Better Sound for Video: Compression In-depth

One of the most important things you can do to improve the production value of your video and film projects is to make sure your audio is top-notch. And to do that, you probably need to loudness normalize to the right standard or recommendation for your intended distribution (web, mobile, TV, etc.) And to effectively loudness normalize, you will usually need to do a little compression.

But doing compression can be frustrating at first. I’ve produced a lot of pieces with audio compression that was poorly done.

So in this episode, let’s take another look at dialogue audio compression and some of the things you can do to keep it sounding natural and not over-done.

Some Free Compressor plugins that have RMS control law and/or soft knee features:

dlm sixtyfive (RMS, softknee compressor, VST): http://www.vst4free.com/free_vst.php?plugin=dlM_sixtyfive&id=1780

TDR KokeInikov (RMS, softknee compressor various formats for Mac and PC): http://www.tokyodawn.net/tdr-kotelnikov/

Visit us at http://learnlightandsound.com for more updates on how to improve your lighting and sound for video.

Also be sure to subscribe to get weekly episodes!

Gear used to produce this episode:

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Tascam DR-60DmkII Audio Field Recorder

Amazon: https://geni.us/YWLU
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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Shure SM-58 Cardioid Dynamic Microphone (used for voice over)

Amazon: https://geni.us/2zDZKu
B&H Photo: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/68463-REG/Shure_SM58_LC_SM58_LC_Cardioid_Dynamic.html/BI/19904/KBID/12941/kw/SHSM58LC/DFF/d10-v2-t1-xSHSM58LC

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Audio Technica AT4053b Hypercardioid Small Diaphragm Condenser Microphone

Amazon: https://geni.us/BJ7NlcN
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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Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 DSP Audio Interface

Amazon: https://geni.us/JgPTvzD
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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RØDE NTG4+ Shotgun Microphone (used only in the intro clip and I think there may be an issue with my copy. Working with RØDE to resolve…)

Amazon: https://geni.us/5oBRdJ7
B&H Photo: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1115089-REG/rode_rodntg4plus_ntg4_shotgun_microphone_with.html/BI/19904/KBID/12941/kw/RONTG4P/DFF/d10-v2-t1-xRONTG4P

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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.