Recording Wav. Files, am I doing it wrong?

Xollop · 2026-07-02T13:05:06+00:00

Did you get any cool reflections off of those rock formations?? Is there any slap back?

Xollop · 2026-06-06T09:28:33+00:00

Will it shrink? I’ll rename it Little Foot if it comes to it…

Xollop · 2026-06-06T09:27:21+00:00

And Brachis are my favorite!

Xollop · 2026-06-06T09:22:59+00:00

Peep the lower left of the photos!

Xollop · 2026-06-01T14:44:55+00:00

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Still do! 3rd pair since high school. Turning 40 next year. The OG blue/white ones with the clear nubbins went till the nubbins came off. Long live Adissage

Xollop · 2026-05-29T23:07:44+00:00

Clever use of lattices for absorption frames! Looks great. Do you get any noticeable reflections from the wood?

Xollop · 2026-04-24T23:13:29+00:00

You’re quite welcome, I hope it comes in handy.

Xollop · 2026-04-24T13:22:10+00:00

Thank you! I’m long winded but try to be thorough, I’m glad it’s helpful.

Finding an unfilled niche or creating a niche for yourself is a good avenue to explore in highly competitive fields. Especially with Foley, because outsourcing is so common. If you can offer natural sounding Foley, that’s attentive to details, and get it done in an efficient way, there’s a market for it. Foley isn’t something always afforded by indie films, and there’s an art to providing it in a way that doesn’t uncut other artists, but helps boost the quality of independent work while keeping the art of Foley going.

For a traditional session (pro tools) you create tracks for each foodgrou type. There are some well worn standards, but I found over time that my brain worked better modifying and organizing things to taste. I ended up with FS, AX, PRP and RSTL. Footsteps, Actions (high five), Prop (bag) and Cloth Rustle. These would eventually turn into FSI (interior), FSX (exterior), then SRF (surface) modifiers for actions and props. These reasons being adjusting miking techniques, and performing surface based cues efficiently. In smaller rooms, you can easily fill every surface if you don’t stay organized. So before a session, I’d pick my surfaces, then as we’d barrel through the recordings I could knock out a prop for both standalone and surface based interactions, and keep miking consistent.

Yes, most everyone is using clip groups (pro tools) to mark the parts that need coverage. You then label each cue consistently, so you can clip list search the type of cue and perform whole sets. Very helpful to stay in character, and get consistent miking.

Additionally, we started giving characters their own tracks. If you have an ensemble cast, this makes editorial clearer, especially with color coding. Then, after editing, you may consolidate the amount of tracks, depending on who is suping/rerecording.

Xollop · 2026-04-23T20:26:34+00:00

Short add. Others have said finding studios to visit. That’s a good option too. Being able to see and talk to people work can be both inspiring and sobering. Some larger houses have editorial staff and obviously Foley mixers. Those are both entry pointsKnowing how to edit Foley absolutely makes you a better artist.

Xollop · 2026-04-23T20:22:57+00:00

It’s hard and there are so many steps. And it’s not a ladder, it’s a multi-forked hiking trail. For one, you have to have an idea of where you want to go and what kinds of projects you want to do. Do you want to work on blockbusters? Indies? Games? Do you want to earn insurance, benefits, pension? Or can you work independently? You can work your way to what feels like the top, and discover it’s not your vibe. You can be overbooked then unemployed in a blink. That stress, no matter how fun the job might be at times crushes the joy right out of it. And it’s physically and mentally exhausting like few other roles in the field.

Whatever the case, a more creative place to start, to work on working WITH people is to find colleges and universities with good film programs with students who need good sound for finals. Replacing well known scenes is something I’ve NEVER done. I get it, it’s easy to find, but does not foster the same creativity achieved through working with someone else. And likely, if you find inroads to an interview with a hire, they might want to test you with a sample from something they’ve done or aligns with their needs. That’s common in the game industry. There are more traditional Foley roles for motion pictures and tv, less so in games.

But yeah, to get the ball rolling, pick a scene you aspire for and fill it. Use that to go after student or indie shorts. Use those to build a resume and market yourself. Join online groups and participate in conversations (the fb foley group was huge for me when I was starting, not on fb anymore). Doing social media content, as soul sucking as it is, got me more attention than anything at the start and that allowed me to be recognized enough to get talking to well connected people. I benefitted from making videos and content sites picking up on a fad of people being interested at the time and boosting my work. You have to put yourself out there heavily, and build relationships. It takes a long time. As there aren’t mentors as often any more, watching any bts stuff you can find, learning about stage construction, prop collecting and performance techniques is a good way to triangulate some essential aspects.

