[Bob Kessler]

ADR is a tough choice at the low/micro-indie level, which is my bailiwick. Most of the actors have a difficult time with the ADR process; a recording studio is an unfamiliar and slightly intimidating place for them. The biggest problem the actors have, however, is that they are months away from production and have “left the character behind” so to speak. It takes them a while to get back into the character, and they may have a hard time when they are unable to interact with another actor. The technical aspects also leave them a bit frustrated; they have to match the sync very closely, something else with which they are unfamiliar. Getting a closely synced performance that has the proper emotional content is very hard for some actors – they get the sync right but the performance sucks, or the performance is great but the sync isn’t there. Fortunately we have tools like Vocalign to make takes that are close to the original dialog fit the visual image.

Of course the biggest problem for low budget indies is the cost. You need to pay for the studio time. You need to get the talent to the ADR facility, feed them and, in some cases, pay them. The scheduling can be problematical as they may have moved on to other projects. Since they are unfamiliar and uncomfortable with the process the sessions can take a long time. The director, who may also be unfamiliar with the process, sometimes decides that s/he can get “artistic” about it rather than doing straight replacement.

Capturing the production sound dialog properly in the first place will save a lot of money and hassle. Selecting sonically appropriate locations goes a long way. I first try to replace problem dialog with audio from the unused takes. Although time and labor intensive, I’ve found it’s faster and cheaper.

Peace,

Bob
____________________________________________________________________
Filmmaking is the art of the invisible;
If anyone notices your work you haven’t done your job right.

[Bob Kessler]

It sounds like one of the units in your chain is defective. Things like that can be tough to track down.

Peace,

Bob
____________________________________________________________________
Filmmaking is the art of the invisible;
If anyone notices your work you haven’t done your job right.

[Bob Kessler]

DSLRs are still cameras that have video capabilities, hence the manufacturers do not put much into the audio implementation of their products. How much of the $700 worth of still camera do you think is allocated towards the audio? The audio implementation of most camcorders is not much better. Recording audio is not the DSLRs job, taking still pictures is; the ability to take video is a “bonus.”

Some of the noise is probably the “self noise” of the inadequate pre-amp. Many DSLRs also use AGC (Automatic Gain Control) that actually increases the volume of all the sounds present in the environment, including unwanted extraneous noise. There are some hacks – which invalidate the warrantee – that defeats the AGC. There are also external mic pre-amps that do the same.

This is why DSLRs should really be treated as film cameras and a separate audio recorder should be used.

Peace,

Bob
____________________________________________________________________
Filmmaking is the art of the invisible;
If anyone notices your work you haven’t done your job right.

[Bob Kessler]

Both the DR-100 and H4n suffer from low volume levels when used for production sound. They are aimed at the music crowd, and its higher volume levels. If I had to choose between the two I would lean towards the the DR-100; the build is much more solid. I’ve heard too many stories where the H4n was turned into a paperweight after being dropped.

If you can scratch up the extra cash go with the Marantz PMD-661, Fostex FR2-LE or Tascam HD-P2, all in the $600 to $800 range – entry level professional devices with much better pre-amps and real production sound features

Peace,

Bob
____________________________________________________________________
Filmmaking is the art of the invisible;
If anyone notices your work you haven’t done your job right.

[Bob Kessler]

XLR connections are “locked”, which means that they are more secure. Low impedance (grounded/shielded) devices, which are usually associated with XLR, also means longer cable runs and less audio interference. These prosumer and professional devices also tend to have more, or at least more focused, production sound related features.

Peace,

Bob
____________________________________________________________________
Filmmaking is the art of the invisible;
If anyone notices your work you haven’t done your job right.

[Bob Kessler]

A little touch of reverb, especially an IR reverb, is a help. Now, on to the important stuff… Do you have a room tone? And how about sound FX and Foley? Sit down and listen to the original audio. Despite the poor quality – I would assume that is why you are doing ADR – there is lots of real world “motion”; you hear the ambience or the location (room tone) plus the sounds created by the puppets and the puppeteers. You have to treat even puppetry as tradition film sound when you replace the original dialog.

Next time you should try to capture the audio properly in the first place; it will save you lots of time and headaches.

Peace,

Bob
____________________________________________________________________
Filmmaking is the art of the invisible;
If anyone notices your work you haven’t done your job right.

[Bob Kessler]

It’s not really clear… Do you want to capture dialog on-set, or are you looking to do a voice-over narration after the fact? Each requires a different approach and different gear.

Peace,

Bob
____________________________________________________________________
Filmmaking is the art of the invisible;
If anyone notices your work you haven’t done your job right.

[Bob Kessler]

What camera are you using?

Peace,

Bob
____________________________________________________________________
Filmmaking is the art of the invisible;
If anyone notices your work you haven’t done your job right.

[Bob Kessler]

The “Automatic Level Control” (ALC) of the PMD-661 is more of a limiter than the “Automatic Gain Control” (AGC) in most camcorders that compresses the audio to death, raising the volume of everything that is recorded.

So yes, the audio will sound A LOT better than what you are used to, but you still have to be aware of hitting the limiter too hard as this will induce very noticeable artifacts in your recordings.

Another thing that makes the audio sound better is the fact that the PMD-661 is a dedicated audio recorder, so the mic pre-amps are far superior than what you were used to on your camcorder or DSLR.

Peace,

Bob
____________________________________________________________________
Filmmaking is the art of the invisible;
If anyone notices your work you haven’t done your job right.

[Bob Kessler]

https://groups.yahoo.com/group/sound-article-list/

https://groups.yahoo.com/group/sound_design/

Peace,

Bob
____________________________________________________________________
Filmmaking is the art of the invisible;
If anyone notices your work you haven’t done your job right.