Background noise

Kingda Ka

Kingda Ka

Got an external shotgun mike for my camera, and while the sound quality has increased exponentially, the background noise is much more obvious (to me, anyway). Is there a happy medium to be found between that beautiful, rich voice recording and limiting some of the background noise?
 
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Is there a happy medium to be found between that beautiful, rich voice recording and limiting some of the background noise?
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Eliminate the offending noise.
Find a better location.
ADR
Getting closer to the subject or having a louder subject so you have a better signal to noise ratio.
Using the polar patterns of your microphone to help avoid recording as much noise as possible.
Use physical objects to help block the noise.
 
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A few questions...

Who is booming?

What are your locations like?


What it all really comes down to is the skill of the boom-op. A really good boom-op can get passable sound in (relatively) difficult situations. However, well-thought-out productions scout locations based on sound as well as looks. Larger budgets have more control over a wider area.

At the low/no/mini/micro budget level you really need to quiet locations as much as possible; tough to do when shooting outside, I know, but some mitigation is possible, and it's very do-able indoors if you think it through and take the time. (Also, depending upon the skills of the boom-op, a hypercardioid mic may be a better choice for indoors.)

Production sound is a tough gig, and micro budgets make it a lot harder. However...

Your project will only look as good as it sounds, because
"Sound is half of the experience"

"If your film looks terrible but has great sound, people might just think it's your aesthetic.
If your film looks great and has bad sound, people will think you're an amateur.
Sound is the first indicator to the industry that you know what you're doing."​
 
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RE: the booming, I was just practicing with it at 3 different locations, one of them was outside. Still got this background "buzz." Also, it's a VERY cheap microphone (<$100 USD) not sure how much that matters.
 
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Your $100 mic is, most probably, a Hi-Z (High Impedance) unit. Hi-Z units - especially cables - are very prone to RF and EM interference.

And the 'fridge is a good place to start, but you should shut down anything and everything that uses electricity or emits a signal (cell phones, tablets, laptops). Remember to turn things OFF, unplugging them if you have to, as even in sleep mode they can cause problems.
 
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Kingda Ka said:
What would be a top-of-the-line shotgun mic and audio recording device you can recommend?
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Top of the line?

Schoeps CMIT5UAG Shotgun - $2,300
Sound Devices MixPre-D Mixer - $1,000
Sound Devices 702 Field Recorder - $2,200

Plus a whole ton of (very expensive) accessories. Professional sound carts can cost $50k and up - and I mean UP! Even sound bags can hold a solid $10k to $15k of gear.

So you have to start "small." It's a big bite financially, and the learning curve is pretty steep if you're an audio neophyte.


Here's my $1,200 buying guide for a solid, entry level, prosumer production sound kit. (I may have to update the recorders; there are new ones out all the time.)


Shotgun mic kits will have the shotgun mic, boom-pole, shock-mount and simple wind protection (softie).

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/551607-REG/Audio_Technica_AT_875_Shotgun_Microphone.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/461493-REG/Rode_NTG_1_Shotgun_Condenser.html


Hypercardioid mic:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/867157-REG/Avantone_Pro_CK1_CK_1_Small_Capsule_FET_Pencil.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/359043-REG/sE_Electronics_SE1A_SE1A_Small_Diaphragm.html



Audio recorders:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/832911-REG/Tascam_DR100MKII_DR_100mkII_Portable_Linear.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/821259-REG/Tascam_DR_40_DR_40_4_Track_Handheld_Digital.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/821260-REG/Roland_R_26_R_26_6_Channel_Digital_Field.html



Headphones:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/49510-REG/Sony_MDR_7506_MDR_7506_Headphone.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/507447-REG/Sennheiser_HD_25_1_II_HD_25_1_II.html



You'll also need cables, cases, battery packs and other miscellaneous items - about $200+.




If your budget is smaller than that we'll see what we can cram into it.


As always, I recommend that you retain someone to handle the production sound rather than buying a ton of gear.
 
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Kingda Ka said:
So, the sound needs to be controlled on set, not anything that can be done on the sound mixing side?
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In practise, it's both. When mixing sound it is possible to reduce the amount of noise. However, the more noise on the production recordings, the more time, skill and high quality processing is required in post and the more expensive it is to do a good job. Even with a lot of skill/experience and top quality processing equipment there is still a point at which the noise levels are too high to deal with in post without also destroying the dialogue and then the only option is ADR.

As a general rule, it is quicker, easier and cheaper for the noise to be controlled on set. This general rule is true at all filmmaking budget levels but is particularly true at the lo/no budget level where there is usually not enough budget to employ a skilled/experienced audio post specialist with the range of high quality processing equipment/software.

G
 
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I was a post audio engineer for over a decade and I agree that eliminating noise earlier in the stack of recording stages is best, but there's a lot you can do in post as well. Ideally, the mic should be a quality mic - no question. A well-placed and consistently-distanced mic (not bouncing in and out of the target spot) is helpful. Be sure to record a good bit of background noise before and after shooting. About 3 minutes before and 3 minutes after ought to do. This will help your post crew in recognizing what they're trying to take out after-the-fact. Could be planes every 45 seconds, a refrigerator every minute and ideally... the general noise floor.

In post, you can gate it, EQ it, process it out with specialized filters or do some really powerful, albeit time-consuming tricks with phase inversion. The replies are right though... no matter how you "can" fix it n post, the best scenario is proximity to the subjects and loudness from the actors.

I'm not up my mics, but the above are some nice mentions.
 
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Alcove Audio said:
As always, I recommend that you retain someone to handle the production sound rather than buying a ton of gear.
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100% agree. I would definitely hire pros come game time. But like in my regular business, I like to at least know enough about the different areas to be dangerous. At least to know the key terminology.
 
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How does one synch the sound on the audio to your film footage? Are there some kinds of embedded markers your editing software detects?
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There are 2 methods that I'm aware of.

You know that Slate you see on films? "Scene 3, take 4" and they clap the sticks. That's integral. That slate makes a noise that records on both the camera and the audio recorder. Come into the editing suite, you look for that clap and line them up. There is software that can do this for you too, for example PluralEyes.

The other is TimeCode. There is a timecode generator that provides the camera and audio recorder with Time Code. It's essentially giving the correct time to both devices (or more if you're using more than 1 camera/audio recorder). When you take the footage into the editing program, you tell the software to sync up by time code and voilla. You'll need hardware that has time code to use this method. You don't find it in the low end cost gear.
 
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