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Noise remover FCP 7?
Hi,
I have a problem with audio. I have footage recorded with a semi-pro HD cam, the audio is recorded using the built in camera stereo mic. It is a sort of interview. The voice of the interviewed person is quite soft and there is quite high level of outdoor noise (the window was open).
I want to apply some basic noise reduction filter, so that the voice of the interviewed person stays clear, but I don’t know which filter would work. I tried hum remover, and 3 band eq etc. None of them seem to do the trick.
I’m using FCP 7 with the basic Apple and Final Cut Pro audio filters available. I have basic understanding of audio and frequencies, but I don’t know how to remove the noise.
All advice will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks. -
3 Replies
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You were on the right track with the EQ but the three-band isn’t the right tool; too broad, you need a more precise instrument. Use the multiband EQ.
The usual way this is done, while playing a repeating loop of the bad sound, you first locate the offending band by boosting each band one at a time until the unwanted sound gets WORSE. Then you know you’ve found the specific range for, say, wind rumble. Now push only that particular band down. In an outdoor situation as you describe, you’re going to lower the gain on the very low bands and a bit in the high bands, hoping not to take out too much that’s in the human voice range. You could at the same time punch up the human voice band, between 85 hertz and 250 or so hertz.
Other tools I use on a problem like this are downward expansion and compression. I’m not an audio genius at all, more of a generalist, so I guess-and-press my way thru these settings until I hear what I want.
The noise remover tools or plug-ins IMO are not exactly right for this situation, they are more for a situation where you have a very defined, repetitive noise like the hum of a fridge’s motor, air conditioner vent noise, or buzzing overhead lights. Wind is usually too variable to work well with that noise remover. So multiband eq, downwards expansion or compression may work better there.
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Dave maybe right, but something to try is Sound Track Pro.
It has the ability to sample a section of the noise only and then remove that or those frequencies from the main clip.
It has worked pretty good for me in the past but depending on the the amount of noise and how much it intrudes on the voice range it may be a lost cause.
Steve.
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Thanks very much for the answers, I can’t reshoot the footage now. I think I’ll try the multiband EQ and compression as Mark suggests.
Cheers.
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