Topic- 1 Lecture- 18

Sound Design and

Editing: Concept and
Troubleshooting
Unit-III
Mixing and Exporting

Subject: Video Editing

By: Sumantra Sarathi Das

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OBJECTIVE OF LECTURE

Students would be able to :

􏰀- Understand basic idea of what all

includes sound in film/video production and
sound Editing in video production.
􏰀- How troubleshooting can be done in
Sound Design.

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Suggested further readings:

1.Herbert Zettl, TV production Handbook,

Thomas Wardsworth Publishing
2. Video Production, Vasuki Belavadi, Oxford
Publication
3. Millerson, G., & Millerson, G. (1999). Television
Production. Oxford: Focal Press,13 edition.

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 FILM SOUND

- Though we might think of film as an essentially

visual experience, we really cannot afford to
underestimate the importance of film sound. A
meaningful sound track is often as complicated as
the image on the screen. The entire sound track is
comprised of three essential ingredients:

- the human voice

- sound effects
- music

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 FILM SOUND

- These three tracks must be mixed and

balanced so as to produce the necessary
emphases which in turn create desired effects.
They include dialogue, synchronous and
asynchronous sound, and music.

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 A good sound involves

Location mixing
During video production, the recording of live
sound is handled by the location mixer. This is
considered mixing, because originally, multiple
mics were mixed “on-the-fly” to a single mono or
stereo recording device. In modern video or films
with digital location recordings, the mixer tends to
record what is really only a mixed reference track
for the editors, while simultaneously recording
separate tracks of each isolated microphone to be
used in the actual post production mix.

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 A good sound involves

Dialogue
The first thing many people associate with Sound
Design is Dialogue. The spoken word is certainly
a large part of video production, especially in the
world of commercial video and testimonials. Clean
recordings of Dialogue (or monologue in many
cases) is a must, without any hums or background
noise obscuring it.

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 A good sound involves

ADR
Automatic Dialogue Replacement or “looping”. ADR
is the recording of replacement dialogue in sync
with the picture. The actors do this while watching
their performance on screen. Sometimes this is
done during production and sometimes during post.
ADR will be used when location audio has technical
flaws. Sometimes ADR is also used to record
additional dialogue – for instance, when an actor
has his or her back turned.

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 A good sound involves
Foley
Named after Jack Foley, an early adopter of the
practice who employed it primarily in Radio. Foley
is the art of recreating physical sounds; the sounds
a character or subject makes when they move or
interact with the world around them. These sounds
include cloth rustling, grabbing, punching, eating,
footsteps and an entire library of other common
sounds. Mostly sound designers recreate these
effects in the editing room and sync them with the
footage manually.

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 A good sound involves

It’s the technique used to recreate audio elements,

during the post-production. All types of sounds are
produced: steps being taken, doors closing, papers
flying, glass breaking, breathing, etc. Deliberately,
on the set of a movie, only dialogue is recorded
and, by recording all other sound elements in a
foley studio, a lot of time is saved.

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 A good sound involves

Room Tone
Room tone is the sound of a silent room. Every
space, whether outside or inside, has a base tone
to it. It’s rare in nature to find total silence. Every
video needs the realism of room tone to bridge the
gaps between Foley or between Dialogues. This
also helps smooth out inconsistencies with the
audio.

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 A good sound involves
Sound FX
Unlike Foley, Sound FX refers to sounds of the
environment that are not specifically caused by
human interaction. Sounds like fire, cars, doors and
elevators all fall under this category. During a
product demonstration, sound editors might
recreate or enhance the sounds of the electronics
whirring to life to sell the effect to the audience.
Sound effects for a film come from a variety of
sources, including live recordings, sound effects
libraries and sound synthesizers.

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 A good sound involves

Music
Music plays an important part in a video’s Sound
Design. For example, when it comes to Disney’s
classics, the music sets the differences in the mood
and the rhythm with which the action of a scene
progresses. Not only does the melody change, but
so do its tones and instruments. This change gives
the scenes the intended atmosphere for that
moment.

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 A good sound involves

There are actually two major types of music you

can have in your Social Video. Diegetic Music is
music that originates from within the video. If actor
or spokesman turns on a record player and music
starts, that would be Diegetic. Non-Diegetic Music
is the type more audiences are familiar with. This is
the intro music which might put over the opening
titles or your company logo animation.

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 A good sound involves
Re-recording mix
Since location recording is called location mixing,
the final, post production mix is called a re-
recording mix. This is the point at which divergent
sound elements – dialogue, ADR, sound effects,
Foley and music – all meet and are mixed in sync
to the final picture.

