Cutting Harsh Wind Noise? V8.0c

Kevin Mc wrote on 6/19/2009, 11:25 AM

I have many shots taken at the ocean in Northern California on a VERY windy day. I would like to keep the "essence" of the wind ~ but at times the wind just beat the crap out of my mics w/ wind screens, and there is simply too much *noise*. I've tried a low cut on the EQ ~ rolling off from 200Hz down, but wanted to see if there are any better methods for cutting harsh wind noise down to a manageable sound quality? My alternative is to set these clips to music and remove the original audio (or at least turn it WAY down in the background).

Thanks,
--Kevin

Comments

JohnnyRoy wrote on 6/19/2009, 11:44 AM

Since wind covers a broad spectrum of frequencies and is not constant, there are no good tools to remove it. You did the best thing by dropping out the low frequencies to get rid of the rumble. I also agree that music in the background is a good way to cover for the fact that you dropped the lows out. So drop some more lows and add back music to compensate and that's about as good as it gets.

~jr

musicvid10 wrote on 6/19/2009, 12:52 PM

In addtion to what John pointed out, another big characteristic of strong wind noise that can be tamed is its huge dynamic range, often shifting 70dB or more in a matter of seconds.

So, if you want to "preserve the essence" of the wind noise without it "jumping out at you" even if turned down, apply some fairly significant compression in WaveHammer (start at 6:1 and work your way up), and then reduce the track gain to a level somewhere below the point of distraction. This will take it out of your way without eliminating it completely, which is what it seems you want. This approach will even provide headroom for music- and voice-overs if that is what you want.

Kevin Mc wrote on 6/19/2009, 1:20 PM

Thanks JR and MV ~ I'll give the WaveHammer a try when I'm back in editing in a few hours.

ritsmer wrote on 6/21/2009, 1:50 PM

The quick and dirty way is to use the Vegas equalizer and just cut off (inf.) below around 980-1100 (test it) Hz with 24 db.
By far not perfect - but helps significantly.