NOTE: A lot of people have asked, "Why can't I just cut out the clicks or use the "Silence" option in Audition or use a noise gate?" There are a few reasons why I do NOT generally recommend any of those. For video work, you cannot just ripple delete a portion of audio or the rest will be out of sync. Additionally, if you "silence" or use an extreme gate, you create an audio dropout that will leave the audience wondering if there's something wrong with the audio playback system. Even using an expander or gate will affect things like breaths and room tone, making them sound weird and resulting in a room tone hit as soon as the dialogue starts again. Very importantly, saliva or moisture noises which occur in the midst of dialogue CANNOT be fixed by any of the methods listed above. That's where Mouth De-click becomes useful.
Hey Chris, I'm a Sound Engineer and Videographer and I used to get a LOT of rappers / hip-hop artists and "Hook" singers coming into the studio just to record vocals over the top of a stereo audio track or stems. *Sometimes* a sharp breath sound *can* sound nice and percussive, but usually they just sound bad because they are eating the mic. You can cut the section you want to target and decouple / unlink the video and audio tracks from each other. Grab some room noise from some dead air / room sound and just paste it into the audio track and resize. Then cross fade the audio track so you don't get phase peaks, clicks or pops. I usually record at least a minute of the room specifically because of this. In your own Studio, or one you use a lot, you get a feel (or ear) for the room and how best combat these problems. If you are shooting on location for a client in a boardroom or something similar and the room is untreated, then choosing the right mic helps immensely. Lapel mics are great for talking head shots and interviews. But once again if you have someone that breaths loud then sometimes the best thing to do (which is tedious) is go through and cut all the waveforms at start and finish, delete everything that isn't a vocal waveform and fade every sentence in and out and perhaps add some background noise or music to hide that dead air silence. I used to do this all the time when live tracking a band that just wanted demo's. A gate can be impossible to use on a vocal mic with bleed coming from every other sound source in the room, and if you solo the track it sounds really bad, to say the least. So just cutting all vocals up into sections, deleting everything in-between and then manually fading the beginning and end (zoom out, select all, then move the fades of everything at once) and tweak the fade times while listening back. Sorry for the long comment. Hopefully it might help someone out that has had a less than optimal audio recording and is trying to deal with it in post. Excellent content, as always.
In Reaper, you can use something called dynamic split then drag room tone in and merge it together. It's awesome. You can also toggle ripple editing on and off.
Been watching your videos for over 5 years. So happy to see you doing izotope tutorials. I never felt like I figured out the best workflow with these plugins. Thank you!
As someone (You) being one of favorites on RU-vid, I've felt for so long that you are woefully underrated and under appreciated within the RU-vid community for the tremendous value you give. Here is a timestamped link to Gerald Undone's latest video where they acknowledge you for your awesome work:@ Thanks, Curtis! *(I posted this message on your Audio channel, FYI. Ignore it if you see this first, lol)*
That was extremely helpful, Curtis! Thank you! I had assumed that the Mouth De-Click was hands-down the better tool over all, but your walk-thru saved me a ton of frustration, since it's most often between the portions of dialogue where I'm hearing mouth noises. It does look like it's still better done -- as a default -- selectively, rather than just processing the track as a whole. Your thoughtful analysis is greatly appreciated.
Revisiting this a year later and I have to say that your tutorials are pretty much the best on YT. You vary one setting at a time and clearly show its effect, then show us, essentially, how you would use it in practice. At least for me, that's the way my mind works and the most effective way to teach the tool. And your graphics & process are clear and easy to see. Thank you again for your excellent work, Curtis!
@@curtisjudd Hi Curtis! Awesome video! I am doing long form narration for an online training and really don't want to go through and manually cut/paint out mouth clicks/noises in the middle of words. I AM going through and silencing mouth noises/clicks when they're between words. Would you pick Isotope RX's mouth declick or Acoustica - DeClick for this?
Yes! I need to learn this. I appreciate you showing which editions of RX includes these plugins. It can be somewhat confusing at times which edition I need to have.
It took me a while to figure out the right settings for my particular mouth clicks. But now I would not want to miss it anymore as it saves me a lot of time and nerves.
