Masking Audio from Built in Camera microphone

[Eric Toline]

I doubt it and unless the audio is really bad no one except you will know or care. It’s always about the picture.

Eric

[Ty Ford]

Hello Rachel and welcome to the Cow Audio Forum.

Eric’s probably right, especially since you added music which will cover noise and less the room ring from the talent being too far away form the mic.

What do you think?

Regards,

Ty Ford

Cow Audio Forum Leader
Want better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide

[Jordan Wolf]

“I guess my question is can one tell other than an experienced audio professional that an external mic wasn’t used?”

Why don’t you have 3-5 random people view a clip and then comment on the things they liked and disliked and one thing they noticed that seemed out of place?

If what you talk about is an issue, you’ll find out very quickly.

Wolf
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[Rachel Miller-bradshaw]

Thank you everyone for the feedback. I had an advanced editor listen to it and it told me that the audio is fine. It sounds good. Now as far as the music I feel it’s drowning out the talent. What levels should music be at versus the video audio? Thanks

[Eric Toline]

There really isn’t any numerical value that can be applied. Would 6db less music be too much or not enough? Perhaps you need to run the voice tracks thru a compressor to make them sound louder. When the balance between dialog & music sounds right to you then it is right.

Eric

[Rachel Miller-bradshaw]

The client now has requested that I bring the music down. Since doing so I hear a low level of static. I read somewhere that deleting an audio clip helps. Is there a static and noise separator I can use? I don’t have STP. Are there any free downloadable ones online?

[Richard Crowley]

I presume you mean repairing clipping (vs. “removing a clip” which means removing a sound recording altogether.)

Repairing clipping might reduce (somewhat) the perception of distortion, but it sounds like your problem is at the other end of the dynamic range, your signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is too low. It would be unlikely that you would have both poor SNR and clipping at the same time.

There is software available to repair clipping, and there is software to reduce noise (at the expense of signal integrity). But it is almost impossible to make any recommendations without actually HEARING a good (uncompressed) sample of the problem audio.

Trying to fix audio after the fact is ALWAYS a compromise and NEVER completely satisfying or successful. It is mandatory to monitor audio while recording with good, occluding headphones. Not earbuds, not little fluffy foam things, and NOT “noise-cancelling” headphones. Recording audio without monitoring is exactly like framing and focusing without looking at the viewfinder.

[Eric Toline]

Would it be easier to raise the dialog than bring the music down?

Eric

[Jordan Wolf]

When you apply gain to the noisy dialog, the noise comes up with the dialog. I think that the problem could also be a lack of post-production headroom (the mixer/DAW is being run near dBFS for best S/N ratio and to take advantage of every bit available to it). Perhaps if the dialog is raised, clipping will occur. There’s not enough info to go on, but it’s an assumption I’m willing to make.

I think that applying a High-Pass Filter around 150Hz-200Hz may be very helpful in rolling off the room rumble.

I also think that posting an audio clip would be very helpful…

Wolf
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[Ty Ford]

Rachel,

Free, no, but I have had some very good experiences with iZotope’s RX declipper.

Regards,

Ty Ford

Cow Audio Forum Leader
Want better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide