Category Archives: Film Making

Premiere vs. Final Cut Pro Digital Editing Workshops

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It’s a crucial time for lot of filmmakers when it comes to editing software. Do you stay with Final Cut Pro 7? Or do you embrace FCP X or Adobe Premiere Pro? For those having a hard time deciding, there’s only one reason for any indecision. Not enough data to MAKE a decision!

So for those having a hard time deciding, we’ve got some good news. The Association is going to lend it’s Boot Camp skills to the topic of digital film editing. Find out the pro’s and con’s in two back to back 4-hour workshops. None other than Larry Jordan, an expert on both softwares, is coming to shed light on the differences and pros and cons of both FCPX and Premiere Pro.

Here’s some information about Larry from his website:

Larry Jordan is an internationally-renowned consultant and Apple-Certified trainer in digital media with over 35 years experience as a television producer, director and editor with national broadcast and corporate credits. His informative and entertaining teaching style provides video and film editors around the world with unique techniques, methods and resources to increase productivity and enhance their skills.

Based in Los Angeles, he’s a member of both the Directors Guild of America and the Producers Guild of America. In addition to his in-person training, Jordan writes and edits the FREE, ‘Larry Jordan’s Final Cut Monthly Newsletter’ - larryjordan.biz/newsletter, now in it’s seventh year of publishing, which provides essential news and tutorials on Final Cut Studio. He is the author of hundreds of hours of online training and five books on Final Cut Studio, published by Peachpit Press and Focal Press. He is the winner of multiple awards for his broadcast work, as well as his online training.

Jordan is also executive producer and host of the weekly interactive internet radio show and podcast, Digital Production BuZZ, providing everything you need to know about digital media, production, post-production and distribution now and in your digital future (http://www.digitalproductionbuZZ.com).

As far as dates go, this digital editing workshop will be occuring in July on a Saturday. WHICH Saturday EXACTLY is still being nailed down. Depending on feedback, we might set up future editing boot camps. But for now, this is a one-time only deal. The hands-on workshops will answer these DSLR workflow questions:

1)    How do I import DSLR footage?
2)    How do I save my project?
3)    Where are the project files stored?
4)    How is transcoding handled?
5)    What are the keyboard shortcuts for basic editing?
6)    What are the image stabilization controls all about?
7)    What is the magnetic timeline and how does it work?
8)    Do I need to import the DCIM folder?
9)    Is there a quality drop in Premiere?
10) How do I fade in and fade out, insert a title, pull a chroma key and adjust the black levels, tint, luminance and focus?
11) What export settings should I use?

One lucky attendee will win a raffle prize of $200 towards the purchase of either software!

We are very interested in feedback and questions from filmmakers. So please comment below, ask your questions and help us help you. Your input really is invaluable. Besides, it’s a lot easier than guessing what your questions are!

The class size will be limited to 20 students. We’ll either hold the workshop at EVS Studios in Glendale/Burbank, CA or at our headquarters (a few miles away) near Warner Bros Studios.

The three and a half hour Premiere Pro Workshop is $149.
The three and a half hour Final Cut X Workshop is $149.(Refreshments and lunch will be served.)

To secure a seat, register online using the links above, or call 818-841-9660 and ask to sign up for the Digital Editing Boot Camps.

It is possible we may have to reschedule the workshops due to situations beyond our control. No refunds will be granted assuming the class is rescheduled. Of course, we will work to accommodate everyone’s schedule, in the event of an unforeseen reschedule.

Visibility Secrets Revealed: Why the Canon Boot Camp is Easy to Find Online

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The Association’s Canon Boot Camp is very visible when searching on line using relevant keywords. I’ve been told on more than one occasion that our classes are very easy to find online, or even that we were the only class that showed up during a search.

Possibly there are some who wonder how we managed to show up online so well, and since I’m am the Chief Visibility Officer for The Association, I decided to share our story. That and because someone else already let the story out of the bag…but more on that later.

