5 Replies Latest reply: Jun 27, 2010 4:34 PM by Bill Hunt RSS

    Audio Gain - Can it help a difficult track

    EckleySP Community Member

      Premiere Pro CS4.

       

      I have family members that are actors and I am constantly filming their performances however they never use mikes.  Some actors have voices that carry quite well, while others do not - then you have the random cough or movement from the audience to that spikes the audio meter.  In other words, I have an audio track that is very difficult to work with.  I want to boost those voices that are soft, and reduce the peaks (whether it be a cough or an actor suddenly yelling out) to a level that won't break a speaker.

       

      I've experimented with Audio Gain, but can't get the results I'm after.   If I reduce 'peaks', the whole selected track appears to be reduced - which means those lovely tiny voices you could barely hear before are even more quiet.

       

      Other than manually reducing the volume at those points that RED line, does anyone have suggestions of how I can accomplish this?

        • 1. Re: Audio Gain - Can it help a difficult track
          Bill Hunt CommunityMVP

          You have a couple of tasks in accomplishing this.

           

          First, I would use the fixed Effect>Volume>Level to Keyframe the Volume, as is necessary. Note: you could do Track Keyframes with the Audio Mixer, but that is a bit advanced, and being Track Keyframes, they are NOT attached to the Clips, and that can be a problem later - let's leave that for another day.

           

          This shows the fixed Effect>Volume>Level Keyframed to boost the Level, and diminish the Level. This is done easily in the Effects Control Panel. For "coughs," etc., one can drastically drop the Level, or maybe better, use Adobe Audition and the Repair Transient feature.

          Audio_Clip_Keyframes_01.jpg

          I have also applied Bezier to the Velocity of the Keyframes, so that I can control how "smoothly" the changes occur. One can use other attributes, as is desired. These are accessed by Rt-clicking on the Keyframes and choosing from the drop-down menu (shown for the last Keyframe).

           

          Hope that this helps and good luck,

           

          Hunt

           

          PS - get a good set of noise-canceling headphones, and listen closely. Also, this ARTICLE will give you some more Audio tips.

          • 2. Re: Audio Gain - Can it help a difficult track
            Bill Hunt CommunityMVP

            As for separating out elements within the recorded Clip, boosting some and diminishing others, that is a very intensive manual process, and requires one to use several types of EQ and Compression, plus a lot of Gating, and then one might not be able to pull certain voices out of the Audio matrix, as frequencies will overlap. The only way around that work is to mic the actors, but that is not possible in your situation. Recording good audio requires a lot of equipment, a good soundman, years of experience, a good operator on an audio board, and a bit of luck.

             

            For this sort of editing, I would strongly suggest Adobe Audition, many useful VST's (some free and some commercial) and a lot of both patience and experience, plus that good set of noise-canceling headphones. Audition also has many great Restoration features/Presets, but for what you need, doing it by hand and ear is the only way. There is no automatic, magic-bullet for it.

             

            Good luck,

             

            Hunt

            • 3. Re: Audio Gain - Can it help a difficult track
              JSS1138 CommunityMVP
              they never use mikes.

               

              There's the real problem.  Correct that.

              • 4. Re: Audio Gain - Can it help a difficult track
                EckleySP Community Member

                Thanks for the 'input' , so to speak.

                 

                This is not my first difficult audio project - having an actress for a daughter, I have been down this road before.  I was hoping for some automation help, but looks like  I"ll have to roll up my sleeves (again).

                 

                Best get busy.

                 

                 

                 

                I have dealt with

                • 5. Re: Audio Gain - Can it help a difficult track
                  Bill Hunt CommunityMVP

                  Unfortunately, there is no "magic bullet." What would need to be applied would be some form of AI, where you could choose what was "good Audio," and what was "bad Audio." Probably the closest that one can come is with the application of Normalization to the Clips. I am not a fan of Normalization, and expect to do things by hand in such instances. You might give that a shot, and be ready to go in and manually adjust some of those loud passages.

                   

                  Now, if you had things like hiss, some crackle, some background ambient noises, a program, like Magix Audio Cleaning Lab (linked in the above article), might have some useful Presets. In this case, you will likely not get that much help.

                   

                  Now, if you have done the edit pretty tightly, you might want to explore the Audio Mixer, as it will automatically apply Track Keyframes, when you have switched the Sends to "Write" or "Touch." I like using Audio Mixer to automate the Levels, but one MUST remember that it applies Track Keyframes, so if you change, replace or move Clips around later, the Keyframes do NOT follow the Clips, but stay on the Audio Track, regardless of how you change that.

                   

                  Good luck,

                   

                  Hunt