Echo at DVinfo.net

Brandon Carter · April 6th, 2009, 05:30 PM

I have a slight echo in some of my audio clips of an interview. What is the best way to reduce the echo with FCSP?? I'm not that great with audio so detailed instruction is appreciated!! Thanks.

Jordan Block · April 6th, 2009, 07:43 PM

Sadly, there's no such thing as a 'de-verb' filter. The only sure-fire way to remove echo is to not record it in the first place. (Not helping, I know.)

Brandon Carter · April 6th, 2009, 08:58 PM

yep, that seems to be the consensus. Fortunately it really isnt all that bad. Next time I will prevent it.

Chris Rackauckas · April 6th, 2009, 10:55 PM

There are some ways to kind of handle it, but they can get pretty knowledge intensive.

One thing that can really help is you can analyze the room using a frequency analyzer . Easiest way to do this is find a lot of places where the talking stops and make cuts DIRECTLY after this. This should give you a place with almost only reverb. Stack a bunch of the only reverbs next to eachother and then loop it. Look at the analyzer and find the room's main frequencies and cut those out completely.

Then, depending on the dimensions of the room, cut the low-mids or lows a bit (the bigger the room, the lower the frequency, just listen for it). Also, always run a high pass filter on everything, even if it's a really low frequency like 30-60 Hz.

Now, depending on the size of the person and whether it's a male or female, do a broad boost somewhere between 2.5k-8k since this is the speech clarity region. This way you can turn the volume down a bit and still understand the speaking.

If that doesn't do enough, automate the EQ or even use a dynamic EQ.

However, all of this still won't sound perfect. If you can re-record, do it. If you can't, this should help a bit.

Brian Berg · April 14th, 2009, 07:04 AM

Get the mic as close to the subject as possible. That'll help stop the sound from picking up reflections. That's why a lav is usually best for talking head type shots.

April 6th, 2009, 05:30 PM	#1
Brandon Carter Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Baton Rouge, Louisiana Posts: 76	Echo I have a slight echo in some of my audio clips of an interview. What is the best way to reduce the echo with FCSP?? I'm not that great with audio so detailed instruction is appreciated!! Thanks.

April 6th, 2009, 07:43 PM	#2
Jordan Block Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: BC, Canada Posts: 67	Sadly, there's no such thing as a 'de-verb' filter. The only sure-fire way to remove echo is to not record it in the first place. (Not helping, I know.)

April 6th, 2009, 08:58 PM	#3
Brandon Carter Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Baton Rouge, Louisiana Posts: 76	yep, that seems to be the consensus. Fortunately it really isnt all that bad. Next time I will prevent it.

April 6th, 2009, 10:55 PM	#4
Chris Rackauckas Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: USA Posts: 113	There are some ways to kind of handle it, but they can get pretty knowledge intensive. One thing that can really help is you can analyze the room using a frequency analyzer . Easiest way to do this is find a lot of places where the talking stops and make cuts DIRECTLY after this. This should give you a place with almost only reverb. Stack a bunch of the only reverbs next to eachother and then loop it. Look at the analyzer and find the room's main frequencies and cut those out completely. Then, depending on the dimensions of the room, cut the low-mids or lows a bit (the bigger the room, the lower the frequency, just listen for it). Also, always run a high pass filter on everything, even if it's a really low frequency like 30-60 Hz. Now, depending on the size of the person and whether it's a male or female, do a broad boost somewhere between 2.5k-8k since this is the speech clarity region. This way you can turn the volume down a bit and still understand the speaking. If that doesn't do enough, automate the EQ or even use a dynamic EQ. However, all of this still won't sound perfect. If you can re-record, do it. If you can't, this should help a bit.

April 14th, 2009, 07:04 AM	#5
Brian Berg Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Clare Michigan Posts: 71	Get the mic as close to the subject as possible. That'll help stop the sound from picking up reflections. That's why a lav is usually best for talking head type shots.