When I arrived at The Association a few years ago, we had a website. That was about it. Nothing wrong with having a website, it’s necessary. But it’s kind of like having a business card; you’re expected to have one, but what happens to business cards after you hand them out? Usually they make their way into a drawer, or maybe an envelope. After a few months, we forget why we had the card, and it lingers into obscurity, filling up small holes or perhaps used to level a potted plant to keep it from rocking slightly on an uneven surface during an earthquake. Those from California will know what I refer to…

The short version of the story is we used Content Marketing. I like to call it Topic Optimized Marketing. But the secret isn’t our content, it’s the tool we used to optimize our visibility online. That tool is called Compendium.

What is Compendium? A simplistic answer would be “a blogging platform.”

“Oh, you mean like WordPress?” No. Not like WordPress. More like 25-100 WordPress blogs. Well, in terms of showing up online it’s similar to having multiple blogs. But the effort to manage the whole system is less than one WordPress blog. Simplified content management with maximized visibility.

That’s our big secret. It’s why our Canon camera classes show up so well online. We devoted consistent effort to our content marketing AND put that content on the best (in our humble opinion) content marketing platform available. Our blog has already paid for itself many times over, and it was well worth the effort and cost required to set it up.

We are a Compendium agency partner because we successfully use and have experienced great results with Compendium. Any company can use Compendium to get visible online as well. Just click the link below and fill out the form to get more information.

Business Blogging Agency Partner for Compendium

How to Avoid a Million Dollar recall and Save your Job

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Like any part going into a vehicle, the voice files have to be defect free. Imagine if the voice file in your navigation system told you to “EXIT FREEWAY ON THE LEFT”, but there was no exit. And let’s say it is raining, and a storm has knocked out the lights on the freeway, and you turn your car not onto an exit ramp but just onto the median into oncoming traffic.

Defect-free voice files for navigation systems means job security

Oops. Lawsuit.

Oops. Recall.

Oops. You’re out of a job.

Even though the cause of the above error had nothing to do with you, you lost your job because you were supposed to deliver a perfect voice file set. The error was made by some overworked sound person who mislabeled an audio file. So when the computer program went to get the “exit freeway on the right” voice file, the file that it found was “exit freeway on the left”.

And the Evaluation Engineer who was supposed to check all these files just happened to get a text message right when he was checking the file set and he never noticed “exit freeway on the left” file was mislabeled.

And this is how disasters happen. Disasters for the driver, for the car company, for your company, and for your career.

We take all the worry off your shoulders. Our Six Sigma quality, voice file production line has seven tiers of Quality Assurance to catch mistakes before they ever get to you.

Before the recordings are ever done, our voice coaches go through the script line by line checking for grammar, propriety, localization and language errors.
During recording our Quality Assurance Auditor makes sure every line is recorded as scripted.
During editing an editor’s assistant makes sure the final takes are selected and that the entire file is selected to be edited.
After recording and before the files are sent to you, three more people listen to each audio file and crosscheck it against the script for accuracy and correct filename.

This is how we maintain our six sigma levels of quality. Basically we just looked at all the places an error could occur and put in a production checklist step to prevent it.

We worry about all this so you don’t have to worry about your job. We’re in it for the long haul. We’ve got your back.

Your career’s in good hands….with The Association.

(Proud supplier of voice files to Alpine, Honda, JCI, IBM, Cadillac, Raytheon and Hitachi)

What the Heck is the Alzo Transformer Rig and Why Would I Want It?

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You’ve got the camera, now what accessories do you need? Director of Photography, Tom Myrdahl, tells us about his favorite DSLR rig, the Alzo Transformer Rig. He’s been a DP who has shot with about every camera out there, and has worked with the Canon DSLR 5D Mark II for 3 years. Tom is also one of the expert instructors for our Canon camera classes.

When was the first time you used the Alzo Transformer Rig?

Tom Myrdahl: The first time I used the rig, which I like to call a “cage”, was as a demo at the Prague Canon Boot Camp. It was wonderful. The students got crazy about it. The last I heard, they were going to order some.

What do you like about the rig?

It’s very sturdy, lightweight, and affordable. There are so many heavy cages that are overkill on weight, and certainly overkill on expense. With the Alzo Transformer, I can mount my Canon DSLR 5D, put a Marshall 7” monitor on top, and it holds it very sturdy so I can hand hold it. It has a perfect balance. It helps eliminate jiggle when I do hand held shots; I’m more open to shooting hand-held now because I can do it a lot longer and a lot sturdier.

