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Post Production Workflow (audio & video)
Hello all. This is my first post on CC but I have been absorbing knowledge on here for a couple months. The site is full of awesome information. A big thank you to all the mods and members!
I have been an avid photographer (hobbyist) for about a decade now and a few months ago I decided to turn the dial over to video on my 7D. Learning the ” other side” has has been a great experience and I feel as if that fire in my soul has been reignited.
My question today is regarding post production workflow.
I recently was given a project of shooting a promo video. I have been setting up and test shooting in the office for the last couple days and I have noticed that I will have to clean up my audio in post due to the HVAC system and some slight echo. The HVAC cannot be turned off and soundproofing is not an option. I am recording audio externally (AT875R & Tascam DR40 at 16b/48k .WAV). There will be two cameras a 7D and 70D.
I know FCPX has some great audio tools but I do have access to Izotope RX4 and would prefer to use RX4 just to have more control. I am confident that I will be able to capture great content (A&V) but I meticulously plan ahead, almost to a fault.
So my question is what would your PP workflow look like?
I have accès to Plural Eyes 3 as well but syncing audio in FCPX is pretty simple and of course I want to compress the content as few times as possible.I will be converting the 7D & & 70D files to PRORES 422. Should I sync audio before or after the conversion?
I’ll stop now because I have a bunch of questions and I don’t want to ask a million questions in my first post. : )
I’ll be patiently staring at my phone waiting for a reply. Thanks!
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2 Replies
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Converting your footage to Prores in FCP is a good idea from a workflow stand point.
Sound sync is matter of preference really, I would sync 1st, that way you will have clean sound under each camera angle.
Research “magic lantern” for both canon cameras, as this will give you video functions that will improve the video. Make sure to be using SD cards that are fast enough to continuously write video at the desired bit rates. Cheap cards will not keep up, and the camera will just stop recording, sometimes seemingly randomly.
Canons generally have a native iso of 320 or 640.
Running an audio cable from recorder to each camera can help puraleys work better.
Slate for backup.
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Since this is a first gig, I’m going to give you a piece of advice that you may not know yet: audio cannot be fixed in post.
Let me repeat: DO NOT make the mistake of thinking you can clean up the audio in post. You absolutely, positively, no arguments, cannot remove HVAC and echo in post. Noise reduction plugins screw up the quality of the audio that remains, and don’t get me started on echo. Did I mention you can’t fix audio in post? 🙂
However, you can minimize it with very careful setup. Don’t have your mic mounted on the camera. You’ll want to put your shotgun mic on a downward-facing boom, and hang it over the head of your talent, slightly in front of them, with the mic angled toward their mouths. That mic needs to be as close as possible to the subject, so it should be inches outside of the visible frame. Don’t just put it kinda close and call it a day–dip the mic into frame, and back it out slowly until you can’t see it.
This will not get rid of the HVAC and echo completely, but the closer the mic is to the subject, the louder he/she will be in relation to those contaminants, which means the contaminants will be practically inaudible.
If you have subjects of differing heights, adjust the framing and mic position to suit them. I know this sounds like a pain, but five extra minutes on set will save you HOURS of frustration in post. I’ve been working in video on and off for fifteen years, and have tried a lot of things to fix bad audio. None of ’em work!
Good luck on the gig. I can’t offer any specific advice on the FCP workflow (I’m a Premiere user) but generally, I would run the footage through the conversion before syncing, and do the sync afterward. I don’t know how you would be able to sync and transcode individual clips, so in my mind, you would end up with one big long video file with no references to individual clip names, which to me, is a pain.
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