

In the case where audio delivered by an on-camera host or in a voiceover narration includes a small, but noticeable hiss, a fast and easy solution may be to simply add a music bed. 2 – Add Music Adding a music track can cover up noise in your mix, and help smooth out rough transitions. Cutting out problematic sound altogether may be an acceptable option. Likewise, if the audio problem occurs in a short section of non-crucial audio delivered by an on-camera host, but the rest of the delivery is fine, a decision can be made as to the importance of including that specific line of dialogue. If the track is plagued by buzz or distortion, it can be cut altogether. While the editor may have preferred to include the sound of the carnival midway, the integrity of the story would not be compromised by omitting the track. If, for instance, a news production about the county fair that is driven by voiceover narration, or an on-camera host includes a problematic soundtrack that is associated with ambient audio that accompanies B-roll video, eliminating the problem may be as easy as muting the audio that coincides with the B-roll. The first step is to determine whether the offending audio track is critical to the success of the video or not. If you find yourself confronted with unsatisfactory sound quality when you sit down to edit, here are five strategies that might help you make the most of a bad sound situation. In this article, we will focus on reducing or eliminating common audio problems like hiss, distortion caused by clipping and weak, hollow sound. There are two approaches to audio editing: eliminating problems with source sound that would create distractions, and adding audio effects and elements, like sound effects, to build a soundscape. You do not need to become a master audio-sweetening technician to greatly improve your videos. The good news is that even a little attention to audio goes a long ways. In light of this, video producers must raise their awareness of audio and increase their attentiveness to cleaning up and covering messy audio.Įven the most visually appealing productions can come across as amateurish attempts if they are accompanied by a sub-par soundtrack.

So, no matter how good a video production looks, a poor soundtrack will taint the entire production in the mind of the audience. Furthermore, in the mind of the viewing audience, a video production will typically be remembered, and therefore judged, based on its weakest component. In fact, we might instead consider the postulation that as video image quality increases, audio quality should increase proportionately, because the expectation of quality has been raised within the viewer. In reality, audio quality is every bit as important as video image quality. If a customer finds one hair in her salad, or one fly in the soup, the whole dish is tainted, no matter how good it looks on the plate. Even one blotch of mold ruins the entire loaf of bread. Upon careful consideration however, this is a vast understatement of the truth. Most students of the art of video production have heard it said that audio quality makes up 50 percent of a production’s perceived quality. Shooting and editing video productions that have a beautiful aesthetic is a wonderful thing, but even the most visually appealing productions can come across as amateurish attempts if they are accompanied by a sub-par soundtrack. Likewise, they are attentive to the potential compromises that compression can introduce during editing and export, and may invest hours of effort to perfectly hone their color correction and effects filters to treat their footage in a way that makes it look like a feature film. Conscientious shooters pay careful attention to variables like lighting, lens selection and camera settings when they capture their footage. It’s no secret that video producers put a lot of effort into shooting and editing videos that look good.
