Turning a Shotgun to a Lavalier in post at DVinfo.net

Peter Malcolm · November 19th, 2008, 11:18 PM

Hey all,

I have edited a short to it's completion, and I realized how stupid of a continuity error I've made. Out of the laziness and maneuverable difficulty that we had as the entire short took place in a small taxi, we decided, for one particular shot, to remove the lavalier microphone from one of our actors and just take a couple lines from him using a shotgun microphone. Obviously, he now sounds completely different; even the average person can definitely hear the difference and brings it up to me as part of the feedback.

A stupid mistake, I know, and now I'm trying to fix it in post. Even if I have to go to a professional like Technicolor's post-production services in Toronto, is it possible to fix? Thanks,

Peter

*edit* Essentially I need his voice to be a bit bassier...

Warren Kawamoto · November 20th, 2008, 01:19 AM

Since there were only a couple of lines, can you just reshoot it? If not, ADR?

Jack Walker · November 20th, 2008, 01:23 AM

If you can't re-record the lines (as suggested above), try putting it into your audio editor, such as Audition (or the free Audacity) and with the graphic equalizer bring down the higher frequencies and raise the mid and lower frequencies.

That would probably do from what you describe, unless there are big differences caused by proximity, background, etc.

In any case, someone with some basic experience with an audio progam should be able to match the two lines fairly well.

Peter Malcolm · November 20th, 2008, 05:42 PM

Thanks for the responses, guys.

I won't be able to re-record as I'm actually on the other side of the country right now, but I'll definitely pull this into an equalizer and tweak around with it as per your advice, Jack. I'm pretty sure Premiere Pro CS3 has a relatively basic one that can do the trick; I'll update you on my results.

Thanks again,

Peter

Jimmy Tuffrey · November 20th, 2008, 07:09 PM

And if that proves difficult, you could do the old ' re-record it through the lav mic' trick.
Get the wireless lav you used and then stick it in front of the speaker and re-record the line through it. It will give you the same flavour.

Peter Malcolm · November 21st, 2008, 02:11 AM

Well, I'm not too sure about your trick, Jimmy, since the real tonal differences the lav mic offers are due to its initial placement on the actors chest -- lots of its sound comes through the chest, not just the mouth.

Anyways, I tried fiddling about with the Equalizer with my only basic knowledge and it's surprisingly better but of course not great, but I'll leave that for another day. One thing that actually helped me was matching the room tone of that clip with the room tone of the lav recording (in this case, the car engine). Thanks again for the advice, folks.

Jimmy Tuffrey · November 21st, 2008, 07:17 AM

Well it's on top of eq. Works best for noisy radio tx/rx where the radio chain has a lot of colour/downgrading effect on the audio.

Just an idea. cheers

November 19th, 2008, 11:18 PM	#1
Peter Malcolm Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 53	Turning a Shotgun to a Lavalier in post Hey all, I have edited a short to it's completion, and I realized how stupid of a continuity error I've made. Out of the laziness and maneuverable difficulty that we had as the entire short took place in a small taxi, we decided, for one particular shot, to remove the lavalier microphone from one of our actors and just take a couple lines from him using a shotgun microphone. Obviously, he now sounds completely different; even the average person can definitely hear the difference and brings it up to me as part of the feedback. A stupid mistake, I know, and now I'm trying to fix it in post. Even if I have to go to a professional like Technicolor's post-production services in Toronto, is it possible to fix? Thanks, Peter edit Essentially I need his voice to be a bit bassier...

November 20th, 2008, 01:19 AM	#2
Warren Kawamoto Trustee Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Honolulu, HI Posts: 1,435	Since there were only a couple of lines, can you just reshoot it? If not, ADR?

November 20th, 2008, 01:23 AM	#3
Jack Walker Trustee Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Burbank Posts: 1,811	If you can't re-record the lines (as suggested above), try putting it into your audio editor, such as Audition (or the free Audacity) and with the graphic equalizer bring down the higher frequencies and raise the mid and lower frequencies. That would probably do from what you describe, unless there are big differences caused by proximity, background, etc. In any case, someone with some basic experience with an audio progam should be able to match the two lines fairly well.

November 20th, 2008, 05:42 PM	#4
Peter Malcolm Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 53	Thanks for the responses, guys. I won't be able to re-record as I'm actually on the other side of the country right now, but I'll definitely pull this into an equalizer and tweak around with it as per your advice, Jack. I'm pretty sure Premiere Pro CS3 has a relatively basic one that can do the trick; I'll update you on my results. Thanks again, Peter

November 20th, 2008, 07:09 PM	#5
Jimmy Tuffrey Major Player Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Bristol U.K. Posts: 244	And if that proves difficult, you could do the old ' re-record it through the lav mic' trick. Get the wireless lav you used and then stick it in front of the speaker and re-record the line through it. It will give you the same flavour.

November 21st, 2008, 02:11 AM	#6
Peter Malcolm Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 53	Well, I'm not too sure about your trick, Jimmy, since the real tonal differences the lav mic offers are due to its initial placement on the actors chest -- lots of its sound comes through the chest, not just the mouth. Anyways, I tried fiddling about with the Equalizer with my only basic knowledge and it's surprisingly better but of course not great, but I'll leave that for another day. One thing that actually helped me was matching the room tone of that clip with the room tone of the lav recording (in this case, the car engine). Thanks again for the advice, folks.

November 21st, 2008, 07:17 AM	#7
Jimmy Tuffrey Major Player Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Bristol U.K. Posts: 244	Well it's on top of eq. Works best for noisy radio tx/rx where the radio chain has a lot of colour/downgrading effect on the audio. Just an idea. cheers