Sound for Video Session — Leveling vs Compression for dialogue sound & Q&A
When evening out dialogue or spoken word audio, most of us turn first to a compressor to do the job. It's the fast and easy way to get the job done. But, it isn't the only way and some suggest it isn't always the best approach, at least not on its own. Let's look at other techniques you can use to even out dialogue and how they each sound.
If you’d like to learn how to make great dialogue audio for your film and video projects, please have a look at my courses including processing dialogue audio in Adobe Audition and DaVinci Resolve/Fairlight, recording sound, how to use the Zoom F4, F6, F8, and F8n, and how to get the most from the Sound Devices MixPre series of recorders. We have a course on sound for live-streaming with the ATEM Mini, Introduction to Izotope RX for Dialogue Audio, and Mixing fundamentals in DaVinci Resolve Fairlight.
Gear I often use or that we mentioned in this episode. The links below are Amazon.com, B&H Photo, Sweetwater, or other affiliate links. As an affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases:
- Mackie DLZ Creator XS adaptive audio mixer — B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon
- Mackie DLZ Creator adaptive audio mixer (the original, bigger one) — B&H, Amazon
- Earthworks ETHOS microphone — B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon
- Allen & Heath SQ5 digital mixing board — B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon
- Sound Devices MixPre II Series Recorders - B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon
- Sound Devices 888 field recorder/mixer with Dante — B&H, Sweetwater
- Panasonic GH5 camera - B&H, Amazon
- Teleprompter Ikan 17" high bright — B&H
- Canon C200 Camera - B&H
- Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 lens — B&H, Amazon
- ATEM Mini Extreme & Extreme ISO - B&H, DVE Store, Amazon
- Rupert Neve Designs Shelford Channel, pre-amp, EQ, compressor - Sweetwater, B&H
- Universal Audio 6176 channel strip pre-amp, EQ, compressor — B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon
The intro and outro music for this episode is from Musicbed. Take your films to the next level with music from Musicbed. Sign up for a free account to listen for yourself.
Copyright 2024, Curtis Judd
Compression for Dialogue Audio - Presets for Video Editors - Quick and Dirty
Are you a video editor and cannot or will not round-trip your audio over to an audio editing app to compress and even out your sound? If so, here’s a quick and dirty way to use a compressor and adjust two quick settings to get your audio sounding consistent and loud enough. Not my first recommendation, but works in a pinch for videos that aren’t that precious or important.
Here’s how I’d really work on audio loudness when the sound really matters.
If you’d like to learn how to make great dialogue audio for your film and video projects, please have a look at my courses including processing dialogue audio in Adobe Audition and DaVinci Resolve/Fairlight, recording sound, how to use the Zoom F4, F6, F8, and F8n, and how to get the most from the Sound Devices MixPre series of recorders. Our latest course is Sound for Live Streaming with the ATEM Mini.
Support my work creating videos by donating at Ko-Fi.com
Gear used or mentioned in this episode. The links below are Amazon.com, B&H Photo, Sweetwater, DVEStore, Perfect Circuit, or other affiliate links. As an affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases:
- Earthworks SR314 condenser microphone - B&H, Sweetwater
- Schneider Radiant Soft Diffusion Filter - B&H
- Canon C70 - B&H
- Canon RF 24-70 f/2.8L - B&H, Amazon
- ATEM Mini Extreme HDMI switcher - B&H. DVE Store, Amazon
- Aputure C120DII LED Light - Aputure, B&H, DVE Store, Amazon
- Aputure Light Dome II soft box - Aputure, B&H, Amazon
- Aputure Amaran 100D LED light - Aputure, B&H, DVE Store, Amazon
- Aputure MC tiny RGB LED lights - Aputure, B&H, Amazon
Take your films to the next level with music from Musicbed. Sign up for a free account to listen for yourself.
Copyright 2021, Curtis Judd
Sound for Video Session: Compression for Live Stream/Dialogue and Q&A
In this week's Sound for Video Session, we demonstrate how I approach compression for live stream dialogue and then we cover your sound for video questions.
If you’d like to learn how to make great dialogue audio for your film and video projects, please have a look at my courses including processing dialogue audio in Adobe Audition and DaVinci Resolve/Fairlight, recording sound, how to use the Zoom F4, F6, F8, and F8n, and how to get the most from the Sound Devices MixPre series of recorders. We also just added a course on sound for live-streaming with the ATEM Mini.
