Air Duct sound in b.g.

[Craig Alan]

Sorry. I just took a ruler and measured approximately where I placed the mike and it was closer to one foot than two.

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Canon 5D Mark III/70D, Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV40, Sony Z7U/VX2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; FCP X write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Richard Crowley]

It doesn’t really matter exactly how far away the mic was. If the resulting audio signal contains such a high ratio of environmental noise, reverb, etc. then the combination is sub-optimal.

But there are a wide variety of factors at play. Such as expedience of production. For example if you are doing “run-n-gun” chasing a corrupt bureaucrat down the steps of the courthouse, there is a different expectation for audio quality. And “reality television” (which is anything but, IMHO) has somewhat changed audience expectations. Although, they go to rather extreme lengths to maintain broadcast audio quality with dozens of wireless body mics, etc.

[Craig Alan]

Not a fan of reality shows and the fabricated conflicts and plot points that get repeated over and over. We can’t do much about the room characteristics except build a better studio. But I am hoping to get the HVAC system fixed so we can shut down that fan noise which is amazingly persistent regardless of mike placement, type of mike, and gain levels. For the no budget films we shoot I’ve been pleased with the sound quality on some of the shoots. I have a poor ability to estimate distances but I did get the overhead hyper closer on our last shoot and it helped but Hvac noise just seems to reverberate all through the studio. I was told a HVAC contractor was coming to repair it and hopefully get the AC working in the storage room where we charge our batteries. Right now I’m just looking for a post filter to remove much or the HVAC sound that will play nice with FCP X. I’m trying out FC built in noise reduction – not in the audio effects window but I assume that’s what it is anyway. It seems that it needs to render before you can hear the final result. So I’ll try it on small portions of clips before using it on entire clips. Will try John’s suggestion as well.

Since the hyper is aimed down would adding a rug underneath the talent help at all?

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Canon 5D Mark III/70D, Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV40, Sony Z7U/VX2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; FCP X write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[David Patterson]

If the luxury of perfect recording environment acoustics isn’t available, definitely consider audio surgery in post. When no other options exist, I employ parametric EQ, noise filtering or audio gate tools in Adobe Audition, and find they can go a long way towards minimizing background noise issues. I think your audio could easily be improved in post.

I advise not trying to remove the background noise completely, as this will encroach on frequencies of the dialog and some natural ambience that you may need to retain. This process requires experimenting with settings to get good results, so do not expect a quick and simple fix. However, in cases where you are stuck with bad background noise, some fixing in post is certainly worth trying.