Curtis, I really enjoy your informative videos. I have used iZotope RX Advanced for years, but I find de-clickers to be frustrating because of artifacts. I narrate and produce a lot of long-form narration and audiobooks. I record and edit in Vegas. When a track is split (simply hit the S key), Vegas does a 10 millisecond fade-out and fade-in on the track. This is perfect for clicks. It doesn't affect room tone. Also, for an audio track on video, it doesn't affect sync. I've even used it on sticky N's in speech, and in most cases, it's unnoticeable. Another peeve of mine is D's that sound like T's, and it works quite well. The workflow is quick and simple.
Have to say that Izotope RX is an amazing product... saved our project when we had RF interference on a shoot... loaded up Izotope RX7 and within minutes, the RF problem was removed. save the whole project!
Pretty wild how well this works. About 15 years ago, long before anything like this existed, I had to record and edit a series of meditation CDs (at least 50 full-length CDs). Mouth clicks are especially noticeable with softly spoken dialog like that, and they're distracting, so we had to carefully remove them all using micro-edits. It's funny to think those hundreds of hours of painstaking editing I did would be needless with this software, although we did charge by the hour and make a lot of money on that project.
I wish Izotope had a simpler pricing and clearer product selection. As a podcaster who does everything myself, I actually appreciate good audio SW that could save me time. But I just got lost among different offerings, options, and plugins. If the company had a clear offer "for podcasters" that would offer all voice manipulation options and episode mixing it'd be friendlier and made me spend money. It's basically not clear what exactly to buy.
The RX-8 Standard rent-to-own program from Splice works pretty well for me. Granted, I don't use *all* the plugins, but for $15.99 a month, whilst paying towards owning it outright, I'm ok with that.
@@museum1401 That is really great to know; thank you! I wanted to get RX standard but didn’t want to spend the money yet, but I’m paying $20 a month for Adobe audition. I’d rather switch to paying off RX8!
Excellent video again Curtis. I have RX8 Elements installed. I was wondering about the presets that come out of the box (Mouth Noise single and multi-band)? How useful are those?
Cool trip here. After I purchased your F6 course, I've actually learnt a lot. So I wonder if there's any chance that you might put the "izotope rx" course on the shelf.
Hey Curtis! Love this! Question! Lets say you set the Click Widening to 2 Milliseconds... does that mean there will be a millisecond before and a millisecond after the click that gets repaired in the widening? or does click widening only repair in Milliseconds in time after the click?
Great tutorial. Thank you, Curtis. I need to process a few audiobooks with RX 9 (Mouth-De-click, Breath Control, De-Ess, and Spectral De-noise), plus an EQ, a compressor, and a limiter. Would you do the RX work at the beginning or at the end of the chain? My thinking: If I first clean the files in RX and *then* EQ, compress, and limit, I might amplify low level noise and remaining artifacts again. Does it make sense to EQ and compress, maybe even limit at the beginning, and then clean up the result in RX? Love and appreciation - Viola.
Hi Viola, thanks for the question! I would usually do the RX work first, then compress, EQ, and normalize/limit at the end. The idea is that I generally want to fix the issues first. Mouth clicks and noise, in particular. Yes, when you compress or limit and boost the levels, you'll raise the noise floor, but you will have already tamed it enough so that it isn't a problem. I hope that makes sense! If you're interested, I have an Izotope RX course where we talk about this in a bit more detail.
I've been giving the trial a go and just did the de-click to my entire 30 minute audio file and thought it was ok, bit sad now after hearing multiple suggestions that it's not recommended. My mouth makes way too many random noises while recording and doesn't seem worth it to manually go through and find each one 😅 now to find out if I can just use this as a plugin with Studio One so I can apply it prior to other plugins like EQ
Should be able to, yes. Just be careful applying it across the entire clip. It will catch some things you don't necessarily want to remove, at least in most languages.
I've had a million dollars in reconstructive surgery to my face and I have serious weird noises! I just spent a month going through my 14 hour audiobook🥺😅
@Curtis Judd Any chance for getting the Plugins work from inside premiere natively some day?... I own the RX bundle and doesn't use it as often, since i find the controls outside of premiere pretty cumbersome and annoying...
This was very helpful! I played around with the Frequency scale zoom and see that I have a steady orange bar of noise in the upper 22k range, across my entire audio clip. I can't hear it when I highlight it, but can see the meter that is -68dB. How would you recommend tackling this?
Super interesting workflow, but I have a question! Why would I invest time into this detailed craft if slapping a noise gate on there would basically solve this? Have you noticed significant difference? Does leaving some clicks increase the listeners experience?
