Fixing it in the mix

Feb 20, 2008

When you record audio or video (or even take a photo), with today’s technology, there’s a lot you can do after the original recording. If it’s an audio file, you can EQ it, filter it. If it’s a video, you can put transitions, color correct. If it’s a picture, you can change the brightness and contrast, you can cut out different parts.

And with technology, it’s so easy to edit. The problem with that, is that it makes it easy for the person to settle for a recording that’s not the best. When it’s so easy to edit, there’s the temptation to go, “that’s good enough, we’ll fix it in the edit”.

That never works out well, though. If the original recording is poor, it’s almost always very hard to fix in the mix. You’re better off doing a better recording. If the video recording is shaky, no matter how much you edit it, it will still be shaky. If the audio is distorted in the original recording, there’s nothing much you can do to fix it.

And the same can be said in any situation. It’s easy to settle for something that’s not the best, and convince yourself you can fix it after – by marketing it better, etc. But it’s always better not to settle for anything less than the best.