Cleaning up audio (high wind) at DVinfo.net

Randy Painter · September 2nd, 2009, 07:36 PM

I shot a wedding last weekend. The wedding was outside and the winds gusted around 20 at times. Talk about ruining the sound from the wedding. Haven't ever edited a sound file but need some advice on clearing this up a bit. I have a mac pro with garage band and sound track from FCE 3.5. I tried messing around with sound track but its way over my head. I just want to tone down those gusts if I can. Suggestions please? tnks

Sacha Rosen · September 2nd, 2009, 07:37 PM

Rycote plugin I think...

Jeffery Magat · September 2nd, 2009, 08:18 PM

LOL..

On a serious note, you could try other software like Soundsoap, audacity, and things of that nature. The only thing with wind is that it has properties similar to white noise. Wind covers a broad spectrum of frequencies, so it might prove difficult to even get it to a reasonable level.

Don Bloom · September 2nd, 2009, 08:36 PM

funny you should ask. I just did a wedding about a month ago and the winds were going at 30 to 40 mph and I've got the footage to prove it. lol. The bride had a cathederal length veil and needed a leash to hold it down ;-).

Anyway I ran 3 audio systems-a shotgun on my stationary camera up front for face shots. I had a foam windscreen and a dead cat on it and the track was useless.

The minister was mic'd back to the DJ who supplied music for the ceremony and I had my Sennheiser E604 with a windscreen on it in front of his speaker to get the music and the minister. Yeah right!

I had the groom mic'd back to my #1 camera of course but he was facing into the wind.
Ahhh, you gotta love it.

Anyway back to your original question.
Like I said, I threw out the audio from my #2 camera. The audio from the DJs speaker was actually pretty good but only for the music, the wind was so strong about all I could get of the minister was wind noise so I pretty much depended on the grooms mic which did BTW have a quality windscreen on it for all the good it did. (actually it did)

I used a NR program to lower the wind bit by bit, small bites, so I wouldn't change the sound of their voices. I used a 20 band graphic EQ on the lower end to pull a little bit more out and finally, I used the track EQ in Vegas to get a tiny bit more.
I got about 40 to 50% of the noise out and that was really it.

I had actually talked to the B&G BEFORE the ceremony and informed them about the wind issue and that I couldn't guarantee the quality of the audio and they fully understood as they had been outside just before I talked to them.

They have the product and actually called me to let me know that they felt I did a great job on the ceremony all things considered. You can actually hear the vows. Woohoo!

Anyway a NR program in little bites, don't try to get it all at once. Once you get it close try a Graphic EQ but be careful you don't want to change the sound of the voices.

Good luck and may the wind be t your back ;-)

David W. Jones · September 3rd, 2009, 05:24 AM

Off the top you might try a high pass filter on the passages that need the help.

September 2nd, 2009, 08:36 PM	#4
Don Bloom Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 6,609	funny you should ask. I just did a wedding about a month ago and the winds were going at 30 to 40 mph and I've got the footage to prove it. lol. The bride had a cathederal length veil and needed a leash to hold it down ;-). Anyway I ran 3 audio systems-a shotgun on my stationary camera up front for face shots. I had a foam windscreen and a dead cat on it and the track was useless. The minister was mic'd back to the DJ who supplied music for the ceremony and I had my Sennheiser E604 with a windscreen on it in front of his speaker to get the music and the minister. Yeah right! I had the groom mic'd back to my #1 camera of course but he was facing into the wind. Ahhh, you gotta love it. Anyway back to your original question. Like I said, I threw out the audio from my #2 camera. The audio from the DJs speaker was actually pretty good but only for the music, the wind was so strong about all I could get of the minister was wind noise so I pretty much depended on the grooms mic which did BTW have a quality windscreen on it for all the good it did. (actually it did) I used a NR program to lower the wind bit by bit, small bites, so I wouldn't change the sound of their voices. I used a 20 band graphic EQ on the lower end to pull a little bit more out and finally, I used the track EQ in Vegas to get a tiny bit more. I got about 40 to 50% of the noise out and that was really it. I had actually talked to the B&G BEFORE the ceremony and informed them about the wind issue and that I couldn't guarantee the quality of the audio and they fully understood as they had been outside just before I talked to them. They have the product and actually called me to let me know that they felt I did a great job on the ceremony all things considered. You can actually hear the vows. Woohoo! Anyway a NR program in little bites, don't try to get it all at once. Once you get it close try a Graphic EQ but be careful you don't want to change the sound of the voices. Good luck and may the wind be t your back ;-) __________________ What do I know? I'm just a video-O-grafer. Don

September 2nd, 2009, 07:36 PM	#1
Randy Painter Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: st cloud, Mn Posts: 79	Cleaning up audio (high wind) I shot a wedding last weekend. The wedding was outside and the winds gusted around 20 at times. Talk about ruining the sound from the wedding. Haven't ever edited a sound file but need some advice on clearing this up a bit. I have a mac pro with garage band and sound track from FCE 3.5. I tried messing around with sound track but its way over my head. I just want to tone down those gusts if I can. Suggestions please? tnks

September 2nd, 2009, 07:37 PM	#2
Sacha Rosen Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada Posts: 86	Rycote plugin I think...

September 2nd, 2009, 08:18 PM	#3
Jeffery Magat Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Toronto, ON Posts: 186	LOL.. On a serious note, you could try other software like Soundsoap, audacity, and things of that nature. The only thing with wind is that it has properties similar to white noise. Wind covers a broad spectrum of frequencies, so it might prove difficult to even get it to a reasonable level.

September 3rd, 2009, 05:24 AM	#5
David W. Jones Trustee Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Little Rock Posts: 1,383	Off the top you might try a high pass filter on the passages that need the help.