Countryman B2D Directional Lavalier Microphone
- Thread starter Curtis Mack
- Start date
Curtis, I'm going to be honest with you: this process killed your sound.
The key to effective noise reduction is not removing as much as possible in one pass; it is taking out small amounts at a time over several passes. Remember: whenever you have constant sound behind dialog, there's a good chance that the extraneous sound occupies some or most of the same frequencies as the voice, so dealing a heavy blow to the noise will also deal a heavy blow to the dialog.
Trying to "resurrect" what was lost with all the layers and all the extra processing just made things worse. The end result sounds like a really low-band-width Internet download, when the starting sound was actually quite manageable. Gentle noise reduction combined with effective sound design could have made it work without all the heavy processing. I would suggest trying a couple of very light passes from the original sound, and see what results you get. When the dialog starts to suffer, you know you've gone too far.
Also, any camera-mounted mic - cardioid or omni - at 3' from the subject is going to be unusable, especially in a noisy environment. There's really no comparison between that and a lav. To get a better sense of how the hypercardioid performs, put it up against a B6 or B3 omnidirectional lav. We typically don't use cardioid or hypercardioid lavs for dialog simply because the sound falls off the moment the talent turns his/her head. Omnis should work just fine, as the proximity helps better the s/n ratio and the talent's torso will help absorb some of the background sounds.
The key to effective noise reduction is not removing as much as possible in one pass; it is taking out small amounts at a time over several passes. Remember: whenever you have constant sound behind dialog, there's a good chance that the extraneous sound occupies some or most of the same frequencies as the voice, so dealing a heavy blow to the noise will also deal a heavy blow to the dialog.
Trying to "resurrect" what was lost with all the layers and all the extra processing just made things worse. The end result sounds like a really low-band-width Internet download, when the starting sound was actually quite manageable. Gentle noise reduction combined with effective sound design could have made it work without all the heavy processing. I would suggest trying a couple of very light passes from the original sound, and see what results you get. When the dialog starts to suffer, you know you've gone too far.
Also, any camera-mounted mic - cardioid or omni - at 3' from the subject is going to be unusable, especially in a noisy environment. There's really no comparison between that and a lav. To get a better sense of how the hypercardioid performs, put it up against a B6 or B3 omnidirectional lav. We typically don't use cardioid or hypercardioid lavs for dialog simply because the sound falls off the moment the talent turns his/her head. Omnis should work just fine, as the proximity helps better the s/n ratio and the talent's torso will help absorb some of the background sounds.
I agree with Alex. The original lav audio seemed pretty good to me..in context. The first pass of NR mangled it...and it wasn't needed, IMHO.
I am surprised you got decent sound with the B2D outside in wind..wind being very challenging for most lavs..but especially a cardioid.
But..in a straight to camera or interview situation with limited head movement (as opposed to narative), this mic can bail you out of some noisy situations...provided the noise isn't coming from above the subject. But if you don't need that level of isolation, an omni will lav will be not only more forgiving of head turns and plosives, but usually better sounding with lower self noise (hiss). I own one..but only use it when its pros outweigh its cons.
I am surprised you got decent sound with the B2D outside in wind..wind being very challenging for most lavs..but especially a cardioid.
But..in a straight to camera or interview situation with limited head movement (as opposed to narative), this mic can bail you out of some noisy situations...provided the noise isn't coming from above the subject. But if you don't need that level of isolation, an omni will lav will be not only more forgiving of head turns and plosives, but usually better sounding with lower self noise (hiss). I own one..but only use it when its pros outweigh its cons.
Bruce Watson
Veteran
Yes. The only lavalier I'm willing to use is an omni. I use them in some of the really noisy environments such as trade show floors. Never felt the need for any kind of directional lavalier.
The reason for this is location, location, location. A properly positioned lav. gives you excellent signal to noise ratio. The noise generally doesn't matter as long as it's low enough in the mix.