original camera files, copied straight off the card or phone. Not re-exported, and not sent through a messaging app, which shrinks them.
• One file for each camera, named so we can tell them apart.
• 1080p or 4K, landscape. We cut vertical reels from the landscape footage, so 4K keeps them sharp.
• The same frame rate on every camera. 25 frames per second is the Australian norm.

Name things clearly

A folder called Show name - Episode 12 - 3 Nov with files like sarah-mic.wav, tom-mic.wav,camera-wide.mp4 and camera-sarah.mp4 saves us guessing, and saves you questions.

One track for each person

The single biggest thing you can do for your edit is record multitrack: each person on their own microphone, saved as their own audio file, and, for video, each person on their own camera.

Multitrack lets us:

• balance a quiet guest against a loud host, all the way through;
• remove a cough, a phone buzz or crosstalk from one person without cutting the other's words;
• cut between camera angles as people speak, the way a TV interview does;
• make vertical reels framed on just the person speaking.

How to get it:

• In a room: a microphone for each person into a recorder, interface or mixer that saves each input as its own file. Most podcast mixers and USB interfaces can.
• Remote: Riverside, Zencastr, SquadCast and Descript record each person separately by default. In Zoom, turn on “Record a separate audio file for each participant” in your recording settings before you start.
• On camera: one camera on each person, plus a wide shot if you can. Phones on tripods work.

Start every recording with one loud clap on camera. It gives us a sharp spike in every audio and video file to line them up with.

How to share your files

Recordings are too big for email. Put everything in one folder, share it as a link that anyone with the link can download, and paste that link into the form below. No need to zip it.

Dropbox

Put everything in one folder, choose Share, then Copy link. Check the link is set so anyone with it can view.

Google Drive

Right-click the folder, choose Share, and under General access pick “Anyone with the link”.

OneDrive

Select the folder, choose Share, and set the link to “Anyone”. Business accounts sometimes block this, so try it in a private window.

iCloud Drive

Share the folder, choose Share Options, and set who can access it to “Anyone with the link”.

WeTransfer

Fine for a one-off. Send the transfer to yourself and paste the download link here, since links expire after a few days.

Keep the link working until we've told you we have everything. If your files are on a hard drive, you're welcome to drop it at the studio, 1/86 Township Drive, Burleigh Heads QLD 4220.

Recording tips

Haven't recorded yet? A few minutes of setup makes a bigger difference than any edit. Our recording tips guide covers the room, microphones, levels, light and framing, for in-person and remote shows.

What happens next

1. We download and check everything. We listen and watch through, checking the tracks, sync, levels, background noise, picture and length.
2. We tell you what we can do. Most recordings are ready to edit as they are. Some need extra clean-up first, and we'll say what that involves. Now and then a recording can't be saved, and we'll tell you honestly, along with what to change next time.
3. You get a price. From our published menu: an audio edit is $150 and a video edit with 4 reels is $550, for up to 60 minutes. Longer recordings, or ones needing heavy repair, are quoted first. Checking your files costs nothing.
4. You say go, and we edit. We agree a turnaround, then send it back for one round of changes.

Send us your recording

Tell us what it is and what you'd like, and paste the link to your files. Prices exclude GST.