De-Noising a car dialogue scene at DVinfo.net

Alec Lence · November 25th, 2007, 04:23 PM

I apologize if this has been covered - I'm terrible at searching forums.

We have a dialogue scene in a short film, and I am cleaning the audio in Audition 3 right now. There was a lot more engine/road noise picked up than I originally thought, and not being an expert sound engineer I'm having trouble getting off on the right path to cleaning up the situation.

I have successfully removed my actors' voices altogether, but the process of removing or dropping the level of the noise and keeping the dialogue intact is still a mystery to me. Every time I attempt noise removal the program seems to remove both the voices and the car noise - this is using the Adaptive Noise Removal tool.

I am not a sound guy at all, I just happen to be stuck with the editing equipment for now. Any suggestions would be extremely helpful, even just getting off on the right foot would be great.

Thanks

Bill Ravens · November 25th, 2007, 04:58 PM

I don't know what noise removal tool you're using, but, you can try adjusting the THRESHOLD settings. Use the preview tool to adjust to taste.

Does your noise removal tool function by taking a noise print? If so, be sure to take the noise-print in an area of the audio where you have the car noise but no speech.

Alec Lence · November 25th, 2007, 05:10 PM

I've been using the Adaptive Noise Removal tool and the basic Noise Removal tool. I've successfully eliminated a barking dog, wind and traffic in another scene, but I'm not having luck with this car stuff.

I'm not sure about the noise-print you mentioned - I'll check up on it as soon as I get home. Thanks for the heads-up.

Emre Safak · November 25th, 2007, 05:38 PM

What are you using, Media Cleaner Pro?

Alec Lence · November 25th, 2007, 06:19 PM

Adobe Audition 3 - I have Sound Booth too, which may be more on my level, though it's less powerful.

Seun Osewa · November 26th, 2007, 09:07 AM

Sounds like a hopeless situation, especially if the engine was loud.
You should probably call back your actors to redub the dialog in your studio.

Anna Harmon · November 27th, 2007, 12:43 AM

Just out of curiousity, how was the dialog recorded? I'm mainly curious about your mic placement. Won't help you here but could help in future situations and it would be fun to open that discussion up.

November 25th, 2007, 04:23 PM	#1
Alec Lence Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Las Vegas, NV Posts: 67	De-Noising a car dialogue scene I apologize if this has been covered - I'm terrible at searching forums. We have a dialogue scene in a short film, and I am cleaning the audio in Audition 3 right now. There was a lot more engine/road noise picked up than I originally thought, and not being an expert sound engineer I'm having trouble getting off on the right path to cleaning up the situation. I have successfully removed my actors' voices altogether, but the process of removing or dropping the level of the noise and keeping the dialogue intact is still a mystery to me. Every time I attempt noise removal the program seems to remove both the voices and the car noise - this is using the Adaptive Noise Removal tool. I am not a sound guy at all, I just happen to be stuck with the editing equipment for now. Any suggestions would be extremely helpful, even just getting off on the right foot would be great. Thanks

November 25th, 2007, 04:58 PM	#2
Bill Ravens Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: santa fe, nm Posts: 3,264 Images: 10	I don't know what noise removal tool you're using, but, you can try adjusting the THRESHOLD settings. Use the preview tool to adjust to taste. Does your noise removal tool function by taking a noise print? If so, be sure to take the noise-print in an area of the audio where you have the car noise but no speech.

November 25th, 2007, 05:10 PM	#3
Alec Lence Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Las Vegas, NV Posts: 67	I've been using the Adaptive Noise Removal tool and the basic Noise Removal tool. I've successfully eliminated a barking dog, wind and traffic in another scene, but I'm not having luck with this car stuff. I'm not sure about the noise-print you mentioned - I'll check up on it as soon as I get home. Thanks for the heads-up.

November 25th, 2007, 05:38 PM	#4
Emre Safak Trustee Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Brookline, MA Posts: 1,447	What are you using, Media Cleaner Pro?

November 25th, 2007, 06:19 PM	#5
Alec Lence Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Las Vegas, NV Posts: 67	Adobe Audition 3 - I have Sound Booth too, which may be more on my level, though it's less powerful.

November 26th, 2007, 09:07 AM	#6
Seun Osewa Major Player Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: West Africa Posts: 255	Sounds like a hopeless situation, especially if the engine was loud. You should probably call back your actors to redub the dialog in your studio.

November 27th, 2007, 12:43 AM	#7
Anna Harmon Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: New York Posts: 127	Just out of curiousity, how was the dialog recorded? I'm mainly curious about your mic placement. Won't help you here but could help in future situations and it would be fun to open that discussion up.