For your audio packages, you will need nat sound – natural sound, the audio environment or background sound that is natural to your community.
Without nat sound, your packages will sound dead and artificial.
Everywhere you go in your community, whether it’s for an interview, an event, background research, or maintaining contacts with your sources, you should record and log clear nat sound elements.
Logging elements means editing, naming, and organizing the digital files so you can find them easily when you are under deadline pressure.
As you build up a nat sound library, you can use those elements to mix into your packages, making them more lively and interesting.
You should also design a sound ID for your packages, an intro, bridge pieces, and exit that you will use consistently to alert your audience that they are about to hear one of your pieces.
Be careful not to use any part of anyone else’s existing sound ID in your own ID.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Audio Basics lecture notes, 9/6/11
deciBel dB unit of measure for sound intensity (Alexander Graham Bell)
inverse square law - the loudness of a sound drops off as the square of the distance from the source. 2x as far = 1/4 the loudness, 1/2 as far = 4x loudness
+6 dB is twice as loud, -6dB is half as loud.
dB is a logarithmic or log scale, NOT a linear scale.
+6 dB is twice as loud, +12 dB is four times as loud, +18 dB is eight times as loud, +24 dB is sixteen times as loud.
Basic Rule: Get your microphone as close to the source as you can.
Signal, Noise
S/N ratio
Signal is the sound you want, noise is everything else.
You want a strong, clear signal, and as little noise as possible. That’s a good signal-to-noise ratio.
Measure the dBs of room tone or ambient sound; that’s noise.
Measure the dBs of the voice or other sound you want the audience to hear; that’s signal.
The difference between the two should be as large as possible. Less than 24 dB is pretty much unusable.
Sound is messy, it bounces around. You can't block sound. There is no such thing as a zoom microphone. A 'directional' mic simply hears a little better in one direction than another.
You need to keep the mic close to the signal source, and far away from noise sources.
The mic on the Flip phone is the little hole beside the lens. You need to get that hole as close to the subject's mouth as possible, it doesn't hear very well.
You have to monitor the sound you are recording through headphones.
If your ears are open to the air, your brain is processing everything you hear and eliminating a lot of the noise. When you listen through headphones, you hear exactly what the microphone and recorder are getting, including all the noise.
If you do not monitor sound, you will get unusable sound - and unusable sound means unusable video.
Supplemental Reading: PGSDV 1 How Sound Works, in Course Materials
inverse square law - the loudness of a sound drops off as the square of the distance from the source. 2x as far = 1/4 the loudness, 1/2 as far = 4x loudness
+6 dB is twice as loud, -6dB is half as loud.
dB is a logarithmic or log scale, NOT a linear scale.
+6 dB is twice as loud, +12 dB is four times as loud, +18 dB is eight times as loud, +24 dB is sixteen times as loud.
Basic Rule: Get your microphone as close to the source as you can.
Signal, Noise
S/N ratio
Signal is the sound you want, noise is everything else.
You want a strong, clear signal, and as little noise as possible. That’s a good signal-to-noise ratio.
Measure the dBs of room tone or ambient sound; that’s noise.
Measure the dBs of the voice or other sound you want the audience to hear; that’s signal.
The difference between the two should be as large as possible. Less than 24 dB is pretty much unusable.
Sound is messy, it bounces around. You can't block sound. There is no such thing as a zoom microphone. A 'directional' mic simply hears a little better in one direction than another.
You need to keep the mic close to the signal source, and far away from noise sources.
The mic on the Flip phone is the little hole beside the lens. You need to get that hole as close to the subject's mouth as possible, it doesn't hear very well.
You have to monitor the sound you are recording through headphones.
If your ears are open to the air, your brain is processing everything you hear and eliminating a lot of the noise. When you listen through headphones, you hear exactly what the microphone and recorder are getting, including all the noise.
If you do not monitor sound, you will get unusable sound - and unusable sound means unusable video.
Supplemental Reading: PGSDV 1 How Sound Works, in Course Materials
Study checklist for Portable Sound lab practical
This is your rehearsal checklist for the lab practical test on using the R-09 recorder.
