What sound should you capture on set?

Jon Fairhurst · January 24th, 2007, 12:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jad Meouchy

You can do a lot in post, but you can also spend much less time in post if you followed good procedures during production.

And be prepared to apply noise reduction to the dialog tracks. You don't need to remove all of the noise, but a good NR plugin can make the difference between usable audio and cr@p.

Peter Malcolm · January 24th, 2007, 01:53 PM

Is that an option for Premiere? Perhaps I'll give the Soundbooth beta a shot.

I've decided I'm scrapping my ADR plans for a ME66 mic and boom instead of the stock one on my Canon XL2, and I'm going to give a shot at achieving proper audio in this manner.

My setting is in a relatively quiet restaurant, but I'm very nervous about any humming noises or chatter coming from the nearby kitchen.

Any ME66 techniques? It'll be my first time not using a stock mic on a camera.

Steve House · January 24th, 2007, 02:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peter Malcolm

Is that an option for Premiere? Perhaps I'll give the Soundbooth beta a shot.

I've decided I'm scrapping my ADR plans for a ME66 mic and boom instead of the stock one on my Canon XL2, and I'm going to give a shot at achieving proper audio in this manner.

My setting is in a relatively quiet restaurant, but I'm very nervous about any humming noises or chatter coming from the nearby kitchen.

Any ME66 techniques? It'll be my first time not using a stock mic on a camera.

SoundSoap from Bias is a good noise reduction tool and it definitely works with Premiere. I'm not at my edit computer and I'm having a senior moment about Premier's built-in noise reduction and for the life of me I can't remember if you can do it in Premiere or need to use Audition- I'll double check when I get home this evening. The problem with any noise reduction is that it most readily works with constant noises - AC hum, fan noise, that sort of thing. It won't do anything if someone drops a platter.

Why are you shooting when the kitchen is in use? Can't you arrange to come in when they're closed?

Ian Savage · January 24th, 2007, 02:59 PM

Well as a boom op the job of what you record on set entails recording what the camera can see, it's the boom op's job to know what that is and if it's a weird take for whatever reason go and ask the mixer what he'd like to hear and not hear, there are times where it's impossible to get everything the shot may be demanding, in those cases go and ask the director EXACTLY what he intends to use, there are times hidden mics are used, not then a choice of lav or a boomed mic, bit of both or all 3, every scene is different but the underlying point is record what the camera see's and if you do that you'll have had a great day.

2 years ago we (my father is a mixer) we worked on a 3 week drama, there was ONE line of ADR by the time it was released and that was an added line to the script later on, that's how it should be and how it used to be when I was a kid watching drama's being made.

Oh and be prepared to tell people to shut the hell up if they are making too much noise :-)

Peter Malcolm · January 24th, 2007, 04:21 PM

Thanks for the help.

The restaurant I'm filming at is right after school down the block from 4-6pm. It's not the most popular restaurant for sure, yet it has two floors. The second floor is more formal, so people don't really come in until later that evening. Unfortunately, the kitchen may still emit a humming sound.

They're not going to be too comfortable filming when the restaurant is actually closed, I bet. I'm grateful enough that they're letting me do this at all, but don't worry, I'll certainly let people know when I need complete silence.

My friend is handling the boom, and it'll be his first time doing anything like this. However, he has good judgments, so I'll trust him with his opinion on audio quality, he's just going to want to know *how* to do it first.

Steve, I'll look into SoundSoap, however Soundbooth does look quite easy to use...

Jon Fairhurst · January 24th, 2007, 05:05 PM

The humming sound won't be much of a problem, if you use noise reduction. The bigger problem will be unexpected noises, like when the chef drops a pan on the floor, or a car honks during the dialog.

For really inexpensive, yet effective noise reduction, try Gold Wave (PC only, I think). The download is free, and you get a number of uses before you need to pay.

Here's the process:
1) Find a bit of audio with hum only, select it and copy it to the clipboard.
2) Select the audio that you want to clean up
3) Apply the effect: Filter > Noise Reduction, which opens a window
4) Select "From Clipboard"
5) Set the percentage. (I usually go with 75% or less)
6) Apply
7) Save

The noise will be almost completely removed. The biggest problem with too much hum is that the dialog with be somewhat EQ'd at the frequencies of the hum. If the voice sounds too processed, reduce the percentage and try again. Find the right balance between a natural sound and noise reduction.

The other trick is to add some sweeter sounding rumble/ambiance as well as underscore. These are to the audio engineer as a foundation is to the makeup artist - they hide a lot of imperfections.

Peter Malcolm · January 24th, 2007, 06:26 PM

Thanks, Jon. I'm familiar with GoldWave.

