Looking for some ADR assistance

goodtimej wrote on 4/17/2007, 2:02 PM
I just got done filming all weekend for a new short I am producing, and all weekend long it was just as windy as could be. This of course left me with unusable audio and a new chance to learn.

I need to do ADR on this and need some help. What is the best way to accomplish this? I have a workstation with (2) 3 gig proc, 2 gigs ram, quadro graphics, external firewire audio, and one 30 inch monitor. I don't have access to another monitor. Anyone help?

Thanks a lot!!

Comments

dsf wrote on 4/17/2007, 9:52 PM
This isn’t high tech. You have your actors redub as they watch the replay with headphones. (Maybe they wouldn't even need headphones; just watch the video.) Easy to do with Vegas, good mikes (probably one would do). Why would you need more than one monitor? You could use Sound Forge; it allows you to play back video as you record sound. But you could do it on Vegas just as easily. You can use any number of audio tracks if you don’t get everything right on the first redub. But I expect you know all that. What other solution is possible? Rethink the soundtrack? Narrate or just use music?

Then you have to find or create some appropriate background sound to put on another audio track.

BTW, if you ever find a good way to shield mikes from wind noise, I'd sure like to know about it.
Serena wrote on 4/17/2007, 10:32 PM
>>>>BTW, if you ever find a good way to shield mikes from wind noise, I'd sure like to know about it.<<<

Guess you've tried fuzzies/dead-cats/etc. They work well in my experience (foam doesn't, at least in any stronger wind).
TLF wrote on 4/17/2007, 10:59 PM
But you could do it on Vegas just as easily. You can use any number of audio tracks if you don’t get everything right on the first redub.

I've just done this sort of thing, though there was no need for redubbing. Everything done within Vegas... three video tracks, 5 audio tracks. Extremely easy. All the sound effects I needed were on a sample disc that came with Vegas Movie Studio.

You can tell Vegas to use an external audio editor, if needed, and my choice is Goldwave, although I occasionally slip into Adobe Audition.

Worley
goodtimej wrote on 4/18/2007, 7:43 AM
I was just wanting to ensure that everything is perfectly synced while my actors/tresses were reciting back their lines and I didn't know if there were any hints. Looks like its gonna be easy as pie!! Thanks.

In my experience, even a dead cat can't guard against 30mph wind. It was a pretty rough shoot.
Dach wrote on 4/18/2007, 7:58 AM
Yes... Vegas makes this very easy and user friendly. DSE has an article on ADR and Vegas on the VASST site, its very helpful to get started. Just do a search of it on their site.

Zoom in on the wave forms to do your synching and before you know things get going pretty smoothly.

Chad
goodtimej wrote on 4/18/2007, 6:10 PM
I am dealing with a project right now, though, and I do not get "perfect" sync with the lips and the picture, even on Preview Half. None of the stuff I am looking at is ADR, all live, but when I render the file, the lips are right on. Is this just what I have to deal with? Could this be a component of working with Vegas? Or Vista? Does anyone else see this as well? Thx.
goodtimej wrote on 4/18/2007, 6:31 PM
Maybe I should add this.

The video is 1080i m2t files and the project is of the same settings. I can totally go all the way to good full on the the preview and the video isn't jumpy at all, its just the audio seems about a half second behind. This is even when I build a dynamic ram preview of just a short clip.
dsf wrote on 4/18/2007, 7:28 PM
>>>goodtimej 4/18/2007 7:31:12 PM: “…the audio seems about a half second behind”

Probably over my head again; I've only edited in SD AVI. But re: your particular problem, I don't know what that would matter: you would disable “lock events” and drag the audio track a half-second ahead. You can also adjust the length of the audio track without changing the pitch (in case the re-dub timings don’t exactly match the original video). If sometimes the sync is on and sometimes not, you could split the audio track and adjust the individual sections to sync them. (I imagine there is a better way to do this with a keyframed audio bus, and maybe someone more knowledgeable will advise you.) Render a short test section to see if it's right.

>>>Serena: 4/17/2007 11:32:50 PM: (Re mike wind noise shields) “Guess you've tried fuzzies/dead-cats/etc. They work well in my experience (foam doesn't, at least in any stronger wind).”

No, I don’t know what they are. Could you give more details? This is a real problem for me.
rs170a wrote on 4/18/2007, 7:44 PM
<I>No, I don’t know what they are.</I>

They're Micro-Cats and are meant for lavalier mics.
There's also Fat Cat and Pole Cat for larger mics.
I've used the Micro Cat for a number of years and can verify that it does what it claims to do. Don't expect to be able to use it in gale force winds but for a lot of situations where a normal lav's windscreen wouldn't cut the wind noise, this furry will.

Mike
goodtimej wrote on 4/18/2007, 7:55 PM
No, when I render a part out, the video and audio are perfectly in sync. Only when I preview are they not.
goodtimej wrote on 4/19/2007, 1:23 PM
No one has this prob but me?
dsf wrote on 4/20/2007, 11:36 PM
>>>"when I render a part out, the video and audio are perfectly in sync..."

If it renders okay, what's the problem? High def is fairly new to Vegas and I guess all other NLEs: just add it to the (blessedly) short list of Vegas bugs. And your workaround is to just ignore it.
dsf wrote on 4/23/2007, 10:22 PM
>>>rs170a 4/18/2007 8:44:34 PM: “They're Micro-Cats and are meant for lavalier mics.”

Thank you for responding to my problem. I checked your links then googled lavalier. Their cost ($419) is kinda pricey for me. Plus the problem of carrying around the receiver and pinning on the mikes. I am thinking of a hand-held camcorder and using the built-in mikes. (I call it “cinema verite” to make it seem more classy.) The sound quality is acceptable to me if there is no wind; otherwise it's garbage. Using a glue-gun I have tried many types of material glued over the mikes. Nothing I have tried so far is worth s**t. Any other suggestions would be appreciated. Or am I dreaming in technicolor?

farss wrote on 4/23/2007, 10:42 PM
Forget dead cats. Get a DPA Blimp. They cost but they work and they don't drown like cats do.

Bob.