___ Headphones __ AA batteries __ External hard drive
___ From R-09 kit, check batteries__ file format__ sampling rate__ data cleared__
___ Check environment for noise sources ___ choose least noisy location
___ Plug recorder into wall power (if possible)
___ Plug headphones into recorder
___ Check sound signal from recorder through headphones
___ Position recorder to minimize popping__ while maximizing signal__
___ Do sound check, set levels for recorder for good signal__ no clipping__
___ Record good 30-second take while monitoring recording through headphones__
___ Review take on recorder, listen through headphones__ and judge whether re-take is necessary
___ Correctly power off__ unplug__ and stow__ recorder
___ Connect external USB drive to computer
___ Create new folder for current day’s recordings on USB drive
___ Connect recorder to computer using R-09 kit USB cable
___ Power up recorder__ and select USB mode__
___ Locate recording file__ then drag-and-drop recording file from recorder to new folder
___ Eject__ and disconnect__ recorder from computer
___ Clear files from recorder using R-09 menu
___ Stow recorder for return to lab inventory
___ Plug headphones into computer
___ Open recording in Audacity
___ Evaluate recording dynamic range__ signal/noise ratio__ and clarity__
___ Headphones __ AA batteries __ External hard drive
___ From R-09 kit, check batteries__ file format__ sampling rate__ data cleared__
___ Check environment for noise sources ___ choose least noisy location
___ Plug recorder into wall power (if possible)
___ Plug headphones into recorder
___ Check sound signal from recorder through headphones
___ Position recorder to minimize popping__ while maximizing signal__
___ Do sound check, set levels for recorder for good signal__ no clipping__
___ Record good 30-second take while monitoring recording through headphones__
___ Review take on recorder, listen through headphones__ and judge whether re-take is necessary
___ Correctly power off__ unplug__ and stow__ recorder
___ Connect external USB drive to computer
___ Create new folder for current day’s recordings on USB drive
___ Connect recorder to computer using R-09 kit USB cable
___ Power up recorder__ and select USB mode__
___ Locate recording file__ then drag-and-drop recording file from recorder to new folder
___ Eject__ and disconnect__ recorder from computer
___ Clear files from recorder using R-09 menu
___ Stow recorder for return to lab inventory
___ Plug headphones into computer
___ Open recording in Audacity
___ Evaluate recording dynamic range__ signal/noise ratio__ and clarity__
RTFM: Edirol R-09HR High-Resolution WAVE/MP3 Recorder
For audio recording, this is one of the most powerful yet easy to
use tools in the lab inventory. Download and read the following
PDF documents to prepare for the lab practical. At least read all of
the TurboStart and Quick Start; read as much of the Owner's
Manual as you can.
R-09HR TurboStart (2 pages)
http://cms.rolandus.com/assets/media/pdf/R09HRts.pdf
Quick Start, or Practical Guide to the Edirol R-09HR (28 pages)
http://cms.rolandus.com/assets/media/pdf/r_09hr_practical_guide.pdf
or
http://media.rolandus.com/manuals/R-09HR_QS.pdf
Owners Manual (124 pages)
http://media.rolandus.com/manuals/R-09HR_OM.pdf
use tools in the lab inventory. Download and read the following
PDF documents to prepare for the lab practical. At least read all of
the TurboStart and Quick Start; read as much of the Owner's
Manual as you can.
R-09HR TurboStart (2 pages)
http://cms.rolandus.com/assets/media/pdf/R09HRts.pdf
Quick Start, or Practical Guide to the Edirol R-09HR (28 pages)
http://cms.rolandus.com/assets/media/pdf/r_09hr_practical_guide.pdf
or
http://media.rolandus.com/manuals/R-09HR_QS.pdf
Owners Manual (124 pages)
http://media.rolandus.com/manuals/R-09HR_OM.pdf
Jay Rose audio books
Jay Rose has written some of the best books on audio recording,
especially for video production. Here is a link to his latest. Highly
recommended!
http://www.dplay.com/book/pgs3e/index.html
especially for video production. Here is a link to his latest. Highly
recommended!
http://www.dplay.com/book/pgs3e/index.html
Audacity sound software
From the site: "Audacity® is free, open source software for
recording and editing sounds. It is available for Mac OS X, Microsoft
Windows, GNU/Linux, and other operating systems." I highly
recommend Audacity for learning about how sound recording and
editing works. It is basic enough for anyone to use, and with the
many plug-ins available, powerful enough for more challenging
projects.
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
recording and editing sounds. It is available for Mac OS X, Microsoft
Windows, GNU/Linux, and other operating systems." I highly
recommend Audacity for learning about how sound recording and
editing works. It is basic enough for anyone to use, and with the
many plug-ins available, powerful enough for more challenging
projects.
