Audio question at DVinfo.net

Dylan Morgan · March 31st, 2011, 03:11 PM

Say that I split a mono track on my zoom and set one of the signals lower so to prevent clipping. Is there any way in Vegas to that have it all combined with the levels set perfectly so I don't have to find the clipped parts and replace it with the non clipped track? I thought normalize was the trick, but I guess that's to increase the gain so you can see the waveforms and it will still cause clipping.

Don Bloom · March 31st, 2011, 04:06 PM

yeah, normalize isn't the tool you want. Didn't quite get the jist of the question. Are you splitting the Vegas track? If so then you could use envelopes to adjust the 2 tracks so they work in harmony. Perhaps some mild compression on the clipping track but make sure to run each audio track to a seperate bus and set the pan slider on both the track header and the bus to 0 or -3 or even -6 if needed. Right click on the slider and there's a menu there to guide you. Gotta love all the different ways to control audio levels in Vegas.
If that's not what you are looking for let's try again.

Dylan Morgan · March 31st, 2011, 08:49 PM

I'm talking about taking a H4 handy recorder and splitting the mono track and setting the levels different (one being a bit lower in case I get clipping). When I place the track in vegas I can see that one of the channels is lower than the other just like I wanted. My workflow right now is to split the tracks (left/right) and place them on separate audio timelines, but perfectly in sync on top of another. I mute the one who's level is lower and find any area of the primary track that are clipped and cut that section out and replace it with the other channel. It's time consuming and would like to know if there's any fully automated way to have Vegas combine the two and remove any clipping. Thanks for the relpy :)

Leslie Wand · March 31st, 2011, 09:06 PM

why not simply use the 'unclipped' track? (add gain if it's too quiet in places)

seems like you're making a lot of work for yourself....

Dylan Morgan · April 1st, 2011, 12:46 AM

If I use the channel that isn't clipped then it's a tad too quiet. If I up the gain then I'm right back to the one channel that's set higher. When someone laughs really loud or whatever, then I can save that section with my other channel. Does no one here split there streams to be safe? I just wanted to avoid creating audio points and bringing up and down levels all throughout the clip.

Leslie Wand · April 1st, 2011, 01:43 AM

well. i haven't done that many stage shows, but i've done a few - and depending on budget those that haven't one (well, not a serious one!) get from a senny me88 on camera.

i too set two channels, one high, one low, but i have hardly ever need to use the high - the low generally captures the 'feel' of being there rather than riding levels to an average*.

ymmv

* that's NOT to say i don't occasionally play with the levels when necessary.

Don Bloom · April 1st, 2011, 03:56 AM

OK now I get what your doing. There is no single step to accomplish what you want to do but if it were me I would split the Vegas track to left channel only and right channel only, then use an envelope on each track and go from there. Yeah it's a PITA but in orfder to do what you want to do it's the best way.
BTW, make sure each Vegas audio track goes to it's own bus so you can drop FX in to that track only such as mild compression or whatever you might need. Also on the PAN sliders on both the track header and bus right click and set the level to either 0, -3 or -6 or whatever your preference is. Otherwise the levels will ADD together in the master and can make life miserable when trying to set a finished level.

Stan Harkleroad · April 2nd, 2011, 05:06 PM

Install the Modern Limiter VST plugin from Antress. Google it and it's free on their site. I often record music performances with two sources, one being a line feed from the mixer's record out and one being a set of stereo mics. I then sync them in Vegas and mix to taste and apply the limiter plugin to the master audio FX list.

The only problem I've found with this is in the past I used it on an HDV project and when I tried rendering with audio and video together it was all jumpy and skips. I had to render audio and video separately. However, I'm on a different system now and have rendered several SD projects with the plugin and haven't had any problems. This is just something to keep in mind if you use the plugin and have any abnormalities in your render.

What I would do in your case though is just take the lower source, download the trial version or Adobe Audition and use hard limiting to raise it up to an acceptable, non-clipped level.

March 31st, 2011, 03:11 PM	#1
Dylan Morgan Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Portland OR Posts: 70	Audio question Say that I split a mono track on my zoom and set one of the signals lower so to prevent clipping. Is there any way in Vegas to that have it all combined with the levels set perfectly so I don't have to find the clipped parts and replace it with the non clipped track? I thought normalize was the trick, but I guess that's to increase the gain so you can see the waveforms and it will still cause clipping.

