Post date: Apr 27, 2012 2:33:19 AM
Here are a few suggestions for preparing your project:
Organize tracks - Keep dialogue, music, fx, ambiences, etc on common tracks. You can have as many tracks of each as you need, but each track should be of one type - this makes it easier in the mix to identify sounds and navigate the timeline.
Add density - Concentrate, for now, on filling up all gaps in your soundtrack. Have lots of ambience, roomtone, extra fx. Anything can be turned down in the mix, but silence can't be filled up. Think about going to the mix with as many resources as possible, and you can shape them there. Don't get bogged down in editing and adding special effects or getting the levels just right. Just fill up the spaces and make sure you have lots of layers.
Don't apply lots of FX - If you're editing in Final Cut Pro or Avid, only Levels, Pan, and Fades will reliably be translated to your mix file. So don't spend a lot of time tweaking effects - these can be added more efficiently by the mixer themselves. You simply need to know where you will want to place them when the time comes. If you're editing in Pro Tools, more of the effects will go to your mix, but be aware that any special plug-ins you use may not exist on the mixer's system, and these will need to be recreated there.
If you have to generate a special effect, before your mix because you're a control freak or you absolutely need a sound to be just right before you can continue editing, you will also need to output 'stems' of that track. Essentially this means you will render out the whole track - thus 'baking in' the special effect - and then bring that AIFF file to your mix as well, where it can be placed in your session and mixed in with the rest of the project. Just remember that the mixer can't go back inside this sound and manipulate it any more.
See above for a new post regarding a checklist of items to bring with you to the mix.