whats the best software for audio

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cortiz001

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I am using final cut HD and am intrested in getting more knowledge in audio processing. Not so much as recording music but to get dialogue audio and processing it to sound more movie like. I dont know much about audio but have been looking at logic 7. Hope this makes sense. Also would like to get into sound design

thanks
 
Re: whats the best software for audio

It seems that many films which lack in sound are films that have bad recordings to begin with. If you get a good recording on location and add some good SFX & music, your sound will already seem twice as good as half of the DV films out there. As far as the software, they all pretty much do the same thing. Most editors would probably agree - ProTools, Logic and Nuendo are only tools.
 
Re: whats the best software for audio

Logic won't really work well for dialogue, and sound editorial for picutre. Pro Tools or Nuendo will work.

Honestly, find a sound editor to do a good job for you. Every time I talk with someone who wants to do everything themsleves, and ends up buying everything, and then they realize that good sound editorial is a little too much to tackle.

Try not to micro manage everything. For the price of what it will cost you to buy whatever software and hardware you need, you could hire someone to do a really good job on the sound for you. That already has the gear, and more.

-Dave
 
Re: whats the best software for audio

This is my list of applications I use to mix sound.

Sound Forge 6 - mostly for dialogue enhancements (noise reduction, etc).
Cubase SX- for scoring
Premiere Pro- For the final mix. All I do is layer the sounds and adjust the levels.

You better have good audio monitors. It's crucial for the right mix. I personally think pro tools is overrated.
 
Re: whats the best software for audio

Adobe Audition is one of the best, especially if you don't have much money.
 
Re: whats the best software for audio

[quote author=Michael Capulli link=board=audio;num=1103564664;start=0#1 date=12/20/04 at 16:16:54]It seems that many films which lack in sound are films that have bad recordings to begin with. If you get a good recording on location and add some good SFX & music, your sound will already seem twice as good as half of the DV films out there. As far as the software, they all pretty much do the same thing. Most editors would probably agree - ProTools, Logic and Nuendo are only tools.[/quote]

While I'll definitely agree that good location audio is the best place to start, I disagree with the "only tools" part.

I use Digital Performer from Mark of the Unicorn. It is a fantastic, full-featured Digital Audio Workstation, good not only for music work but also audio editing, Foley, etc.

Strongly recommended!
 
Re: whats the best software for audio

Has anyone used samplitude or sequoia it is one of the best audio apps i have ever used .. i have used them all
 
Re: whats the best software for audio

I haven't used either of those, but I have heard really good things about sequioa.

Every day I hear more and more good things about Nuendo. I used to poo poo it, but now I'm really becoming interested in it.

-Dave
 
Re: whats the best software for audio

The new sequoia is ready for 12 channel surround. I master multi channel audio all day and sequoia V8 kicks butt..

i like logic and nuendo they do a great job..
 
Re: whats the best software for audio

I use Nuendo and Wavelab which works great for me. Nuendo is an amazing program. If it is out of your price range you can also look at Cubase SX3.
 
Re: whats the best software for audio

Adobe Audition is the best bet for the money IMHO.

It's easy to use and has all sorts of presets that sound good for FX, not that you'll need a bunch. I taught a course & had students use it for ADR & Foley, it works, but the trick is to learn how to record good production tracks. One feature was an audio profile that lets one extract frequencies from the audio file. I had students record a conversation on a busy city intersection and then extract the frequencies used by autos etc... and what ended up on few projects were clean converstaions with very little interuption , though they did sound thin because low end frequencies were filtered out. This was a exercise to demonstrate the software capablity not that this is how one should record sounds for production!

Anyways, any of these tools will do this, but once again it's the recording capture process that needs to be worked on most.

Check out the DVD, " The Day After Tomorrow" on it you find in the special section an excellent example of Sound stems. I think there are 8 of them and it clearly demonstrates the quality & massive amount of work good audio takes...and we take for granted! ;)

Most people want to skip this hard part or only get so good...I say, sorry, that is like saying I only want to focus the camera only so much and then I'll see if I can fix it later in post, no cigar.

Most pros seem to use Pro Tools & great studios, with excellent boards, SSL, Neve, etc... & great mics, and super important... excellent sound recording rooms for post work.,

Audition is a good start.
 
Re: whats the best software for audio

Funny Terry...I usually see that statement coming with major Boo Hoo's from PC users
 
Re: whats the best software for audio

Hey 10s...Have you tried recording midi with audition? or anyone else for that matter.
 
Re: whats the best software for audio

Audition isn't set up as well like other programs for MIDI. Try some other like Cubase SE, etc... Audition is mainly for Wave editing & multitrack layering. MIDI is something else.
 
Re: whats the best software for audio

We have done digial audio for a lot longer than video but most of the tools we use work well for video too. Though I think that a lot of the advice about finding someone good at audio is true. It takes time and practice to get good results even with the latest software tools. And it isn't cheap. But you can get good results if you really have an interest in audio and want to invest the time and money.

For a basic but very functional set you can do it on a budget.
We use Steinberg Cubase for midi, digital recording and enhancement. It isn't too expensive but offers a lot of power for the price. You can record, edit and mix down multiple tracks, add in midi and use VST tools for sound creation or improvement and effects. The software is reasonably user friendly. Mac or PC

To edit and manage individual sounds we use Soundforge. It is great for mastering and setting proper levels for each track or recording. It uses VST effects that also work in Cubase and has great capabilities for editing audio from time stretch, pitch, filters, effects, compression and more. PC based.

You'll need a good audio interface. We use Roland (Edirol) UA-5 which has XLR, RCA, 1/4", and digital inputs/outputs. Motu makes a better unit but the cost is nearly 3x more. If you are doing most of your audio in the computer this is more than enough. Some good sound cards work too, but we prefer external units that are easy to plug into and generally less painful to deal with.

The previous posts also mention monitors. No matter how much time you spend mixing and working on sound, the end result will reflect the monitors and headphones you used to mix it. If you mix the audio to sound good on a bad set of speakers or headphones the end result will sound terrible on other speakers. We use Roland DS90 monitors which are self powered and deliver very neutural sound that, when mixed properly, sounds good on nearly anything we play the final tracks on. Event, Alesis and KRC make several good mid priced monitors that will deliver good results. But you are looking at a few hundred dollars for a pair and some time in the pro-audio shop to choose a good pair.

For headphones try higher end Sony or Sennheiser units. Some provide very true audio rendering and will be a good reference source for your audio. A good local pro-audio shop should be able to introduce some options.

I hope it helps.
 
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