ABSTRACT
Audio post production is completed with the mixing of the soundtracks. The audio is prepared in the form of separate tracks on a digital workstation. Some of the tracks may have already been mixed and their levels set; much will depend on the time allocated and the experience of the sound editor. In many situations the sound mixer will have also laid and prepared the soundtracks. In productions for theatrical release and television drama, it is not unusual to employ a specialist sound editor or editors, each specializing in a particular area of the sound production. However, the distinction between picture and sound editor and sound editor and mixer is blurring as equipment becomes more versatile, and some mixing consoles incorporate edit functions. It has been argued that with the greater sophistication and efficiency of audio workstations fewer tracks are needed. But with the universal requirement for stereo and the increase in multichannel sound recording (surround sound), this may not happen.
