Project 1: Audio Editing (Video and Sound Production)
Isaac Yaw Wai Zac (0343197)
Project Detail:
Breakdown of Project 1 Exercise 1 Process
In this project, we were given a short clip from the movie "Munich" that does not have any audio. Therefore, we need to do video dubbing to fit the scene right by adding sound effects and sound recordings as speech.
1. The first thing I did was to watch the video a few times and then list down the cuts or sections of each scene to determine what audio or sound effects would fit into these sections. This will be done on a Microsoft Excel sheet to ease the audio downloading and audio editing progress. The sound effects were suggested to be obtained from:
https://freesound.org/ (most of my sound effects were taken from here)
Figure 1. Spreadsheet to Breakdown Every Scene
2. Then, we were tasked to record our own audio with a phone by referring to the subtitles. However, I did the audio recording with the voiceover feature in the Adobe Premiere Pro software. Other than that, all the sound effects were taken from the Freesound website, and all the audio are listed below:
Figure 2. Compilation of Downloaded Audio
3. Lastly, the editing! Although it is as simple as aligning the audio files onto the timeline section, there were many other processes in this part. I need to sync the audio and change the speed, volume, pitching, and denoising of the recorded background sound.
Figure 3. Editing in Adobe Premiere Pro
Editing Process
In the editing process, I managed to learn and utilize a few features in the Adobe Premiere Pro software. As shown in Figures 4 and 5, I used the audio keyframe feature to vary and gradually increase and decrease the audio volume throughout the audio file as this would help to create a difference in 'feel' or 'atmosphere' throughout different scenes or even the same scene where there is a change in atmosphere.
Figure 4. Audio File Without Gradual Change in Volume
Figure 5. Audio File With Gradual Change in Volume
Since I used the voiceover approach to record my voice as the dialogue recording, I had to remove the background sound so that my voice could be heard clearly. Fortunately, Adobe Premiere Pro has this feature to denoise or remove the background sound as shown below:
Figure 6. Denoise Feature in Adobe Premiere Pro
All the dialogue in the scenes involves a father and his daughter, and also two undercover men who are trying to save the victims. This means that all the audio recordings need variation, especially in the pitch to mimic both male and female voices. This can be done by shifting the tone or semitone higher to achieve a similar-to-female voice and vice versa for a similar-to-male voice. This is accessed through the pitch shifter feature under the audio effects panel.
(Male Voice: Lower Pitch)
(Female Voice: Higher Pitch)
Figure 7. Pitch Shifter Feature in Adobe Premiere Pro
Lastly, the most time-consuming part!!! Editing and making sure everything sounds realistic in this movie scene. The full timeline that I have edited can be seen below as well as the final results.
Figure 8. Full Audio File Timeline for Project 1
(Final Output of Project 1 Exercise 1)
Breakdown of Project 1 Exercise 2 Process
In this project, we were all given 5 samples of sounds to play around with, by shaping the sound using the Adobe Audition software. Here is the list of scenes or sound 'environments' that we should replicate after recording a 5-second clip using our own voice and phone as the voice recorder.
1. Voice from a phone call
2. Voice from the inside of a closet
3. Voice in a toilet/bathroom
4. Voice in an underground cave
5. An alien/orc voice
To replicate these sound 'environments' we need to understand and use the effects in the Adobe Audition software which includes the parametric equalizer, and reverb. Do note that when configuring the highs, mids, and lows, make sure that the range is our edits falls into the range of 500 Hz to 2000 Hz because this is the realistic comfortable range in which our human ears can hear. Figure 1 below shows the recording done using a phone in the format of m4a.
Figure 1. Audio Recording on Phone
1. Voice from a phone call
In this edit, phone calls normally sound very flat where there is a lack of information in both the treble and bass parts. This is because the voice shall be heard clearly through a telecommunication network. Therefore, we can use the parametric equalizer effect in the Adobe Audition software to configure this pattern as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2. Rack Effect - Parametric Equalizer (Phone Call)
2. Voice from the inside of a closet
To replicate this sound 'environment', I can create a muffled effect which is essentially done by bringing up the bass but reducing the treble. The mid shall be moved higher in the spectrum as shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3. Rack Effect - Parametric Equalizer (Muffled Sound)
3. Voice in a toilet/bathroom
To replicate this effect, the reverb sound effect is used in the Adobe Audition software. The perception bar can be adjusted to achieve a higher reflective setting as shown in Figure 4. It really sounds like I'm talking when I'm in the toilet hehe.
Figure 4. Rack Effect - Reverb (Toilet Sound)
4. Voice in an underground cave
To achieve an underground cave voice, the convolution reverb effect is utilized. This is because it gives the full feature including the damping effect, the room size, pre-delay, and mix which are all equally important. The room size can allow the large spacious cave to be replicated whereas the mix of all the parameters is balanced accordingly, as shown in Figure 5.
Figure 5. Rack Effect - Convolution Reverb
5. An alien/orc voice
To replicate this sound effect, multiple different effects shall be stacked together to create it. In this, both the flanger and distortion effects were used. As seen in Figure 6, the distortion effect using a combination of both the positive and negative decibel curves allowed the tweaking of distortion until a favorable spot was achieved. However, the 'alien' voice effect is still not achieved yet. By using the Flanger effect, the 'guitar flange' effect was chosen, and the modulation rate and delay times were adjusted accordingly until a favorable 'alien-like' sound was achieved.
Figure 6. Rack Effect - Flanger & Distortion
Figure 7. Overall Working File for Project 1 Exercise 2
With this, all the files are ready to be exported in mp3 format. To Get access to the audio files, click here.
Reflection (Project 1 Exercise 1)
As a reflection, I felt that this project had taught me a lot in terms of navigating around the Adobe Premiere Pro software and utilizing the features. However, I struggled to get the recording audio for the dialogues right as I felt that it did not sound realistic. The pitch-shifting effect made the audio sound fake. I managed to get a friend who is a female to do the voiceover for the female voice, however, I felt that it would be better to use my own voice instead and utilize the pitch shifter feature until I get the sweet spot. I believe that more practice and more experience in editing will help me improve in the future.
Reflection (Project 1 Exercise 2)
As a reflection on this exercise, I was glad that I can learn how to use the Adobe Audition software which is one of those very useful software that I have always wanted to learn and master. The initial stages were a little challenging because I needed to get used to the new interface but with the help of the tutorial video prepared by Mr. Martin, I managed to navigate around the features and settings effectively. With this, I am eager to utilize this software for more future purposes and brush up on my sound editing skills.
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