TamTu
08-09-2005, 06:20 PM
http://seraphskye.com/tutorials/noisereduction/noise-reduction.avi
Running time: 5.03 mins
Size: 8.1 mb
Format: Divx AVI
Example used: Ishtar's audition for Susan in Just Try And Say It.
Ignore my accent, :luv
Onto the article!
Many VA's are denied roles because they have lotsa background static in their lines, and some productions have been dropped in quality because a castmember's lines stood out among the rest not because of excellent performance, but due to the obnoxious hum in their recording.
While I explained this to several people before, I never really got around to put the steps on file. Until now ^^.
First of all, of all programs that I've used before in the past which had a Noise Reduction option, Cool Edit worked best for me. From CE 96 to CE Pro 2.0, the way this filter worked has always been the same. CE is also a great program to use for mixing, especially in the Multitracking mode in CE 2000 and CE Pro. With a built-in MP3 converter, this is all you need for AVA-ing basically.
But before this thread becomes a spamming advertisement, I'll start with the tutorial ^^;
(Continued on next page)
The screenshots that go with this tutorial are taken from Cool Edit Pro 2.0, but the interface among all CE programs and Adobe Audition is quite similar.
Getting a profile of the noise.
To reduce the noise in your lines, you need to make a profile of the noise-static you want CE to remove. Many users apply the noise reduction filter over the entire file, but it doesn't work like that.
This is what you see after recording a line in Cool Edit (depending on the zoom)
http://seraphskye.com/tutorials/noisereduction/vaaCEnr-01.jpg (http://seraphskye.com/tutorials/noisereduction/vaaCEnr-01.jpg)
-First, you select a part of the background noise.
http://seraphskye.com/tutorials/noisereduction/vaaCEnr-02.jpg (http://seraphskye.com/tutorials/noisereduction/vaaCEnr-02.jpg)
-Then you go to the Noise Reduction filter menu.
http://seraphskye.com/tutorials/noisereduction/vaaCEnr-03.jpg (http://seraphskye.com/tutorials/noisereduction/vaaCEnr-03.jpg)
[b]Noise Reduction filter menu
Screenshot 4
http://seraphskye.com/tutorials/noisereduction/vaaCEnr-04.jpg (http://seraphskye.com/tutorials/noisereduction/vaaCEnr-04.jpg)
-Here in the menu, you click on "Get Profile from selection". With this, you get a profile of the amount of noise that you've selected. If the button is greyed out, then you haven't selected enough noise in the clip for CE to make a profile with. It's best to select as little noise as possible, just enough for the "Get Profile from selection" button to be available.
The best selection is usually when the yellow line is almost on the same line as the green one. If there's a large gap between the two colors, your line will tend to end up sounding mechanized (aka, like you're talking in a can.)
From here, click OK.
-The noise filter has used the profile of the noise to filter it out of the line. You can see that in the straight line which indicates silence.
http://seraphskye.com/tutorials/noisereduction/vaaCEnr-05.jpg (http://seraphskye.com/noisereduction/vaaCEnr-05.jpg)
Filtering the entire file
-Select the entire file.
http://seraphskye.com/tutorials/noisereduction/vaaCEnr-06.jpg (http://seraphskye.com/noisereduction/vaaCEnr-06.jpg)
-Go back to the Noise Reduction filter menu.
There, you will see that the profile you've made earlier is still in the cache of the program. Because you've selected the entire file now, and already have a profile ready, all you have to do now is click "OK" right away while you're in the Noise Reduction menu.
So don't click on "Get Profile from selection", otherwise you'll make a profile of the entire file and your line will end up being mechanized.
(Continued on next page)
After you clicked "OK", Cool Edit will apply the noise profile, filtering that specific noise over your entire line.
And that's how you use the Noise Reduction filter in Cool Edit. If you want to hear some results, I recorded a test-line with a before and after filtering.
[b]-Before Noise Reduction
http://seraphskye.com/tutorials/noisereduction/line-noise.mp3
-After Noise Reduction:
http://seraphskye.com/tutorials/noisereduction/line-clean.mp3
The basic concept of noise reduction is mainly to make a profile of the noise you want to filter in your line. Goldwave can do this too, but somehow, I was never able to save that profile to apply it over the entire file.