I'll be trying out a variety of programs if time allows it. Experimenting shouldn't hurt ;)

Jon Fairhurst · January 24th, 2007, 06:32 PM

If your experiments find something superior (and not too expensive), please let me know!

Peter Malcolm · January 24th, 2007, 06:49 PM

For sure. I just have a feeling SoundBooth will be the program. They got a great little video in their Adobe promotional newsletter

http://www.adobe.com/newsletters/edg...cles/article2/

Check out "Video #1", under "Unwanted Noise and Sounds"

The removal of that cellphone sound and how easy it was is mind-numbing.

January 24th, 2007, 02:59 PM	#19
Ian Savage Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: England Posts: 88	. Well as a boom op the job of what you record on set entails recording what the camera can see, it's the boom op's job to know what that is and if it's a weird take for whatever reason go and ask the mixer what he'd like to hear and not hear, there are times where it's impossible to get everything the shot may be demanding, in those cases go and ask the director EXACTLY what he intends to use, there are times hidden mics are used, not then a choice of lav or a boomed mic, bit of both or all 3, every scene is different but the underlying point is record what the camera see's and if you do that you'll have had a great day. 2 years ago we (my father is a mixer) we worked on a 3 week drama, there was ONE line of ADR by the time it was released and that was an added line to the script later on, that's how it should be and how it used to be when I was a kid watching drama's being made. Oh and be prepared to tell people to shut the hell up if they are making too much noise :-)

January 24th, 2007, 05:05 PM	#21
Jon Fairhurst Inner Circle Join Date: May 2006 Location: Camas, WA, USA Posts: 5,513	The humming sound won't be much of a problem, if you use noise reduction. The bigger problem will be unexpected noises, like when the chef drops a pan on the floor, or a car honks during the dialog. For really inexpensive, yet effective noise reduction, try Gold Wave (PC only, I think). The download is free, and you get a number of uses before you need to pay. Here's the process: 1) Find a bit of audio with hum only, select it and copy it to the clipboard. 2) Select the audio that you want to clean up 3) Apply the effect: Filter > Noise Reduction, which opens a window 4) Select "From Clipboard" 5) Set the percentage. (I usually go with 75% or less) 6) Apply 7) Save The noise will be almost completely removed. The biggest problem with too much hum is that the dialog with be somewhat EQ'd at the frequencies of the hum. If the voice sounds too processed, reduce the percentage and try again. Find the right balance between a natural sound and noise reduction. The other trick is to add some sweeter sounding rumble/ambiance as well as underscore. These are to the audio engineer as a foundation is to the makeup artist - they hide a lot of imperfections. __________________ Jon Fairhurst

January 24th, 2007, 06:32 PM	#23
Jon Fairhurst Inner Circle Join Date: May 2006 Location: Camas, WA, USA Posts: 5,513	If your experiments find something superior (and not too expensive), please let me know! __________________ Jon Fairhurst

January 24th, 2007, 01:53 PM	#17
Peter Malcolm Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 53	Is that an option for Premiere? Perhaps I'll give the Soundbooth beta a shot. I've decided I'm scrapping my ADR plans for a ME66 mic and boom instead of the stock one on my Canon XL2, and I'm going to give a shot at achieving proper audio in this manner. My setting is in a relatively quiet restaurant, but I'm very nervous about any humming noises or chatter coming from the nearby kitchen. Any ME66 techniques? It'll be my first time not using a stock mic on a camera.

January 24th, 2007, 04:21 PM	#20
Peter Malcolm Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 53	Thanks for the help. The restaurant I'm filming at is right after school down the block from 4-6pm. It's not the most popular restaurant for sure, yet it has two floors. The second floor is more formal, so people don't really come in until later that evening. Unfortunately, the kitchen may still emit a humming sound. They're not going to be too comfortable filming when the restaurant is actually closed, I bet. I'm grateful enough that they're letting me do this at all, but don't worry, I'll certainly let people know when I need complete silence. My friend is handling the boom, and it'll be his first time doing anything like this. However, he has good judgments, so I'll trust him with his opinion on audio quality, he's just going to want to know how to do it first. Steve, I'll look into SoundSoap, however Soundbooth does look quite easy to use...

January 24th, 2007, 06:26 PM	#22
Peter Malcolm Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 53	Thanks, Jon. I'm familiar with GoldWave. I'll be trying out a variety of programs if time allows it. Experimenting shouldn't hurt ;)

January 24th, 2007, 06:49 PM	#24
Peter Malcolm Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 53	For sure. I just have a feeling SoundBooth will be the program. They got a great little video in their Adobe promotional newsletter http://www.adobe.com/newsletters/edg...cles/article2/ Check out "Video #1", under "Unwanted Noise and Sounds" The removal of that cellphone sound and how easy it was is mind-numbing.