What was the last shoot where you used the rig?

Last week, I shot a PR video of a jazz band at a school sponsored by the Milken Foundation. I was below the stage but needed an establishing shot, so I used the Alzo monopod and pushed my camera up about 8 feet. It was like having a ladder shot from the floor. It was wonderful! I also shortened it to about 3 feet so I could pan and get in their faces. It was wonderful. It’s like having a hand-held jib. I get really happy when I see what I can do with the really simple pieces of technology.

Any last words?

Anybody who is going to buy a cage for documentaries or music videos, this is the thing to own.

For more information on Alzo and the Transformer Rig, click here.

25 Steps for Error Free Voice Files

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Six Sigma Voice Recording Services Year after Year

We take many additional steps beyond the standard sound studio in recording our voice files. It’s part of our Six Sigma standard of excellence here at The Association.

How many? Well, when I listed them out I saw that we take 25 additional steps to make sure voice files remain error free over the years as you build your “voice tree.” Other digital media producers and recording studios might just record what you send them using any available resources without a thought about the sustainability of the project in the years to come.

To create our six sigma approach, we listed all the ways a voice tree can have errors introduced into it and designed our production line to eliminate all of them. Here are the 25 major measures we put in place.

25 Steps for Error-Free Voice Files

Choose voice talent who are professional and will be in the business for 12 to 20 years out.
Choose voice talent who are stable personally, ethically and spiritually.
Choose voice talent who use their voices and can control their voices in precision voice recording to duplicate how they sounded 7 years ago, for example.
Exec Producer liasons with client to get a 6-week heads up on future recording delivery dates.
Exec Producer keeps in touch with voice talent so he knows availability.
Exec Producer schedules studio, QC auditor, Session Producer, Engineer, and Foreign Voice Coaches for pre-record QC review of script.
Pre-Record QC of Script - Review new scripts to make sure there are no redundant voice files, or files which introduce another way of saying something, which means the computer will now have a choice.
Consistent and congruent use of terms used before.
Make sure new partial phrases plug in to lead-in phrases sensibly.
Be sure that insertions of computer input in variables is doable. (Can’t have it in the middle of a single file, but the files must be broken into a lead-in and a concluding voice files with the computer input being added to the middle pause point.)
Localisation issues – Often translations done stateside do not reflect how the native French Canadian populace in Canada, for example, actually say things today. We review these files to ensure a proper match with the audience who will actually hear the recordings.
RECORDING - We separate functions and give each person only one task each, rather than require multitasking:The Executive Producer/Director runs the record session and directs the verbal performance and quality checks the delivery, energy, beingness, interest level, volume, diction, warmth and professionalism of the performance.The QC supervisor reads along with the script and ensures exactly every word on the script is read as scripted, i.e. no substitutions of “the” for “that” or words eliminated.
The Sound Engineer plays the proper reference sound files of benchmark files drawn from how they recorded the sound in the past for the voice talent. This way the new files match and will seamlessly integrate with the existing files. He monitors the record levels, the settings of the recording application so that the files may be and are identically recorded as they have been in the past.

The Session Producer notes the timecode location of every audio file recorded so that we can quickly find files needing repair or re-recording during the quality control checks along the way.

The Foreign Voice Coach directs recordings in foreign languages and makes sure all is in correctly spoken for the local populace.
EDITING – The Session Producer and editor select the “Keeper” takes.
The Sound Editor goes through the keeper takes and removes any mouth noise, breaths, excessive pauses etc., installs front and back sound ramps and sends the files to the Director and/or the Foreign Language Voice coach with a list of questionable errors found.
The Foreign Language voice coach or Director listens to the files while reviewing the session notes and prepares a QC report of which files are flawed and need to be recorded.
A pick up session is recorded to fix the flawed files.
The new replacement files are pulled down and sent to the sound editor.
The Sound Editor completes the editing of the new files and provides the new files to the Session Producer.
The Session Producer drops the new files into the master fileset and removes the replaced files.
The updated soundset is reviewed by the Executive Producer, the QC Auditor and the Foreign Voice coach for a final approval. Any errant files are noted and re-recorded.
Final review of fileset makes sure that every file scripted was recorded. Three QC people listen to every file while reviewing the corresonding script.
Files are delivered to the client.
Notes of flaws creeping into the process are noted and sent to the QC Auditor.
QC auditor meet with Exec Producer and Session Producer to implement changes to production checklist so error will not re-occur.
Sound files in the final fileset are double backed up on separate hard drives for security and easy reference in the future.

