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automatic level control – for post
I have to do minor editing and put several hours’ worth of seminars on the web. Some speakers are louder than others; some are conscious of the microphone and some are oblivious to it. Whoever shot it must have used manual control, and then not controlled the levels.
So levels fluctuate wildly. Fixing the audio the old-fashioned way, by actually listening to each speaker and adjusting levels on the timeline, would take more hours of work than the client is willing to pay.
Is technology my friend? It would be great if I could just set the level globally and use some audio filter that would give some semblance of Automatic Level Control. Is there an audio filter that is analogous to the “broadcast legal” video filter? I’ve tried AU Peak Limiter and Compressor/Limiter in FCP – no dice.
Thanks!
Bob C
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7 Replies
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Those are the tools to deal with it. The trick is finding the right settings for you situation….(might be easier in soundtrack pro).
You need to explain to you client the problems. Asking you to fix them without listening to them is like asking you to color correct without looking at it. (video legalization is not the same as color correction…a shots can be legal and still not match. You can have “legal” audio levels and still sound like garbage.
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I have never used it, but I saw some people saying they use Levelator:
https://www.conversationsnetwork.org/levelator/Do a search for Levelator in this forum to see others opinions.
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Thank you Ken! Levelator is absolutely perfect for this application. You just saved me several hours of very tedious and unnecessary work.
I did a search and found the discussion of this software quite amusing. Of course, the high-end projects merit a more time-consuming, manual approach. But every now and then even the best clients may need something fast and cheap, and a panel discussion does not deserve a ProTools session!
Thanks again.
John, I am very curious about what you said regarding the tools inside FCP. You implpy that if you know how to use them, they’ll be effective. I played with them for a few minutes, and have to admit that they don’t seem to do anything. Am I missing something?
Bob C
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“John, I am very curious about what you said regarding the tools inside FCP. You implpy that if you know how to use them, they’ll be effective. I played with them for a few minutes, and have to admit that they don’t seem to do anything. Am I missing something?”
You must be, as the compressor/limiter inside FCP will do what you need. I use it all the time for quick/simple jobs. I generally send to Logic for anything I want to be absolutely perfect. To get the most out of it, you should probably change the settings of the compressor to best suit each speakers style, but it can be done, and relatively quickly if you understand what the threshold and ratio settings do and can read the waveform.
Ralph
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[Ralph Atkinson] “it can be done, and relatively quickly if you understand what the threshold and ratio settings do and can read the waveform”
I need a tutor. Or a tutorial. I’m sure you are right, and I would like to learn, but where and how can I pick up this information?
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“…you should probably change the settings of the compressor to best suit each speakers style…”
Determining those settings and then applying them piece by piece to the recording is a pretty tedious operation. The Levelator is completely automatic and works very well in a wide variety of situations. It’s free and easy to use, so I’d recommend you try it out and see if you like the results.
Bruce
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