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Dialog/Music Trackreading  e-Service
   We’ve been reading tracks since 1981… first, from magnetic film, then videotape and nowadays from digital disks.
  The chore has become a lot less tedious with the current crop of computer-based audio/video apps—easy enough for animators to do it themselves for short-form jobs. (One such app we've come across lately is the very nifty and unique Magpie lip sync software by Miguel Grinberg).
  Nevertheless, for sustained long-form work, you’d still want your highly-paid animators animating and not trackreading!
  In the usual production-line assembly style system, using traditional soundreading techniques, it becomes necessary to spend a lot of time tweaking the lip-sync at animation pencil-test stage—a very expensive exercise. This is because traditionally, soundreaders work only with sound at the early stages of pre-prod.
  To improve the whole process, we’ve incorporated lip-sync testing prior to final mouth X-sheeting. The mouth X-sheet is in effect, merely the annotation of an already tweaked and accurate mouth animation line-test!

Here are the steps involved in this service:
1) You send us a Job Request via e-mail.
2) We'll send you a reply indicating when we can start with the job, how long it will take, how much we've estimated the job might cost and how you can send us the following input files we will need:
    a) a final script with scene breakdown, or final storyboard (as MSWord DOC or Acrobat PDF files),
    b) the corresponding scenes' soundtrack sequences as wave sound files (11khz, 8-bit mono sampling will do).
3) We lay-in each scene's audio file in a digital video NLE's (or in Magpie) audio track on which we do the initial sync markings (either at 24, 25 or 30 fps).
4) From a mouth-openings library we drag and drop the appropriate mouth-key drawings into the corresponding video track.
5) We playback… and tweak… and playback… and tweak… until the sync is right--when the dialog syncs accurately with the mouth animation; then we disk-record a mouth animation line-test movie (AVI or MOV format) for each scene.
6) We transcribe the already accurate line-test into mouth opening X-sheets.
7) We'll create a "client page" for you at our hernandezbros website in which we'll place preview files of the finished lip-sync test movies for your approval according to a Batch Delivery Schedule.
8) You send us an email of "Approval" for each batch just delivered to your "client page" and remit to us the corresponding service fee in U.S. Dollars via:
    a) Western Union Money Transfer, or
    b) bank to bank wire transfer, or
    c) bank check/draft sent by courier (DHL or UPS).
9) Once we receive payment, we’ll place in your "client page" the corresponding final X-sheet files of the just approved and paid-for batch, and also the next batch of preview files for your approval.

Notes:
    1) For really long duration jobs, we can arrange for a synchronized batch-delivery and remittance schedule.
    2) For Magpie users, we can also deliver Magpie files in lieu of AVI/MOV files.
    3) For Music/Music+Vocals Tracks, line-test will consist of a note bouncing to the beat (plus mouth animation if Music+Vocals); X-sheet will be horizontal  -- video timeline style, left to right--with the corresponding bars of musical notation (you'll have to send us the original music score).
   

Thumbnails & Lip-sync Test samples on this page
were prep & design work done by
Lo Hernandez & Mayo Hernandez
for the animated feature
"Aladdin and the Adventure of All Time"
courtesy of Concorde/New Horizons (USA)
and Premiere Entertainment Productions (Philippines),
co-producers and copyright owners.

SAMPLES
Click pics to play AVI clips

Sample01.avi (237Kb)
SULTAN:
"I was just wondering,
why do you have to be so mean?"
SHEHEREZADE:
"Because it's...fun!

Sample02.avi (181Kb)
SCHEHEREZADE:
"...'cuz being
mean is
my kind
of fun!"

Sample03.avi (159Kb)
SCHEHEREZADE:
"...being  mean is
my royal duty..."

Sample04.avi (161Kb)
SCHEHEREZADE:
"...the knack for being mean
seems to suit me..."

Sample05.avi (91Kb)
CROWD:
"...she won't even spare
the last stinkin' crop! 
'Cuz bein' mean..."

Sample06.avi (276Kb)
SCHEHEREZADE:
"... is my kind
of fun!  Ha, ha, ha!"

Sample07.avi (116Kb)
PAIGE:
"So, who is this
Scheherazade?"

Sample08.avi (299Kb)
ALADDIN:
"They call her
'The Queen of Mean!'"
WORDSWORTH:
"Uhh, pardon me, Aladdin,
but I think you're mistaken."!

Sample09.avi (292Kb)
ALADDIN:
"Hah!  Look who's talking!
So far, you've been wrong
about King Henry and Blackbeard!"
WORDSWORTH:
"But I'm right about
Scheherazade!"

Sample10.avi (339Kb)
WORDSWORTH:
"She was the kindest,
noblest, most generous
queen in history..."
ALADDIN:
"Ha-hah!  Now, who's telling
fairy tales, huh?!"

Sample11.avi (178Kb)
WORDSWORTH:
"Cross-reference me,
if you doubt it!"
PAIGE:
"He's right!"

Sample12.avi (113Kb)
PAIGE:
"Is that true,
Aladdin?!"

Sample13.avi (356Kb)
ALADDIN:
"The reason you have
so much to read is
because...(sigh)...I never
learned how...I was too busy
having adventures to go
to school!!"

Sample14.avi (330Kb)
PAIGE:
"But going to school is
an adventure!!"
ALADDIN:
"It is? I wish I could go
to school with you!"

Sample15.avi (337Kb)
ALADDIN:
"But wishing doesn't do me
much good without the
Magic Lamp!"
WORDSWORTH:
"Errr, speaking of which, you
might want to skim page 310?"

Sample16.avi (245Kb)
ALADDIN:
"So...hah...
who has it this time?"
PAIGE:
"...Cleopatra..."

Sample17.avi (259Kb)
ALADDIN:
"Wow..oh...
she's beautiful!!!"

Sample18.avi (295Kb)
ALADDIN:
"Magic Sand... to Egypt
for a while...
take us to...the Queen
of the Nile!!

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