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How do you minimize plosives after the fact?
We didn’t hear a problem on-set, but now I have footage where occasional loud plosives and breaths hitting the lav are rumbling the audio pretty noticeably. What strategy do you use in post to minimize the pops, without compromising the rest of the frequencies?
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9 Replies
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I have just isolated the spot and applied a rather severe low-cut filter.
Of course, continuous monitoring on good headphones is always recommended to avoid this kind of thing in the first place.
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I get great results using Izotope RX as in spectral view you can see the hot frequency and just remove that audio
Wis the audio available anywhere and ill give it a try.
PeterPost Production Dubbing Mixer
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Thanks, I’ll take it from here. I was thinking to use compression or downwards expansion but instead I’ll just go high pass filter between about 70 and 150 hertz, see if that works.
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The problem with a filter is it takes everything at that frequency out , even the audio at that freq that needs to stay, making it sound thin etc etc.
Izotope takes the pop out, nothing else.
PeterPost Production Dubbing Mixer
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“The problem with a filter is it takes everything at that frequency out , even the audio at that freq that needs to stay, making it sound thin etc etc.”
Indeed, that is why I apply it only to the few milliseconds where the pop occurs.
“Izotope takes the pop out, nothing else.”
Indeed. But sometimes just removing a couple of pops isn’t worth several hundred more $$$.
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HI Richard.
You are right, and applying a filter for the minimum amount of time is obviously the best way of using an eq for a fix.I guess Im spoiled / lucky working in a well equipped post facility that the projects we work on warrant the spending on the toolsets, and ive always got the bits n pieces available.
Peter
Post Production Dubbing Mixer
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Hello Mark and welcome to the Cow Audio Forum.
First, the only way you could miss this during production is if no one was listening, or they were listening on crappy headphones. Sony MDR7506 or Audio Technica ATH-M50 would have told you the truth. Get ’em. Use ’em.
Second, popping a lav? Were these omni or directional lavs? Directional lavs are a LOT more susceptible to popping and are seldom a good choice. Check your mics. If they are you really have to be careful with positioning so you don’t lose the voice, but when you do that you increase the chance for popping.
Omnis are a much better solution and if you get a popper, you can turn the mic upside down so it’s not aimed at the face and still get OK sound. You can’t do that with a directional lav.
Third, I have successfully edited out pops in Pro Tools without disrupting the word. Zoom way in and you will see a large positive and negative swing. Replace that very small section with room tone. You may see more than one +/- cycle, but usually removing the very first one does the job.
When I work on audio that isn’t linked to video, I just cut that cycle out because I don’t have to worry about timing drift.
Regards,
Ty Ford
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Yes, I have gone in and “diddled” the actual waveform for sharp, single (or low-count multi-) cycle pertubations. I frequently “attenuate the aberrant waveform down to the average around it so it doesn’t change the timing, but almost makes it disappear. I use Adobe Audition and it is pretty easy to drag-n-drop individual sample values.
Of course, a specialty tool like Izotope that Mr. Groom suggested is easier and faster if you can justify the $$$.
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HI Richard
Yes the time is a big factor to me.
When Im in a mix with director, production and a whole load of hangers on, the pace is high and results need to be instant.
Spotting an issue such as a pop or a clunk in the dub, isolating it in izotope, removing the issue and putting it back into the timeline, all within 10 seconds is regular in my life.
And of course my clients are paying good money, justifying the outlay on the tools. Its all about time vs results.
Cheers
PeterPost Production Dubbing Mixer
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