Until recently, it may have worked for a company to just wing it in how they record voice files. But now with the NHTSA proposed guidelines for the driver to have a distraction-free environment, it becomes more important to have voice files be as defect free as the rest of the parts that go in to a vehicle. Contact us today to find out how to integreate our Six Sigma quality digital audio productions into your processes.

Seamless Voice Recordings for Automotive Telematics Applications

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What do JCI, Alpine, deCarta, Honda, Raytheon, Clarion and Hitachi have in common? The Associations’ voice recording services!

The Association is already famous in certain circles because of our prowess in digital filmmaking (and our Canon camera classes). But we are also experts at voice recording, having made our mark in the automotive industry, especially in automotive telematics voice files, years ago. If you’ve ever heard a really pleasant GPS navigation voice (not computer generated – the real thing), it’s probably our voice files you’re listening to. We record voice files that match perfectly with voice files we recorded years ago. This makes the voice prompts smooth and seamless and pleasant to listen to, rather than a jerky, mismatched voice file.

Bad Puzzle Voice Files

Every year GPS Navigation systems have to be updated with the latest maps. So new voice files have to recorded, requiring the same voice talents to record the new files. Even though it’s the same voice talent recording the lines, the digital audio production company often doesn’t make sure the current performance matches perfectly with earlier voice files (so you can’t tell the files were recorded at different times).

The Association ensures new voice files match in pacing, attitude, pitch, inflection, modulation, interest, enthusiasm, and certainty. Most importantly the voice has to sound like the person reading the line really cares about the driver or the listener. It’s that human quality that computers just can’t match.

BOTTOM LINE: We make computers speak like humans.:

The Association's Seamless Voice File Recordings

OUR DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS NO ONE ELSE DOES:

The extra steps we take are what made us the world leader in sound files for telematics applications.

Not only do we hire voice talent that are exclusively yours for years and years, we make sure all the scripts are ready and the language localized so none of your budget is Basic Steps to Error Free Voice File Recording wasted by confusions during the recording.

Our attention to Quality Control begins before you ever record.

Step One

The steps towards defect-free recorded voice files A full script review with the voice coach. We do a syntax check and localize the files for Spanish, French Canadian and just about any other language you can name. Being in the heart of Hollywood, there is an abundance of top quality voice coaches and voice talent in a wide variety of languages.

We make sure that translated files sound right.

We correct any script errors or bad translations before we get into the recording studio.

Step Two

While in the recording studio we bring files already recorded by that voice talent which we play for them before they record so they can match themselves.

Step Three

During recording we have a Quality Control person that makes sure every syllable is recorded as scripted. That means no costly errors that have to be fixed later after bringing you much embarrassment, project delays and overruns. In twelve years of recording voice files, we have never missed a deadline. We have never gone over budget and never had to re-record incorrect files.

That’s because we have four levels of Quality Control, before, during recording, during editing and after editing before you get the final fileset. So after the files are recorded, they are “cleaned” (the breaths and “mouth anomalies,” i.e. clicks and saliva noises are removed), edited and saved in the format you specify. We then listen to every file three times to make sure that everything is in order as scripted and labeled with the correct filename.

This avoids legal issues if a voice file triggered an incorrect driving maneuver for example, causing accident or injury or worse.

The Association has recorded tens of thousands of voice files for navigation and telematics applications since the beginning of car navigation systems. We’ve recorded for JCI, Alpine, deCarta, Honda, Raytheon, Clarion and Hitachi. We hope you’ll take this opportunity to get the service and quality that will make your career long and carefree. At least we’ll eliminate the needless hassles of voice recording. Call us today. We help computers understand human speech.

