Cleaning Up Sound

thompent wrote on 10/4/2004, 2:30 PM
Is there a filter, plug-in or some other method of getting rid of - or significantly reducing background noise in a video. Because I was using the built-in camcorder microphone, it picks up room noise, white noise, the slightest wind if outside, etc. I know that using an external microphone would be better, but I'm wondering if there is any software out there that would allow me to boost the spoken lines while scrubbing out background noises..

Comments

groovedude wrote on 10/4/2004, 2:46 PM
Look at the top of this web page, under "Products" select "Noise Reduction."

Also, in this forum I ran across a post that descibed using Vegas's built in sound tools for limiting noise. Try doing a Search with the keywords audio, noise, and reduction, you may be able to locate it.

hugoharris wrote on 10/4/2004, 3:09 PM
I recently finished a narration project that was mastered in Vegas prior to being sent out for duplication. I would record about a minute of continuous room tone at the start of each session, and then used this to "teach" Bias Soundsoap (DirectX plug, about $100 Canadian for the light version). It worked extremely well, and I found produced more natural results than gating low-level portions of the dialog.

I have no experience with SF/Sony noise reduction plugs, but I've heard good things. I bought SoundSoap because it also comes with a VST version that I also use in Cubase SX.

Kevin.
thompent wrote on 10/4/2004, 5:04 PM
Thanks very much - I saw that Noise Reduction product the other day, but it looked to be focused on turning record albums into digital format and not so much about video..
Spot|DSE wrote on 10/4/2004, 5:51 PM
It's for cleaning up noise regardless of where the noise came from, video or audio.
http://www.digitalprosound.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=25455
thompent wrote on 10/4/2004, 6:59 PM
Ok.. so trying to take the most inexpensive route to knowledge, I downloaded and installed the 14 day trial version of Soundsoap Pro. But there is no executable file and It doesn't come up in the audio FX chain.. so just how do I access it from inside Vegas Video (or any other way?)
Spot|DSE wrote on 10/4/2004, 8:41 PM
It should show up as a Direct X plugin. Look in your Third Party folder in Vegas audio plugs
thompent wrote on 10/5/2004, 11:59 AM
I should clarify that I am using Video Vegas + DVD and not Vegas 5.

When I look at the plugins, there is no "3rd Party Plugin" folder. I only have the two FX folders. Am I supposed to copy the DLL file from Soundsoap into one of these folders?
vitalforces wrote on 10/5/2004, 3:37 PM
To better understand the process, I recommend getting a book that fits the Everything You Wanted to Know About Sound Improvement category--called "Audio Postproduction for Digital Video" by Jay Rose. I ordered mine on-line and carry it around like an old Bible.
musman wrote on 10/5/2004, 10:02 PM
Good advice. Also check out Jay's "Shh- the art of noise reduction" (or some title close to that) in the archives of dv.com.
farss wrote on 10/5/2004, 11:11 PM
Without putting too much of a downer on this it sounds like the noise that is trying to be eliminated has a broad spectrum and I'd suggest that it's impossible to get rid of. You'll get an improvement with nothing more than Eq, you may even need to stack several Eq FXs in the chain to get really sharp cutoff.
There's certainly no harm in trying NR2, it'll work as well as anything but monitor the results carefully lietening for artifacts and you may need to work on it in sections as the noise changes.
But at the end of the day you might do better writing this off to experience and saving the money spent on software to put towards some better audio gear. Even a $10 mic close to the desired sound will outperform any on camera mic in these difficult situations.
Sony's NR2 is excellent, it and SF should be in everyones toolkit, I have them and use them a lot for many tasks, but it's much better if you don't HAVE to use them, then you can save them for making good sound into excellent sound, not trying to achieve the near impossible which is never very rewarding.

Bob.
Spot|DSE wrote on 10/6/2004, 4:05 AM
Actually, the Art of Noise Reduction was my article....Jay's was "Shhh...."
thompent wrote on 10/6/2004, 2:27 PM
Thanks everyone..
Here's what I've found out.

It turns out that Vegas 5 has the "third party" folder in the Audio plugins but Vegas + DVD does not. I got a demo copy of Vegas 5 and everything was there. The soundsoap software finally showed up there - but unfortuantely it has this annoying tone (only in the demo copy) that occurs far too often for a decent evaluation to happen. The soundsoap people (BIAS) are determined not to let you do ANYTHING with their software - including this 14 day demo that will actually let you evaluate it properly.. Then if you get the real version, you have to stick in this USB "key".. I think I'll look for different solutions.. including an external microphone...

As a musician, I have some nice stage & recording mics and even boom stands which I may experiment with.. I just need to get the jacking correct or perhaps use a mixer board before bringing into the camera.. I may even get a new camera as the digital ones are now affordable and hopefully not as noisy as my Sharp Viewcam Hi8 cam..

Anyhow, great suggestions here and I will be taking your advice - especially about the articles and the books.