Question about mixing audio effects.

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ironpony

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Some sound effects are hard to record in certain acoustic environments. I have tried going to websites such as freesounds.org, and they have lot of what I want. Only problem is, is that most of it is recorded flat, and their is no room reverb or ambience, to match the room the scene was shot in.

I can try adding it in post with Adobe Audition, but every time I add reverb, the audio clips, even though the original recording does not clip. If I turn it down, then it's too quiet, and I can't seem to get it louder without clipping. It's fine volume wise, until I add reverb, then it clips. What do I do about that? Thanks.
 
There's something about ironpony's endless quest for information that even if he is trolling, which many of us now fear is the case, does give scope for advice that must be helping others. I'm more and more thinking it's like when I was a college lecturer, and it was often really handy to have somebody keen but empty who asked the kinds of questions that stimulated debate and information exchange. Ironpony seems to always be busy, always working on different project, and always having so many problems for us to solve.

Looking back, he's produced by accident some really great topics.

I've got lots of software that I use almost daily. I NEVER use Audition or Soundforge to add reverb in my normal workflow. They are great for some things, but you'd never mix on them and that for me is the key - Some people use Pro-Tools, others alternatives, but the key feature is they run in real time and have real or screen faders that you can treat just like a 'real' mixer. In an older topic, I seem to remember you normalised your audio, and this is the snag. If it's almost at digital maximum, you cannot add reverb without clipping. To add reverb, you must sort the gain, and in a proper mixer (hardware or software) individual channel levels won't be able to be driven to the end stop, because some summing needs to take place, so while channel levels are important, so is the output level after the mix and effects. You can do this in Audition if you set it up for multitrack, but I suspect you are taking your clip then processing it via the usual menus. In the mix style of doing the job, you set balance, then add reverb and effects in the context of the whole mix, with an option to listen to just that source solo to help.

As for sourcing effects on-line, the word you want is 'dry' not 'flat'. Flat usually refers to EQ. Your problem is that when you say it's quiet, it's probably actually right, and you just have your monitor audio set too low. Your cure could simply be to turn the amp up, and work with more headroom so that adding the effect does not max out. With effects, better is often less than you think. With a proper knob, you can look where the knob is, turn it up quickly to full to establish the effect works, then back it down to make it sit in the mix properly. Very often, you end up moving the knob very, very little.

Sound effects need to be recorded dry - you'd never be able to record each one at hundreds of different locations. Don't forget that you also need to eq them to match the distance perspective you are creating with the reverb you picked. If you want a sound to appear to have been recorded at a distance in a cathedral, the eq will be different from a scene recorded in a bathroom. Also remember that EQ'ing the effect too may also be needed to make it match. You also need to think about the effect in terms of stereo too. You may well have a mono mic track, maybe of your character speaking, and need to add reverb - but mono reverb isn't very realistic. What you want is mono speech, with stereo reverb, matched to the space. If you add reverb as a clip edit then this is very difficult to do realistically, and once you have glued the two together, it may not sit in the mix. In a proper system, you can have the reverb active, and the returns eq'd and set in level, and add in your dry content, that can be trimmed and cut, leaving the ambience to ring...................
 
So, what was THIS thread about, then? I thought you'd already hired a post mixer, who should be the one to take care of these things.
 
Ant the one you closed where his mixer(s) were stumped when he wanted three track stereo...

I've worked with a fair number of 13 - 14 year olds and I think they get underestimated. If it's just age I would go a lot younger, and obviously sharp enough to be able to post ;~)

For thos that come to this thread looking for info about stuff lke this the stickies here have a TON of info on post.
 
Here's more. I am DEFINITELY sure we answered your question in at least one of these!

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I propose we all collaborate on a "catfish"-style documentary to find out...we will call it "behind the ironpony curtain."
 
I am taking bets: He's either writing a book about filmmaking or launching a website using the knowledge given to him free without any credit to those that shared their hard-earned knowledge.


I never minded sharing what little I have learned over the years.........but here and with this member.....I have the distinct feeling that my generosity is being taken advantage of.
 
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