How to Leverage a Facebook Presence for your Business

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How to Leveage a Facebook Presence for your Business

It’s not a secret that Facebook is a huge part of the Internet. Or that it’s easy to waste a boatload of time browsing through everything shiny, funny or bizarre people post in Facebook. So how does Facebook affect you, the filmmaker, actor, business owner, etc. when it comes to establishing an effective marketing plan? How do you use it to help you get found online?

Leveraging something like Facebook isn’t as hard as it might seem. You don’t actually have to be an expert in anything but your own company. You do, however, have to know WHERE to put your content INSIDE Facebook.

Actually, I’ve found that the hardest part of showing up online to relevant audiences is creating the content. But that’s a whole other story. Back to Facebook. You probably already know all about your company already, right? You’re all set. Here’s your best option:

Create a Facebook Page that talk about your business. Fill it out completely. Then talk about stuff on the Page that your audience would be interested in, using the words they would use to search for the stuff you talk about. Keep talking about it, at least once a week. Include something visual, like a photo or video. That’s about as simple as I can make it.

Why a Facebook Page (Likes) as opposed to a personal profile (friends)? One really good reason. The personal profiles aren’t public, so Google can’t index them. So they don’t show up in search results (beyond your name and anything you’ve made public). Pages, on the other hand, are completely open to Google by default because Facebook Pages were built that way. To show up. Yeah, Pages come under the category of “Marketing.”

Categorize your personal profile into the same area you’d put your email. Classified, high security, approved-access only. Does Google index your email? Nope. Same thing for your personal Facebook Profile.

So if you want to leverage Facebook for visibility, create a Page and fill it out completely, Let Google do it’s magic by indexing it. Meanwhile, develop your content strategy (because Google can’t write content for you…).

You’ll need some other tools. An email newsletter to gather contacts in a central place and stay in touch with customers/interested prospects. A blog to help feature your content and provide a hub for your search strategy. A team of people to write content (time consuming – you’ll need help). Video.

But start with Facebook and you’ll soon be found. Well, as long as you keep creating content. Like I said, that’s probably going to be your biggest barrier. For help creating content for your enterprise social media strategy, contact me and I’ll introduce you to the tools I use. If I haven’t written about it by the time you read this blog post, anyway!

Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 vs. Apple Final Cut Pro X Workshop Preview

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The Association is extending it’s Canon camera classes by presenting an extensive, day long workshop, teaching filmmakers how to choose and use the next generation of editing programs with their DSLR camera. The day will be split up into two separate workshops, covering two separate editing programs: Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 and Apple Final Cut Pro X. At this point the workshop will be in July 2012 in Burbank, CA. Stay tuned for the exact date or sign up for our newsletter RSS feed here on this blog.

Each class will go over a wide range of topics, participate in hands on-demonstrations, and in-depth explanations. The goal is to host a fun, informative, and comprehensive tour of each editing system and how it will benefit you as an editor. These workshops are designed from the ground up to be accessible to beginners as well as thorough training for professionals.

As we gear up for the editing workshop, we wanted to show you the basic breakdowns of each editing system, how they fair on their own, and how they hold up against each other. Each of the three tables display the purpose of the tests, details about the respective programs, and a color code to help give you a visual representation of the information.

Color Code: Green: Easy Yellow: Moderate Red: Hard

Difficulty Chart FCPX vs Premiere CS6

Pros and Cons FCPX vs CS6

If you’re having a tough time deciding on what program to adopt, come and participate in both our workshops. There you’ll get a good understanding of the programs, helping you to make an informed decision.

Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 vs. Apple Final Cut Pro X

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Adobe Premiere Pro CS6:

Just recently updated this year, the new Premiere Pro CS6 has benefited from an improved user interface, hardware acceleration boots, and new features. There are a lot of things to like about this upgrade. It’s less cluttered, faster, and completely compatible with After Effects and Photoshop CS6. Shortcuts and controls have been overhauled to include FCP7 and Avid setups, and nice little tweaks to speed up your workflow.

There are some great additions to the software such as the new Warp Stabilize feature (which works great) and the ability to work natively in RAW formats from the Arri Alexa, Red Epic, and more.