Hi Bobby, I’m coming at this from a film/video perspective. We use expanders, but generally shy away from absolute gates where the sound completely disappears which can be quite jarring for the audience.
This is just more of a precision instrument for this application. Here are a few reasons: A gate would also modulate the background noise, which usually sounds pretty unnatural. A mouth click is usually louder than a breath, so you'd lose breaths, if you're setting the threshold to be insensitive enough not trigger on clicks. If you try to avoid setting the threshold too high by instead using a long RMS for detection or long attack, sentences starting with words like "Timber" with quick attacks would sound like they're fading in. If you set a release time that feels natural for speech, if it accidentally opens for a moment, the release will give you a seemingly random stab of background noise. Mouth clicks often happen while the person is vocalizing, at which point the gate is hopefully open already, and so it wouldn't do anything.
Hi, Curtis, your short videos about RX plugins are very helpful :) I tried to use OEK Sound Spiff for removing "clicks" and this plugin is also very good :) Would you prepare something about spectral editing and comparison between RX Editor and Steinberg SpectraLayers? It's very interesting topic if you are recording in "not-so-good" environment with barking dog or... singing bird ;) I saw some video about SpectraLayers with "painting" and "erasing" sound and (for me) it's a kind of magic :D
I have a question on file management with Davinci and RX 8. When I round trip an edited audio clip the RX 8 file using 'save' it is stored in the users/video/capture folder. Is it not better to use 'save as' and place these .wav files inside the Davinci project folder to ensure it is stored in the database?
@@curtisjudd Yes, it overlays the bounced track on top of the old track. I accidently deleted the capture files outside of Davinci and had to re-edit. I need to export a Davnici project and then load it on my laptop to ensure the bounced files follow.
Curtis, Have you had a chance to evaluate the RX10 Elements version of the software? They are marketing the elements as for creators. It is on sale at a really great price but does't mean anything if it is not effective, inadequate or lacking needed functality. What is your preferred software? Also is there a software solution you suggest for removing ums and uhs or other such things? I have heard of DeScript but not sure if there are better or non-subscription solutions available. Thanks for any input.
Yes, the elements is only pared down in terms of which modules it includes. And those it includes are every bit as effective as those in the advanced version. You just don't get all of the modules in the Elements version. You can start with elements and if you find you need additional modules in the standard or advanced versions, you can upgrade for a discounted price.
Is this something that can work with Garageband as a plugin as well or is there an option that you would recommend to meet the same need in Garageband? If you have already have a video on that, please feel free to send the link. Thanks!
I don't know Garageband well enough to know whether you can roundtrip the audio to Izotope RX audio editor which is generally where I'd want to do this work so I can apply it just to the clicks and pops.
Can i use Mouth De-Click to make my rap vocals sound better? Or is it too aggressive.. I mean does the sound engineers things like this to clean up the vocal?
Hi Curtis. Great video. I edit video that is just dialog. For decades I've been applying a gate to remove room noise and then manually lowering the level for each click or excessively loud breath. I absolutely hate this process. It is tedious and takes so long to do. I know that this RX plug in doesn't work in video editors. Is there a plug in that you are aware of that works in Resolve or Premiere Pro that would make this process easier? This video leads me to believe that there probably isn't a one-button solution anyway. You're still locating the problem areas manually.
Both of these plugins work in DAWs and even NLEs. The Mouth De-click works a bit more like a one-button solution, but it isn't perfect and you have to work with the settings to make sure you're not cutting into the dialogue too much. It is about as close to a one-button solution for mouth clicks that I've encountered.
@@curtisjudd You're right (of course). I was thinking of the Dialog Isolate functionality in RX9. I've heard some impressive demos. Have you ever tried this to eliminate clicks and breaths in dialog? It only works in Pro Tools so it is irrelevant to me. Izotope support has all but guaranteed me that this functionality won't ever come to an NLE plugin.
Is there a difference between mouth clicks and other random digital clicks? There's a clicking sound that RX 9 can't seem to detect and I can't spot them in the spectral graph sometimes. Sometimes I find it better to just re-record certain sections instead of wasting time trying to fix these issues. I don't believe in "fix it in post." When you learn to do it right during the recording process, it'll save a lot of time in the long-run.
