I've used Logic since version 8 and I typically score short form things and I almost always just do 1 cue or track per picture. I normally import the movie audio into logic and I have a hardware fader that I've dedicated to controlling the volume of the voice over track.
I'm now scoring a feature-length project. I set the movie start time to 01:00:00:00 in my project template. Then for each cue I score, I save a new project and set the project synchronization accordingly (is this the best workflow?)
If I attempt to import the audio from the movie, Logic lines up the audio with the project start. So the imported audio starts from the beginning no matter where in the film I'm scoring. So, my solution so far has been to not import the audio from the movie, but to adjust the volume in the movie settings window, but that means that I lose the ability to control the movie volume with a fader. Also, the movie audio will drop out whenever I drag a region, adjust automation or region data, etc.
I also tried cutting the movie file into segments based on the cues. But, I like to be able to go back and see at least a few seconds of the movie before the cue starts.
I've thought about using a separate program like Streamers and then maybe routing the movie audio and logic to an analog mixer to fix the volume dropout problem, but with that program, the movie doesn't sync unless I'm playing back...if I'm just rewinding or moving forward/backwards by a frame, the movie stays exactly where it is. (any other suggestions for external programs that might have all of the functionality of playing the video directly in Logic?)
So, my question is, what workflow is best? I tend to like to adjust the volume of the VO a lot when I'm scoring. I'll like to have it there while I listen to the overall impression of the picture with score, and then I like to quickly fade it out so I can hear the score alone. I'm hoping Ski or someone else with scoring experience can answer. I've seen that with DP you can route movie audio into your project through busses. That seems like it would be really nice.
I don't have Pro Tools, but I've heard that some composers run the movie in the Pro Tools computer where they also print stems. Is that a good solution? Which version of Pro Tools would be need to accomplish this set up?