Adding sound later on.....

I don’t think Best Buy or Staples are the best places for audio
and sound effects. Radio Shack is more of an audio place.

You will need a microphone to record the narration. You can use
the one on your camera. Hold the mic close and record directly to
the tape. Transfer that to your computer and add the narration to
your picture. You can even record narration directly into many
computers. Not the best DIY option, but it will be cheaper than
going to a recording studio or buying additional equipment.

There are sound efx libraries available. CD’s with thousands of
different sounds like birds and cars and crowds. They are
expensive, but they are available. There are also websites that
offer sound efx. These, too, are rarely free.

The DIY option is to take you camera outside and record audio.
Take a drive into a forest and record 5 to 10 minutes of ambiance
- point the mic outside of your house and record - go to a busy
intersection and record. Then you transfer all of what you record
into your editing software and now you have the beginning of your
own, personal sound efx library.

I don’t think there is really a need for you to buy any additional
audio equipment yet. Use the camera and mic you will buy to
record both video and audio. In the future you can purchase an
audio recorder if you feel you aren’t getting exactly what you
need.

The tape that I would record onto would be blank I assume? I would download it to the computor and then merge it with the picture?
My plan so far is to film...adding sound and narration later.



It would be the same concept as the film The Endless Summer. Its basically all film with all sound effects and narration added later (I would be the only voice). I am thinking based on todays technology of computors, I could watch the film (after its edited) on the computor screen and narrate, add sound effects at the same time. Or is that too advanced and something a computor cannot do?

If I taped it and then added it, I would be afraid the sound wouldn't be in sync with the picture.

Does any of this make sense?

My comments are no way intended to come off negatively. Rather to get you thinking and started in the right direction. We all have to start somewhere. Your basic sound questions come off at the least being very inexperienced. Its sounds like you really need to bring yourself up to speed on basic video production. From camera acquisition to how to get the video into the computer, and finally edit the material. If I were you, I would start studying and teaching yourself computer based Non Linear Editing. Do you have any access to even a home video camera? Or own a NLE program to practice with? You should be able to buy a basic NLE at Best Buy or Staples. There was a free NLE on the internet called "Free DV". I am not sure if it is still available. You can download most NLE software apps on a trial basis for free. Take some for a test drive before you buy. Start with a scaled down beginners version so you don't make your head swim. Working with sound for video is an integral part of production and editing. Do searches for video and sound production techniques, and follow sites like this one for good information from real world users. Buy a camera and shoot, shoot, shoot and then edit, edit edit. You'll learn from your mistakes. Dive in and good luck!


PS: Yes you can add all your narration and sound FX after the filming. It is done all the time

Thanks....I am a complete novice. I have a tendancy to look way into the future. I don't want to invest my time into something only to find later on I wasn't able to do what I intended to do with it (meaning purchasing anything from a camera/editing system ect)
Yes starting off in the kindergarten mode is probably best....then these other things pop into my head.
To be honest, what I am planning is quite simple as it doen't require a cast or a script...or interviews for that matter. It would more or less a lot of film with a lot of editing and sound later.

I will check out Best Buy and do the test drive...I do have a small Sony home video camera. I do own a laptop but do not have access to the internet (this computor belongs to someone else)...I have read on here that some things I want to do I would need access to the internet....thats not a problem now.

kazze said:

The tape that I would record onto would be blank I assume? I would download it to the computor and then merge it with the picture?
My plan so far is to film...adding sound and narration later.

Click to expand...

Yes. You would record the audio with the camera using the
camera's mic onto a DV tape.
The DV tape typically holds both audio and video - in this case
(recording narration) you would be recording only audio. Then
you would transfer this audio to your computer and simply not
use the video part of the tape. You then can adjust the audio
in your editing program to fit the visuals you want - just like in
Endless Summer.

Your idea of watching the cut film as you do the narration is an
excellent one. Sometimes the sound won't be in sync with the
picture, so you move it, clip it, adjust it until it is in sync. That's
what all editing software is designed to do.

Right now it sound difficult or complicated and your first few attempts
will be difficult and complicated. But very soon you will learn the
basics of putting audio to picture and it will be easy.

Mac or PC on your desk?

This will help us target you toward the right software and screen/ interface instructions.

I remember being in the same position long time ago. If your able to get a camera with a XLR plug you can get better audio. Like what people have mentioned I plug my mic into my camera via XLR connection then my camera to the computer via firewire. You can use any capturing software to capture your DV (or miniDV) footage. I use vegas. Since its an XLR cable it should be balanced that way you don't get any noise so you can run the cable to a room where its quite. Close the door and maybe use blankets to cover up the windows. You can do your own sound effects that way. Also when you do your voice overs, you can set up a contraption where you can hold up a thin piece of cloth in front of a microphone to act as a pop filter that way you won't get any "puffs" into the sound. Once you have the sound recorded into the computer (I capture directly to the hard drive so I don't need to capture the tape afterwards, that's why I run a long audio cable) you can split the audio in the software and adjust it from there. I hope it helps can't wait to see your work!

