Brent Heber's ICON Bootcamp video tutorials

[Brent_Sydney]

Hi there folks,



It seems that some new visitors to my blog (www.protoolsprofessional.com) aren't finding all the various videos or visiting them in any logical order, so I thought Id take the initiative of posting a "contents" type list of the videos I've made so far and how the logical progression of ideas could be navigated...ICON BOOTCAMP!


First, configuring your system. Understanding your PTHD automation prefs and your ICON console prefs is vital to getting the system working the way YOU want it, rather than YOU working the way the console wants:

Most folks can find their way around the board pretty easily, particularly if they are familiar with PT in the first place, but will possibly be intimidated by how to insert a plugin onto a channel.

Another great feature on ICON is interrogating your signal flow by holding the sends button, or opt/alt sends button to show the input/output view:

Now you're ready for the big league - CUSTOM FADERS...unique to ICON - the key to navigating your mix on the console in the context of the mix, rather than following the layout of the session inside Pro Tools

Lets leave custom faders for a minute and look at the new plugin mapping feature...

Now back to custom faders to put the two together:

OK, so now you've got a very good idea of how to move everything about and navigate your way around the ICON. Why do we have so much flexibility in where things go?? Well, simply put, to automate your mix as effectively and effortlessly as possible. So lets more on into automation.

If you like to automate your mix moving down the timeline, typically in Touch auto mode, please consider moving over to Latch mode. Latch allows you to multitask, where Touch will only allow you to work on whatever you are touching at the time. Autojoin and back and play are new features to help Latch based workflows.

If you work in post, chances are you like to write your automation on a scene by scene basis. The Write To commands are your key. Snapshot automation is also very powerful.

Speaking of scene based automation - or writing automation within a selection, such as to a region - Preview mode is a super powerful tool to use, which largely surpassed older "Automation suspend" workflows:

Lastly, you may need to lock up more than one HD rig together to mix your film or you may need HD video playing alongside your mix position. Check our these new, related technologies:

I hope these videos are of use to both earlier adopters of ICON and new users. I made these videos to assist freelancers who often have no time or training and are expected to sit in front of a relatively complicated piece of kit and use it proficiently in a very short amount of time. Hopefully they find these videos and it helps take some of the pressure off their shoulders.



PLEASE pass this post on to your peers who you think could benefit from the tips and tricks!

[Drew Mazurek]

Is Brent still around? Still at Avid? Just curious, he seemed to drop off the face of the earth!!

[DigiTechSupt]

Originally Posted by dmazurek

Is Brent still around? Still at Avid? Just curious, he seemed to drop off the face of the earth!!

Yes, he's still with us...just been a busy guy...!

[Drew Mazurek]

cool, thanks.

[Brent_Sydney]

Hi guys - yup still here. Had some probs with my blog engine and been super busy this year so haven't done much to address it. Any requests, dont hesitate to post. I read the DUC most days but havent seen much that I could add too, Gil and the lads in Tech support often get to it before me, on the other side of the planet.

[Brent_Sydney]

Hey all,
Just an update - over the Xmas break Ive managed to fix (and redesign) my site.
2010, a good year to blog!

[teknisk.tvf@hil.no]

Great stuff! Thanks for sharing!
Erik Sutterud
Lillehammer University College

[Brent_Sydney]

Happy new year to all the ICON users out there! I'll be doing more vids this year, visit the blog if you're interested.

[Stig Eliassen]

Originally Posted by Brent_Sydney

Happy new year to all the ICON users out there! I'll be doing more vids this year, visit the blog if you're interested.

Happy new year! Love your ICON videos, and I visit the blog frequently.

[audioluche]

Hi Brent,

I am a new Icon (d-command) user and i saw a couple of your videos on your web site and i find them verry usefull!

I did not have many spare time lately to get to know the D-Command in depth and i was going to watch a couple of your videos today as i have a couple of hours to spend.

I noticed that your web site was down, is there a way to get your videos somewere else?

Thanks and keep up the good work!

Cheers,

Luc