Audio recording difficultys

[peter_g]

I use the a decent shotgun mike and a mixer hooked up to my soundcard to record audio. I get a low hiss that I feel I should'nt get with such pro equipment. Can anyone suggest ways I could fix it?

Thanks

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ October 11, 2003 05:48 PM: Message edited by: Peter_G ]</font>

[sn-films]

We do a lot of run-and-gun shooting, so some of our audio turns out less than spectacular. We clean a lot of audio problems in post. An easy way to fix that "hiss" in post is to use an equalizer. I can't remember the exact point, but I think you'll find that the human voice falls within a certain range of frequencies (I think 5.5kHz is the high-end, but don't quote me on that). Using an EQ on the audio track, drop the sliders above this frequency all the way down. This will remove most of you hiss, but be careful... if you're too aggressive, you'll start muffling the voices and the room ambiance.

Also, I don't know what you use for editing, but if your editor has any kind of track compressors, you may want to start playing around with that audio filter. Track compressors let you establish thresholds... sounds below a certain point get boosted, and sounds above a certain volume are reduced. This will give you a fairly even audio track that produces some pretty nice results, especially of you have a conversation between two people where the mic is closer to one individual.

Hope this helps.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ October 12, 2003 08:53 PM: Message edited by: sn-films ]</font>

[Alex]

Might be an auto gain feature on the sound card.

Going directly into the computer means the manufacturer gets to change your diapers, you get less technical choices, and lots of toys to "play" with.

Try recording your audio directly to a digital video deck, and then transfering via firewire.

[Nigel]

There is nothing wrong with going straight into your computer. I have a sound guy that does this when ever we are in his studio. That is why ProTools costs so much--The hardware.

I got some hiss on my MD once because of the blank channel--That my mono recording was sitting next to.

It shouldn't be hard to fix. Play around with your record settings.

Good Luck

[Alex]

There are lots of things that can wrong with sending live sound directly into your computer. The biggest reason being it doesn't exist as a true edit element that can be re-batch captured at a later date if need be. Eventually, you'll find that you've "lost" the original recording of your sound and can only find it in some mixed state.
If it still exists as a tape element, you can go back to the tape and reload it in, preferably via fire wire.

The second biggest reason is if the "sound card" is not a true pro card used by the professional industry it's probably a joke/very consumerish audio card with "RCA only" inputs and all kinds of potential problems waiting to happen.

And the third biggest reason, and perhaps the biggest of the three now that I think it about it a bit more is you do not have true in-out e to e confirmation/control over your audio. Most people never learn that the single most important aspect of ALL video and audio production work is to be able to send a signal into a device and have it come out the other side identical to the way it went in.

Once you've mastered that, the rest becomes second nature.

If one has the time to figure out why the software succks, then go for it. Otherwise see if you can capture your sound onto a legitimate tape based format, and then load that into your computer.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ October 17, 2003 10:31 PM: Message edited by: Alex ]</font>

[Alex]

If you do solve the problem, please let us know.

Is it possible that the built in microphone on the computer has not been disabled when you use the second mike?

That would definitely add all kinds of bad sound.