Dialogue Audio Post Processing for Film and Video

I always do at least some post-processing of my dialogue audio. I think some are under the impression that you can just buy a decent mic, record, and publish and you'll have awesome sound. That can be fine for quick-and-dirty videos, but if you really want good dialogue audio, you’ll need to do some post processing.

This is an evolving process as I learn, but this is what I do currently to get pleasing, prominent, good sounding audio that plays back reasonably well, even on mobile devices. For TV the only difference would be to normalize at a lower loudness (-24 LUFS).

This is what I do in Adobe Audition. This is a pretty manual process but gives you lots of control over the final sound. If you willing to sacrifice a little control for a quicker workflow, you can try using Auphonic.com to automate the process.

Come on over to http://LearnLightAndSound.com to learn more about sound and lighting for video.

u-he Presswork plugin (Compressor/Dynamics Processor and Phase Rotator): http://www.u-he.com/cms/presswerk

Gear in this episode:

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RODE NT1A Large Diaphragm Condenser Microphone (Voice over audio)

Amazon: https://geni.us/bRao
B&H Photo: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/651939-REG/Rode_NT1_A_NT1_A_CVRS_Complete_Vocal.html/BI/19904/KBID/12941/kw/RONT1ACRS/DFF/d10-v2-t1-xRONT1ACRS

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Audio Technica AT4053b Hypercardioid Condenser Microphone (Intro Audio)

Amazon: https://geni.us/4R9akck
B&H Photo: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/642499-REG/Audio_Technica_AT4053B_AT4053b_Hypercardioid_Condenser_Microphone.html/BI/19904/KBID/12941/kw/AUAT4053B/DFF/d10-v2-t1-xAUAT4053B

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Tascam DR-60DmkII Audio Field Pre-amp Recorder (Intro only)

Amazon: https://geni.us/HpZZ
B&H Photo: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1084690-REG/tascam_dr_60mkii_portable_recorder_for_dslr.html/BI/19904/KBID/12941/kw/TADR60DMKII/DFF/d10-v2-t1-xTADR60DMKII

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Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 DSP Audio Interface (Voice over)
Amazon: https://geni.us/s0OFyg
B&H Photo: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/654238-REG/Focusrite_SAFFIRE_PRO_24_DSP_Saffire_PRO_24_DSP.html/BI/19904/KBID/12941/kw/FOSP24DSP/DFF/d10-v2-t1-xFOSP24DSP

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Golden Age Project Pre-73mkII Preamplifier (Voice over)

Amazon: https://geni.us/Xe0Qjq
B&H Photo: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/869961-REG/Golden_Age_Project_PRE_73_MK2_Pre_73_MKII_Vintage_Style.html/BI/19904/KBID/12941/kw/GOPRE73MK2/DFF/d10-v2-t1-xGOPRE73MK2

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Sony a5100 Mirrorless Camera (Intro)

Amazon: https://geni.us/0fxOUI
B&H Photo: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1076400-REG/sony_ilce_5100l_b_alpha_a5100_mirrorless_digital.html/BI/19904/KBID/12941/kw/SOA5100BK/DFF/d10-v2-t1-xSOA5100BK

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u-he Presswerk (Plugin I used to fix the waveform asymmetry)

http://www.u-he.com/cms/presswerk

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Voxengo Span Plugin (used to analyze frequency)

http://www.kvraudio.com/product/span-by-voxengo

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Music copyright Curtis Judd 2012

Ethics statement: Some of the links above are Amazon.com, B&H Photo, or other affiliate links.