Avant Productions

Category: Latest News

Voice Overs Done Right

At AVANT we pride ourselves on the quality of our work and the care and attention we give to every project. No where is this more evident than in our meticulous handling of voice over sessions.

Recently we recorded voice-overs as part of an ongoing project for a children’s educational DVD series. The producers wanted a variety of voices to be represented, male and female, old and young. How young you ask? Joining our regular voice-over talent pool was 9-year-old Olivia, performing her first-ever professional voice-over session.

Recording such a young actor is about the same as recording an adult. Careful microphone placement produces a naturalist sound and our fully isolated “room-within-a-room” voice over booth does the rest. That and some patient direction from the control room nearby.

Our facility was originally built in the mid 1970’s as a production facility for live television programs and we at AVANT have benefited from the amazing room design and construction techniques that were used back then. Our sound room literally “floats” inside the surrounding building, isolated from the surrounding outer walls, greatly reduced sounds that would be transmitted from outside.

Add to this the latest in digital recording technology and computer-based digital audio workstations and you’ll see why we take voice-over recording to the next level. At AVANT we’ll make you sound fantastic, whether you’re 9 or 99.

August 22, 2011
Green Screen Magic: Matching Reality to 3D

An important component of creating a convincing green-screen composite is careful selection and adjustment of the virtual background placed behind the talent. At AVANT we have perfected the art of matching 3D rendered imagery with live-action footage.

For a recent series of training videos for Cloud-Townsend Resources our creative team started with a 3D rendered virtual set and expertly blended it to match footage shot in our green-screen studio featuring Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend.

Because 3D renders are pure RGB images our first step was to adjust the black, white, and mid-tone values of the background to mimic the values of our HD video footage. Next we reduced the amount of color information in the background slightly and adjusted the hues to match the lighting setup.

The final steps for enhanced realism were to add grain and a vignette around the edges of the virtual set background to help recreate how a real room would have been photographed had it existed.

In the end all this attention to detail resulted in a seamless green-screen production that allows the Cloud Townsend audience to concentrate on the message and not the technology used to create it.

August 2, 2011
Television History to DVD

Remember when there was no reality TV? Remember when television consisted of timeless stand up and sketches? Sid Caesar was a genius who took television to the next level in the late 1960’s with his show “Caesar’s Hour”. Well, over 50 years later, Sid is now splashed on AVANT’s monitors as we help prepare the PBS show that reunited the Caesar writing team to soon be released on DVD.

Caesar’s Hour was a live, hour-long American sketch comedy television program that aired on NBC from 1954 until 1957. The program starred, among others, Sid Caesar, Nanette Fabray, Carl Reiner, Howard Morris, Janet Blair and Milt Kamen. PBS brought this incredible team back together in 1996 for a special event at the Writers Guild Theater in Los Angeles, CA. The evening’s events eventually broadcasted on PBS under the title “Caesar’s Writers”. Now, AVANT has the opportunity to be a part of the team to bring this historic production back to life by creating the DVD to master for duplication and worldwide sales. WOW!

So, at AVANT, we’re all about today’s productions along with the helping memorialize the productions from long ago that helped get our industry to where we are today….reality TV!

July 8, 2011
Website Development to Harness Users

The Internet can be overwhelming… Facebook, Amazon, Twitter, Tumblr, etc. Sometimes it can feel like a full-time job just managing all your different accounts. Yet, what if a website could be the driving force to help heal your personal life? No, we’re not talking about the latest dating craze. We’re talking about Cloud-Townsend Resources – the latest project to come through to our Orange County production facility; building an entirely new web presence and media-delivery platform for the personal growth and development gurus.

At AVANT we don’t believe in websites, we believe in Movements… especially when dealing with Cloud Townsend’s target audience who are seeking resources to help heal from a hurtful past and ensure a healthier future. A Movement to help change lives. So, this just can’t be a simple, 5-page website for the two NY Times bestselling authors who have sold nearly 5 million books. This has to be an entirely new platform with data-driven strategies, a complete new branding plan with over 4oo products and a new infrastructure for digital downloads, along with intuitive navigation that creates a seamless visitor experience to ensure success.

Definitely not an easy task, but the AVANT team is truly excited about the process. After all, we value our work and the results we achieve for each and every client. For the web, we understand the need to connect immediately with people because web visitors start to build a relationship with a website from the very first click. Trust. Loyalty. Friendship. Security. What is the last website you visited telling you? What is the AVANT website telling you? Give us a call and let’s chat!

June 20, 2011
From Green Screen to Video Editing

Every week it seems like a new production is coming to AVANT’s Orange County video production facilities to utilize our green screen studio. From indie bands, to non-profits, to babies… yes, you read that right, babies! Recently, we shot the young cast of a new DVD series to help babies learn how to read. With ten kids under the ages of 2 scattered throughout our offices we had our hands full. Placed on the green screen floor, shot with our high-definition cameras, then transfer the footage to our Final Cut Pro edit system and immediately start piecing the scenes together.

Video editing is one thing, video editing green screen footage of excited kids is definitely another! We had our hands full once again, but it’s been a fun and rewarding process placing these adorable children in far-away places.

Take a look at Before and After…

June 13, 2011
Orange County Video…as in “The OC”
Yes, AVANT is located in Orange County, CA… or shall we say “The OC.” Yes, AVANT is located in the heart of Costa Mesa with a spacious green screen studio, multiple video editing bays, and high-definition cameras. Yet, what does it take to create Orange County video for clients that need a compelling project that is going to shine? Well, let’s break things down…
- At AVANT we Create.
- At AVANT we Connect.
- At AVANT we Define.
What does that mean for our clients who need a corporate video, non-profit fund raising video or website that can be easly found on Google or YouTube or widely shared on Facebook? Well, let’s break things down even further…

First, we love to Create. We take pride in our creativity. It’s always a thrill to take things to the next level and push ourselves to make sure when someone watches a video we produce they know that it was done by professionals who “know their stuff.”