Gear used or mentioned in this episode. The links below are Amazon.com, B&H Photo, Sweetwater, DVE Store, or other affiliate links. As an affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases:
- Earthworks SR314 - B&H, Sweetwater
- Panasonic GH5 camera - B&H, Amazon
- Canon C70 Camera - B&H
- Canon RF 24-70 f/2.8L IS lens - B&H, Amazon
- TA3-M to XLR-F Adapter cable to feed microphones to C70 or Blackmagic Pocket cameras - B&H
- ATEM Mini Extreme & Extreme ISO - B&H, DVE Store, Amazon
- Allen & Heath SQ5 Digital Mixer - B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon
- Sound Devices MixPre II Series Recorders - B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon
- Rupert Neve Designs Shelford Channel, pre-amp, EQ, compressor - Sweetwater, B&H
Take your films to the next level with music from Musicbed. Sign up for a free account to listen for yourself.
Copyright 2021, Curtis Judd
Live Sound for Video Session: Lloyd Puckitt on Compression for Dialogue
In this week's Sound for Video Session, we're honored to have Lloyd Puckitt join us and share some insights on compression. Skip ahead to 13:00 where Lloyd demos his approach to compressing dialogue audio and using side-chain compression to duck music behind dialogue.
If you'd like to submit your questions ahead of time, please join over at School.LearnLightAndSound.com. Opt in to the mailing list and I'll contact you once a week where you can reply with your question.
If you’d like to learn how to make great dialogue audio for your film and video projects, please have a look at my courses including processing dialogue audio in Adobe Audition and DaVinci Resolve/Fairlight, recording sound, how to use the Zoom F4, F6, F8, and F8n, and how to get the most from the Sound Devices MixPre series of recorders. We also just added a course on sound for live-streaming with the ATEM Mini.
Gear used or mentioned in this episode. The links below are Amazon.com, B&H Photo, Sweetwater, or other affiliate links. As an affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases:
- Earthworks SR314 - B&H, Sweetwater
- Canon C200 Camera - B&H, PictureLine
- ATEM Mini Pro ISO - B&H, Pictureline, Amazon
- Allen & Heath SQ5 Digital Mixer - B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon
- Sound Devices MixPre II Series Recorders - B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon
- Rupert Neve Designs Shelford Channel, pre-amp, EQ, compressor - Sweetwater, B&H
Take your films to the next level with music from Musicbed. Sign up for a free account to listen for yourself.
Copyright 2021, Curtis Judd
Compressor Settings for RODECaster Pro v2.1.0
In today’s episode, we show you how to adjust the compressor settings on the RODECaster Pro to get loud, great sounding dialogue recordings for your podcasts, livestreams, or video. These settings are available with firmware version 2.1.0 and higher.
If you’d like to learn how to make great dialogue audio for your film and video projects, please have a look at my courses at https://school.learnlightandsound.com including processing dialogue audio in Adobe Audition and DaVinci Resolve/Fairlight, recording sound, how to use the Zoom F4, F6, F8, and F8n, and how to get the most from the Sound Devices MixPre series of recorders.
Gear used or mentioned in this episode. The links below are Amazon.com, B&H Photo, Sweetwater, Pictureline or other affiliate links. As an affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases:
- RODECaster Pro mixer/recorder - B&H, Sweetwater
- RODE NT1 condenser microphone - B&H, Sweetwater, Amazon
- Panasonic GH5 camera - B&H, Pictureline, Amazon
- Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 OIS lens - B&H, Pictureline, Amazon
Get a free trial of the best music for your videos at Musicbed
Copyright 2020, Curtis Judd
Sound for Video Session: Timecode Hardware & Compression in Izotope RX
In this week's Sound for Video Session, we have a look at some timecode hardware options and briefly discuss compression in Izotope RX.
Links:
Timecode Generators Comparison Spreadsheet
Previous session where we demonstrated timecode workflow:
Previous session where we demonstrated compression/loudness normalization in Izotope RX:
Gear Discussed in this episode:
Tentacle Sync Timecode Generator - Comes with Tentacle Sync Studio which is a one option among 3 options you will need if using a timecode generator with a camera or recorder which does NOT have a dedicated timecode input.
Moze Gear TIG Q28 Timecode Generator - The other generator I use. Great, solid design which you set using tiny switches. No fuss, no fancy wireless, just solid timecode.
Ambient NanoLockit Wireless Timecode Generator - Very interesting new wireless timecode generator at a reasonable price.
Timecode Systems :wave Wireless Timecode Generator with Genlock, Wordclock and B:link - sophisticated wireless timecode, genlock generator/transceiver. This is much more expensive but also much more capable.
Copyright 2017 by Curtis Judd
Louder Sound with Audition CC
Many people, when they first begin recording and producing sound assume that if you get a nice microphone and camera, you can produce great dialogue sound straight out of the camera, no need for post production.
I haven't generally found that to be the case.
Without getting into arguments over what kind of gear you need, there's the reality that when you record, you need to leave headroom when setting your levels. But then when you're done recording, your dialogue isn't all that loud.
