Roomtone track question?

R

Ralph nixon

Well-known member
I'm editing a documentary and I faithfully recorded roomtone for every interview. Should I lay a track of roomtone each time an interview subject speaks? Should I build other tracks with ambience and effects like a clock ticking in the bkg to fill-out and make more real the interview or should I keep it as silent and audible and intimate as possible?

Is roomtone only for gaps in sound where bad parts have been taken out and therefore should only be laid in those places on the track? As opposed to a complete track of continous roomtone?
 
There are as many ways of approaching documentary audio post as there are documentaries. I'm assuming in this case that by roomtone you mean production sound roomtone rather than a stereo atmosphere track from a library (eg. ticking clocks, AC hum).

Essentially, I prefer to use roomtone only to smooth out the edits. Laying in roomtone on top of production sound will significantly raise your noise floor. I suppose that if you really wanted to flesh out the stereo image, you could add a pseudo-stereo loop of roomtone (a track panned hard left and the same track delayed 30 seconds panned hard right), but I find that such an effect is better achieved through a true stereo atmosphere track.

As for adding additional atmospheric effects tracks, that largely depends on the documentary sensibilities of the director. Often, the directors I've worked with will favour a more journalistic or cinema verite aesthetic wherein non-production elements are kept to a bare minimum. Other directors will favour more feature-style sound design, complete with surround atmospheres and foley coverage.
 
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As for adding additional atmospheric effects tracks, that largely depends on the documentary sensibilities of the director. Often, the directors I've worked with will favour a more journalistic or cinema verite aesthetic wherein non-production elements are kept to a bare minimum. Other directors will favour more feature-style sound design, complete with surround atmospheres and foley coverage.[/QUOTE]


How do you lay your roomtone so that it only smooths out your edits and doesn't bring up your noise threshold?
 
You physically cut it in when you have a "hole" - bad bit of dialogue you took out, gap where two cuts didnt meet, ugly noise in BG you didnt want.

this is a big part of dialogue editing, and is a huge subject on its own...
 
I do it like tim does... for my own stuff roomtone is the spackle... nothing more. If everything goes good and I don't have to pick up anything later it doesn't even get used.

Let's say you're doing something like the Daily Show or something... you can later cut in your questions from a different location and time and lay down tone on your track... it'll feel like you were there on the same day.

You gotta' have it, but you don't have to use it. For me roomtone=bandaids.
 
If the production track is good, then I use that. If it's spotty, I tend to lay in a room tone over the whole take. I have found that if I use it as a band aid, and not a whole "wrap", then you can hear the cuts, which is bad.

-Dave
 
yeah, im confused. I dont usually do that, and dont know of anyone that does. But Im a small fish, so what do I know? ;)
 
MattinSTL said:
Can't you still hear when it doubles up then?
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Depends on what the production track is like. If it's really bad, I may have to do more than put in one or two room tones. I may also have to get creative with BG's. Ask any re-recording mixer and they'll tell you that there should be room tone across the whole scene. Ideally, there should never be any gaps in the production audio. I hate it when the picture editor decides what audio to cut out. That just creates a living hell for me. Even if there is junk between lines in the production track, just leave it there. Let me deal with it. I can usually make stuff work. It's when stuff is just gone completely that you get trouble. Also, I hate it when picture editors export an OMF with no handles. That just won't work for me. You have to have at least 5 to 10 second handles on the audio so the dialogue editor can make stuff work.

-Dave
 
Dave_Fisk said:
I hate it when picture editors export an OMF with no handles.-Dave
Click to expand...

Agreed.

OMF's without handles are almost as irritating as pictures without 2-beeps.
 
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