Next, we Connect. If your video production or new web presence does not connect to your audience then, really, what’s the point? It’s all about building a bridge that connects your product or company to your client and market. It’s about creating a relationship through the screen, on the web, or on your smart phone in order to generate the results you are looking for. This definitely doesn’t just happen overnight. It takes strategy. It takes us connecting with your vision to help in connecting your audience.

Last, we shine with our ability to Define. Understanding your project, your vision, your needs in order to translate them into results that deliver your message and Connect with your audience. See, how things just came back full circle? Pretty clever, huh?
May 16, 2011
The Creative Process of Video Editing

Everyone with a video project they want to bring to life wants to gain in-depth insight into the creative process of post-production – creating polished transitions, fix screen direction errors, edit multi-camera high-definition projects, create fantastic effects and graphics, use filters creatively and composite like a pro.

What makes for great video production is often the mostly invisible flow of time and mood. So, the question becomes, what do you want your audience to take away after seeing your non-profit fund raising video, web video or latest corporate training video. Do you want them to be motivated to action? Do you want them to be motivated to click “buy now”? Do you want them to be motivated to open their wallets to donate? Videos can help inspire a multitude of things, yet without good video editing all that we just mentioned is irrelevant.

The concept of video editing is how humans process the moving image…well rather, how you manipulate humans to process those moving images. Because there are many factors that come into play – cutting a clip on action, on emotion, on a musical beat, adding color to the image, taking away color, adding sounds effects, adding an original score of song. Video editing has countless elements and factors to consider to really bring a project to life.

At AVANT, we take this task very seriously. We take every single one of our client’s projects seriously. We’re in the heart of Orange County with our four editing bays in Avid Media Composer or Final Cut Pro, along with our audio mastering suite and on-location sound booth, we can take your project from script to DVD with no problem. Or concept to web download. Or pictures to website. You get the picture!

May 4, 2011
Video Production with a Purpose

We love our clients! From national broadcasts to corporate production and non-profit promos, we have a passion to bring our clients projects and ideas to life. Yet, it’s always great when a project comes to our Orange County video studio that helps us reflect on our own lives. That’s what we get with the monthly green screen shoots we do with Cloud Townsend Resources.

With their award-winning books about life, love and boundaries, we are now able to transform the latest Cloud Townsend content into a video series that streams on their website and social media pages. Yet, Dr. Cloud and Dr. Townsend are pros with co-writing over 20 books, totaling 5 million in sales. They know that their ability to reach an audience is crucial, so we had to transform our green screen studio into an opportunity for these clinical psychologists to be able to teach what they know so well, while also being able to personally connect with the viewer.

Our task to combine such intimate topics like grief, forgiveness, depression with the technology of our green screen production and clarity of high-definition video to stream on the web is crucial. We know this to be a key component to build a virtual relationship with an audience that needs to feel a connection for trust with such heavy topics. We love these types of shoots! It’s like our own therapy session in the studio, editing room and streaming on the web.

April 25, 2011
Transforming Live Events

We love it when we can get out of our video studio in Orange County and load up our high-definition cameras and equipment for on-location video production. Yet, live events can be tricky. We have to stay focused on the task of transforming an empty room into something memorable. Whenever a client comes to us to bring a live event to life, we know that it needs to be a total experience. From setting the right mood with stage and lighting, to correct audio equipment and speaker positioning and making sure the visuals projected on the screens from our cameras can be seen by every attendee.

Well, practice makes perfect and this week’s event for CWS Capital Partners is a production they have been counting on us to deliver excellence for, for the past 10 years. While this live event of their annual investor’s meeting may only last for a few short hours, we make sure to capture every moment in high-definition to add another dynamic to the evening. Not only does this allow for us to project the image of each speaker onto two 20-foot screens for the entire room to easily see, the “recorded event” can be shared and relived for years to come no matter how technology advances.

At AVANT, we are always thinking ahead for our clients – how can your project be “future proofed”? How can your video expand and connect even further than you ever dreamed? Give us a call. We’d love to be a part of the team that brings your ideas to life!

April 6, 2011
Images Come to Life

At AVANT, we love going beyond our green screen studio to shoot video productions on-location. Our recent high-definition video production for Ambassador Advertising, a five-minute promotional video set to music, was just such an opportunity.

The concept for this latest video centers on a young couple expecting their first child. While looking through a family photo album, they reminisce about the past and anticipate the future. We were able to take this project to the next level by developing the concept of photographs coming to life, giving the audience a glimpse into this young couple’s life.

The shoot itself went amazingly well. The real challenge was in the post production phase of video editing. Our effects team employed advanced motion tracking techniques combined with good-old-fashion hand rotoscoping to add post production images to the live video shots. All the hard work was worth it to see the still photos perfectly integrated with live video.

Yet, the most interesting part of the shoot was that our lead actress was actually pregnant and only a few short weeks away from her due date. With such a narrow time window we worked hard to finish shooting all of her vital scenes. With some quick and efficient prep work in setting up equipment and redressing the set, we were able to maximize our shooting time, and less than a month later we returned again to shoot her and her husband with their brand new baby boy.

The results were inspirational and the memories will last a lifetime!

March 7, 2011