(Posted to this forum because I know it'll get looked at more here...)
Background (so you'll understand the mess):
I am a member of a church video team using modest (i.e. cheap) equipment. Recently we were asked to do a three-camera shoot of three of our pastors in an interview setting. We used two Sony D8 cameras (auto white balance only, no manual audio controls) and a Pansonic DV camera. In the past we've only had to mic two people at a time, so we use two ATR35s mics into a Studio 1 XLR BP Pro box into the Sony D8 camera. This gives us good audio with low noise. This time, since we had three people to mic, we had to put the mics into a mixer. The regular portable church mixer was missing, so our audio guy ran out right before the shoot and got us a Behringer UB1622FX-Pro. We also borrowed a single wireless mic. So we had the wireless going into the XLR jack of channel 1 of the mixer, and then, because the ATR35s are 1/8", we used 1/8 to 1/4" adapters to plug them into the line-in jacks of channels 2 and 3. We couldn't get a good signal out the mixer so we ended up coming out of the mixer headphone jack into the input of the Studio 1 into one of the cameras. All of this was rushed because by now the pastors had showed up and we had to get started. Then our audio guy had to leave and I ended up having to work 2 cameras while trying to figure out the audio stuff too. It didn't sound right (I was monitoring from the headphone jack of the camera) - "edge" on the wireless mic and a lot of hiss on the other mics but I couldn't really do anything about it.
Oh, and then during the shoot the air conditioner kept kicking on and off, which was picked up nicely by the mics. Then a front loader proceeded to dump dirt by the building and backed up (Beep! Beep!) several times. Then the church bell chimed several times. Then someone (twice!) tried to come in the locked door (rattling it several times) despite the hot pink signs on every door advising that a shoot was in progress.
So: for now - since I can't reshoot - what's the best way to clean up my audio mess? I have NR2, but I have these questions:
1. Should I apply some EQ BEFORE applying NR? I.E., get rid of some of the low-end rumble and some of the high-end hiss?
2. Should I apply some sort of compression BEFORE NR? I've got some signals that are too hot in places.
3. I've heard people suggest applying multiple passes of NR with small amounts of reduction each time. By that, do you mean, say, adding the NR filter 6 times to a particular track, and reducing by, say, 8 db each time? Or do you mean apply once, render to new track, then repeat?
4. I split the audio into 6 tracks - each pastor talking when the a/c was on and when it was off. I figure I need to apply different noise reduction to each. Does that make sense?
For the future: I've since sat down with the mixer and figured out how it works. I think the biggest issue was the AT35s's going in the line-in jacks instead of the mic-in jacks. (That, plus an FX processor in the loop that shouldn't have been.) Since the mics produce mic level signals, I had to crank the gain way up (hence hiss). Can I get a 1/4" to XLR adapter so I can go ATR35s (1/8") - 1/8" to 1/4" adaptor - 1/4" to XLR - to mixer to get the proper mic level inputs?
I think the secondary issue is that the D8 camera has AGC on the mic-in so when things get quiet you hear it pump up the gain (with more hiss) and then when someone talks it quiets down again. Can't do anything about that now, I guess, but we are saving up to buy a nicer camera (maybe a GL2) so that should help.
Background (so you'll understand the mess):
I am a member of a church video team using modest (i.e. cheap) equipment. Recently we were asked to do a three-camera shoot of three of our pastors in an interview setting. We used two Sony D8 cameras (auto white balance only, no manual audio controls) and a Pansonic DV camera. In the past we've only had to mic two people at a time, so we use two ATR35s mics into a Studio 1 XLR BP Pro box into the Sony D8 camera. This gives us good audio with low noise. This time, since we had three people to mic, we had to put the mics into a mixer. The regular portable church mixer was missing, so our audio guy ran out right before the shoot and got us a Behringer UB1622FX-Pro. We also borrowed a single wireless mic. So we had the wireless going into the XLR jack of channel 1 of the mixer, and then, because the ATR35s are 1/8", we used 1/8 to 1/4" adapters to plug them into the line-in jacks of channels 2 and 3. We couldn't get a good signal out the mixer so we ended up coming out of the mixer headphone jack into the input of the Studio 1 into one of the cameras. All of this was rushed because by now the pastors had showed up and we had to get started. Then our audio guy had to leave and I ended up having to work 2 cameras while trying to figure out the audio stuff too. It didn't sound right (I was monitoring from the headphone jack of the camera) - "edge" on the wireless mic and a lot of hiss on the other mics but I couldn't really do anything about it.
Oh, and then during the shoot the air conditioner kept kicking on and off, which was picked up nicely by the mics. Then a front loader proceeded to dump dirt by the building and backed up (Beep! Beep!) several times. Then the church bell chimed several times. Then someone (twice!) tried to come in the locked door (rattling it several times) despite the hot pink signs on every door advising that a shoot was in progress.
So: for now - since I can't reshoot - what's the best way to clean up my audio mess? I have NR2, but I have these questions:
1. Should I apply some EQ BEFORE applying NR? I.E., get rid of some of the low-end rumble and some of the high-end hiss?
2. Should I apply some sort of compression BEFORE NR? I've got some signals that are too hot in places.
3. I've heard people suggest applying multiple passes of NR with small amounts of reduction each time. By that, do you mean, say, adding the NR filter 6 times to a particular track, and reducing by, say, 8 db each time? Or do you mean apply once, render to new track, then repeat?
4. I split the audio into 6 tracks - each pastor talking when the a/c was on and when it was off. I figure I need to apply different noise reduction to each. Does that make sense?
For the future: I've since sat down with the mixer and figured out how it works. I think the biggest issue was the AT35s's going in the line-in jacks instead of the mic-in jacks. (That, plus an FX processor in the loop that shouldn't have been.) Since the mics produce mic level signals, I had to crank the gain way up (hence hiss). Can I get a 1/4" to XLR adapter so I can go ATR35s (1/8") - 1/8" to 1/4" adaptor - 1/4" to XLR - to mixer to get the proper mic level inputs?
I think the secondary issue is that the D8 camera has AGC on the mic-in so when things get quiet you hear it pump up the gain (with more hiss) and then when someone talks it quiets down again. Can't do anything about that now, I guess, but we are saving up to buy a nicer camera (maybe a GL2) so that should help.