Help -- Separating audio channels

JackW wrote on 8/23/2005, 2:50 PM
Here's the situation: I plugged two mics into my PD-150 to recorded two people demonstrating the control panels in an electric generating plant. The ambient noise level was deafening and I continually rode the channel gain controls on the camera. Still, it's going to be necessary to lower the level on one mic when the speaker associated with it isn't actually talking, perhaps even to kill it completely.

The problem: when I capture the tape in Vegas both mics are on a single audio track and there's no way to separate the channels so I can control the input from each mic independantly.

My thoughts re a solution: I can bring the audio in as analog, recording the left channel alone, then recording the right channel alone, putting these on separate tracks and syncing them. I've tried this and it works. However --

My question: is there a better way to do this, taking advantage of Vegas and the digital environment? Is this something that the Pan feature might resolve?
I need your help!

Thanks in advance,

Jack

Comments

Jay Gladwell wrote on 8/23/2005, 2:54 PM
Jack, using an XL2, I do this quite often--recording one person on left channel and one on the right. When I capture the video into Vegas, it automatically places each person on his prespective channel. They are then "mixed" accordingly.

I don't understand what's happening in either the camera or Vegas that's causing your audio to be captured as a mono track.


JohnnyRoy wrote on 8/23/2005, 3:25 PM
Jack,

Just make a copy of the stereo audio track (right-click on an empty part of the track and select duplicate track). On the first track right-click > Channels > Left Only then on the second track right-click > Channels > Right Only. You now have separate left and right audio tracks.

~jr
JackW wrote on 8/23/2005, 3:43 PM
JohnnyRoy, you da man!!

I bet I looked at that pull down menu 20 times in the last day and it just never registered.

Many, many thanks.

Jack
Jay Gladwell wrote on 8/23/2005, 4:09 PM

... when I capture the tape in Vegas both mics are on a single audio track...

I understood you to say it was a single--mono--track.


JohnnyRoy wrote on 8/23/2005, 6:38 PM
> I bet I looked at that pull down menu 20 times in the last day and it just never registered.

It’s not really that obvious so don’t feel bad. I'm glad it worked for you.

~jr
JackW wrote on 8/23/2005, 10:13 PM
Jay Gladwell: Thanks for your comments, and sorry if I was misleading.

The input from both mics appeared, its just that they were combined onto a single audio track in Vegas. I needed to be able to isolate the input from mic #1 and lower its volume without affecting the level of mic #2.

Jack