I've just started editing my latest short and found something terrifing. The shotgun mic had a short in it. The one time I didn't have headphones to monitor sound, this happens. Throughout the movie you hear this crackle and in some spots the dialogue is almost too low to hear. The dialogue was delivered flawlessly and the actors I had deserve awards for this performance. A reshoot could take months to schedule and I'd have to re-cast a role. Is there any way at all to save this movie from the horror of bad sound?
"Try not. Do, or do not. There is no try." - Yoda
"Try not. Do, or do not. There is no try." - Yoda
Sounds like a job for ADR.
But, if the dialogue is still audible, and just contains the cable crackle or short pops, you could run it through an audio program or plug-in like CLEAN or iZotope Rx. They'll analyze the waveform, identify pops, clicks, distortion, attempt to isolate the issue, and try to remove or reduce the effect in the track.
David Schatanoff
D Studios Productions
David Schatanoff
D Studios Productions
You can also add ambient noise to cover the bits you can't actually fix as DavidScJr says.
Depending upon the scene you could have distant cars and traffic, a train, babies crying, or even a somewhat muted conversation in the next room between the electrician and a worried housewife over the crackling sound.
If you watch THX1138 or American Graffitti you can see that Lucas could have hidden any number of bad sound issues behind (1) technicians speaking in monotone (2) Music and DJs on the Radio. I'm not suggesting Lucas did that, but they overlayered the sound so richly on those two movies that it provides an excellent example of how it could be done if you did have sound problems.
RJSchwarz
RJSchwarz
Great advice!!! I cleaned up the sound as much as I could using Premiere pro (can't afford iZotope Rx) but it left me with this weird effect like I was listening through a cup. The noise is still there but I decided to use it to my advantage. I took rjschwarz's advice and added more noise. Not ambient noise but more of the crackle. Then I added an old film effect and dropped the contrast a bit to give it a grindhouse feel and it worked!! Now it looks like I did it on purpose. Awesome.
"Try not. Do, or do not. There is no try." - Yoda
"Try not. Do, or do not. There is no try." - Yoda
quote:
Now it looks like I did it on purpose. Awesome.
Personally, as a painter, I find this to be the essence of art. Not throwing away mistakes, but seeing if you can creatively work them into something else ... sometimes something better!
Soundsoap is a great program too for getting rid of unwanted noise and pops and crackles
SFXsource.com Sound Effects and Royalty Free Music
http://www.sfxsource.com
http://www.freesoundeffectsandlooops.com
You can also get a professional sound guy to work on the audio for you.
Hakim Callier
Music Composition
www.hakimcallier.com
Hakim Callier
Music Composition
www.hakimcallier.com
Ok, so it's finished and I'm happy with it to an extent. I still would like to clear up the sound a little more. Had a viewing on a theater screen and saw that the old film effect was not as effective as I would have hoped. Never thought I'd say this but my camera quality is too good. Is there a free (or under $100) audio software good enough to handle this?
"Try not. Do, or do not. There is no try." - Yoda
"Try not. Do, or do not. There is no try." - Yoda
