On Thu, 16 Jan 2003 01:31:00 GMT, bill van dyk <bvandyk6035@rogers.com> wrote:

(Keeping in mind all the while reading my response that I've

had a long history in audio...;-)

Yes - I've pulled decent sound from ceremonies where the

36" fans sat close to the speakers, and I had only distant

mics (I did place them where the folks were *supposed* to

be - but they often go elsewhere...!;-) - and my most

amazing result was had when the radio mics failed at an

outdoor ceremony held in a VERY (!!!!!!!!!) NOISY

renaissance festival (complete with crowds screaming at

nearby jousting events, etc.), leaving only the distant

on-camera mics, yet everything in the ceremony was

audible...! Cool Edit has an excellent noise-reduction

module (with good directions for its use). I often take

a couple of different noise-profiles and try these (plus

some "stock" ones I keep), often doing only part of the

noise-reduction at a pass. I then mix the results with the

originals from the several cameras I often use (see

www.David-Ruether-Photography.com/multi-camera2.htm for an example),

using EQ on each of the tracks, and often manual

"gain-riding" with the audio-level "rubber bands" in the

editor to make the audio both intelligible and

good-sounding. It does take some experience and quite a

bit of work to fix the sound when all doesn't go according

to plan - but it is amazing what can be done (though a

"booming PA blob" *can* be a challenge...!;-).

>David, I did a wedding recently (for friends-- not professionally) and was

>promised a direct out from the church mixer, with it's wireless mics and decent

>stage mics. The output died after a minute and we were forced to use the

>built-in mics on the TRV900 which picked up only the PA system.

>

>I took a sample and worked with it for some time in Cooledit and came to the

>conclusion that it could only be marginally improved. The noise to signal ratio

>is the biggest obstacle. It intrudes all over the bandwidth.

>

>At the reception, my wireless Sennheiser was outstanding, and I spent the evening

>kicking myself for trusting the church's sound-geek ("Is it clean? Is it

>reliable" I asked. "Absolutely....").

>

>Am I missing something? Can you really recover decent sound out of that booming

>PA blob?

>Neuman - Ruether wrote:

>

>> On 30 Dec 2002 14:35:25 -0000, D Heinz <dh@market50.net>

>> wrote:

>>

>> >The sound that I record to DV tape using an onboard shotgun and lav is clear

>> >enough - but it sounds like a cheap transistor radio - too tinny. I want to

>> >sweeten the interview dialogue and give it that rich broadcast timbre.

>> >What's a good app to use for this?

>> >I've got Wavelab 4.0; is this adequate? people seem to like Sonar for their

>> >post.

>> Unlike other posters, I think you can considerably improve

>> the sound you describe, trying EQ, slight reverb, and even

>> compression (and noise-reduction, if needed), using Cool

>> Edit (www.syntrillium.com). It is odd that editors who

>> would normally adjust color, contrast, brightness,

>> sharpness, color-saturation, etc. to optimize picture

>> appearance stop with the sound, with "garbage in, garbage

>> out", when audio "garbage" is so easily polished...;-)

>> Ideally, we all start with perfect picture and sound - but

>> this rarely happens (at least with location work), and it

>> is useful to learn how to make what we have better in the

>> final video...

>> David Ruether