cleaning up audio in cs3 at DVinfo.net

Brannon Bates · November 7th, 2008, 05:05 PM

Hi, I have the cs3 suite for editing and i'm shooting on an xl2. Whe i get my audio into premiere i'm having trouble getting rid of the camera's engine grind and the haunting hiss on the audio. I've tried everything i know but the effects either make the dialogue sound weird or too mechanical. Anybody know a solution for the hissing blues???

Oren Arieli · November 7th, 2008, 05:26 PM

If the 'grinding' and 'hissing' is very objectionable, it sounds like you've got some issues with your audio acquisition (or worse, the camera). Too much noise-to-signal ratio is not the norm with these cameras...they are pretty quiet by themselves.
Are you recording whispered conversation? Are you too far from your source?

Anyway, you can use Adobe's SoundBooth to sample a section of the offending noise (ideally, when you recorded room tone..) and that becomes the 'template' for noise reduction. You'll still have to play with the settings to keep audio from sounding mechanical.

Do a search through this site, or go to Adobe's forum for more info on noise reduction. And be extra careful to record good levels in the future (as well as room tone, whenever possible). A little time spent in production can save you a huge hassle in post (as you are already figuring out).

Brannon Bates · November 7th, 2008, 06:14 PM

i am recording whispered conversations so maybe that's exagerating the hiss. You mentioned something about recording "room tone" when in production. Is that a setting you choose on the camera?

Bob Schneider · November 7th, 2008, 07:51 PM

No Brannon,

What he means is record some room noise "tone" at a time when there is no action. You can then use that sound (hissing, fans, cars, camera noise) or whatever is there, as a template for the sound that you need to eliminate in Soundbooth. In other words, you will point Soundbooth to that room tone as the sound you need to eliminate.

Julian Frost · November 7th, 2008, 07:52 PM

Not a setting in the camera, no... just turn the camera on and record a few seconds of ambient room noise (before any of the action takes place). This way you have the "noise of the location" without any of the talent speaking and you can subtract it from your audio using SoundBooth.

Ali Jafri · November 7th, 2008, 08:19 PM

You can also take a look at direct-x or vst plugins that help in noise reduction. Try x-noise or z-noise by Waves, that'll always do the job with some tweaking. Having said that, it's always best to make sure you're getting the best possible sound at source. Learn how mics work and capture sound, if you're too far or the source is too quiet then obviously you'll pick up more 'room tone' than actual speech and cranking up the audio level isn't the smartest way around it. A fundamental thing to keep in mind is that when boosting up audio gain you're also boosting up noise levels which include hiss and camera sounds. When shooting use external mics placed at optimal distances for best recorded signals. Try to see how much ambient sound there's already in the area you're going to shoot at, too much and that's no good. Audio is one thing that seldom gets fixed in post. Still, good luck with removing the hiss and grind.

Brannon Bates · November 9th, 2008, 02:28 AM

Thanks for the help. I ended up using "audacity" to clean up the hissing. It did a great job. For some reason using the cs3 suite to remove hissing gives the dialogue a computerized sound. If anyone else has hising problems I recommend audacity to do the work. Thanks again!!

November 7th, 2008, 05:05 PM	#1
Brannon Bates Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 27	cleaning up audio in cs3 Hi, I have the cs3 suite for editing and i'm shooting on an xl2. Whe i get my audio into premiere i'm having trouble getting rid of the camera's engine grind and the haunting hiss on the audio. I've tried everything i know but the effects either make the dialogue sound weird or too mechanical. Anybody know a solution for the hissing blues???

November 7th, 2008, 06:14 PM	#3
Brannon Bates Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 27	i am recording whispered conversations so maybe that's exagerating the hiss. You mentioned something about recording "room tone" when in production. Is that a setting you choose on the camera? Last edited by Brannon Bates; November 7th, 2008 at 06:14 PM. Reason: sp er

November 7th, 2008, 08:19 PM	#6
Ali Jafri Major Player Join Date: May 2008 Location: Karachi, Pakistan Posts: 210	You can also take a look at direct-x or vst plugins that help in noise reduction. Try x-noise or z-noise by Waves, that'll always do the job with some tweaking. Having said that, it's always best to make sure you're getting the best possible sound at source. Learn how mics work and capture sound, if you're too far or the source is too quiet then obviously you'll pick up more 'room tone' than actual speech and cranking up the audio level isn't the smartest way around it. A fundamental thing to keep in mind is that when boosting up audio gain you're also boosting up noise levels which include hiss and camera sounds. When shooting use external mics placed at optimal distances for best recorded signals. Try to see how much ambient sound there's already in the area you're going to shoot at, too much and that's no good. Audio is one thing that seldom gets fixed in post. Still, good luck with removing the hiss and grind. __________________ Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit // i7 2600K // 16GB RAM // ASUS P8P67 Board // NVIDIA GTX 470 Sony Vegas Pro 13 // Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2014 // http://vimeo.com/alijafri

November 7th, 2008, 05:26 PM	#2
Oren Arieli Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: San Jose, California Posts: 919	If the 'grinding' and 'hissing' is very objectionable, it sounds like you've got some issues with your audio acquisition (or worse, the camera). Too much noise-to-signal ratio is not the norm with these cameras...they are pretty quiet by themselves. Are you recording whispered conversation? Are you too far from your source? Anyway, you can use Adobe's SoundBooth to sample a section of the offending noise (ideally, when you recorded room tone..) and that becomes the 'template' for noise reduction. You'll still have to play with the settings to keep audio from sounding mechanical. Do a search through this site, or go to Adobe's forum for more info on noise reduction. And be extra careful to record good levels in the future (as well as room tone, whenever possible). A little time spent in production can save you a huge hassle in post (as you are already figuring out).

November 7th, 2008, 07:51 PM	#4
Bob Schneider Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Chicago area Posts: 98	No Brannon, What he means is record some room noise "tone" at a time when there is no action. You can then use that sound (hissing, fans, cars, camera noise) or whatever is there, as a template for the sound that you need to eliminate in Soundbooth. In other words, you will point Soundbooth to that room tone as the sound you need to eliminate.

November 7th, 2008, 07:52 PM	#5
Julian Frost Major Player Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: California USA Posts: 576	Not a setting in the camera, no... just turn the camera on and record a few seconds of ambient room noise (before any of the action takes place). This way you have the "noise of the location" without any of the talent speaking and you can subtract it from your audio using SoundBooth.

November 9th, 2008, 02:28 AM	#7
Brannon Bates Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 27	Thanks for the help. I ended up using "audacity" to clean up the hissing. It did a great job. For some reason using the cs3 suite to remove hissing gives the dialogue a computerized sound. If anyone else has hising problems I recommend audacity to do the work. Thanks again!!