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Indie Musicians And Filmmakers Doing Production From Home For Self-distribution One of the major groups that pushed development of the digital tools we all now take for granted were artists. Designers, filmmakers, video producers, musicians, audio engineers and other artists have always been early adopters of technology, because they are always look for better paintbrushes for their particular canvases. With the explosive growth in computer power, the Internet and digital devices for end users, indie musicians and filmmakers have reaped a great harvest in the last several decades. The fact is, the entry point today for a musician who wants to record and master a CD is just a couple of hundred dollars. This is not a misprint! With a four- or even ten-year-old Macintosh or PC, a suite of free audio applications and a low-cost USB or Firewire audio interface, the singer-songwriter or the 12-piece band can plug in their microphones, guitars, basses and keyboards and record, overdub, process and master tracks to their collective heart's content. Let's take a closer look at each group and see what's shakin'. Filmmaking today There are now high-def camcorders under $300. Some indie filmmakers are using pocket-size HD cameras, recording hours of digital video onto flash memory cards. Larger camcorders record to flash, hard drives and even DVDs. Whether the recording format is "raw" or some flavor of MPEG (Motion Picture Experts Group) format, footage is easily transferred to a computer via USB (mostly) or Firewire (usually higher-end). Once the files are on board the computer, auteurs can use everything from free PC tools to the iMovie program that has come on every new Mac since 1998 to edit their masterpieces. Movies made this way have already won major film festival awards. Really. Delivering the goods can be done in several ways. With the digital tools freely available, or with costlier applications that give greater control and more options, the digital movies can be converted into formats tailored for everything from DVDs to downloads, from YouTube postings to 3G cellphone flicks. Filmmakers can also buy or rent DVD duplicating machines to print labels right on special discs and record the movies, too-at the same time, on the same machine. Cecil B. DeMille never had it so good. (Does anyone remember Cecil?) Indie music changed the world It was not only the music of independent artists that changed radio and TV and the future of rock-'n'-roll, it was they way they distributed it. They did it without record deals or label backing, and many made it world astonishingly well. Indie musicians can choose any price point they want, from "almost zero" to tens of thousands of dollars, to record and master their music for digital distribution of every kind. The new "sweet spot" for home studios, though, is an incredibly low $2,500-5,000. With an audio expert to help the musical talent, the product of this level of digital studio can be sonically equivalent to most anything coming out of the Warner or Elektra studios. A 1GHz computer, a couple of big hard drives, a copy of Pro Tools or Cubase, an audio interface with good pre-amps and people who know what they are doing all adds up to good music, well recorded. Even the mastering step has made its way to the desktop, so the final product can be tweaked for EQ and levels and prepared for whatever venue it needs to use. The 16-bit, 44.1 KHz files are what constitute "CD Audio," and can be burned even on a computer CD recorder, while "downsampled" files like mp3 and RealAudio can be prepared for web downloading. Distribution tips Indie musicians and filmmakers need to cover all the bases and be prepared to cover all the formats, too. Although Internet music is big, people still want to buy the superior sonics available on CD. Using a combo label-printer and disc-burner saves a lot of time and money, and will crank out all the CDs most any indie band could ever sell. In fact, investing in this reproduction technology is among the smartest investments any "self-contained" music operation could make. The cost per unit is low, quality control is high (you're in charge!) and the print and audio quality coming out of today's technology is stunning. Movie files can be prepped with the same array of no- and low-cost software, if there is no budget for Final Cut Pro (although Final Cut Express is under $200). A variety of file formats can be output, so that all the bases are covered here, too, from online movie sites to NetFlix, which carries many independent films. Filmmakers can also avail themselves of DVD reproduction units that will print a state-of-the-art label directly on disc, while recording the proper MPEG-2 digital files that give DVDs the stunning sights and sounds that people love. It's all ready for prime time, all of these various tools and techniques, and the costs keep getting lower all the time. For indie artists-from photographers to filmmakers, voice actors to singers, punk bands to gospel groups-this is a great time to be alive. For not a lot of money, artists can reach a lot of people. Artists and musicians have the talent, while plenty of top tech companies have supplied the tools, and it all adds up to more art for less money. And that's a great deal for everybody!
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