Sound for Video Session: Sound Design, Balanced vs Unbalanced Audio, Post Workflow
This week we talked about several interesting questions on sound design and mixing, balanced vs unbalanced audio, and post workflow.
Here are some of the links we discussed:
Wikipedia Article on Balanced Audio Signal Chain
Recent episode on Improving the Basic Filmmaker’s Sound using Sound Blankets and using Auto-heal in Adobe Audition
Producer’s Choice Sound Blankets (Save yourself some post production time, frustration, cost)
How to Improve Your Sound Featuring The Basic Filmmaker Part 1
My friend, The Basic Filmmaker, asked if I would help him improve the sound of his videos. I was flattered that he’d ask! Yes, of course!
So he recorded a short clip, sent it over to me, and in this episode I have my first two suggestions for him on how to reduce the reverb in his room when recording and how to remove mouth clicks using Adobe Audition. The next step is for him to apply these things and we’ll see where we end up. Maybe there’s even more we can do in Audition to make his sound even better.
There are a few bonuses with using sound blankets. First and most important, If you use sound blankets effectively, you shouldn’t have to do any de-reverb work in post. Yay! Save all that time and money to make more videos! Additionally, the Producer’s Choice blankets are black on one side, white on the other. This means that not only do they absorb sound, they also either reflect light or absorb it (depending on which side you have facing the light. This makes them very useful lighting tools in addition to solving the sound/reverb issue.
If you’d like to learn how to record and post process your sound, be sure to have a look at my sound for video courses at http://school.learnlightandsound.com My Dialogue Sound Post Processing with Adobe Audition course just launched at the end of August 2016.
Visit us at http://learnlightandsound.com for more updates on how to improve your lighting and sound for video. Also be sure to subscribe to get new episodes every week!
Links:
The Basic Filmmaker
Original Audio Clip he sent to me:
His channel which is worth subscribing to.
The Basic Filmmaker University - free and paid courses on video production
Sound Blanket Episode:
Reducing Reverb in Audition with Acon DeVerberate Plugin:
Acon Digital DeVerberate Plugin for Adobe Audition (VST)
Izotope RX Audio Editor - State of the art reverb reduction processing
Which Audio Recorders for Filmmaking do I Use?
We have reviewed several recorders over the last several years at various price points and with different feature sets. While I attempted to be very thorough in those reviews, nothing can replace the experience of working with a recorder over a longer period of time. Now that I have more experience with each of these audio mixers/recorders, let’s talk about what I’ve found since I posted the reviews.
Recorders Covered:
Sound for Video Session: Sync Sound, Mic Placement, Reverb, and Orca Audio Harness
In this week's sound for video session we cover a number of questions including the following:
- Sound sync issues between audio recorder and camera or HDMI recorder
- Where to place a microphone if you can only mic a live event with one
- How to manage reverb in rooms with hard walls and floor
- Ease booming with an audio bag harness (Orca OR-40)
Orca OR-30 Sound Recorder/Mixer Bag, Zoom F8 & Sound Devices 633
Orca OR-30 Sound Bag and Zoom F8 Recorder. Note the Anton Bauer Digital 90 battery, Sanken COS-11D case, and Tentacle Sync pouch to illustrate what you can fit in the other side of the bag if you put your wireless receivers in the two external pockets.
A few weeks ago on the Sound for Video Session, I mentioned that when I'm booming microphones for a job, I use Orca sound bags. Orca makes incredibly sturdy and ergonomic bags. I say that knowing that bags are sort of like religion with nearly everyone having a different opinion. But the Orca bags really are nice. They allow you to access your recorder/mixer and other gear from every side with various openings and at the same time keep their shape with a lightweight aluminum frame and honeycomb inserts. All of the zippers can be opened both directions with multi-zips. Handles, shoulder straps, harnesses, and even wireless external pockets are all removable and configurable and, at the same time, incredibly sturdy and secure.
Clearly the guys at Orca have done or have someone on staff who has done some serious sound work for film.
I originally bought the OR-34. My thinking was typical American: A bigger bag like the OR-34 will fit my Zoom F8, an Anton Bauer Digital 90 battery and all the microphones, wireless, and other stuff I need for any job!
Sometimes, bigger is not better.
When you're booming a microphone or even just mixing wireless lavalier microphones, you want to be carrying as little weight as possible. Booming is physically taxing labor. The lesson I quickly learned: Your audio production bag should carry your recorder/mixer, wireless receivers, and as little else as possible. This way when you're actually on location working, you're not carrying any more weight than is necessary.
But wait, you might think, how am I going to carry around all the other stuff I need to bring to the shoot? That's where a "Go Bag" comes in. This is a separate bag that allows you to schlep everything you need to the location, but then once you're set up and camera is rolling, you only carry the minimum required - your mixer/recorder bag. You leave the go bag in some corner where it is out of the way.