However, the ease of use and performance has been and is still an issue with Premiere Pro, though much improved. Rendering and exporting is considerably slower than other editing systems despite the improvements made. It also tends to crash occasionally which can be quite annoying. The auto-save feature is great for this reason, but intrusive pop-ups can cause headaches when you’re in another window and every 10 minutes it launches Premiere Pro to the front just to say it was auto saved. There’s no way to turn it off either, so you just have to deal with it.

Overall, despite the occasional headaches and performance issues, this version of Premiere Pro is much improved with some excellent new features, customization and tools. Therefore, I highly recommend this program.

Need more information? Come to the Adobe Premiere Pro and FCPX Workshops with expert Larry Jordan on July 28th.

Apple Final Cut Pro X:

Last year, Apple released Final Cut Pro X, the new successor to its world renowned video editing platform. While the initial impressions were positive, once released, the editing world flipped out and denounced the new version as nothing more than an ‘i-Movie Pro.’

Good news, though! Apple addressed many of the issues editors were having, such as the lack of Multi-Cam editing and FCP7 file support. Since then, people have been slowly coming to terms with the drastic changes and even embracing them.

Final Cut Pro X is faster and more powerful, easier to use, taking the traditional approach to editing and turning it upside down. The user interface is clean and modern. Tools and important features are easy to access and the file management system is smart and intuitive. One of the biggest features is the Magnetic Timeline and the ability to move tracks anywhere and the rest of the sequence will adjust to wherever you want without having to move other footage around first. Here’s a clip from YouTube of the Final Cut Pro X Sneak Peek on April 11, 2011 that includes a preview of the Magnetic Timeline at 9:15.

Also the auto analysis features for audio, stabilization and color are top notch. Combined with its ability to edit in native formats and background editing, FCPX is a very capable editing platform.

There are still issues to resolve however. Despite having a wide range of features and effects, the lack of third-party plug-ins for FCPX is disturbing. Also the complete lack of OMF support is outrageous for those of us that work with Audio engineers and they want to get their work to us in the highest quality. While these may not bother the average editor or filmmaker, to the pros this is almost a death sentence.

At the end of the day, Final Cut Pro X is an extremely polished, well thought out program that deserves our attention. It’s excellent performance, compatibility, and features, make this a serious option for filmmakers. So I also highly recommend this program.

Need more information? Come to the Adobe Premiere Pro and FCPX Workshops with expert Larry Jordan on July 28th.

What’s your experience with these two tools? Let us know in the comment box below, or share with us on Facebook.

Error-Free Voice Recording Services for Telematics Applications

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Although we are famous for our Canon Boot Camp, there’s a “secret” aspect to The Association few know about. A little niche and special talent where we really excel. We are the world leader in error-free voice over recording files for telematics applications. For example, when you hear a voice in the Honda or Acura vehicles giving you navigation information, those voices belong to our carefully selected talent. Clarion Logo

When Clarion and Microsoft were building their AutoPC, they came to us.

When IBM wanted to build a “supervoice” they came to us. (10,000 voice files)

When Cadillac wanted voices for their CTS, they came to us.

When deCarta wanted to have voices for their SDK application, they came to us.

We’ve recorded tens of thousands of voice files for Alpine in multiple languages for twelve years running.

And we teach computers to be better listeners.

When Honda wanted 40 people (from everyday life) recording 500 lines to train their computers to be better at voice recognition, they came to us for their voice recording services.

Basically, we’re very, very good at producing human voice files at Six Sigma level of quality (zero defects), This means our clients have no recalls, no embarrassing PR situations and no lawsuits for damages because an incorrect voice file told a driver to “exit freeway on the left” when there was no left exit. Or the sound file couldn’t be understood, or was confusing or a hundred other things that led to driver distraction which took the driver’s eyes off the road and hand off the wheel, violating NHTSA’s guidelines (and worse threatening the safety of the driver).

The “frontier days” of having the receptionist record voice files for navigation systems is over. It’s the golden age of voice files and we want to offer our services to companies awakening to this event. In the long run we are their least expensive choice because we take 25 more steps in the production process than the standard voice recording studio to insure all voice files are as error free as any other part in the car.