It's fairly easy to demonstrate the nuts and bolts of mixing in the video world, but the final product is up to you. The finesse and art of mixing are all about balance - finding and maintaining a clear mix with all your elements. Find similar genres on TV or DVD, and use them as a guide. Listen closely, dissect their mixes and identify how they create their balance. Using the techniques we've outlined here, mix, listen and remix your own projects until you have something that resembles your reference material. Once you're comfortable with that, push a little further to find your own mixing voice. It's worth the time and effort to create something that stands out from the everyday.
I love to watch How It's Made on the Discovery Channel (and the Science Channel, for you digital cable/satellite subscribers). If you ever need a reference standard for industrial training videos, this is definitely it. Each segment is tightly edited and contains only a narrator and some background music. The program often shows machines in action, and the music reflects this, leaning toward upbeat, mechanical synth-pop. The music always ducks neatly underneath while the narrator speaks and slides back up smoothly during action scenes. And the mix is near-perfect. It also cracks me up to think industrial videos could be popular on network television. Check your local listings.
Contributing Editor Hal Robertson is a digital media producer and technology consultant.
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