AV Notes

By Trish McAuslan FPSNZ AV-AAPS EFIAP/b FAPS Coordinator of Audio-Visuals for PSNZ

Jack Sprosen Memorial Trophy Competition for Audio-Visuals — an Update

Some progress has been made with planning for 2023. I am expecting the next Jack Sprosen Memorial Trophy competition to be held early in the year, probably in March or April. Details such as the closing date will be sent to all PSNZ members and also put on the website as soon as they are available. In the meantime, put your thinking caps on and start creating an audio-visual. There are no plans to change the rules for next year, so you can check them out on the PSNZ website: https://photography.org.nz/jacksprosen/.

Keep in mind that the rules affecting the AVs are the same for both the Jack Sprosen and the Tauranga AV Salon, so you can plan to enter your creations in both salons.

Consider entering the 321 Challenge!

This is a short AV, no longer than 3 minutes 21 seconds. There are no categories or set subjects. AVs entered in this Salon can be entered in both the JSMT and Tauranga Salons. Alternatively you might like to consider if one of your earlier AVs can be shortened.

Entries close on 15 March. For all the details and to enter, go to https://www.challenge321.org/.

Using Garageband

For a number of months, I have promised to introduce Garageband, a free music editing application for Mac users. It is one of the applications installed on the Mac when you purchase it, although it may need to be updated.

There are several reasons why I use Garageband to create my audio track, rather than using the audio tracks in Fotomagico which is where my AV has been created. One reason is that Fotomagico only allows three audio tracks whereas Garageband allows me to use as many as I want to. Editing multiple audio tracks in Garageband is easier and offers more options than in Fotomagico. I am able to create more complex audio tracks in Garageband, and they remain editable as long as I have saved the Garageband project.

Before I start, I need to say that Garageband is a complex programme primarily aimed at the music industry. We will only use a few of its features, but if you are interested in creating your own music or recording your own songs, this application is worthwhile learning.

Generally, before beginning your Garageband project you will have created a storyline of the images as accurately as possible. Save the images as an mp4 video track without any audio. N.B. I suggest saving this copy of the video with an appropriate name such as xxxximages, and put it into the main folder for that AV.

If you were creating a video of your feedback with the images it would be possible to create the audio track first and then sync the images with the track later.

When you open Garageband for the first time you will have the opportunity to start a new project. If you have previously created one or more projects you can choose to open an existing project or start a new one. For these notes, I have chosen to create an Empty Project.

This brings up a panel for you to choose a track type. The most relevant one for this project is the one with the microphone. This can also be used by people creating a podcast or evaluators presenting their feedback.

We are going to start by creating a very basic audio track and work towards something more complex later. Generally, before beginning your Garageband project you will have created a storyline of the images as accurately as possible. Save the images as an mp4 video track without any audio. NB I suggest saving this copy of the video with an appropriate name such as xxxximages, and put it into the main folder for that AV.

In the Details Panel choose No Input and then Create. This opens the programme with one empty Audio Track called Audio 1.

A major difference between creating the audio track in Audacity and creating it in Garageband is that you can import the video track you created, of just the images, into Garageband. This will help with the timing of the audio, i.e. music, sounds or narration in Garageband.

To do this go to Track-> Show Movie Track. Drag and drop the mp4 video track onto the Movie track. (N.B. It may take a while to load.) If some of the frames from your video are blank, you can continue because the information will be there even if you can’t see it. It will probably load slowly.

A Metronome is used by musicians to keep an even beat. In Garageband, it sounds like regular clicks and it is very distracting. To turn it off, put your cursor on it and click. It is turned off if the purple surround disappears.

Save

The changes you made to your music track must be saved so you can return to the project at a later date and make further changes. This is similar to other times when you save your work.

Go to File ->Save. Leave your project in Garageband. Give your project a name. It is important to understand that this is your working file which you can change in Garageband, but it is not in a format that can be imported into your AV programme. We will deal with that later.