Too Much Noise

R

RipSwan

I'm working on a short film on FCP 6.0.1 (hopefully soon I'll upgrade to 3-5) and am using a homemade track dolly for a few shots. The dolly runs really smoothly and I like it a lot, except for the noise.

When I speed it up, there is the ever-present "rolling noise" made from the skateboard wheels moving along the track.

How might I:
a) get rid of the noise all together by messing with the dolly itself?
or
b) edit out the rolling sound either in FCP or Soundtrack Pro while keeping certain sounds that I want such as talking?

Any advice is greatly appreciated!
 
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There are a number of potential solutions:

1. You could experiment with the audio graphic equalizer in FCP to try and filter out the specific frequency of the track noise...this will also result in slightly lower fidelity in the speaking, though, depending on how far you go and what frequencies the actors are speaking in. Usually I end up splitting the difference in a situation like this.

2. You could add some ambient room noise/background sounds to try and conceal the sound of the track.

3. If you haven't shot yet, you could acquire some lavaliere microphones to conceal on your actors and wire them into a mixer and into your camera or secondary audio recorder.

4. You could record some ambient room noise and just dub the actors' lines in afterward.

I've used all four of these methods with varying success to eliminate unwanted camera motion noise (among other unwanted sounds). Experiment and find a solution that works best for you, and let us know what you came up with!
 
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I've already done the shoot so I'll probably opt for the editing out idea.

Do you think using a shotgun mic either on a boom or mounted on the camera would help in this area?
 
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Yes, the closer you can move the microphone to the actors and away from the source of the unwanted noise the better you will be. If you can get the mic just above the actors' mouths barely out of frame you probably wouldn't pick up much from the camera rig (assuming it is five or six feet away).
 
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RipSwan said:
Do you think using a shotgun mic either on a boom or mounted on the camera would help in this area?
Click to expand...
This sounds to me like you're just using the built in mic... those are really only good for reference audio, not actual usable audio..

Yes a shotgun mic on a boom is the way to go. A shotgun mic on the camera is not the best solution though, so go for the boom, mic, xlr cables, and xlr adapter if needed.. you'll be happy with the night & day difference it makes. :)
 
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hi Rip,

once the noise is in the dialogue...its pretty much there to stay...all the above were pretty good ideas and the problem was the On-Board Mic....

so...you are going to have to close cut all the dialogue from that shot...meaning...cut out everything that is not dialogue...only leaving the words...then you will have to lay in under that an ambient track that matches the location you were in....i am assumimg you never recorded a room-tone for that scene...for this you can look for a quiet piece of ambiance from anything that was shot there...maybe something just before you called action...and loop this under the scene or strectch it...as this would be you cloeset match to use...you only need a couple of sec. to make a loop...

hope this helps
 
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Dave Pastecchi said:
so...you are going to have to close cut all the dialogue from that shot...meaning...cut out everything that is not dialogue...
Click to expand...

For an excellent example of this method in a commercial release, check out Stanley Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange," especially the scene where Alex's gang interrupts the gang rape before the fight. Brilliantly close cut dialog audio.
 
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