With the introduction of automated systems and the

ability to completely mix “in the box”, using a DAW
like Pro Tools, smaller films may be mixed by one
or two mixers. Typically the lead mixer handles the
dialogue tracks and the second and third mixers
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 Audio Post-Production process
There are many stages in the audio post-production
process. Because audio can make or break a video,
a basic understanding of audio post-production is a
must for everyone on a video project.

The standard order of operations is:

-Dialogue editing
-Automated dialogue replacement
-Sound design
-Foley
-Music composition and editing
-Mixing

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 Audio Post-Production process

Dialogue Editing
In this phase, the raw recordings are organized and
synced to the timeline. Unwanted noise is removed
and the recordings are trimmed down to the
necessary length.

There are two important sub-steps in this stage:

- Use of Expander
- Manually Synchronize Audio Tracks on Your
Video Editing Timeline

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 Audio Post-Production process

Use of Expander to Efficiently Reduce

Background Audio Noise:
- It is always desired to have a clean and clear
audio in our video recordings. In reality, however,
dealing with environmental noise is a part of
virtually every production. Most of the time, a small
amount of noise in the background of the video can
slip by unnoticed. As soon as that noise becomes
audible, though, it can really distract the audience.

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 Audio Post-Production process

- The tool that most people reach for is a ‘noise

gate’, but these can quickly become destructive.
Instead, you can use an EXPANDER to reduce the
volume of the noise without completely removing it,
which sounds more natural.

- Use an expander (plug-in or a separate

application) when you have subtle background
noise from recording on location (such as wind or
distant traffic) or background noise from recording
in a studio (such as A/C or exterior sounds).

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 Audio Post-Production process

- Expanders increase the difference in loudness

between quieter and louder sections of audio
making quiet sounds quieter and loud sounds
louder. For example, when you have a noisy
recording and want to reduce the volume of the
quieter parts so you don’t notice the noise as
much. A side effect of expanders is that they
change the way sounds decay and can end up
silencing quieter parts of your audio that you want
to keep.

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 Audio Post-Production process
Manually Synchronize Audio Tracks on Your
Video Editing Timeline:
- If an external microphone is used to get audio for
video, or if there are multiple cameras set up for a
single take, then there is a need to synchronize
those clips before the edit.

-To sync clips, it is really helpful if a slate to create

a comparison point is used (also known as a
clapper board) across all audio and video tracks. A
clap with hands can also be used for the same
effect.

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 Audio Post-Production process
Key Synchronization Steps
- Line up your clips on different tracks and place
them close to where they need to be.
- Zoom in on the audio waveform and look for the
clap, or any recognizable waveform shape.
- Nudge clips until the waveforms line up.
- Play back the track and see if an echo is there.
You may only be off by a frame or two.

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 Audio Post-Production process

ADR (Automated Dialogue Replacement)

In most cases, some of the original audio recorded
on set will be corrupt, noisy, or simply missing.
Other times, the quality is not up to scratch and
the tone of the voices is poor.
ADR is the process of recording new dialogue in a
studio environment to sync with the video. The
actor will lip sync to their original performance as
closely as possible.

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 Audio Post-Production process

Sound Design
Sound design is the process of creating audio
effects for the picture. The sound designer adds
wild tracks and new field recordings to create
background ambience. Any special sound effects
are created at this point, too.
Various techniques are used to create sounds,
included field recording, heavy processing, and
electronic synthesis.

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 Audio Post-Production process
Foley
Foley is similar to sound design in the sense that it
is a process of creating sounds to enhance the
realism of the picture. The difference is that Foley
refers to human-based sound effects. Foley artists
will usually re-perform the scene live, replicating
footsteps, rustling clothes and prop movements.
These sounds are then edited to match the scene.

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 Audio Post-Production process

Music Composition and Editing

Music is a strong cue to your viewer. With music
you can stir an emotion, enhance a mood, heighten
action, or build up the suspense. There is no right
or wrong way to use music, but there is a time and
a place to use it, and not all music is created equal.

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 Audio Post-Production process
Types of Background Music:

Emotion Evoking
If actor is angry, music can be used to emphasize
anger. If actor is happy, perhaps something light
and wonderful.
Scene Setting
The setting of the video is a specific place and
should establish a sense of that place for the
viewer. While the establishing shot can create a
sense of physical space, the music establishes a
particular cultural or social space.

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 Audio Post-Production process

Types of Background Music:

Filler and Bridge

Filler music can be a bit random. It’s not specific
and doesn’t necessarily have to add anything to a
scene or evoke any type of emotion, but it does
help to do some creative editing and fill in gaps.

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