That's it. Happy noise reducing and good luck with auditioning!
=TamTu
Running time: 5.03 mins
Size: 8.1 mb
Format: Divx AVI
Example used: Ishtar's audition for Susan in Just Try And Say It.
Ignore my accent, :luv
Onto the article!
Many VA's are denied roles because they have lotsa background static in their lines, and some productions have been dropped in quality because a castmember's lines stood out among the rest not because of excellent performance, but due to the obnoxious hum in their recording.
While I explained this to several people before, I never really got around to put the steps on file. Until now ^^.
First of all, of all programs that I've used before in the past which had a Noise Reduction option, Cool Edit worked best for me. From CE 96 to CE Pro 2.0, the way this filter worked has always been the same. CE is also a great program to use for mixing, especially in the Multitracking mode in CE 2000 and CE Pro. With a built-in MP3 converter, this is all you need for AVA-ing basically.
But before this thread becomes a spamming advertisement, I'll start with the tutorial ^^;
(Continued on next page)
The screenshots that go with this tutorial are taken from Cool Edit Pro 2.0, but the interface among all CE programs and Adobe Audition is quite similar.
Getting a profile of the noise.
To reduce the noise in your lines, you need to make a profile of the noise-static you want CE to remove. Many users apply the noise reduction filter over the entire file, but it doesn't work like that.
This is what you see after recording a line in Cool Edit (depending on the zoom)
http://seraphskye.com/tutorials/noisereduction/vaaCEnr-01.jpg (http://seraphskye.com/tutorials/noisereduction/vaaCEnr-01.jpg)
-First, you select a part of the background noise.
http://seraphskye.com/tutorials/noisereduction/vaaCEnr-02.jpg (http://seraphskye.com/tutorials/noisereduction/vaaCEnr-02.jpg)
-Then you go to the Noise Reduction filter menu.
http://seraphskye.com/tutorials/noisereduction/vaaCEnr-03.jpg (http://seraphskye.com/tutorials/noisereduction/vaaCEnr-03.jpg)
[b]Noise Reduction filter menu
Screenshot 4
http://seraphskye.com/tutorials/noisereduction/vaaCEnr-04.jpg (http://seraphskye.com/tutorials/noisereduction/vaaCEnr-04.jpg)
-Here in the menu, you click on "Get Profile from selection". With this, you get a profile of the amount of noise that you've selected. If the button is greyed out, then you haven't selected enough noise in the clip for CE to make a profile with. It's best to select as little noise as possible, just enough for the "Get Profile from selection" button to be available.
The best selection is usually when the yellow line is almost on the same line as the green one. If there's a large gap between the two colors, your line will tend to end up sounding mechanized (aka, like you're talking in a can.)
From here, click OK.
-The noise filter has used the profile of the noise to filter it out of the line. You can see that in the straight line which indicates silence.
http://seraphskye.com/tutorials/noisereduction/vaaCEnr-05.jpg (http://seraphskye.com/noisereduction/vaaCEnr-05.jpg)
Filtering the entire file
-Select the entire file.
http://seraphskye.com/tutorials/noisereduction/vaaCEnr-06.jpg (http://seraphskye.com/noisereduction/vaaCEnr-06.jpg)
-Go back to the Noise Reduction filter menu.
There, you will see that the profile you've made earlier is still in the cache of the program. Because you've selected the entire file now, and already have a profile ready, all you have to do now is click "OK" right away while you're in the Noise Reduction menu.
So don't click on "Get Profile from selection", otherwise you'll make a profile of the entire file and your line will end up being mechanized.
(Continued on next page)
After you clicked "OK", Cool Edit will apply the noise profile, filtering that specific noise over your entire line.
And that's how you use the Noise Reduction filter in Cool Edit. If you want to hear some results, I recorded a test-line with a before and after filtering.
[b]-Before Noise Reduction
http://seraphskye.com/tutorials/noisereduction/line-noise.mp3
-After Noise Reduction:
http://seraphskye.com/tutorials/noisereduction/line-clean.mp3
The basic concept of noise reduction is mainly to make a profile of the noise you want to filter in your line. Goldwave can do this too, but somehow, I was never able to save that profile to apply it over the entire file.
That's it. Happy noise reducing and good luck with auditioning!
=TamTu