Ozone Explained
The definitive Ozone training series updated for version 7! Mastering wiz Michael Costa presents Ozone Explained, covering the industry-standard Mastering software suite from iZotope, leaving no stone unturned. Learn these powerful sonic tools inside out, and make your next mastering job fun, creative all with world-class sound.
Basics
• Introduction (02:54) - Michael gives us a first look at the re-designed Ozone user interface and introduces the new stand-alone version.
• Standard & Advanced (03:28) - Learn what features are included in the Advanced version beyond those that comes in the basic Ozone version.
• The Ozone Interface (12:13) - Michael explores all the surface level interface controls giving audio examples along the way.
• Undo & History (04:21) - See how the power of a fully annotated history allows us to backtrack through our projects with precision.
• Multi-Band Basics (06:25) - Michael tells you all you need to know to manipulate the multi-band features present in several of Ozone's modules.
Stand-Alone Application Workflow
• Application & Menus (06:10) - See the stand-alone application in detail for the first time and how it differs from the plugin version.
• Navigate & Clean Up (08:16) - Michael gets you around the interface fast for comparing an album of tracks. Learn how to trim heads and tails as well as applying fade ins and outs.
• 3rd Party Plug-Ins (04:55) - Discover how to use the plugins you already own from other manufacturers, right inside the application version of Ozone in-between Ozone's own processors.
Mid-Side Processing
• MS Processing Tour (11:18) - Learn the power of MS, or mid-side processing - a major feature in four of Ozone's included modules. This allows you to manipulate the center of the stereo image independently to the sides.
• I/O Options (14:19) - The first of our 'option' discussions, here Michael explains how the choices available in this dialog allow us to customize exactly what the meters show us and how to interpret it.
The Modules
• The EQ Module Pt. 1 (18:10) - Our first EQ video tours the interface, taking in the myriad of filter shapes and options available.
• The EQ Module Pt. 2 (05:53) - Learn the alt-solo trick for searching key frequencies as well as more filter shape exploration.
• The EQ Module Pt. 3 (08:45) - We close our EQ trilogy with a look at the digital modes within the module and how they compare to the analog models.
• Matching EQ (11:56) - Discover the magic of using the frequency spectrum of one song as the imprint on another. Ozone even offers some preset curves that work great on modern music.
• The Dynamic EQ Module (12:04) - Michael explores this great new Ozone module that takes all the benefits of an analog or digital EQ design, and overlays a programmable dynamics section onto each band. Make your tracks selectively compress or expand by frequency selection.
• EQ Module Options (09:21) - Explore the available options to customize the operation of the EQ module.
• Dynamics Module Pt. 1 (16:56) - We get a thorough look around the Dynamics interface by exploring the controls on a single band. Limiting, compression and upward expansion are all covered.
• Dynamics Module Pt. 2 (12:08) - Michael expands on part 1 by now opening up the Dynamics module into multi-band mode. We also learn how to use the Sidechain Detection filter to train the processor what to 'listen' for.
• Dynamics Module Options (03:37) - Explore the available options to customize the operation of the Dynamics module.
• The Imager Module (18:37) - Discover how to make your tracks wider or more narrow in a frequency selective way. Michael also explains the various scopes and meters that inform us what our audio is doing in terms of stereo width and phase cohesion.
• The Exciter Module (09:50) - Using any one of the six saturation models inside the Exciter, we can easily breath life and body into our masters. The parallel approach to the excitation allows us to use as little or much as we need.
• The Maximizer Module (11:45) - The all important brick-wall limiter inside Ozone is as powerful as ever, combining best-in-class performance with options to control transients and stereo detection.
• The Dither Module Pt. 1 (06:41) - Michael explains the basics of the dithering process and why, when and how it all occurs.
• The Dither Module Pt. 2 (09:04) - Taking what we learned in part 1, Michael applies the microscope to the dither module, clearly showing the benefits of applying dither and noise shaping to make your audio as good as it can be.
• The Preset System (07:56) - Ozone's powerful preset manager lets us take a huge selection of starting points and manipulate them into whatever our tracks need. We can then save them into our own custom folders and store those anywhere - even on the cloud - to make retrieval on any system easy.
• Spectrum Options (08:00) - Discover the various ways the frequencies inside our audio can be displayed to give us the clearest picture of our music possible.
• General Options & Buffers (09:29) - The General Options tab contains some of the core settings that apply to Ozone as a whole. We explore those here and note the distinctions between the plugin and application versions of Ozone in this regard.
• Keyboard Shortcuts & Tips (07:24) - Ozone contains a good bunch of keyboard shortcuts that speed up the process of getting around its modules. We cover several of those, seeing how seamless they are, especially in the stand-alone application.
• Insight & Closer (01:52) - With a very brief look at Insight, Michael bids us farewell.
6.1 Update
• Intro (00:59) - A brief explanation of the new 6.1 update.
• Tube Mode in the Maximizer Pt. 1 (02:03) - Michael gives us our first look at the new Tube mode and explains its possible uses.
• Tube Mode in the Maximizer Pt. 2 (08:08) - Our first listen to the differences between the new Tube mode and the previous IRC maximizing algorithms.
• Tube Mode in the Maximizer Pt. 3 (06:23) - Michael runs some tone into the various maximizing algorithms and discusses the results.
• Adaptive Release mode in Dynamics Pt. 1 (03:56) - An explanation of this new mode within the Dynamics module.
• Adaptive Release mode in Dynamics Pt. 2 (07:34) - Michael gives various practical examples of the Adaptive mode in action.
• Per Module Presets (02:28) - The return of a popular feature from Ozone 5, again you access presets on a per module basis.
• Custom Default Settings (06:14) - Michael shows this great new feature allowing Ozone 6.1 to initially open with your desired setup configuration already in place.
• Selecting Segments to Set Loop Points (01:21) - See how the segmenting feature within the Ozone application can now create quick and easy loops for speedy auditioning.
• Automatic Track Numbers for Export (04:31) - Michael demonstrates how the existing export functionality can now optionally add track numbers to your files for easier ordering.
Ozone 7 - What's New
• What's New for Everyone (02:51) - Let's take a look at what's new in Ozone 7 for all users. This update is all about modules. Dynamic EQ is now available in the Standard package and has been updated to six bands. The brand new Vintage Limiter is a tasty addition too. There is also the option to export MP3s and other popular compressed and uncompressed formats from the stand alone app.
• Advanced Only (06:25) - We have Vintage Tape, Vintage EQ, Vintage Compressor and a Codec Preview. Not only can we make our audio sound great with these smooth and timeless modules, but we can preview what our audio will sound like after compression in real time. This allows us to make mastering choices dependent on the final file format.
• In Action (11:02) - Scottie uses Ozone in a few mixes. First, he will take a look at fattening up a drum buss and finish with a mastering session. The new modules can do everything from very subtle mastering to aggressive pumping and squashing.