Robert,

I agree with you completely about audio being more important than video. SonicBoom's suggestion of Sonic Foundry's Noise Reduction 2.0 plug-in is a good one. It is fairly expensive but I obtained mine as part of a special offer to purchase Sound Forge 6.0. Most of my video footage has audio problems of one kind or another, ranging from severe wind noise on the microphone, nearby loud equipment noises, inadvertently "overheard" private conversations, dropped silverware, overhead aircraft -- the list is endless.

My very first DV footage was taken as I was sort of leaning up against a big aquarium behind me, and taking pictures out into the room. Upon later playback I heard this strange noise that I feared was some serious internal problem in my new camcorder, but upon further analysis I deduced that I had captured the sound of the aquarium pump much better than the people in the room. The omni mic did its omni thing. Subsequently I purchased a shotgun mic for our camcorder in order to have less of that kind of problem.

...when someone is speaking we can hear his/her voice before he/she appears in the screen and then we see him/her go on speaking. Very common in documentaries.

That was a good example. Also, someone can continue speaking while the visual switches to something new, and the speaker then becomes a "voiceover" for a time. The basic principle is that the audio tracks follow rules of their own, and are not constrained to slavishly follow the video tracks. Audio continuity is much more important than video continuity. You can put in a lot of short video clips in rapid succession, but don't try that with the audio. A music bed can serve as the "glue" that holds a production together.

You can learn a lot by just studying TV programs, and how they are made. You can pick up techniques from the most improbable places. I don't know if you have been watching the "Survivor: Thailand" program on CBS, but their videographers do great work under challenging circumstances. But nearly any TV show has examples of interesting techniques. In order to pick up the techniques, you sort of have to not focus on the plot or whatever, and pay attention to the editing, the video tracks, and the sound tracks. Visualize how the TV show would look as a Vegas project.

There are also good books on the subject. "The Little Digital Video Book" by Michael Rubin is a good start. On page 158 it says,

"In your edited music videos, let the picture end a few seconds before the music. This way the image fades to black, and a moment later the music fades out. This gives a satisfying closure that in many ways works better than suddenly ending both picture and sound together."

-- seeker --

To do an L-cut (audio transitions before or after video), turn on "Ignore Event Grouping" and then you can trim the audio independentally of the video.
///d@

More comments please

How do you keep the continuity of your audio in your videos ? I mean, If there a music bed, when a song finishes, how do you do to start the second song without a jump.

Is there a "NORMAL" volume ? I mean, if I have to shot something that it will be shown on TV, do I need to put it in a standard volume or something like this? For example putting color bars and 1kHz tone. What else do I have to pay attencion for ?

Thanks!

Actually, I think that this could be an interesting thread if we keep it around long enough-- I'm always interested in the nuts and bolts of how people like to tell stories. Everyone has a favorite 'trick,' something that ends up in each and every project...

As for simple volume level-- it's whatever you think that it should be, although you probably SHOULD aim for a minimum level of sorts. Keep relative volume in mind. Tossing bars and tone on the front of a tape is a start... but it can't end there. It doesn't do you or anyone else ANY good if you're just slapping them down, without really thinking about it. I've run many, many, MANY (hmmmm... a pet peeve?) programs where the director, producer, whoever, didn't pay the slightest bit of attention to where the audio was peaking. Consequently, it's VERY easy for a piece to be far too quiet, or more usually, far too loud, in relation to the tone...

Sorry, personal rant there!

Seriously though, remember where your relative volume is. Go beyond it for emphasis, not because you were too lazy to check your levels.

Robert,

How do you keep the continuity of your audio in your videos ? I mean, If there a music bed, when a song finishes, how do you do to start the second song without a jump.

Any discontinuity in the music is jarring, so I think you need a pause between songs, rather like those on CDs from one track to the next, or maybe longer. Sometimes an interim scene proceeds without a music bed. Also, I noticed on a recent TV program that a new song corresponded to a change in scenery and action. Some rather slow stuff had slow music that faded out and then, at a new location, sudden action triggered the sudden start of fast paced music with a vocal that loosely followed the theme of the action.

I continue to be impressed by the nearly subliminal editing art that appears everywhere in our TV and movies. Even the TV commercials are full of clever techniques. To coin a phrase, "the hills are alive with the sound of music." [grin]

-- seeker --

In digital work remember 0db is the absolute limit and where clipping occurs. I've always heard to aim for -12db - gives you some headroom. You can wavehammer the whole thing to -12db in one fell swoop if volume maximization is important (great for weddings).

To get songs to mix I almost always use 2 music tracks and use the volume faders. I move the new song around a bit until the beat matches and the mix sounds right.

I'd agree with Control Z and would add some compressor/limiter to really smooth it out.
Randy

Hi Robert,

It sounds as if you're really after a better baseline understanding of digital audio. If this is the case, you might consider reading these books. :-)

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0879305975/ref=pd_bxgy_text_1/002-5869784-6604041?v=glance

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0879303808/qid=1034708676/sr=8-2/ref=sr_8_2/002-5869784-6604041?v=glance&n=507846

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0825613787/ref=pd_bxgy_img_2/002-5869784-6604041?v=glance


Thanks,

Shawn

very nice input shaunm. Thanks a lot !

ok, if i shoot something--let's just say a party with dancing and a band or dj--
--and i want to edit from one scene to the next and there is different music on the second scene, this is how i do it. if it is fast music i am switching to....i remix the song i am playing with only the down beats and then i cut into the new song--so it songs like the dj remixed it.
i'm sure there is a word for what i do, but i don't know what you call it.

if there is a slow song for scene #2, then i fade out of the first event.
but what is amazing is how well i can beat mix and remix in vegas so it keeps the flow of the video
i have seen videos where the music clangs together out of sync -- it's horrible!!
people always talk about the audio being as important as the video---maybe even more
but your ability to mix the audio from one edit to the next is very important too
sometimes i take the 2 audio clips and do funky stuff in acid pro 3.0
and then just slo down the clip
there are so many cool ways to do it
cheers
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