Audio Quality fixes???? help

[Michael Gissing]

For the record, I am principally a sound post facility and neither FCP or STP are pro audio tools for the difficult task of trying to make poor recordings usable. That is why giving proper advice is pointless. The sort of equipment I need to describe is not in your suite, so bat it on to a sound post facility. It should cost more to the producer when they treat location audio as an after thought. “Fix it in the mix” should be expensive.

What gets up my nose is that after mixing over 700 docos that audio quality has diminished over the years. Few programs take the time or care to get sound right. I hear all the editors grumble when there is poor vision and slag off at producers who let picture standards drop in the field. So when an editor asks what magic fairy dust needs to be sprinkled over dud sound it insults the importance of location sound. It also shows an ignorance of what sound post tools can and can’t do. Every day I struggle with wind noise, camera noise, mics in the wrong spot, cheap mics etc. With serious eq/compression tools and noise reduction units that cost four times as much as FCP Studio it is possible to get some improvement over shite. But it is still shite compared to a proper mic used by a sound recordist.

We live in such a visually oriented society that when sound is bad, some think there is something wrong with the picture. Similarly when mixing, some directors can’t concentrate on the sound mix if there is something wrong with the pics.

As editors, trying to fix poor location sound with STP or FCP simply makes the problem worse. I have seen very few picture edit suites with suitable speakers to even judge what you are doing to sound. Would you grade your pics on a $300 monitor? No? – then don’t try to do audio restoration on cheap speakers with inadequate tools. DRW I always get out of bed on the same side. This almost daily “how do I fix poor location sound” question always gets me grumpy. Just give me in focus HD pics and good sound and I am happy.

Please – stop trying editors. You are making the job for sound post pros worse by tinkering at the edges.

[Marcus Carlton]

Geez-someone didn’t take their anti-pissy pills.