I typically use clip gain and compression to even out my dialogue audio clips. Once I've got it all leveled out, then I loudness normalize the dialogue. Then my audience isn't straining to hear the quieter parts or riding their volume control to hear everything.
Psychologically, louder sound also sounds better (a complicated topic that I hope to understand better some day). I don't mean audio that's so loud that its all crushed and distorted, of course, just, clear, present sound.
Dialogue Audio Compression: Threshold and Ratio Settings
I’ve still got a lot to learn about dialogue audio processing and one of the things that has tripped me up quite a lot is compression. I often seem to struggle to compress the audio enough so that when it is loudness normalized, it sounds transparent instead of crushed, doesn’t clip, and is loud enough.
For web, the recommended loudness targets are -16LUFS and -1.5dBTP.
This episode is a little more in-depth and assumes you have already watched our previous episodes on loudness normalization and compression. If you haven’t, you can find them here:
Dialogue Audio Compression (Slightly More In-depth)
Still have a lot to learn but feels like we've turned a corner and are getting better sounding results for my video projects.
Compression of dialogue audio requires a bit of finesse to be effective. While learning, I've sometimes ended up with over compressed audio sounding something like this: Audio clip with a regular clip control law compressor
So first, why compress dialogue audio? So that the purpose of your film or video is served. The audio should help tell your story without making it hard for your audience. It allows you to loudness normalize to the established broadcast standards or recommendations so your audience doesn't strain to hear or experience the pain of audio that is too loud or distorted. For those that will watch or listen on mobile devices with earbuds, they can hear your project clearly.
We've covered audio compression in previous episodes but kept the description super simple as a start. That approach is a good intro but sometimes it doesn't work out very well and your audio ends up sounding over-compressed, sort of crushed and un-natural. So in this episode, let's look at a couple of things you can do to prevent that crushed sound.
First, check to see if you even need to compress your clip. Most of my footage needs just a little bit of compression so that I can loudness normalize for mobile and computer viewing. In audition, loudness normalize and see if your peaks get clipped. If not, no need to compress.
Compression graph: Axes = input level and output level and threshold
First and most obvious thing: Don't use a crazy compression ratio. There's no way it will sound natural. I like to stick to 2:1 per pass.
There's still a potential problem: Compression is applied in a pretty abrupt fashion, right at the threshold
One solution: Soft knee where the compression is applied more gently over a span of amplitudes (dBs, or loudness levels). And this can result in a more natural sound.
Unfortunately, Audition doesn't come with a compressor plugin that has a soft knee feature. Adobe, that'd be a really nice addition. :)
However, Audition supports VST plugins (or on Mac, both VST and AU). Here I'm using Izotope's Ozone 6 "Dynamics" plugin which is a really nice, though somewhat expensive option just to demonstrate how it works. There are gazillions of other options out there, some free, others at a price. If you have a favorite compressor plugin with a soft knee and an RMS "control law", let us know in the comments below! I've also included a link to one or two free options.
Speaking of "control law", what is a control law? This is how the compressor knows when to start compressing. Most compressors work based on peak control. They watch for peaks that hit or exceed the threshold and then start compressing. However, another option is an RMS control law. Without making the explanation too complex, this is essentially a way to average out the signal so that the compression starts its work in a more natural way--its isn't so fidgetty. This can also help to keep the dialogue sounding more natural vs. a peak based compressor.
Attack - how long the compressor waits after the waveform has exceed the threshold before it begins reducing the amplitude (or volume in laymen's terms). For dialogue, I keep this quite short, 20 ms or less, often right at 0 to 5 ms. We keep this short because we don't want too much of the peaks getting through since we are trying to loudness normalize.
Release - how quickly after the waveform has gone back under the threshold that the compressor stops reducing amplitude. I often set this between 80 and 150 ms. If you set too short a time, you'll bet a pumping sort of sound, and if set too long, you'll compress everything. Fancier compressors have an auto release which tracks the waveform and releases at the right time adaptively.
Then we loudness normalize and set to go!
Dialogue Audio Compression
https://youtu.be/swdCWYskbpA How can you get clear, clean, present dialogue audio for your film or video projects? There are several things you can do but one of the fundamental things is to use a compressor. An audio compressor levels out your audio so that the loudest parts are not too much louder than the softer parts. Once you have compressed your dialogue audio, you can then apply a variety of other effects and at the end, loudness normalize it so that it is loud enough for playback for your audience.
This is another case where I used my trusty old Shure SM-58 and Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 DSP (audio interface) to record voice over. Not a horrible choice for that, I think. I use the real-time DSP compressor on the Focusrite so that I don't have to do quite as much work in post to get the voice over cleaned up and loudness normalized. Very old-school of me.