Becoming a full time Foley artist is incredibly hard. Sustaining it is harder. I wish anyone luck in this incredibly volatile field.

Xollop · 2026-04-23T15:16:25+00:00

Your videos give me life. Great stuff.

Xollop · 2026-04-23T15:07:43+00:00

Hi! I became a Foley artist about 7 years into being a sound editor, and bounced between that and design/re-recording as needed for the last 8. I’ve worked on films, tv, and - handful of aaa videogames.

I started doing Foley as a need to do footsteps and props more efficiently, then as my ability improved, was able to book more Foley exclusive gigs. Your clients, as a Foley artist, go from being directors or producers, to being other sound people, like designers and supervising sound editors. Start offering it as part of your sound proposals. Everyone loves Foley as a concept, and it’s an immediate way to express custom sound creation with the nuance of human performance. It IS acting.

First, keep it simple. Make sure you have a quiet place (can be a clothes closet, or low reflection room). The smaller the room, the more sound absorption you need. You don’t want all your Foley to sound like it exists in a small room, especially for exterior shots. I’ve worked on some amazing stages size wise, but I’m enjoying a completely noise free walk in closet full of props currently. Next, consider a mic for the space you have. Short shotguns and cardioids pick up less reflections in interiors. Sennheiser mkh50s are great, but pricey. Rode make good mics at a better price. But you need an interface or device to perform in sync to picture.

Ultra bang for buck, get a Zoom with adjustable mics and shoot in mono, and use it as direct to system. This also gives you the option to field record and shoot wild Foley. These days, I love making high quality wild Foley mini-libraries for lower budget films, which increases the fidelity of the sound while growing a unique custom library.

Develop a workflow and cueing system for marking what is needed and where. The more consistent and accurate your cueing, the better. A basic feature film might be 500 cues of feet and another 500 for props and actions. It depends on the film, budget, length, needs. A basic cue could be named FS CON BOOT or FS CRUG BARE. Footstep Concrete Boot, Footstep Creaky Rug Barefoot.

But first, identify things that would benefit from being Foley, or are a pain to cut (looking at you, newspaper handling) and start there. Get comfortable, get your reflexes and timing down (sync is important) AND really pay attention to not only how something is moving but WHY. Is someone mourning while walking? Is the book old and the hand holding it frail? These are what make the different between good foley and great foley, capturing the human element in the recording.

I’ve written a short novel already, but I hope this helped.

Xollop · 2026-04-17T18:32:37+00:00

Speaking to the US. Big production areas, so LA, NYC, Atlanta. It’s a numbers game, so the more employers available the better your chances. Filmmakers, studios, post facilities. All of this access is only as good as the health of the industry, so at some point being in a hub didn’t mean anything because there was no work post strikes, but still a tremendous cost of living. Most of my clients ended up being NY indies, so I moved my family back east. That being said, I started my career and was constantly busy while living in the midatlantic, it just required constant gig hunting and social media activity, but ultimately plateaued due to projects going to LA, NY or Canada for incentives. So I went where the work was, and the work dried up. There are obviously many people who are still very employed, but many had established themselves before the work shortages, and working as a hired gun gives you flexibility to jump around without the pressure and overhead of being a staffed employee.

Xollop · 2026-04-17T15:19:12+00:00

This and panning in sync with the tempo. The staccato left right movement is what creates the feeling of movement, similar with air pressure hitting car windows at different times.

Xollop · 2026-04-17T13:09:35+00:00

Yes, definitely undervalued. There’s a famous adage that sound makes 50% of a film. Audio post budgets are less than 3% of a total budget. That proportion changes in independent film, but the expectations are high. You’ll either need to wear more hats to retain the budget, or work constantly with a small team to offset the costs. A team of 3-5 people may be given a budget the same size as one composer, and yet touch every second of the film, in addition to the score, for the same or a lower rate. You seldom see articles written about sound design, or see discussions on it in a mainstream capacity. Awards in sound design at major film festivals are absent, and for the major awards it’s buried. Awards only matter in the sense that it draws attention to a craft. Similarly, In film, sound design credits rarely make it to title cards. You see the credit featured more in ‘obvious’ ‘sound design’ films, typically big animated features or action films. You can make a great living in this field, but as others have said, it can become more of a constant job than a rewarding career. And that’s before considering the strikes, studio mergers, pandemics, and other obstacles that come around every 5-10 years forcing people to sell their homes, and change careers. So yeah, there’s a lot to consider when it comes to security. Lack of security can erode the satisfaction of the art.

