Sometimes, for any number of reasons, there is no M&E available at all.

This is where Dr. McCurdy comes in, since correcting this common problem is my specialty.
Generally, anything in the open that is free of voice, can usually be saved, but virtually everything else that is covered with dialogue has to be re-created, (see window 1) on a scale proportional to the degree of fill of the original.

Music that is riddled with too much dialogue cannot be saved and must be augmented with 'sound-alike' music from a first rate, fully cleared stock library so there will be no copyright or piracy concerns.

Traffic, surf, and many background fills, etc, can easily come from library but, once again, the foley stage is used, (see window 1) to recreate virtually everything that the editor prefers not to do from library.

The foley stage is an expensive, outside cost, so I always try to minimize my time there. Using a combination of library sounds, as well as an extensive menu of foley type sounds that I have built up, I replace everything I possibly can, beforehand. This approach really helps to hold foley time to a bare minimum.

Finally, this work must be integrated and mixed seamlessly with what was salvaged from the original. If done properly, the end product will then be a fully filled M&E that will never be rejected anywhere in the world. This gives the producer a show he can sell.

Creating an M&E from a composite only calls upon every possible trick and tool in the trade and requires taste, experience and skill. It's quite a feat to make a fully filled M&E from a composite only, and I won't resort to false modesty. Creating M&E's from a composite is an intricate process and can be quite time consuming. Fortunately, I have all the bells and whistles necessary to make it happen easily, time after time, and it never ceases to be a welcome challenge.