Once you have the dialog and voice over tracks in top shape, the next step in sweetening is to look at your program in terms of how secondary sounds can help you tell your story. Let's say our family history video has a video section where dad is teaching Junior to drive. We have silent footage transferred to videotape from old 8mm film. Why not use the sound effect of a car starting over the title slide as an audio introduction into this section? Then as dad and son drive away at a responsible and stately pace, you could add a revving engine and screeching brakes for a humorous effect.

There are literally hundreds of sound effects libraries available online or via disc. Sometimes, just browsing through the index of available sounds can spark some new creative ideas on how you can add some new interest to your program. The point is that sound is a powerful communications tool that reaches far beyond the basic processes of capturing and reproducing dialog.

The timeline is complete and our program is ready to master! In this digital era, the whole concept of making a master videotape is actually a little out of date. Since modern editing systems simply put out a stream of digital data, making a program master is really just making a copy of your digital data in a form that someone can watch. The tape can be digitally cloned with each copy identical to another. Obviously, this makes archiving our work more flexible than ever before.

The final step in my typical production process is to do a computer backup of the data files I used in creating my program. That includes the batch capture list created by the editing software and any graphics, pictures, sounds or other media that I've created for the show.

I tend to keep the video clips on my hard drive from my last few programs just in case I need to make changes, but sooner or later, they get deleted. If I need to recreate the program later, all I have to do is reload my master files and re-batch capture the clip from the original tapes. Now do you see why tape labeling, organization and a good file naming convention are important?

The video is finished. We planned carefully, logged, captured, edited, trimmed and built a dynamic and interesting timeline. We took great pains to make sure our video and our soundtrack communicated clearly. We also added some visual and sonic sparkle to our finished product. And, at the end of production, we mastered our show and took care of our system housekeeping chores in order to be ready for our next project. After all of this hard work what are you likely left with?

The simple answer is a video that will delight your family and friends, but you're also left with what you've learned. And that's probably the most valuable asset in the entire production process.

Editing software programs will come and go. So will the cameras, lights, microphones and even many of the people you worked with on your productions. The one thing that will never leave you is your knowledge and understanding of the process of making a good video. The ability to tell a story in a way that can engage, inspire or delight an audience is a very valuable skill that will last you a lifetime. Show promise in this field and don't be surprised if you find yourself sought out by other people who will want you to help them harness the amazing power of video.