Audio in video didn't get recorded properly. How do I properly dub over the video?
- Thread starter bekky
- Start date
j1clark@ucsd.edu
Veteran
If the audio is hopeless, and you do not want to reshoot (or can't) the scene, you will have to perform ADR, basically having the talent respeak their lines, recording them under studio conditions, then using audio magic to place the voices into the scene.
If the scene is a 'close up', lipsync is an absolute requirement. If the shot is wide, not so much need on the lipsync, unless the lips of the speakers are 'very visible'... like perhaps 'yelling', or the like...
Also you need to make an exact transcription of their utterances on screen for the shot that has been selected... not what was in the script... or even from one take to the next...
If the talent was not pro, then getting them to match their on screen performance 'vocally', may be difficult...
And even then, getting the 'sound' of the studio recording to be placed in the environment of the scene, is a significant problem...
But heck, it's all a learning process... isn't it...
If the scene is a 'close up', lipsync is an absolute requirement. If the shot is wide, not so much need on the lipsync, unless the lips of the speakers are 'very visible'... like perhaps 'yelling', or the like...
Also you need to make an exact transcription of their utterances on screen for the shot that has been selected... not what was in the script... or even from one take to the next...
If the talent was not pro, then getting them to match their on screen performance 'vocally', may be difficult...
And even then, getting the 'sound' of the studio recording to be placed in the environment of the scene, is a significant problem...
But heck, it's all a learning process... isn't it...
Thank you j1clark@ucsd.edu.
Would it be good to find a a place that mimics the original location as best as possible, just record the noise/sound of that area, then making two tracks in the video editor (one for the voices recorded in a sound booth, the other for background noise/sound)?
Richard Crowley
Veteran
The preferred method is to record the dialog as "clean" (free from any extraneous noise or even acoustic sounds of the room.) And then to go out and record the "room tone" (or ambient background noise) of the location and mix them together during editing.
But, as Mr. Clark says, getting the actors to reproduce their on-screen performance is not easy even for million-dollar Hollywood professionals who have done it hundreds of times. Trying to do ADR with amateurs sounds to me like it is more difficult than just going out and shooting the scene again. YMMV.
But, as Mr. Clark says, getting the actors to reproduce their on-screen performance is not easy even for million-dollar Hollywood professionals who have done it hundreds of times. Trying to do ADR with amateurs sounds to me like it is more difficult than just going out and shooting the scene again. YMMV.
Chadfish
Veteran
It looks like you need VocAlign. You don't have to have your actor exactly match the lip sync, just get it close. I just made this little demo of VocALign that shows how easy it is (relatively) to do the job. You still need to get it close to the original, but not exact. I am at the moment remaking this video as a tutorial going through all the steps, but you get the idea. In the next couple of days this video will evolve, but at this moment it's a simple demo.
Noiz2
Sound Ninja
bekky,
As was pointed out your talking about ADR. I'm going to go out on a limb and assume you don't have a big budget.
You probably also don't have a sound editor. ADR gets very hard to do the "right" way with out an experienced hand and the right tools.
With out using a sound program (DAW) syncing ADR is going to be problematic.
BUT we don't know our show so this may be a killer or not. ADR can be completely undetectable if done right. But that really takes a big film work flow. The reason is that if your not doing a real sound edit (building your backgrounds etc.) then it's very hard to get the voices, even if you get the sync, to feel like they were recorded on set. It's not about room tone, you need that but it will only get you so far. When you ADR the full scene you loose all of the original sound and you need to recreate it or the whole thing sounds fake. So you will have to do a lot of Foley, and you will have to build the background ambience and cover all the FX etc. The problem on a low budget film is IF you haven't been working that way the whole time then this scene will feel "fuller" than the rest of the film and your in trouble again.
I would look at ways that you can change the scene so that it is OK to be a bit different. If you can come up with a reason this scene sounds different in the world of your film then you can turn this problem into an artistic choice AND save your self a lot of headache. In that case you only really need to worry about sync and add whatever works for this "different" place.
And believe me a lot of big budget "artistic choices" are made because of a problem with the original plan.
For some super low tech ADR techniques do a search. There is this director here who did a film "Leap" that has a system that works OK. It wouldn't fly on a big budget level but it's not bad and is probably more along the lines of what you can pull off with out having to hire someone like me.
As was pointed out your talking about ADR. I'm going to go out on a limb and assume you don't have a big budget.
You probably also don't have a sound editor. ADR gets very hard to do the "right" way with out an experienced hand and the right tools.
With out using a sound program (DAW) syncing ADR is going to be problematic.
BUT we don't know our show so this may be a killer or not. ADR can be completely undetectable if done right. But that really takes a big film work flow. The reason is that if your not doing a real sound edit (building your backgrounds etc.) then it's very hard to get the voices, even if you get the sync, to feel like they were recorded on set. It's not about room tone, you need that but it will only get you so far. When you ADR the full scene you loose all of the original sound and you need to recreate it or the whole thing sounds fake. So you will have to do a lot of Foley, and you will have to build the background ambience and cover all the FX etc. The problem on a low budget film is IF you haven't been working that way the whole time then this scene will feel "fuller" than the rest of the film and your in trouble again.
I would look at ways that you can change the scene so that it is OK to be a bit different. If you can come up with a reason this scene sounds different in the world of your film then you can turn this problem into an artistic choice AND save your self a lot of headache. In that case you only really need to worry about sync and add whatever works for this "different" place.
And believe me a lot of big budget "artistic choices" are made because of a problem with the original plan.
For some super low tech ADR techniques do a search. There is this director here who did a film "Leap" that has a system that works OK. It wouldn't fly on a big budget level but it's not bad and is probably more along the lines of what you can pull off with out having to hire someone like me.
Richard Crowley
Veteran
I suspect I am not that unlike the general public, but I am much more tolerant of "too dry" dialog than "too wet". There are some scenes I recall where the dialog seemed just glaringly un-naturally "crisp and clean" for the location of the shot. And/or in some cases the energy or level of the ADR delivery didn't match the emotion of what was on screen.
But most of the time, the dialog doesn't jump to the forefront of my consciousness unless it is really sub-standard. I have seen prime-time, episodic, scripted TV shows where the dialog almost sounds like it was recorded from the microphone built on top of a consumer camcorder. :-((
But most of the time, the dialog doesn't jump to the forefront of my consciousness unless it is really sub-standard. I have seen prime-time, episodic, scripted TV shows where the dialog almost sounds like it was recorded from the microphone built on top of a consumer camcorder. :-((