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
Friday, September 2, 2011
Computer Requirements
You will be using your computer to edit video. This is some of the hardest work you can ask a computer to perform. Video data files are very large, so moving them around strains the data bus. The chip memory or RAM must be large enough to hold all the data. The processor or CPU must be fast enough to perform all the calculations. The hard drive must be large enough to hold all the incoming and outgoing data. The display must be large enough, and clear enough, to accurately show the video and the editing software. The display driver chip or GPU must be fast enough to process and display the video.
The minimum processor speed is 2.0 GHz (GigaHertz); faster is better.
The minimum Intel processor family is i5; i7 is better, i3 is inadequate.
The more processor cores, the better.
The minimum RAM is 4 GB; 8 GB is better, 2 GB is inadequate.
The internal hard drive should be at least 120 GB to hold applications and swap space.
You should have at least 500 GB of free hard drive space to hold your video files, on either an internal or external drive.
The larger your display, the better, and having a second monitor is very useful.
The display driver should have at least 256 MB of dedicated memory or VRAM; more is better.
The operating system you choose can make a difference in your overall costs.
If you choose the MacOS, you will be limited to buying software directly from Apple; they recently cut off software sales through the Computer Connection at the bookstore.
You will be able to perform basic video editing on the bundled iMovie software.
For more advanced video editing, you may choose to buy Final Cut from Apple.
You may also choose to edit your advanced projects on the lab iMacs.
If you choose the Windows OS, you have a wider selection of vendors for hardware and software.
You will be able to perform basic video editing on free or bundled Windows software.
For more advanced video editing, you may choose to buy additional or upgraded software.
You may also choose to edit your advanced projects on the lab iMacs.
The Computer Connection has a number of laptops that meet the minimum requirements:
The cheapest MacBook will not work.
Any of the MacBook Pro laptops will work; prices are $1,099, $1,399, and $1,699.
The cheapest Windows laptop, the Dell Vostro, will not work.
The other Windows laptops will work; prices range from $1,189 to $2,199.
There are several financing options for students, but you need to be aware that they may affect your other financial aid. You need to talk with financial aid and get all the information before making a decision.
There are, of course, other vendors for computers. Take the specs above and do your research.
Once you've narrowed down your options, I'll be happy to look them over and advise you.
The classic production triangle is: time, money, quality; choose any two.
You can choose to spend more money and have the convenience of working on your own equipment and schedule.
You can choose to save money and sacrifice more of your time in order to use the lab equipment.
You may not choose to sacrifice the quality of your work to save both money and time.
The minimum processor speed is 2.0 GHz (GigaHertz); faster is better.
The minimum Intel processor family is i5; i7 is better, i3 is inadequate.
The more processor cores, the better.
The minimum RAM is 4 GB; 8 GB is better, 2 GB is inadequate.
The internal hard drive should be at least 120 GB to hold applications and swap space.
You should have at least 500 GB of free hard drive space to hold your video files, on either an internal or external drive.
The larger your display, the better, and having a second monitor is very useful.
The display driver should have at least 256 MB of dedicated memory or VRAM; more is better.
The operating system you choose can make a difference in your overall costs.
If you choose the MacOS, you will be limited to buying software directly from Apple; they recently cut off software sales through the Computer Connection at the bookstore.
You will be able to perform basic video editing on the bundled iMovie software.
For more advanced video editing, you may choose to buy Final Cut from Apple.
You may also choose to edit your advanced projects on the lab iMacs.
If you choose the Windows OS, you have a wider selection of vendors for hardware and software.
You will be able to perform basic video editing on free or bundled Windows software.
For more advanced video editing, you may choose to buy additional or upgraded software.
You may also choose to edit your advanced projects on the lab iMacs.
The Computer Connection has a number of laptops that meet the minimum requirements:
The cheapest MacBook will not work.
Any of the MacBook Pro laptops will work; prices are $1,099, $1,399, and $1,699.
The cheapest Windows laptop, the Dell Vostro, will not work.
The other Windows laptops will work; prices range from $1,189 to $2,199.
There are several financing options for students, but you need to be aware that they may affect your other financial aid. You need to talk with financial aid and get all the information before making a decision.
There are, of course, other vendors for computers. Take the specs above and do your research.
Once you've narrowed down your options, I'll be happy to look them over and advise you.
The classic production triangle is: time, money, quality; choose any two.
You can choose to spend more money and have the convenience of working on your own equipment and schedule.
You can choose to save money and sacrifice more of your time in order to use the lab equipment.
You may not choose to sacrifice the quality of your work to save both money and time.
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