audio: removing ambient beach sound at DVinfo.net

A.J. Briones · August 1st, 2005, 09:28 AM

hi everyone. i have an interview recorded on the beach using a wireless sennheiser lav setup. anyway, the audio came back nice and clear, with some beach background noise (waves crashing, ambient). i've been messing with fcp's audio filters to try and remove the noise but i have only been able to do the opposite (remove the voices from the wave sounds using a high pass filter).

is this possible? i am cutting the interview footage to remove the "umm" and "and..." sounds as well as the long bits of silence, and removing the beach sounds would make the cuts less obvious. also, i'm using light orchestral music behind the audio, and the beach sounds are currently overwhelming it.

please advise.

thanks in advance!

Zach Mull · August 1st, 2005, 10:40 AM

A.J.,
Did you record any ambient sound? This is a standard (and quite useful device) for covering cuts. Whether or not you have room tone, you should try using the parametric EQ, which is designed to dampen or enhance a specific frequency range or the 31-band graphic EQ, which is one of the audio unit filters. You just have to figure out which frequency you want to dampen by playing with the filters. You can also try using the high pass filter and setting it to 80 Hz, which is below the range of essentially all human voices. At that range, you're certainly not cutting out voice and you may get rid of some of the waves. Best of luck.

Kevin Calumpit · August 1st, 2005, 11:47 AM

just wondering which version of FCP you are using and if you have the lastest version along with the lastest version of Soundtrack apparently there is a feature in soundtrack where you can take out unwanted sounds. There is a demo on apple site on how this works but i havent put it to use yet.

A.J. Briones · August 1st, 2005, 11:52 AM

Hi there. I'm using FCP 5. I have the Studio package, so I have everything. I'll look at Apple's site... haven't really played with Soundtrack much, but I might have to now. Thanks for the tip!

A.J. Briones · August 1st, 2005, 11:53 AM

Oh, and Zach, yes, I did record ambient sound. I'd prefer not to use it because I really want the music to be more dominant (it's a subdued piece of music). I'll have to look, but I don't remember seeing a parametric EQ filter in FCP 5. Thanks so much for your help.

Nate Schmidt · August 1st, 2005, 02:50 PM

If you haven't been there already go to http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/...reduction.html for a quick tutorial on how to remove background sound. *The tutorial says you can preview the noise being removed this is a good way to make sure that you're not removing any of the voice.

A.J. Briones · August 1st, 2005, 04:32 PM

oh man... that is amazing! i'm going to try that out tonight! thanks so much!

August 1st, 2005, 09:28 AM	#1
A.J. Briones Major Player Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 275	audio: removing ambient beach sound hi everyone. i have an interview recorded on the beach using a wireless sennheiser lav setup. anyway, the audio came back nice and clear, with some beach background noise (waves crashing, ambient). i've been messing with fcp's audio filters to try and remove the noise but i have only been able to do the opposite (remove the voices from the wave sounds using a high pass filter). is this possible? i am cutting the interview footage to remove the "umm" and "and..." sounds as well as the long bits of silence, and removing the beach sounds would make the cuts less obvious. also, i'm using light orchestral music behind the audio, and the beach sounds are currently overwhelming it. please advise. thanks in advance!

August 1st, 2005, 02:50 PM	#6
Nate Schmidt Major Player Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Welland ON Posts: 515	If you haven't been there already go to http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/...reduction.html for a quick tutorial on how to remove background sound. *The tutorial says you can preview the noise being removed this is a good way to make sure that you're not removing any of the voice. __________________ "We've done the impossible, and that makes us mighty."

August 1st, 2005, 10:40 AM	#2
Zach Mull Major Player Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 273	A.J., Did you record any ambient sound? This is a standard (and quite useful device) for covering cuts. Whether or not you have room tone, you should try using the parametric EQ, which is designed to dampen or enhance a specific frequency range or the 31-band graphic EQ, which is one of the audio unit filters. You just have to figure out which frequency you want to dampen by playing with the filters. You can also try using the high pass filter and setting it to 80 Hz, which is below the range of essentially all human voices. At that range, you're certainly not cutting out voice and you may get rid of some of the waves. Best of luck.

August 1st, 2005, 11:47 AM	#3
Kevin Calumpit Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: San Marcos, CALIFORNIA Posts: 103	just wondering which version of FCP you are using and if you have the lastest version along with the lastest version of Soundtrack apparently there is a feature in soundtrack where you can take out unwanted sounds. There is a demo on apple site on how this works but i havent put it to use yet.

August 1st, 2005, 11:52 AM	#4
A.J. Briones Major Player Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 275	Hi there. I'm using FCP 5. I have the Studio package, so I have everything. I'll look at Apple's site... haven't really played with Soundtrack much, but I might have to now. Thanks for the tip!

August 1st, 2005, 11:53 AM	#5
A.J. Briones Major Player Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 275	Oh, and Zach, yes, I did record ambient sound. I'd prefer not to use it because I really want the music to be more dominant (it's a subdued piece of music). I'll have to look, but I don't remember seeing a parametric EQ filter in FCP 5. Thanks so much for your help.

August 1st, 2005, 04:32 PM	#7
A.J. Briones Major Player Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 275	oh man... that is amazing! i'm going to try that out tonight! thanks so much!