10 Second Sound Editing Predicament

jcg wrote on 1/26/2004, 3:41 PM
I haven’t been able to get any “hits” on the Sound Forge Forum yet, so thought I would try here with the sound pros who also read and help here. After finishing editing a short film, the director decided one of several voice overs needed to be rewritten and re-recorded. Unfortunately, both different equipment (camera and microphone) and different location were used for this re-do. Now I have one odd piece of audio that I need to make sound as much like the other voice overs as possible. They really sound substantially different to me, even in pitch (maybe the actor was feeling differently on the re-do as well?). The re-do is separated in the film from the next voice over by only about one minute, so the fact that it is different is very noticeable.

Is there a way in Sound Forge to make two voice clips from the same actor, each about 10 seconds long, as similar sounding as possible (using one as the reference) without me having to fiddle a whole bunch? I am not an experienced Sound Forge user and so far my fiddling isn’t getting much of anywhere useful.

Thanks for any advice on how to crack this nut.

JCG

Comments

AlistairLock wrote on 1/27/2004, 6:17 AM
If you sent the files to me I may be able to help.
MP3 or wav. (I have broadband, though if they're large files you nay have to send them as two separate emailas)

alistair lock at ukonline dot co dot uk

Alistair Lock should all be one word.
ibliss wrote on 1/27/2004, 8:16 AM
I've got time to kill at the moment... so if you wanna chuck the sound clips my way too.

reg1nex at hotmail dot com

hotmail doesn't have a very large inbox, but I'm sure 2x 10 second clips will be fine, in whatever format.

Mike
jcg wrote on 1/27/2004, 3:26 PM
You guys are great to even offer this! I have to continue to show you my total ignorance with sound and ask how to best prepare the clips for sending to you - how to save them (what type of file) or any other info I should know. Thanks a million to you both.

JCG
jcg wrote on 1/27/2004, 3:51 PM
OK. I'm taking a stab and have saved the two clips as wav files. "Letter One" is 2.89 MB and is the reference track. "Letter Two" is 1.61 MB. I am sending the original, "naked" tracks for both clips, without any of the alterations I had put in. The only alteration I had made to Letter One was to normalize (FYI - there are other voice overs from the same actor in this movie, and I have normalized them all. I'll send to both your e-mail addresses.

Again, thanks for your generosity. I humbly hope to learn at the feet of those who know.

JCG
ibliss wrote on 1/27/2004, 7:48 PM
JCG - sorry if this is too late, but could you save them as *.pca format instead - the files will be smaller. My hotmail inbox only has about 2 megs free, well less actually so you may have to send them one at a time and I'll post when I have got the first so you can send the second.

Just to run through the process of doing saving as PCA:

highlight the region for the first clip, set the track and master volume to 0db, bypass or mute any audio fx (if this means nothing to you then you probably don't have to worry about it!) go to file menu and choose 'render as', and select the PCA (perfect clarity audio) file format. The file size will be smaller, but the audio does not get degraded (ie lossless compression).

Thanks, Mike

ps as yet I have not recieved any files.
jcg wrote on 1/27/2004, 11:46 PM
Hi, Mike. Just returned home to find your message. I will go do what you have instructed in order to save as a PCA file and will send each seperately.

I did send the first mail to you at 4:33 PM PST, with both clips attached to the same mail as two wav files. Now that I see again your inbox size limit of 2 MB, that mail will definitely not work for you since the two files total about 4.5 MB. Sorry!!!

Again, thanks very much for your help.

JCG
jcg wrote on 1/28/2004, 12:07 AM
Mike, I had some problems with this course of action and have e-mailed you the details. Please let me know on the Forum if you do not receive the mail. I sent it just after midnight on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning (PST). Thank you so much for your help.

JCG
ibliss wrote on 1/28/2004, 3:56 AM
Sorry, I have not recieved your email... you could also try this address:

finndlepop@hotmail.comNOap4m (remove the NOsp4m

and just in case the original wasn't clear:

reg1nex@hotmail.comNOsp4m (remove the NOsp4m) - that is the number 1, and not an 'L', I know this has caught out a couple of people in the past!

Hopefully it will work this time, and you now have to addys to send the files two - send one to each address (when the time comes).
jcg wrote on 1/28/2004, 8:35 AM
Mike, I just sent the message to the other address. If you do not receive it soon, let me know again on the Forum. I really appreciate this effort. I am leaving for a meeting in about 30 minutes and will return about 12:30 PM PST. If I don't receive a reply from you before I leave, I will check as soon as I return.

JCG
jcg wrote on 1/28/2004, 8:37 AM
Alistair, am I having the same problem with you? Have you received an e-mail from me? Thank you very much.

JCG

ibliss wrote on 1/28/2004, 9:02 AM
Okay, I got the email at the finndlepop account, I think my reg1nex account must have junk mail filter set to block aol.com messages. Have to sort that out.

In the mean time, I have a third address which doesn't have the size limit (I don't think) which is with my service provider. Never used it before, but the address is:

mgeb74@dsl.pipex.comNOSP4M

So you could probably send both wavs to this address. Sorry for the run around, I only just remembered about that last email account.
ibliss wrote on 1/28/2004, 9:07 AM
I am feeling very stupid right now! I have just realised after reading your email that you are working within Soundforge and not Vegas - doh! This is why you have no 'render as' option.

Okay, so hightlight the region in soundforge, copy it (Ctrl+C) and then paste it as a new file (Ctrl+E). Save the new file as PCA format.

Apologies... now the email thing and my eyesight are both sorted we can start making progress!

Mike
jcg wrote on 1/28/2004, 9:09 AM
Mike, I'm going to send the wav files to the mgeb address right now and see how that works. Then I'm flying out the door. I'll check back with you on my e-mail and here on the Forum as soon as I return. Thanks so much for the continued effort.

JCG
jcg wrote on 1/28/2004, 9:12 AM
Mike, our messages "crossed in the mail". I'm going to go ahead and send the wav files to the new address since I only have one minute before I have to leave. Let me know how that goes and whether you want me to do the other save. Again, THANKS.

JCG
ibliss wrote on 1/28/2004, 9:16 AM
Got the email... now downloading....

Both play fine, now to start tweaking settings...
jcg wrote on 1/28/2004, 9:17 AM
Faaaabulous. I'll check with you as soon as I return.

JCG
jcg wrote on 1/28/2004, 1:54 PM
Mike, wanted to let you know I'm back in the studio now and for the rest of the day. Which of your 3 e-mail addresses is best to use for dialogue? Thanks again.

JCG
ibliss wrote on 1/28/2004, 4:53 PM
Just so you know, I've just emailed you.
jcg wrote on 1/28/2004, 10:37 PM
Mike, I mailed you back at the mgeb74 address earlier this evening. Thanks.

JCG