VSP - Project 1 / Audio Editing Exercises

8.9.2023 - 15.10.2023 (Week 2 - Week 7)
Chong Hui Yi / 0363195
Video & Sound Production / BDCM
Project 1 / Audio Editing Exercises

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INSTRUCTIONS

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Project 1: Exercise 1 Audio Dubbing

Mr. Martin has given us a 1 minute and 45-second video, and we need to record the dialogues. 

First, we need to create a spreadsheet to document what sound effects are needed at each time point, and then we can search for the relevant sound effects online. My spreadsheet breaks down every second, which I find more detailed, so there's no need to write "from second X to second Y." 

I use https://pixabay.com/ and https://freesound.org/ to search for sound effects, but some sounds that I thought would be easy to find took a long time. For example, at 43 seconds, the "picking up glasses" sound was hard to find, so I had to substitute it with the sound of "taking snacks out of a box."

Fig. 1.0 Spreadsheet #1, week 3 (14/9/2023)

Fig. 1.1 Spreadsheet #2, week 3 (14/9/2023)

Fig. 1.2 Spreadsheet #3, week 3 (14/9/2023)

Fig. 1.3 Sound effect file screenshot, week 4 (28/9/2023)

Then, we proceed to edit in Premiere Pro, adding the recorded dialogues and sound effects. Here, I discovered something interesting. I downloaded a rotary phone dialing sound effect, and it has dialing sounds for numbers 0 through 9, so I can match the sound effect to the number being dialed in the video.

Dialogue: Audio track 1-4 (one character one trac)

Hard Sound Effects: Audio track 5-7

Ambience Sound: Audio track 8-10

Fig. 1.4 Rotary phone dialing sound effect, week 3 (17/9/2023)

We need to adjust the ambient sound to around -20dB, while the dialogue should be between -6dB and -12dB. To adjust the volume levels, I use two methods: one is controlling the level of the audio clip in the Effect Controls panel, as shown in Fig. 1.5, and the other is adjusting the volume levels in the Audio Clip Mixer, as shown in Fig. 1.6.

Fig. 1.5 Volume adjustment method 1, week 4 (28/9/2023)

Fig. 1.6 Volume adjustment method 2, week 4 (28/9/2023)

I use Audio Effects > Pitch Shifter > Semi-tones to lower the pitch, creating a deep male voice, or raise it to achieve a high-pitched, little girl's voice.

Fig. 1.7 Rotary phone dialing sound effect, week 3 (17/9/2023)

I completed the first attempt at audio dubbing by adding audio transitions > crossfade > constant gain to all audio clips. This is very useful in preventing audio from starting abruptly and ensures that the audience isn't subjected to sudden, loud sounds. Then, in week 4, after receiving feedback from Mr. Martin, I continued to improve the film's sound effects. 

Fig. 1.8 Audio Dubbing (1st attempt), week 3 (17/9/2023)

It was at this point that I learned that even for indoor scenes, there must be ambient sound. So, I added ambient sound to all the clips and replaced the initial ambient sound with motorcycle noise. At the end of the film, I added the sound of a crowd screaming. Project 1's audio dubbing exercise is now complete!

Final Outcome:

Fig. 1.9 Audio track #1, week 4 (28/9/2023)

Fig. 2.0 Audio track #2, week 4 (28/9/2023)

Fig. 2.1 Audio track #3, week 4 (28/9/2023)

Fig. 2.2 Audio track #4, week 4 (28/9/2023)

Fig. 2.3 Final Audio Dubbing, week 4 (28/9/2023)

Project 1: Exercise 2 Sound Shaping

In this exercise, we need to record an audio clip ourselves and then use Adobe Audition to make adjustments to simulate the following five sound effects:

1. Voice of phone call.
2. Voice coming from inside of closet.
3. Voice of toilet/bathroom.
4. Underground cave.
5. Alien/ Orc voice

First, I recorded an audio clip on my phone: 'Hi, I'm Hui Yi. This is project 1, exercise 2 sound shaping.' Then, I imported it into Audition.

Fig. 3.0 Import the recorded audio, week 7 (15/10/2023)

Fig. 3.1 illustrates the steps of using Parametric Equalizer. This Parametric Equalizer will then be applied to both the voice of phone call and the voice coming from inside the closet.

Fig. 3.1 Parametric Equalize, week 7 (15/10/2023)

Voice of phone call:

To create the 'Voice of phone call,' I lowered the bass and treble while boosting the mdi range between 500Hz to 2kHz. However, I found that even when I maxed out those points, the volume was still a bit low. Therefore, I manually input values to fine-tune the adjustments further.

Fig. 3.2 Voice of phone call, week 7 (15/10/2023)

Voice coming from inside of closet:

For the 'voice coming from inside the closet,' I kept the bass unchanged, set treble to the minimum, and raised mid range to the maximum.

Fig. 3.3 Voice coming from inside of closet, week 7 (15/10/2023)

Fig. 3.4 illustrates the steps of using Reverb. This Reverb will then be applied to both the voice of toilet/bathroom and the voice of underground cave.

Fig. 3.4 Reverb, week 7 (15/10/2023)

Voice of toilet/bathroom:

To create the 'Voice of toilet/bathroom,' I used the 'room ambience' preset in the reverb settings. Although it already sounded quite realistic, I made subtle adjustments by increasing the values of Decay Time and Pre-Delay Time to simulate the echo in a bathroom.

Fig. 3.5 Voice of toilet/bathroom, week 7 (15/10/2023)

Voice of underground cave:

To simulate the strong echoes inside a cave, I found the 'big drum room' preset in the reverb settings to be the closest match. I then increased the values of both decay time and pre-delay time to enhance the reverberation, creating a cave-like echo. I also adjusted the perception parameter to account for the uneven surfaces within the cave.

Fig. 3.6 Voice of underground cave, week 7 (15/10/2023)

Fig. 3.7 Pitch Shifter, week 7 (15/10/2023)

Voice of Alien voice:

I used Pitch Shifter, raised it by 10 semitones for an alien voice, and added reverb to make it sound more mysterious.

Fig. 3.7 Alien voice, week 7 (15/10/2023)

Final Outcome:

Fig. 3.8 Final sound shaping, week 7 (15/10/2023)

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FEEDBACK

Week 4: 

• The ambient motorcycle noise at the beginning is too loud and quite disruptive.
• Consider using different ambient sounds.
• The volume for listening on the phone needs to be lowered.
• Each scene should have ambient sound, even when indoors.
• For the final scene with pedestrians, I can add some startled sounds.

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REFLECTIONS

I find Exercise 1 interesting, but it's challenging to find sound effects. Sometimes, what I think should be easy to find, like tapping on a window, proves elusive. It might be due to using the wrong keywords or not searching thoroughly enough.

As a first-time user of Audition, the array of functions can be overwhelming. Fortunately, Exercise 2 only requires a few features, making it relatively straightforward. However, I occasionally struggle to discern the subtle differences in fine-tuning, leaving me a bit perplexed.