Philip Colmer
07-08-2004, 05:00 PM
<img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/colmer-auditiontotaltraining.jpg" /><br /><br /><b>Product Category:</b> Video-based training<br /><b>Manufacturer:</b> <a href="http://www.totaltraining.com/">Total Training</a><br /><b>Where to Buy:</b> <a href="http://www.totaltraining.com/">Total Training</a><br /><b>Price:</b> $89.00 USD<br /><b>System Requirements:</b> A means of playing the video DVDs, although to get the most benefit, you ought to have Audition available as well to work through the projects.<br /><br /><b>Pros:</b><li>Great foundation for learning about Audition;<br /><li>Good practical audio engineering tips included;<br /><li>Good price.<b>Cons:</b><ul><li>None really.</ul><b>Summary:</b><br />The training is provided on a video DVD that can be played on your computer or on a TV. It covers all the critical features and functionality of Audition at a price that won't break the bank.<br /><br />Read on for the full review!<!><br /><PAGEBREAK><br /><span><b>Introduction</b></span><br />"The Essentials of Adobe Audition" is the second product from Total Training's Essentials range. The first, covering Encore DVD, was <a href="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/articles.php?action=expand,5890">recently reviewed</a>. Like that product, "The Essentials of Adobe Audition" comes with a project CD and a training DVD. The project CD contains project files, samples and other assets to allow you to work along with the training videos.<br /><br />This training product is presented by Jason Levine, Adobe's audio evangelist. I have to say that I loved Jason's style. He is very easy going and he certainly makes using Audition look very easy :-).<br /><br /><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/colmer-auditionjason.jpg" /> <br /><i>Figure 1: Jason Levine in action</i><br /><br /><span><b>The Lessons</b></span><br />The DVD contains the following lessons:<li> The Interface & Views;<br /><li> Creating a Multitrack Session with Loopology;<br /><li> Mastering & Mixdown;<br /><li> Surround Encoding, Adobe Premiere Pro Integration & Audio Restoration;<br /><li> Live Session & Loop Creation.At just under four hours of video, Jason covers a lot of material. What I really enjoyed about this particular training product is that quite a bit of what he talks about is actually good audio engineering rather than specific to Audition. For example, the mastering and mixdown lesson covers tools like parametric EQ and Jason explains both why and how you would use these tools. This is where a training product like this goes way beyond what you can easily learn with manuals. Jason is able to demonstrate the results of the changes he is making and also to give guidance and advice on what sort of values you might want to use for given circumstances.<br /><br />Another great lesson on the DVD that really goes to show the power of video training was the last one - Live Session & Loop Creation. Here, Jason literally builds up a composition using the multitrack mode by recording his live performance on a keyboard. This is a fantastic way of demonstrating the workflow you might use if you wanted to create your own composition using the features available like multitrack recording and creating loops.<br /><br /><span><b>Conclusions</b></span><br />Video-based training is never going to be <i>very</i> cheap but Total Training's "Essentials" range is definitely affordable.<br /><br />If you are new to Audition/Cool Edit Pro or you know the basics and want to improve the quality of the end results, this is a great training product to use. A lot of material is covered and will certainly warrant watching over and over again in order to make sure you learn everything that Jason covers.