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Question about audio clipping.

H

harmonica44

I have dialogue that was recorded dry, that I want to add some filter and reverb too. The dialogue does not clip and does not reach higher than -6 db. But after I add some filter and reverb to it, it clips, even though the waves picture, clearly shows that it is not clipping and has not been recorded that way. How can I modify the track, without causing it clip from the effects added?

I tried turning down the amplification, and even though the picture does not show any clipping, it still sure as hell sounds like it's clipping.
 
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Why don't you go into construction, or perhaps waste removal. You obviously haven't absorbed one thing that has been written here or over on DVX, or in any of the books you claim to have read.
 
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harmonica44 said:
You mean like all the other tracks? If I do that you would have to turn the movie way up on your TV or computer to watch it. Wouldn't that bring up the noise floor too?
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How loud a mix sounds is NOT directly related to it's peak meter reading!

Both the peak measurement you aim to achieve AND how loud a mix you aim for depends on what distribution channel your mix is intended for.

G
 
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"How loud a mix sounds is NOT directly related to it's peak meter reading!"
Yep, this is what I was talking about when I asked whether you were using RMS or peak to read volume levels. RMS is closer to what we actually hear whereas peak is more useful for you if you're worried about clipping. The best thing to do is to have both showing at all times.

Harmonica, where will the film be shown? If it's just on Youtube etc then it needs to be louder than if it's in a cinema. That doesn't mean it has to be very loud though, people don't mind turning their volume up a little if it means getting a better experience from your content.
Feel free to turn everything down 6db and then to mix upwards rather than just adding compression. :)
 
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Not in all of Canada. Just wear I live. I tried hiring one from another city, but they wanted half the money now and half later. I signed a contract, but they just never got back to me even though their was a contract. I want someone I can work with in person who I can check up on, and get a movie done right.
 
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Working remotely and exchanging materials (inc. test mixes) via FTP servers is quite common professionally and becoming more common. The advantage is that it can be a lot cheaper for the same quality and a lot easier, especially if you are not based in a major audio post city. The disadvantage is it's obviously not so hands on and it's easier to get screwed. Probably more than 80% of my work is done remotely and of course you can get screwed in person as well, you're going to find cowboys however you do it. Half up front and half on delivery is standard industry practise, that's how I operate as well.

RE: RMS. It's true that RMS measurements are closer to what we hear as loudness than peak measurements but RMS measurements are still not remotely close to an accurate loudness measurement. The best and most commonly used measurement for loudness is a calibrated mixing environment along with those two funny looking appendages on each side of your head and that squidgy grey matter that's between them!

Film festivals cover a wide range of playback systems, from very cheap and crappy PA systems all the way up to full blown, professionally installed and calibrated cinema sound systems. The former is the wild west (like internet distribution) and the latter requires considerable knowledge to get it sounding decent.

G
 
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harmonica44 said:
Okay thanks. I tried changing the levels in Audition and brought them down before adding the effects. But now I can't get it loud enough without it clipping again afterwords. After the effects are done you have to turn it back up and that still causes it to clip.
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Here is a small piece taken out of a tutorial I wrote on gain staging"
http://rocksuresoundz.com/2012/03/07/audio-gain-staging/

"If you find that signals in your DAW have been recorded too hot for clean mixing with plenty of headroom, the use of trim plugins is the first place to go. Using one of these as your first plugin on each channel, you can adjust the level going into EQ’s, compressors and other processors. This is not the same as just pulling down the fader, because that only affects the signal level going to the master buss or summing busses. The trim plugin acts like the gain control on your preamp, whereas the fader is like the output volume control."

I don't know how you work with busses, masters, compression or limiting or whatever.......but properly gain staging even during mixdown is crucial to getting not only a loud enough overall result "without clipping anything" but also audio clarity. That's the first place to start
 
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Yep thanks, the lines recorded fine though on set, clear as a bell, and no clipping or distortion. They recorded no higher than -6db. So I wonder what I am suppose to do to fix the problem of clipping in post, when the audio WAS recorded properly to begin with. What do you do if the audio track has no distortion to begin with, cause no matter how much I turn it down in post, it still clips, after I apply the filter.
 
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harmonica44 said:
So I wonder what I am suppose to do to fix the problem of clipping in post, when the audio WAS recorded properly to begin with. What do you do if the audio track has no distortion to begin with, cause no matter how much I turn it down in post, it still clips, after I apply the filter.
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You've been told in this thread about gain staging in post and how to fix this problem by me, Alcove and now Rocksure. You've also been told that what you are applying is not called a filter, a filter is a type of EQ which removes a range of frequencies. Honestly H44, you are starting to sound like a troll!

G
 
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