re: major problem times infinity

sonicboom wrote on 8/23/2002, 6:55 PM
i just finished putting together my 1st major project--a tennis video for a friend
it sounds terrible!!!
horrible!!!!
unwatchable even!!!
all because of the audio
the video part is awesome--but the audio is terrible, here's why
1) i shot one part on a tennis court---the lights emitted a hissing sound
2) my camera has a hummmmm to it--vx2000 sony--
3) i need to clean up 1 minute of music i made in acid--it is distorted on a regular tv set....marty told me why...
anyway, paniced i bought sound forge and noise reduction 2.0
i have been at it all day
i am NOT, i repeat NOT an audio kind of guy--not to say i won't be in the very near future--hehe
i am having no luck removing the hiss or hummmm
when i do remove it, i change my friend's voice--he sounds like alvin and the chipmunks
please help!!!!!!!!
i have no clue
i bring the audio in sound forge-----i take a sample of the audio hiss---i open noise reduction---i capture noise print---etc
i am fiddling around with the settings---reduce noise and noise bypass---to no avail
any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated
thnx in advance----
i am here reading and tinkering all night
thnx
::::))))
sb

Comments

Cheesehole wrote on 8/23/2002, 8:47 PM
>>>thnx in advance----
i am here reading and tinkering all night

try the audio forum. I think you are taking too much of the signal out and giving your friend android breath. there is a way to turn down the effect, I think it was a dB slider. it's not magic though... you can only do so much depending on the hum. really got to ask in the audio or soundforge forum.
craftech wrote on 8/23/2002, 9:03 PM
The best solution is to shoot it again before you spend a fortune trying to get good audio out of bad audio. You're off to a good start in that respect.
With a VX2000 you need to record with the volume control set on manual but kept below 1/2. Try to get the meter close to -12dbV, but the volume control below 1/2 as I said. The best way to use the camera is with a mixer or standalone preamp with -10dbV output or a standard +4 dBu output along with an attenuator or attenuator circuit.
sonicboom wrote on 8/23/2002, 9:06 PM
cheese thanks for getting back to me
i did it!!!!
it is definitely good enough--
i didn't realize i could listen to the audio portion in real time
when i did, i adjusted the
1) noise reduce by--slider
2) noise bias
and it was fast and easy--i can't beleive it
i then put the project together in veg file and i am rendering it right now
i put a track compressor on the audio file that was too loud...and i hope that works--it sounds like it did, but when i play it back on a tv set in 6 hours (after my final render) i will no 4 sure
thnx everyone for putting up with me during this project
but i really really appreciate all the help
thnx
:)
sb
rcolbert wrote on 8/24/2002, 12:13 PM
You can clean up that hum with the EQ track FX in Vegas. Just find the right frequency and reduce the gain. You might want to start at about 80Hz and -4db with the default octave spread. If the hum is *really* low-frequency, you could use the low shelf and cut out all low-frequency rumbling in the video (including the most annoying part of wind noise). Don't want to cut too much, but about a -4db gain below 150Hz might help you out with the hum and wind noise.

Also, explore the use of the Smooth/Enhance audio plug-in for Track FX. It's a FANTASTIC, single-setting plug-in that can smooth out or brighten an audio track in one quick and painless step. It's worth a look to help improve the quality of the audio in your project.

Hope some of this helps :-)

-Rob
sonicboom wrote on 8/24/2002, 1:03 PM
thnx for the tips
:)
sb
kkolbo wrote on 8/24/2002, 2:35 PM
Just a note. I had a wedding video (I was being paid so it had to work) that was shot on the beach right up at the surf. One of my wirelesses barfed completely and the other one had problems because sometimes the preacher would almost shout to be heard and other times I had to get the couple vows being almost wispered. On top of that the preacher kept thumping the mic causing break up (arrggggg)

Well, the preacher kept pegging the audio and over driving (yuck) and the surf was deafing the other stuff. I had a second camera that was recording an on camera mic but the surf was loud and at times you couldn't hear. Here is what saved it.

I took the on camera track and applied the noise reduction to it with a print of the surf. That gave me the highs from the vocals. I synced that with the other audio and inverted the phase. I applied the clipping filter to the primary track to lessen the awful overdriving. I mixed the two with the on camera added just a bit to give back the high end to the voices. When one mic was crappy I raised the other. This meant the amount of surf roar changed a lot, so I added a third track of looping surf captured from the on camera mic. That background was low enough to leave the voices comfortably above it, but high enough to give an ambience and to cover the pans between mics and the other woes of the audio.

The client thought the sound was so natural and very pleased. They asked how I got such clear voices when no one who attended could understand the beautiful vows. Now they could show to everyone who was there and they could hear what really was said!

I want to make two points. One, sometimes filters can save your rump, but they will change the sound and you have to find some way to compensate for them. Sometimes that has to be a bit creative, like using the upper end from another source inverted. Second, sometimes you can work with a background contamination and turn it to work for you by incorporating it into an ambience. I have had to do that a few times on very expensive productions. In feature work we just ADR the sucker but in event work we don't always have the luxury. I am a producer, not an audio god. Thanks to SF I can pretend to be deity every now and then.

K