The 30 band graphic EQ Lewis used is basically just a band pass... but then the second EQ does the exact same thing in the low end so kinda made that pointless. So that's... odd. I'd also really suggest first adding a gate/denoiser to remove background noise, a de-esser to make "s" sounds less harsh, then a clipper to remove any high peaks (lower the threshold until you notice a perceivable difference then move up a bit) THEN add a compressor to control the dynamics. Order is important here. Finally, adding a bit of spatial stereo width can make dialogue sound much more "full". For Resolve users, a good de-esser/de-hummer/de-noiser is under "Restoration" in Fairlight. There's also a "Vocal Channel" and "Dialogu Processor" that has all of these plugins in one!
Exactly. Same process with the top.. He removes the top frequencies with the 30 band EQ at first and then added a huge boost to the same frequencies in the parametric EQ.
I would recommend Alex Knickerbocker's video on EQ. He taught me a lot about the power of the parametric equalizer tool, the process of using it, and how to adjust the audio depending on the mic/voice in play. Very helpful and has drastically improved my audio.
Been a pro Sound Mixer for a few years now and I will say you’re kind of counter acting that crazy high end boost with the graphic eq high end pull down. I love there fab filters plug ins. Favorite limiter I have ever used. Would love to talk more about it!
2 additional things to add before the limiter: 1) DeEsser 2) Compressor @ 3:1, roughly 30ms Attack and 100ms release, getting about 3-4dB of gain reduction at the loudest parts
Good tips! From an audio guy, I would highly suggest using some sort of softer compression prior to that hard limiter. You're asking the limiter to do two jobs, which CAN be totally fine (as we've heard, it sounds great in a controlled environment) but out in the wild, doing this will be cause for a ton of over compression resulting in a loss of dynamics all together. BIG TIP: Waves Rvox is the EASIEST compressor for video out there. It's essentially just one knob for louder and smoother vocals (There's more to it but at a base level it's that simple) Audio nerd mode engage 🤓
Marcus would you place the compression before or after eq? I’ve been running a high shelf (above 100hz), then parametric EQ, then multi band compression, then over all compression, then hard limiter
@@tallguynow EQ BEFORE Compression for me! Think about it like this: I'm sculpting the sound with my EQ, I'd rather compress that sculpted sound, than the sound raw. Some more technical reasons for that: - If you are compressing before you cut out low end rumble, your compressor will be working much harder to control that level - Compressing before EQ can also lead to you hearing MORE of the unwanted noise than if you compressed after EQ. These same idea/rules are also good to apply to noise reduction. So for me on a typical video, I'll do my signal chain as follows (All in the audio track MIXER, not on clips): - DeNoise (RX 6 -OR- NS1 from Waves) - EQ (Cutting and boosting) - Compression (RVox from Waves) - DeEsser (Waves Sibilance is the best one out there.) - Limiter (Waves L2, or even Premiere's stock Hard Limiter.) Sometimes if there's a really bad rumble, I'll cut that out with an EQ on the clip itself. Giving away the sauce here, but give this a go and watch your sound get immediately better my guy! 😤
Hi Mark, nice tutorial 👍 I use Comica wireless mic this is my workflow in premiere 1.Denoise 2.Multiband conpressor- Use Broadcast feature there it raises lower volume to brodcast standard 3.Parametric Equaliser - I use same setting 4.Dynamics- I use compressor and Limitet here mainly also use autogate sometimes. Two mics wireless sometimes capture one audio of a person is low compressor fixes it 5.Denoise 6.Mastering- Choose subtle clarity Then use -14 LUFS and apply -1 limiter at export
I swear, every time I need a video or think of something else I want to tackle next in my filmmaking learning journey, Mark follows through with the video almost immediately. Some telepathy going on
I just got a field recorder setup and have set out to improve my audio game and sound design overall too 😂 mans knows us better than we know ourselves!
My go to lately is "Dynamics" set at "Soft Compression (1-3db of makeup gain, EQ with a cut at 100-150 depending on voice, 3db boost at 3-3.5k, and a 0.5Q 3-6db cut over the mustang frequencies. Sometimes I use 6% denoise after the compression.
Hard limiter is one of the best effects to use and thanks for sharing the others I never gave any thought to! My rule is -3 for everything and if music is playing under dialogue, music should be set to around -16. Keeps background music from being too distracting.
I have a channel EQ preset that I throw on all music tracks under dialogue - it brings down the music in the voice frequencies. It allows the music to be much more present, but not distracting, than with just reducing music volume overall.
@@PelicanNorth so you are using vocal tracks under the dialogue? If so, another thought would be drag both instrumental and vocal track onto the time line and switch to instrumental when dialogue comes in.
@@ScottGerke That is a good idea, but I never use vocals in my work - just not my thing, I guess. I almost always duplicate the music track, with one track using the channel EQ when it is under dialogue. If I want the music to come through when there is no dialogue (often at beginning or end, I just fade out the EQ'd track, and fade up the non-EQ's track. Maybe there is a better way, but it is a workflow that seems efficient.
Just gotta say, I’m so happy on how short and to the point this vid is! I wish all ‘how to’s’ or ‘tutorials’ were this easy! You’ve pretty much instantly upped my sound game!! Thank you so much 😊
I feel like it’s important to add, ‘Proper Mic Distance/Placement’. You can buy the most expensive mic, but it’s not going to place itself for you. It also matters what audio recorder you are plugging that mic into… Not to mention training your ears. Cheers and good video over all 👍🏻
I’ve been needing this Mark! I do voice over work for the company I work for and I hate how my voice sounds and I can never get it right. I will try these tips out asap
All great tips. Thanks for putting this together! One thing that really helped my audio was when I stopped relying on camera preamps. When I started recording audio on MixPre recorders, that really helped. Yes of course you need a high-quality mic, but the pre-amp really really helps.
