Sound for Video Session: Edit/Mix Room Tour 2018

After several requests and despite my prior objections, this week’s episode is a virtual tour of my mix/edit room. This is where I edit all of my videos, edit and mix the sound for these videos, and generally work. I hesitated to do this because I don’t want anyone to think that you have to have expensive tools to edit and mix good sound for video. You can start with a basic computer and set of headphones. Once you’re getting paid to mix and edit sound for video, then it generally makes sense to invest in some tools that will help you get the job done more efficiently.

Please consider my sound for film courses.

Gear and links discussed/used to record this episode:

Sennheiser MKH 8050 (Amazon) Supercardioid boom microphone

Oktava MK-012 (Amazon) Cardioid boom microphone

Schoeps CMCmk41 Supercardioid boom microphone

Furman PL-8C (Amazon) Power Conditioner

Universal Audio Apollo x6 Thunderbolt 3 Audio Interface with 5.1 surround monitoring

Focal Solo6 Be Powered Reference Monitors (Speakers)

Mackie 802VLZ4 (Amazon) Analogue Mixer

Sony MDR-7506 (Amazon) Closed Back Headphones - my first choice for when I’m recording/mixing on location

Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro (Amazon) - my second choice for when I’m recording/mixing on location

Beyerdynamic DT880 Pro (Amazon) Semi-open Back Headphones - my first choice for reasonably priced mixing headphones

Sennheiser HD820 Closed Back Reference Headphones - My favorite very expensive headphones for mixing

Golden Age Project Pre-73mkIII (Amazon) - A modern day copy of the Neve 1073 preamp. All analogue. Fuzzy and warm

Golden Age Project R1 Active mkIII (Amazon) - A reasonably priced ribbon microphone with a smooth high frequency roll-off which I like for recording voiceover and harsh instruments. Smooth

Electrovoice RE20 (Amazon) Dynamic Broadcast Microphone

Allen & Heath SQ5 Digital Mixer/Audio Interface

Blackmagic Pocket cinema Camera 4K - used to shoot this episode

Copyright 2018 by Curtis Judd

Outro music licensed from Artlist: Keep an Eye by Back to Dream.

Dialogue Editing for Film Demo

Editing the dialogue sound for your film and video projects can seem a little daunting, especially when you have two or more actors, each with a wireless lavalier microphone plus a boom microphone. How do you edit all those tracks? Do you just keep the boom and lavalier mics? Won’t it sound richer if you do keep them all?

It turns out that it generally will sound quite a bit worse if you keep them all and the main reason for using both lavalier microphones and a boom microphone is to give yourself options to use the best sounding mic in for each dialogue line.

In this demo, we show the basics on how to start a dialogue edit using Adobe audition. In this demo, we exported the edit of the film from Final Cut Pro X.

If you’d like to learn how to make great dialogue audio for your film and video projects, please have a look at my courses at my school including processing dialogue audio, recording sound, how to use the Zoom F8 and F8n, and how to get the most from the Sound Devices MixPre series of recorders.

Links to gear used to record the film and this video:

XToCC - app to convert XML from Final Cut Pro to XML that Adobe Audition can use:

Electrovoice RE20 - The mic I used to record my voiceover for this tutorial

Universal Audio Apollo X6 - Microphone preamp and Thunderbolt 3 Audio Interface used to record my voiceover for this tutorial.

Aputure COB120dmkII - Key light for lighting Amanda

Aputure Light Dome II - Newer version of the big soft box with faster setup and gel holder

Lupo Superpanel Full Color 30 - RGB 1x1 panel light for Lighting Bridget

Audio Ltd A10 Wireless Microphone System - Used for Bridget and Amandas lavalier microphones

Countryman B6 Lavalier Microphone - Bridget’s lavalier mic

DPA 4160 Lavalier Microphone - Amanda’s lavalier mic

Sound Devices 633 Audio Recorder/Mixer - Field recorder used to record the film sound

Sennheiser MKH 8050 - This is the boom mic used to record the film

Copyright 2018 by Curtis Judd

Music Copyright 2018 by Cary Judd. Used with permission.

Sound for Video Session: Q&A

In this week's live Sound for Video Session, we'll take a shot at answering your sound for video questions. You can submit them live, or for future sessions, just sign up for free over at http://school.learnlightandsound.com and I'll email you when its time to submit.

Gear discussed in this episode:

dbx286s Vocal Channel Strip - an analogue preamp, compressor, de-esser which can be useful for live streaming

Oscar SoundTech Lavalier Microphones

Lavalier Microphones:
DPA 4160
Sanken COS-11D
Countryman B6
Voice Technologies VT500

Copyright 2018 by Curtis Judd

Sound for video Session: Q&A

In this week’s live streaming session, we took sound for video related questions from many of you!

Gear and links discussed/used to record this episode: 

Zoom F8n Audio Field Recorder (2018):

Electrovoice RE20 Broadcast Microphone

Panasonic GH5s Camera - first time using this as a live stream cam. What do you think?

Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 OIS Lens

Blackmagic Design Ultrastudio Mini Recorder - This takes the HDMI output from camera to the computer so we can stream it

3.5mm TRS to dual 3.5mm TRS adapter cable- asked about a breakout on the session, here’s one option

Heil PL2T Desk Boom Arm for Microphone

Copyright 2018 by Curtis Judd

Accusonus ERA-D: Remove Noise and Reverb From Your Audio

One of the big challenges with recording on location is that you cannot always control noise or reverberation on the set. And while you can use things like sound blankets to help in some cases, sometimes you just don’t have enough blankets or time. On one job last year, I worked on a location near a major interstate highway which was chosen for its appearance, not its lack of noise. In cases like this, ERA-D from Accusonus can help you clean up the noise and reverb in your recordings like no other plugin I’ve used before.

Links to gear discussed and used to shoot this episode:

Accusonus ERA Plugin Bundles

DPA 4017b Shotgun Microphone

Countryman B6 Lavalier Microphone

Sound Devices 633 Audio Field Mixer/Recorder

Copyright 2018 by Curtis Judd 

Music - MzA - Copyright 2017 by Cary Judd, used with permission

Sound for Video Session: Q&A - Timecode Generators, Sennheiser vs. RODE Wireless, and More

In this week’s sound for video session, we answer your questions!

00:20 Can I use the timecode generator in my recorder and then just buy generators for each camera (GH5 and GoPro)?
02:13 What is the difference between the Zoom F8n and Sound Devices MixPre-10T?
04:26 Can I use a Tentacle Sync connected to my computer with Screenflow?
05:43 Sennheiser G3/G4 vs RODELink for long interviews (4-8 hours)?
06:38 Connect audio recorder to an ATOMOS video recorder?
08:19 How do I power all of this stuff for 8 hours since I will not always have AC power?
10:20 Small Traveling light recommendation? (Aputure F7)
11:38 How do you transport your camera/audio recorder when flying?
13:44 Sennheiser 416 or RODE VideoMic Pro+ & Ursa Mini Pro?
17:09 How do you control the order that effects/plugins are applied in a DAW?
21:26 Is there such a thing as an acceptable amount of timecode drift?

Previous episodes referenced - Sound Devices MixPre Re-mix Demo:

ZOOM F8n First Impressions:

Sound Devices MixPre-10T Review:

Previous Sound for Video Session where we covered batteries:

Sound Bag Tour:

Please consider my sound for film classes available over at http://school.learnlightandsound.com

Gear and links discussed/used to record this episode: 

Dummy Battery adapter for Panasonic GH cameras (D-Tap to GH camera) - power your Panasonic GH camera for hours with a cine style batter like the JuiceBox below.

JuiceBox V-Mount Battery - cine battery that can also power your recorder
 
Zacuto Zwiss Plate V2 to attach the cine battery to your camera rig (requires rods)

V-Mount Battery Plate to hold the battery to the cheese plate

Aputure COB120D LED Light

Sennheiser MKH-416 Shotgun Microphone

RODE VideoMic Pro+ - Camera shoe mount shotgun microphone

Sound Devices MixPre-3 Audio recorder/mixer

Sound Devices MixPre-6 Audio recorder/mixer

Sound Devices MixPre-10T Audio recorder/mixer with timecode generator

D-Tap to Hirose Adapter Cable - to use a cine battery with your Zoom F4, F8, F8n or Sound Devices MixPre-10T

Electrovoice RE20 Dynamic Broadcast Microphone - used to record this session

Sound Devices 633 Audio Recorder/Mixer - Used this as the preamp for the microphone and then fed the audio to the camera in this episode

Copyright 2018 by Curtis Judd

Outro music licensed from Artlist: Sunday by Young Pixies - Amazing Journey. Artlist provides high quality music tracks for your film and video projects. You can receive two months off an Artlist account by using our link.

Adobe Audition Analysis Tools

Adobe Audition is an incredibly powerful, rich tool for editing and mixing your sound for film and video projects. Sometimes something doesn’t sound as great as you’d like but you can’t quite put your finger on it. That’s where the analysis tools in Audition can help. Here we quickly show the amplitude statistics, frequency analysis, spectral frequency display, phase analysis, and spectral pitch views. Let us know if you’d like to learn more about one of these.

