Posts Tagged audio

Removing Audio Problems Part 2: Removing Hiss

Jul 29

Posted by Adam in Equipment, Technology, Tools, Tutorials | 1 Comment

Recently, I posted an article about the basics of removing audio problems, and the limitations that you face right out of the box when you go to fix some nasty audio. This time around, we are going to talk about removing a very specific type of audio problem: hiss.

What is Hiss?

Not to be confused with hum, hiss is a persistant noise on a recording that sounds like … well … hiss. Turn the sound up loud enough and you will almost always here some on your recording. A low levels, it isn’t much of a problem.

The problem is when you have hiss on a recording that is distracting – say from a bad microphone or from turning up low dialogue. You could also be trying to restore an old recording that has hiss on it. Wherever it comes from, however, it’s annoying and needs to be destroyed.

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Thursday Smooth Jazz DiY Roundup

Jul 8

Posted by Adam in Roundups | 1 Comment

The web never stops, it’s always moving and moving. We’re going to try and catch up with it with a little web roundup. So let’s do it.

Now.

Direct Actors for Improv

Home Film School Student has a conversation with an actress about being directed in a scene where she ab-libbed quite a bit (and they wanted her too). The content of this video is valuable if you encourage actors to improv during a scene (this may be more helpful for them, actually), but my favorite parts of this video are meta. Such as the dude asking “are we ready to go” at the beginning, and this “bored camera guy” shot.

I’m trippin! Check out the videos here.

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Removing Audio Problems Part 1: The Basics

Jul 7

Posted by Adam in Tutorials | 1 Comment

We’ve all been there before. You have a great shoot, and you get back to your editing system and discover that there was a problem with audio that you didn’t notice when you were filming. It sucks, because what are you going to do? Reshoot the whole thing? Of course not, and that means working with what you have.

It’s a common and difficult problem, so we are going to do a series of articles on how to deal with different types of audio problems and with what programs. But before we get fancy, we have do get down to some basics.

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2 Minute Training Series: Boom Mic Operation

May 27

Posted by Adam in 2 Minute Training Series | 4 Comments

Editor’s Note: This is the first article in a series of articles we’re doing on how to quickly train an unskilled person for any job on the set – in 2 minutes.

Operating a boom mic on a set is an interesting job. In Hollywood, there are people who just operate boom mics. It’s their job. They literally spend all day boomin’ it up, and they’re good. Real good.

On the independent/DiY level, you are very lucky if you come across someone who is proficient in boom pole operation. You should probably give them an edible arrangement and be best friends with them if you find one. Never let them go. Never.

For the most part, though, you will be going through a familiar scene: trying to train someone to use a boom pole quickly so they do a decent job. Could be for one scene or a whole day. Could be because you forgot, our the edible arrangements made your first boom pole guy sick. It doesn’t matter. You need audio, and your brother’s girlfriend isn’t doing anything for the next 30 minutes.

So, we’ve rounded up a few tips to make sure you communicate, and you’ll have some decent audio flying your way.

Boom Thrust

Photo Credit

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Podcast Episode #7: Box It – our all audio episode!

May 6

Posted by DiY Filmmaking in Podcast | 2 Comments

Have you heard of the talkies? It’s the new thing. It’s the thing where there is audio with the moving pictures. I’m sure you kids have heard about it. It’s all we’re talking about this week. Adam, Doug, and Lance talk about microphones, pickup patterns, best audio practices, and turning a toolbox into a sex machine.

Panel is:

Adam (@adamfairholm)

Doug (@thedougmovement)

Lance (@omegabane)

Picks

Lance K-Tek KE-89CC boom pool

Doug Fun with Rap Music

Adam M-Audio iZotope RX Complete Audio Restoration Software

DiY Filmmaking Podcast Cover

File: http://www.diy-filmmaking.com/podcast_files/ep7_box_it.m4a

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What is Ambient Noise?

May 5

Posted by Adam in Tutorials | 1 Comment

Yesterday we talked about an important audio tool that is easy to acquire and essential for a lot of sound editing: room tone.

Now let’s take a look at another situation. You’re out shooting in the snow, and you have a protective cover around your camera. You are just looking to get the shot – you don’t have a microphone connected and you are just using the internal mic. Afterwards, you get into your editing software and look at the footage. The video looks great, but the audio is – as expected – lacking. Since you had that protective cover on and were just using the internal microphone, you got sub-par audio.

Winter Wonderland

The thing to remember is audio is a very important part of the experience the viewer has when watching your film or documentary. You can show footage of a carnival, but what is a carnival without the sounds that come with it? I’m talking about the screams, laughter, noises the rides make – all of it.

In this situation, you would have learned something important about ambient noise. For the user to full embrace the experience of being out there on that snowy hillside, they need to hear the soft breeze and the even softer sound of the snow falling. They need to hear a high quality recording of that, as well. This is what is known as ambient noise, and it can make a world of difference.

There are two routes you can do with ambient noise in terms of procuring it. If you think of it, of course, you can make your own, but sometimes a smarter idea is to get some ambient noise from another source.

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What is Room Tone?

May 4

Posted by Adam in Tutorials | 2 Comments

You may have found yourself in this situation before: you are editing a dialogue sequence, and you need to add a little bit of a pause that the actors didn’t put in there when you shot the scene. You add it, play it back, and there is something very noticeable when you encounter that pause in the timeline – the lack of dialogue is not the thing that sticks out – it is the lack of the tone of the room that produces an ugly audio gap.

What happened? Well, inside of that gap is complete silence. Absolute digital silence. But wherever you are reading this right now, close your eyes and listen to the room your in. No room is absolute silence, and the quiet subtleties you are hearing in your room are known as room tone. It’s important to know how to use room tone to avoid audio editing difficulties.

Microphone

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The internet is chock full of how to guides for doing pretty much anything you can think of to make films on a budget. DiY Filmmaking is a blog that brings you the best and the worst of all that, plus great tips, tutorials, and guides of our own.

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