Tip: You can get foley when shooting the actual scene if you want.

Example: Two actors are walking on gravel. The shotgun is not picking that up but you really want that sound. Do a take with the shotgun pointed at their feet and mark it foley.

Hope this helps.

Two things to remember about sound design; you are enhancing the story and characters, and the sounds are often representational rather than reality. That means that the sounds you use are not the sounds of the objects themselves. One of the "jokes" in the sound design community is: for a pistol use a rifle, for a rifle use a shotgun, for shotgun use a mortar, for a mortar use artillery, for artillery use a tank, for a tank use a nuclear explosion, for a nuclear explosion stick a mic out the window of your car and drive at 80mph. The lesson here is that once a sound is mixed into the sound track (btw, all audio elements together - dialog, Foley, sound FX, ambience and music - is the sound track; the music is score) the sound is quite often not "big" enough.

Many times a sound effect is really multiple sounds layered on top of each other. When doing a car crash, for example, I'll use a car crash sound from a library, then layer in other impact sounds to enhance the emotional impact, tearing/crunching metal sounds, breaking glass (another btw; "glass" isn't really glass these days, it's polycarbonates that don't "tinkle" when hitting the ground, but real glass sounds are used to enhance the experience) and whatever else strikes my fancy. All of these sounds are processed by EQ and various digital effects such as reverbs, delays, etc. When doing Foley, for example, I've used strips of paper and tape from old audio cassettes to be leaves rustling in the wind or for footsteps. On one film a character was walking on RR tracks. I used a 3" diameter steel pipe (simultaneously recorded with three different mics) and shoes with hard rubber heels even though the character was wearing sneakers.

Sounds can provide a lot of information about the characters, location and plot if used properly. This is most effective when discussed during pre-production.

There are lots of free sound effects out there; most are junk but there is also some really nice stuff if you have the patience to weed through all of it. The LJudo library has some very useful sounds, and the Freesound Project is a terrific resource. Just keep in mind that some of these free libraries require you to give proper credits; a small price to repay for all of the time and effort of the folks who made the sounds.

Another great resource is filmsound.org. Lose yourself in there for a few days and you'll start to get a handle on - and hopefully get excited about - the possibilities of sound and sound design. Especially read "An Open Letter From Your Sound Department" "An Introduction to Film Sound" and "Designing a Movie for Sound ".

I used to have a list that had the sounds you could record for other sounds, like, flush a toilet for wind. Fun to experiment with, and definitely cool to record your own.

re: recording narration and adding it later...

As a starting point I would say invest in a decent large diaphragm condenser mic, and a cheap 'pop shield'. You can buy microphones like this that connect to your computer via USB, which would be ideal for you because then you could record your narration straight to your hard drive via your computer's inbuilt soundcard. This means you can skip out on tapes and mixing devices/sound input interfaces.

Your recorded audio file can be imported into most video/audio editing software around (soundtrack pro, final cut, vegas, etc). Easy! And a worthy investment, I think.

Some things to remember when recording your vocal - please do employ a 'pop shield' when recording, and try and do it in an acoustically 'dead' environment (like a coat cupboard or a makeshift tent made out of blankets or quilts). If your source recording is nicely recorded and acousitically 'dead' (that is to say, without room acoustics and reverb) then any sound engineer could tweak your audio file in post and treat it with master effects/equalization to get a professional result.

It's funny because I was just thinking of outside interferances today. There are a limited number of rooms I would be able to record sound in - realizing I am looking way ahead, its something I don't want to be suprised with when the time arrives.
The best room is probably the basement. The only noise that can interfere is the oil burner but it can be turned off if need be (unless its mid winter).

Sometimes you can make a makeshift 'room' out of mattresses and quilts. The sound waves we're talking about here aren't that strong... spoken word can be adequately contained with some blankets quite easily.

Also, sometimes if there is a hum or a hiss on the final recording, this can be removed with an EQ cut.

If the film is a documentary, yes, you do the narration after the first edit is completed.

If you are doing a narrative project the VO/narration should be intrinsic to the script. A great example is "Forrest Gump" (check out the DVD extras, lots of great stuff!). Most of the narration was recorded before the film was shot. This allowed the time for Forrests dialog to respond to his narration and his narration to respond to the dialog. Another film with good narration is "The Shawshank Redemption". The point here is that you have to allow time for the narration to happen with B-roll or longer shots before/after the dialog.

Too often narration is used after the fact to cover plot holes, etc. and is just crammed in because there is not enough coverage to use it effectively and it comes off poorly.