I agree that it is better to get it right during production. There can be a difference in clicks, yes, but that's odd that there's NOTHING in spectral view...
I am wondering if I can use the mouth de-click our rx- declick on long audio tracks like an audiobook. Is it safe to run those plugins on long tracks ( 30 min. tracks approximative). Thanks a lot !
great tutorial thanks, very detailed. totally appreciate your work. just a lil perplexed why you would work so hard on frequencies n pitch when judicious, carefully configured strip silence / remove silence would have caught 95% of the artefacts anyway...?
Hi Curtis! Do you happen to know how to make this work when using it as a plugin? I just got the RX Elements 10 and was trying to use it on LogicPro but the clicks won’t go. When I run it, it states it has “repaired (x number) of clicks” but when I replay the audio in Logic or bounce it, the clicks are still there. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.
i have a question. So If I get this demo do I get to keep it or is it like a limited time sort of thing? Because I really don't feel like paying over $100 just to remove some month noises.
My trial explicitly noted that saving was intentionally not allowed as one of the terms of the trial, so my guess is you can't, have to pay up to save.
how do you get the programme working?! I bought it downloaded it, opened the izotope portal, and thats it. I try to open it in my daw and it doesn't do anything. but outside of logic on my computer the only file I have is for the portal?? help needed please, surprisingly nouns done a video on how they open the programme on their comp lol
Strange. When I run the plug-in on my entire recording, I don’t get ANYTHING like the destruction yours got. And I struggle with mouth noise a lot, even though I’m constantly drinking a ton of water throughout the day.
So what I'm getting is 'mouth de-click' is better for when clicks pop up when speaking. And any clicks that pop up in gaps between dialogue , should use the 'De-click' option?
@curtisjudd oh wow, thanks for replying Curtis :) I ended up using them that way. Bur thank you for confirming 👍 Sorry to have a convo in comments, but do you have any vids or descriptions on using 'de-plosive' or 'breath control' efficiently
@@kennymackie3191 We actually treat breaths manually because I've found that de-breath misses too often. I have a de-plosive segment in our online RX course over at school.learnlightandsound.com
@@curtisjudd No - Big Sur on Intel iMac. The plugins work, but as soon as you try to access the izotope HUD, the plugin falls over and is unusable until FCP reboots. But yes, you can still adjust the settings in the FCP inspector (Rx7 and Rx8). If you look at the izotope site, under Rx, you'll see FCP no longer in the list of supported hosts. Clearly there's been a relevant change in either OSX or FCP, but izotope has determined not to update plugins for compatability. More likely a change to FCP, as Logic still listed.
I think if you can't run this on the entire audio, then it makes the whole thing pointless. Because replacing the clicks with silence or dragging their volume down or cutting them out entirely would be my preference if I have to manually select them anyway.
mine doesn't have a render button. I bought Rx8 back in 2020. it never worked, maybe I should contact them. I use logic. it didn't work on my intel Mac nor the m1 silicone Mac I'm using now.
At 9:11 you mention adding room tone. Do you usually just record that in the room your in or is that an audio track you've downloaded from a third party?
Usually I'd use tone recorded on set. There are ways to synthesize tone from bits between phrases, but that's a topic for another video. I wouldn't generally use third-party or stock recordings for room tone. That'd be pretty tough to match.
Whether or not you process your audio manually vs. automatically also comes down to budget and delivery. Example, for music recordings I'll remove all the clicks manually but if it's a social media post or Facebook ad I'll just give it all a gentle pass with the algorithm.
@@curtisjudd Usually each mouth click is pretty distinct, so I'm able to manually select it and process it with declicker. If it's a really loud one I may just trim off the audio in my DAW. But I've found it's only about 80% effective so sometimes you just have to find a different vocal take to paste on. Luckily saliva noise isn't much of an issue in sung vocals, for whatever reason it's much more present in dialogue.
This isn't meant as a jab, bit it's really strange that most of the issues you're teaching people to fix in this video, are present in your voiceover explaining it. Do you not apply these same tips to your own audio?
@@othmansshop5059 So it wasn't helpful to learn that just slapping the plugin on the entire clip would degrade your audio? Also, that the Mouth De-click plugin CAN be used on the entire clip? I guess you didn't watch the entire thing.
@@curtisjudd It was helpful. I was actually crying as I watched this clip and learned that I could get software to automate something I've been doing by hand for 5 years now in Audacity.
