would like some audio advice

donald_cady wrote on 2/20/2007, 6:54 PM

I'm using VMS 7 Platinum, and I've also purchased the Vegas 6 Editing Workshop book that comes with a CD.

I filmed an interview with a person and I'm not happy about the sound because there is a background noise (like a hum / hiss) throughout the entire footage. I guess it must have been the acoustics of the room. I tried many of the audio plugins that come with VMS 7 and a few that I installed from the CD from the Workshop book. I just can't seem to eliminate that background noise.

Any info or tips on which plugin would work most successfully? Or perhaps a website that offers free plugins that don't have the DEMO beep. The Sony audio-restoration plugin still beeps so I can't use that one.

Also, any tips on future filmings in rooms that would lessen the chances of having background noise? I use a Sony DCR-DVD 205 Handycam.

Thanks

Comments

ScottW wrote on 2/21/2007, 6:29 AM

For the future - if you used your on-camera mic, don't. Get a decent mic for the purpose you need. For interviews a wireless lapel mic of some sort would work well. I've had good luck with Samson.

If your camera doesn't have the ability to accept audio from a different source and you plan on doing a lot of this type of shooting, get a different camera as well.

--Scott

IanG wrote on 2/22/2007, 12:44 AM

Audacity is a free audio editor and, from memory, it can do noise reduction. Failing that, have a look at Acoustica, which can definitely do it. Constant noise can be easily removed by sampling it and then removing that sound throughout.

Ian G.

Mycin wrote on 2/22/2007, 2:52 PM

I'd like to second the recomendation for Audacity. I recently used it for just such a use, and it worked great.

During a recent vacation, my wife used an old analog dictaphone-type tape recorder to make some verbal notes of each day. I later connected the phone output of the recorder to my sound card's mic input and digitally recorded her notes. I then used Audacity to extract out a portion relating to a video I was editing for import into Media Studio.

The sound was usable, but had a certain amount of noise due to the less-than-optimum microphone and recording medium. I used Audacity's built-in noise reduction tool, selecting a section of audio during a vocal pause (probably less than second's worth) as a noise sample. The noise went to zero, and the entire passage became noticably cleaner and easier to understand.

While I was at it, I used the package to clean some other things in the audio, cutting out a stammer and slowing down one phrase where she spoke too fast (without affecting the pitch).

Great tool! And the price is right, too!

donald_cady wrote on 2/23/2007, 9:34 AM

I have downloaded Audacity, but I haven't had a chance to use it yet. So with this program, I will import the video clip to fix the sound and then re-import the fixed version to VMS? Is that how this program works?

IanG wrote on 2/26/2007, 12:49 AM

I don't have access to VMS at the moment, but there's an option to define which audio editor you want to use. Once that's done you don't need to worry about reimporting the sound, it's all done for you.

Ian G.