March 31st, 2011, 04:06 PM	#2
Don Bloom Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 6,609	Re: Audio question yeah, normalize isn't the tool you want. Didn't quite get the jist of the question. Are you splitting the Vegas track? If so then you could use envelopes to adjust the 2 tracks so they work in harmony. Perhaps some mild compression on the clipping track but make sure to run each audio track to a seperate bus and set the pan slider on both the track header and the bus to 0 or -3 or even -6 if needed. Right click on the slider and there's a menu there to guide you. Gotta love all the different ways to control audio levels in Vegas. If that's not what you are looking for let's try again. __________________ What do I know? I'm just a video-O-grafer. Don

March 31st, 2011, 08:49 PM	#3
Dylan Morgan Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Portland OR Posts: 70	Re: Audio question I'm talking about taking a H4 handy recorder and splitting the mono track and setting the levels different (one being a bit lower in case I get clipping). When I place the track in vegas I can see that one of the channels is lower than the other just like I wanted. My workflow right now is to split the tracks (left/right) and place them on separate audio timelines, but perfectly in sync on top of another. I mute the one who's level is lower and find any area of the primary track that are clipped and cut that section out and replace it with the other channel. It's time consuming and would like to know if there's any fully automated way to have Vegas combine the two and remove any clipping. Thanks for the relpy :)

March 31st, 2011, 09:06 PM	#4
Leslie Wand Trustee Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: upper hunter, australia Posts: 1,410	Re: Audio question why not simply use the 'unclipped' track? (add gain if it's too quiet in places) seems like you're making a lot of work for yourself.... __________________ www.lesliewand.com.au

April 1st, 2011, 12:46 AM	#5
Dylan Morgan Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Portland OR Posts: 70	Re: Audio question If I use the channel that isn't clipped then it's a tad too quiet. If I up the gain then I'm right back to the one channel that's set higher. When someone laughs really loud or whatever, then I can save that section with my other channel. Does no one here split there streams to be safe? I just wanted to avoid creating audio points and bringing up and down levels all throughout the clip.

April 1st, 2011, 01:43 AM	#6
Leslie Wand Trustee Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: upper hunter, australia Posts: 1,410	Re: Audio question well. i haven't done that many stage shows, but i've done a few - and depending on budget those that haven't one (well, not a serious one!) get from a senny me88 on camera. i too set two channels, one high, one low, but i have hardly ever need to use the high - the low generally captures the 'feel' of being there rather than riding levels to an average. ymmv that's NOT to say i don't occasionally play with the levels when necessary. __________________ www.lesliewand.com.au

April 1st, 2011, 03:56 AM	#7
Don Bloom Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 6,609	Re: Audio question OK now I get what your doing. There is no single step to accomplish what you want to do but if it were me I would split the Vegas track to left channel only and right channel only, then use an envelope on each track and go from there. Yeah it's a PITA but in orfder to do what you want to do it's the best way. BTW, make sure each Vegas audio track goes to it's own bus so you can drop FX in to that track only such as mild compression or whatever you might need. Also on the PAN sliders on both the track header and bus right click and set the level to either 0, -3 or -6 or whatever your preference is. Otherwise the levels will ADD together in the master and can make life miserable when trying to set a finished level. __________________ What do I know? I'm just a video-O-grafer. Don

April 2nd, 2011, 05:06 PM	#8
Stan Harkleroad Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Gautier, MS Posts: 175	Re: Audio question Install the Modern Limiter VST plugin from Antress. Google it and it's free on their site. I often record music performances with two sources, one being a line feed from the mixer's record out and one being a set of stereo mics. I then sync them in Vegas and mix to taste and apply the limiter plugin to the master audio FX list. The only problem I've found with this is in the past I used it on an HDV project and when I tried rendering with audio and video together it was all jumpy and skips. I had to render audio and video separately. However, I'm on a different system now and have rendered several SD projects with the plugin and haven't had any problems. This is just something to keep in mind if you use the plugin and have any abnormalities in your render. What I would do in your case though is just take the lower source, download the trial version or Adobe Audition and use hard limiting to raise it up to an acceptable, non-clipped level.