audio tracks -> removing clipping

[John Rofrano]

Is there an easy/automated method of finding these events and automatically scale them back so they no longer clip?

Nope. That’s why we have sounds engineers. 😉

Seriously, you should add a volume envelope to your audio tracks and go through them listening for over modulation and lowering them where appropriate.

If you want a cheap one button solution, add Wave Hammer to your master audio buss, select the “Master for 16-bit” preset and adjust the output volume on the Volume Maximizer tab to -0.3dB and you will never see clipping again. Of course, this is the lazy way so you may hear compression kick in from time to time but you wanted a quick fix and this is it. The “real” fix is to mix the audio properly with a volume envelope.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Gilles Gagnon]

Thanks John!

I think this is just what I was looking for. I’ll give it a try. Didn’t even know it existed.

I do look at the overall track and adjust. however, without going into the whole story, I have a project where it clips a tiny bit in a few areas (too hot). this way I’ll just throw this this in and save me lots of time.

By the way, do you have a process that you use when you master an audio track (voice only ie. documentary)? do you have a favourite set of plugins that you use?

Gilles

[John Rofrano]

By the way, do you have a process that you use when you master an audio track (voice only ie. documentary)? do you have a favourite set of plugins that you use?

Normally I use iZotope Ozone when I master. It has a nice set of tools for controlling the audio and giving an overall sheen to the sound. If you want to stay within what Vegas has then WaveHammer has a preset for Voice that provides a good starting place.

I’ll create a separate bus for Dialog, Music, and SoundFX then route the appropriate tracks to those. Each bus will get Ozone or WaveHammer applied (depending on which you are using). This allows you to balance all of the various sounds easier. Every audio track gets a volume envelope and each track is adjusted to keep within limits. I spend a lot of time on my audio because it’s a large part of the video experience.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Gilles Gagnon]

Thanks for sharing your technique John.

I’ll definitely borrow it. I completely agree with you, the audio MUST be crisp and clear as it is as important, if not more important than video.

Cheers,
Gilles