How do you identify and fix the root cause of distorted audio?

This is an interesting topic, as too many audio post professionals limit themselves to receiving work after the majority of the film process has been completed. I've found it useful to find clients who are near the beginning stages of their projects and have concerns about capturing clean audio. The only way to successfully achieve this preemptive strike is to have repeat clients and advise them to consult with you before their next project. This tactic has saved both my clients and I time and money and makes for a smoother post production experience.

Das gute ist ja dass die Aufnahme kette meist rein linear ist. So kann man jedes einzelne Puzzleteil mal durchgehen in dem man es etwa austauscht um die Fehlerquelle zu finden.

To identify and fix distorted audio, the first step is to check input levels. Distortion often occurs when levels are too high, causing clipping. For instance, producer Rick Rubin once encountered distortion while recording a rock vocalist who was pushing too hard. The solution? Rubin lowered the microphone's preamp gain to prevent clipping while maintaining the singer's intensity. Next, analyze the signal chain. Distortion could be introduced at any stage, from microphones to plugins. Ensure no effects or amps are overdriven, and adjust settings accordingly.

die hier beschriebene Rauschunterdrückung, EQ und Limiter haben weniger mit Verzerrung zu tun. Stattdessen sollte man Tools wie De-Clip nutzen, um die abgeschnittenen Peaks wieder herstellen zu k?nnen. Es k?nnen aber auch Tools wie De-Click und De-Crackle verwendet werden um weitere Artefakte zu beseitigen.

The best way to prevent yourself from doing extra work is to start with the best environment possible. Recording in a fully sound-treated room will prevent a high noise floor. Removing a high noise floor will make your audio distorted or weak very quickly. Remember - you can always add sound in, but you can't take it out.

es lohnt sich auch jedes Plugin auf die gleiche Lautheit einzustellen. Ein Limiter klingt immer erstmal toll, wenn das Gain am Ausgang gr??er ist als am Eingang. Sonst hat man schnell den Eindruck "viel hilft viel" obwohl das Signal einfach nur lauter gemacht wurde statt besser

While most people would immediately think of the RX suite of plugins from Izotope (and quite possibly the expensive yet effective Cedar plugin offerings), you'd be surprised how much clean up can be achieved with something as unassuming as reverb. When you understand how to use reverb properly (only using it as a send, and preferably in pre-fader mode), depending on the scenario, you can separate the wet signal (reverb) from the dry signal (original). If adding reverb masks the issue, using a reverb with a similar impulse response to the original signal (consider plugins like Chameleon from Accentize) can be a way to solve mild distortion issues.

Als Faustregel gilt: Das Audio so hochaufl?send und verlustfrei wie m?glich auszuspielen, aber maximal so hoch, wie auch das Ausgangsmaterial ist. Für Previews kann man sich auch eine komprimierte Version parallel ausspielen, die man etwa einfacher verschicken kann.

Diesen Schritt kann man auch durch verschiedene Tools w?hrend des Arbeitens machen. Klar hat nicht jeder mehrere Lautsprecher und Kopfh?rer, doch es gibt Plugins die simulieren den Klang auf verschiedenen Anlagen

This step can't be overstated. If you don't want to be that audio engineer with multiple "final" versions of audio for your client to review and revise, take the extra time (check in with your clients first) to check your work. Yes, your grade school teacher was right. Testing your mixes, edits or sound designs on airpods, in the car or using the Translation Check feature from SoundID Reference (from Sonarworks), are great tools to test for as many scenarios as possible that match the mediums by which your work will be translated.

While it's important to pay close attention to the client revision list, it's also important to use sound judgement and make executive decisions on behalf of the client. Most people would call this QC or quality control. This is important during long stretches of work where both sides are eager to get things done. It's during this time where the human brain is willing to take shortcuts which could compromise the quality of work in the long run. It's important to give the same amount of effort to the small tasks as one would give the bigger more challenging tasks. I can't tell you how many small mistakes cost me repeat clients because these seemingly meaningless issues were caught after the product was released. Quality is key!

Utilizar efeitos de forma indiscriminada na produ??o de áudio pode mascarar nuances e detalhes cruciais, comprometendo a clareza e a fidelidade. é essencial aplicar efeitos e plugins com discernimento, focando na preserva??o da integridade do som original e na corre??o de distor??es apenas quando necessário. A modera??o é a chave para garantir uma qualidade sonora autêntica e profissional. Porém, alinhar com o cliente quer sempre acaba sendo o filtro para essa equaliza??o.

Meaningful communication can truly be a huge difference maker that can decide the ultimate success or downfall of a project. On a particular project I worked on, the dialogue in some scenes seemed distorted while other dialogue in the same scene sounded normal. Had I not investigated, neither the filmmaker or I would've discovered that the video editor enabled compression plugins in his session and forgot to remove them before sending the assets to my team. While we were incredibly fortunate, I also know for a fact that over-communicating was the key to saving us time and resources that we didn't have. I'd rather come across as mildly annoying and produce quality work than to have a laissez faire mindset and risk sullying my reputation.