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(Page 1 of 2 pages for this article 1 2 >) Saturday, August 16, 2008Living with (Data) Lossmp3 and its cousins are a fact of life… here’s how to get the most out of them
If you do audio for the Web, broadcast, or movie theaters, sooner or later you’ll have to deal with some form of lossy data compression. But you don’t have to buy into the mp3 myths and hype. If you understand how those algorithms actually work - how they decide what data to lose - your tracks can sound a lot better. This is the second tutorial in a four-part series, which started with Hearing What’s Not There (8/14/08). That article covered some quirks that have evolved in human hearing. They make lossy compression possible. But since I write about how sound relates to picture, that piece starts with a few non-audio quirks… and how they make stage magic possible. They’re disclosed in a recent paper from the journal Nature Reviews Neuroscience. Doctors, some well-known magicians, and others got together to explore the subject. It’s worth clicking on and reading… or at least, downloading to your desk for later perusal. Here’s a very quick sample. One of the ‘and other’ authors of the paper is a professional thief. Researchers explain part of his technique: To steal a watch directly from the wrist of a mark, the pickpocket might first squeeze the wrist while the watch is still on… it makes a high contrast somatosensory impression that adapts the touch receptors in the skin, making them less sensitive to the subsequent light touches that are required to unbuckle and remove the watch. ...you have been warned. Well, lossy compression uses similar high-level impressions to change how your ears hear. But instead squeezing your wrist, it uses parts of the music you’re already listening to! As I said, this is a four-part series. I’ll be happiest if you read the parts in order, but it’s up to you. You can learn a lot from today’s tutorial, even without understanding the principles that make it work:
Audio • Distribution • Post Production • (Page 1 of 2 pages for this article 1 2 >) 
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3DAudioBudgetingBusinessCamerasDistributionEditingHardwareInteractiveLightingMotion GraphicsNAB '08Pre-ProductionProductionPost ProductionTrainingVisual Effects
Hilarious. Also true.QuickTime QuickiesFree BookVacuum PackedLiving with (Data) LossHearing What’s Not ThereDeep Throat, CetaceanSour NotesRequired (Re)readingRolling Your OwnThis month, PeasWrong, wrong!Make Her Sound Like I Love HerTime Out of JointAdvertisements |
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