I talked with the Orca guys at NAB and they mentioned that they also have smaller bags: The OR-30 for mixers the size of the Sound Devices 633 (my main mixer/recorder) and the OR-28 for recorders the size of the Zoom F8 or Tascam DR recorders (70D, 701D, etc.)
Recently, John Dingo asked:
I am currently looking into purchasing a OR-30 to fit my Zoom F8 as well. Do you have any shots of it fully loaded to share?
Deciding between getting the OR-28 / OR-30 sure is a tough choice.
Before I answer that, for reference, here's the Sound Devices 633 in the OR-30. This is the mixer for which this bag was designed. Note the perfect fit:
Orca OR-30 bag with Sound Devices 633
So this question about which bag for the Zoom F8 partly depends on how you're powering your Zoom F8. One of the challenges with the F8 is power. It accommodates 8 AA batteries in a tray in the back but once you're recording three inputs with one of them phantom powering a boom mic, you'll burn through those batteries rather quickly.
So my solution was to get a hirose to d-tap cable and power with one of my Anton Bauer Digital 90 batteries which easily provides enough power for a full production day (15 hours). I'm pretty sure that would fit in the OR-28 but it'll be tight. And remember, tighter is probably better to keep the weight down.
But if you're powering with the AA batteries, the OR-28 is probably a better choice. Smaller, lighter, and less temptation to carry around a bunch of extra stuff that you don't need to carry while booming.
Incidentally, the OR-28 is priced significantly less than the OR-30 at $179 which is a great deal for a bag that is incredibly versatile and is so well made, you should easily get several years mileage with it.
Tech Down Over
Rick and Geoff of the Tech Down Over show were kind enough to invite me on to their show to talk tech for about an hour. Good time.
My audio is distorted. I apologize in advance for that - the Skype meter indicated that I had plenty of headroom. Evidently not.
Record Audio Wirelessly to Your Phone: Samson Stage XPD1 Wireless USB Microphone System
Samson’s Stage XPD1 wireless USB microphone system allows you to record audio wirelessly to your phone, tablet, computer, or even to one of Samson’s Expedition PA speakers for live sound. The kit with the headset microphone is a nice option for those doing demo videos, whether that be exercise, cooking, or anything similar to that.
The headset microphone is ideal for demo videos where you’re ok with the microphone showing in the shot because it places the microphone on your cheek which results in very good sound quality and is immune to the clothes and movement noise you will often get with lavalier microphones. The kit with the headset microphone is priced at around $100 USD at the time of this review.
Linear Phase EQ Plugin Special Pricing
In our last sound for video session we covered high pass filters. One thing I showed was that applying a high pass filter can mess with your waveform's symmetry, essentially robbing you of headroom. Then I showed that the RX5 high pass filter, didn't see to have that effect.
It turns out that RX's digital high pass is what is called a "Linear Phase EQ" which means that it is generally won't change the phase of your waveform when applying a high pass. That's a good thing.
But Izotope RX is a pretty expensive piece of software and not all of us can afford that. As an alternative, I just received an email from WAVES, makers of audio plugins, with a deal today on a linear phase EQ (which includes a high pass filter) and a linear phase multiband compressor for $69. The normal pricing for these two is about $300 USD. WAVES makes quality plugins so if you are in the market, this is probably worth a look.
Why do Pros Use Zaxcom Mixers/Recorders/Wireless?
Consider this an educational piece. I am not trying to convince enthusiast and semi-pro film-makers that they need gear in this price range to make meaningful films. Instead, consider this a quick tutorial so that some day when you reach sound ninja status and you're working or assisting on a job where they are using Zaxcom gear, you'll be all set with a good overview of why they chose to use Zaxcom.
Knowledge is power. Here's some knowledge.
Again, not trying to sell here, but if you are curious about pricing, you can visit Trew Audio.
Tentacle Sync: Simplify Sync of Audio to Video
At NAB 2016, we talked with Ulrich of Tentacle Sync about their new little timecode devices and software to simplify syncing audio to video when you recorded them separately. We know that to get the very best sound, you usually need to record your audio to a proper audio recorder, separate from the camera. But then you have the manual process of syncing the audio back up to the video in post production. Tentacle Sync makes this much simpler by automating the sync process for you, even if your camera or audio recorder don’t have timecode features.
Tentacle Sync is the result of a recent successful Indigogo campaign and it looks like their first round of product have sold out but more should be available by the end of May according to their site. Also note that the software to automatically sync is currently Mac only and is included in the kit. The kit also includes a utility for Windows which takes the camera tracks and converts the audio timecode to file timecode so that when you do import the camera footage and your audio files into your NLE (video editing app), you can sync from there (not quite as fast as the Mac app, but still much quicker than manually syncing).
Special thanks to Scott Vanderbilt who was kind enough to bring his brand new Sony FS5 camera to film this series.
You can learn more about Tentacle Sync at their site.
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