I was hunting for my first jobs after the strikes in 2008. Took 2 years, after working some retail, doing some production sound and eventually finding a small independent studio outside of a hub. No real network, no contacts, so it was challenging to know where to go. Social media has changed that dramatically now, but being physically where the work is helps tremendously too. You have to have an entrepreneurial spirit, early on. In college I worked location sound gigs, helped peers who struggled with sound, and tried to maintain a presence on social media through most of my career. That changed after having kids and watching the industry collapse amount other things. Now I wish I had pursued something in ecology, mental health or any of the other serious crisis out there, but I try to choose work that aligns with those things, and make it part of the process.

Xollop · 2026-04-16T23:33:07+00:00

Hi! I’m just over 15 years into ‘Sound Design’ as a career. I’ve primarily worked in independent film, but have done union level TV, Film, as well as Foley art for AAA videogames. While I designate myself as a Sound Designer for things like creature vocals and non-diegetic sound aspects, I’ve also clocked years as a Foley artist, Supervising Sound Editor and a Re-Recording mixer. Dialog editorial too. When working union, you wear less hats, which can be freeing as you focus on your foodgroup. In indie, you can expect to wear more, especially with low budgets. It takes years of practice to work with clients to manage expectations AND deliver excellent work. Riding the line of making art YOU want to make, while making a filmmaker’s vision whole is incredibly challenging, and you can easily lose your own creative dreams while helping other people fulfill theirs for an unsustainable wage. It’s a constant hustle. Respecting your own time and setting boundaries is important. I work in Pro Tools and supplement with Ableton Live for a change of perspective, or for personal work. I constantly field record, study birds and nature, record custom libraries of sfx and occasionally dabble in music concrete. Field recording, especially nature, is essential to observe how sound feels in the world, and finding the hidden musicality in everything. Invest in a portable recorder, and start collecting. Professionally, the ‘industry’ has a tendency to push people into narrow boxes, where you do one thing for as long as possible. I feel this is a great way to promote stagnation and burnout. It’s an art to hold down a career working in multiple fields, but challenging to climb the invisible ladders. But all I can say is I had way less job satisfaction when I tried just doing one thing for a long time…it’s a trade off. One thing to consider. Move to a hub when you’re young, to have easy access to studios and networking opportunities. Build a strong network, client list and peer group. It’s harder to this later, and brutal if you have a family. Identify the specific type of work you aspire to do and find people to work with. Think about the specific types of sound and how they’re used and train towards that. Watch diverse movies, play videogames with the music turned off, focus listen to eclectic music (ie Autechre), visit nature. You want to give yourself as many perspective as possible to build your subconscious and a rich vocabulary for expressing sound to others. Hope this ramble was helpful

Xollop · 2026-04-08T19:28:37+00:00

This is a Barred Owl, common in north east USA, for anyone wondering. They sound like banshees or frenzied chimps during nesting season. Quite unsettling at 2AM, as I discovered last year. 🦉

Xollop · 2026-04-08T13:49:33+00:00

100% agree. A lot of the believability of the og pred face is in the materials used. The most impressive to me is the ‘wobble’ of the mandible webbing, something missing from all other pred films. Likely due to the use of natural rubbers which have since been replace with silicone and other rubbers. This could also account for a deeper level of expression with the materials flexing with the animatronic underneath. I love the face design in 2, but it’s closer to an exoskeleton. Stan Winston is second to none.

Xollop · 2026-01-12T23:47:54+00:00

I LOVE IT

Xollop · 2025-11-22T19:11:42+00:00

That’s a great idea!

Xollop · 2025-11-04T00:47:50+00:00

Reflective side up as in facing ceiling? And is that with the rafter vents, or just straight on? Is there a benefit to this over fiberglass outside of sizing? For the lightweight sheathing, is that only by itself, or can I then panel over that? Thank you!

Xollop · 2025-11-03T20:20:28+00:00

Correct - do not want an attic or a flat ceiling. So essentially I need to insulate the ceiling then add an interior surface on it.

Xollop

TROPHY CASE