When will the "mixing for dummies" be available?

YES, "We Want Our MTV" - Mixing Tutorial for Vegas!

>I'm on such a budget right now, that I don't have proper studio monitors
>for EQing correctly and it may be a while before I do. So it's hard to
>feel confident about your end result, when, as soon as you listen to it
>on a different set of speakers, it's sounds like crap. So I was
>hoping that . . .

Forget about more plugins. Without a baseline monitoring environment, you're chasing the wrong problem.

What? You don't think with all these messages here, that I don't realize that? I was looking for something to just hold me over until that was accomplished, which is why I was looking for something very cheap or free. Until I get my work room finished, I'm relegated to doing all of my living and hobbies in a bedroom, bathroom and kitchen. Right now, my computer is hooked up to a cheap 'boombox' and is impossible to EQ correctly. (there is no room to hook up some better equipment right now.) But I have projects and I need at least a 'passable' mix-down, for some video work and I'm not sure what I'm getting right now. I'm not trying to release major CDs. But I don't want to have to re-do anything, as I'm sure you know how long each video project takes.

check out some of the free VST stuff out there. At the quality level you are aiming at the digitalphishphones stuff should be cool

I apologize if I ruffled your feathers, still, you can't be mastering something you can't hear. It really does come down to that. And you may well already know this, so again, my apologies if it seemed like I was unsympathetic.

I know what it's like not having money, but you're kidding yourself if you think a software plug (free or otherwise) is going to make you breathe easier when it comes to mastering. If you already have Vegas, I certainly wouldn't spend a penny more on ANY software until I was able to monitor. Your monitors don't have to be expensive -- there are plenty of threads for you to search on. But you posed the question, and while my answer may not be the one you want to hear, I don't believe there =IS= any 'holdover' solution other than what you have already own and know.

Regards,

Waltern

You have all you need with Vegas' and Sound Forge's plug-ins especially on a budget and the fact you will be working on video soundtracks as opposed to mixing and mastering music.

Monitors would be a better investment unless you are very experienced and know exactly how your cheap speakers translate to other sonic environments.

Someone that knows what they are doing with the native plugs in Vegas and SF (Multiband Dynamics and possible Wave Hammer) will achieve insurmountably better results than a novice with all the 3rd party plugs in existence.

Bottom line, learn all you can about audio processing maybe starting here;

The Project Studio Handbook

MJ

I actually answered this question a while back and then posted a new one, when I found a way to trade some old PA speakers for some old Altec monitors, the only trouble is, I'm still not ready to set everything up yet. The mastering, I was sort of referring to, was just so some of the videos I was working on, would at least make me feel as if I had nothing to worry about, not necessarily give me the greatest sounding mix. The boom box, I'm using now, over exaggerates certain frequencies, and I'm not sure what any one else will hear. Also, I probably over-reacted to your response, because everybody else pretty much let me have it already. Apology accepted and I apologize in return. I wasn't referring to serious 'mastering', just something that would make me feel comfortable about what I was giving out to friends. I don't think I would be able to trust a 'freebie' plug in for serious mastering.