Links to gear discussed and used to shoot this episode:

Sennheiser MKH8050 Boom Microphone - this is the microphone I used

Sound Devices 633 Audio Recorder/Mixer

Aputure COB 120t - This is the light I used as a key in the talking head clips

Aputure Light Dome Soft Box - Used to soften the key light

Lupo DayLED Fresnel Light with Barn Doors - Used for the “rim/hair” light

Blackmagic design Ursa Mini Pro Cinema Camera - used for the talking headt shots in this video

Sigma ART 24-70mm f/2.8 OS Lens (Canon EF Mount) - Used this lens on the Ursa Mini Pro

Panasonic GH5 - My most versatile small camera for video

Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 OIS Lens - incredibly versatile lens that is on the GH5 most of the time

Copyright 2018 by Curtis Judd 

Music - MzA by Cary Judd, used with permission

Sound for Video Session: Fairlight Audio First Impressions

In this week’s Sound for Video Session, we take a first look at DaVinci Resolve 15 Beta’s Fairlight audio panel. This is a full-fledged digital audio workstation (DAW) within a comprehensive video editing, compositing, grading, and finishing application. We aren’t going to dig into all the details, but try to answer the question about whether one can now switch to DaVinci Resolve for audio mixing? The answer is different for everyone, but I hope you find this helpful in making the decision for yourself.

**Update: Several astute viewers have pointed out that you can set the loudness target (LUFS) in the settings. That's great news! It still is not an offline process - still need to play through the entire piece - but it is a step in the right direction.

Gear and links discussed/used to record this episode: 

DaVinci Resolve with Fairlight Audio (beta or production and free or Studio versions)

Electrovoice RE20 Dynamic Broadcast Microphone

Allen & Heath SQ5 Digital Mixer/Audio Interface - This is my first time using this to record a Sound for Video Session. Seems like it worked nicely.

Copyright 2018 by Curtis Judd

Outro music licensed from Artlist: Keep an Eye by Back to Dream. Artlist provides high quality music tracks for your film and video projects. You can receive two months off an Artlist account by using our link.

Thoughts on DaVinci Resolve and Fairlight (V14 and V15 beta 4)

I want to first say that I'm a fan and supporter of Blackmagic design and their products. I see and appreciate the direction that they're headed. I own several of their products which I purchased with my own money - the Ursa Mini Pro along with the viewfinder and shoulder mount kit, the Ultrastudio Mini Monitor and Mini Recorder. I have the Pocket Cinema Camera 4K on pre-order. I've also been a long-time user of Resolve.

I recently decided to try to use Resolve for my entire post workflow on my YouTube videos. I have attempted to go in with an open mind. For the last three years, I've done most of my video editing in Final Cut Pro X and mixing audio in Adobe Audition and with Izotope RX. There is potential that Resolve could greatly simplify my workflow by obviating the process of moving between applications for different parts of post processing.

Using Resolve V14 and 15 (beta), the potential looks good, but the current experience is still a little rocky.

For example, in version 14.2, I ran into a bunch of issues getting automation to work consistently in the Fairlight panel. I couldn't overwrite existing automation of faders at the start of a timeline (the piece starts with a loud blast of music which should have been faded to sit behind dialogue). 60 minutes of trying to get it to work didn't work out. I may well be missing something, I'm not sure. But for sure, the UI was not working in an intuitive manner for someone who is not a stranger to working with DAWs.

Interestingly, Fairlight works much better in the current beta version of Resolve (V15 beta 4). In fact, automation of faders worked so nicely I started feeling much more confident and started pushing Resolve to do other interesting things. I added a Fusion lower third to one of my videos, then popped over into the Fusion panel to edit some of the parameters for the lower third. Once things were set up, I waited for a bit while Resolve happily started chugging away at rendering the lower third. But then about 60 seconds later, I noticed that the little bar above the clip was still about 30% red and hadn't progressed in a while. When I went to move the mouse, I found the macOS spinning beach ball. After about 10 minutes of beach ball, I force quit and sent a bug report to Blackmagic.

Now I want to say something very clearly; I know I am working with beta software, and I am not complaining that I lost about 30 minutes worth of work. That's the risk one takes using beta software. With my background in software, I also understand and appreciate the idea of iterative development and taking an agile approach to software.

So here's my personal assessment of the situation: It seems to take about two full releases before a new panel in Resolve becomes usable for semi-serious work - a tool that you can generally depend upon. This seems to be the case with Fairlight. Also, with Fusion in it's first iteration as a panel in Resolve, that seems to be the case so far as well - not quite reliable just yet. The editing panel also took about the same amount of time/releases before it became reliable. Color seems rock solid in my experience, and of course, it's been around the longest.

One thing I haven't figure out in Fairlight just yet is the Loudness meters in the meters panel. This isn't showing LUFS or LKFS. It doesn't appear to be RMS levels either. The version 14 manual says this:

Farther to the right of these, a set of Control Room meters show you the monitored output and loudness meters for a precise analysis of your mix’s perceived loudness.

The version 15 beta new features manual doesn't mention loudness at all. I'll need to spend more time here, but for now, Blackmagic Design, may we please have LUFS/LKFS loudness meters, please?

So for me, the upshot appears to be that once 15 is out of beta, I think I can rely on it for editing, coloring, and audio finishing except for loudness normalization. That will require bouncing the mix to a new file, taking that into RX for loudness normalization, and then bouncing that back to a wav file and bringing it back to Resolve.

Looking forward to a bright future with Resolve for post!