Absolutely spot on mate good sound is critical for voice overs literally ,just put together 3 years of work into the latest project applying all the wicked sh👍t I’ve been learning from your lessons I gotta say best 7 min vid I’ve ever done totally don’t care who sees it likes it or whatever the process was incredibly enjoyable the crew dug it big time and I wanna thank you ,have an awsome day mate keep the wisdom coming mark cheers
Great beginners tips, but you want to be careful adding a hard limiter if you're using multiple audio channels. Better to use compression or soft limiter. 😉👍
Thank you! I film and edit our weekly church announcements. We film in a not great inside location with a lot of echo. Right now I just throw on a de reverb and call it a day. I'm excited to test this out!
That wind screen looks like you need to bring food to feed it. Lol. Thanks for the tips, moving from live audio world over to recording, and the whole learning curve of vidio. Gonna be fun though! I use a Hiel PR30 mic in my little office, and when I ran out of mics at church one time I used them for the drum kit on the overheads! Really crazy big mic for overheads but I like the larger diaphram and over the years have had great luck with it. However I am checking out your link for that Seenheiser 416, that thing really does sound good.
Mark and Lewis - dang thank you guys so much for that! Audio has always been a bit of a mystery/scary for me - like complete chaos. And you thought ahead and put the screen grabs in - you're the man! That outdoor set up is awesome - will have to check that. It's always windy here.
I've always been such an audio noob, I just hit a few buttons in the essential sounds tab and call it a day. I copy and pasted exactly what effects to put in and can't believe the difference.
i always like playing with proximity for effect (with directional mics), and also making sure mono tracks are actually mono tracks and not pseudo stereo or faux stereo (whatever you decide to say lol). I would also say be careful with hard limiters, you can cause a lot of damage if you don't know what you're doing. IE, distorting, clipping etc, I often recommend a vocal rider plugin instead, or a compressor if the changes/inflections are consistent.
Hi. Mark. While shooting documentaries. I'm sure there are situations where u are shooting your subjects from a bit far due to the focal length say 70mm, how do u get good audio that far back. Do u adjust mic settings when they are far away or just keep the same settings through out the shoot ?
Great video, Mark! I wonder how you recorded the audio for this video, did you share a single shotgun mic? I wonder if you can talk about recording sound for two persons close together (where the mics should not be in frame). Perhaps not as close as you and Lewis, but two person sitting 1meter apart. I find that two shotgun mics will cause phasing, and I wonder if a "pattern 8" mic between them would sound better (possibly masking out the mic if it is in frame). Perhaps some editing tips for these scenarios? Great content as always!
Shotgun mics are cool but look int reporter mics also. I have an Electro Voice 635 n/d-b and it is awesome also. No need for eq either as the lows and highs are already cut out...
A good mic is good. But using the right mic in the right way is better. Better to have a bunch of decent mics then 1 really good one. Think of them like lens, one is not enough. One super good one is not going to cover everything. But like a favorite lens that you get to use all the time, then its worth getting a good one. Same with the mic. Invest in a good mic as long as it fits perfectly into how you use it.
The 416 has a brighter, crisper, more present sound. Unlike the MKE600 it has no battery power and requires external phantom power. The 416 may be better sounding but it's 3x the price of the 600 and not 3x the sound, and is a bit less versatile (without battery power). The 600 is such good value and a real workhorse.
Love my Sennheiser mics. For Sony cameras, the ECM-B1M has incredible sound as well (if you can find one for sale). I love the pickup pattern selector for when I’m behind the camera but still want to get clean audio. Mark - you’re fantastic on camera. Out of curiosity, do you use a teleprompter or are your videos ad lib with an outline? You’re so smooth!
The timing could've NOT be better. I'm just looking to get a solid mic for interviews. Curious Mark, what kind of recorder would you recommend to plug that Senny(yes, I just gave Sennheiser a cute nickname) in to??? Cheers, Chris
Awesome man!!! I needed this to confirm my purchase of the 416 lol. I am using a Shure Lenshopper and after using these in ear headphones, I realized how terrible it sounds. Luckily, I am in the middle of one doc and just started filming interviews for the second. What headphones and earbuds do you use to monitor your audio? Thanks Mark!!! Also do you mind hauling around noise canceling headphones or do you prefer smaller earbuds? I'm sure it depends on the situation you are in correct?
Nice yeah, I think my audio is extremely inconsistent because with all my videos I try different things but I also cut under 80hz then boost the low a little, drag the mids down and push highs up. Like the inverse of the exposure diagram cowboy hat, you make an audio cup lol.
Buying an expensive mic can be anti-climatic, because as a filmmaker you want to spend money on camera gear instead. I’m so glad that I did but a decent shotgun microphone though… I don’t know what I would do without it.
we have multiple camera rigs in different cities with for our team and so I don't always have access to the CMIT but we've been using the 416 and it's been fantastic
There no reason to high cut on the first eq and then boost highs in the second eq, and there in no reason to low cut in the first eq and low cut again in the second eq... please use your ears not your eyes for these kind of setting.
BRB Just buying 15 MICS for all the different types of Pickup patterns, to make sure my audio is crisp for someone to watch it on their phones built in speakers.
Nice pointers. Thanks. I am curious however, what is being masked by having that music sound track playing underneath your entire video about improving audio.