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Removing an engine sound from a piece of audio?

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  • 11-08-2008 3:29pm
    #1
    RichyX
    Registered Users Posts: 2,221 ✭✭✭


    I'm currently using final cut pro to edit a corporate video.
    One of the interviews was shot aboard an airplane while it was refueling.

    Due to the rush to get aboard a plane I forgot my radio mic.
    The interview was recorded with the built in mic on the camera, resulting in the sound of the engines featuring quite prominently.
    A short example is attached.

    I'm not great with audio so any advice as to how to improve this interview will be greatly appreciated.

    Thanks,
    Richy


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    #2
    LarWright
    Registered Users Posts: 256 ✭✭LarWright


    That's fairly lousey audio in fairness...

    I took it into ProTools and messed around, but the best I can get out of it is still fairly crappy.

    You can just mess around with the EQ of it, but you have alot of frequencies to try and filter out. There's the "rumble" of the engines, as well as the "mid-high" of the aircon.

    I've attached a picture of the rough EQ curve and an mp3 of the audio. maybe you can try something like this with the EQ?


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    #3
    RichyX
    Registered Users Posts: 2,221 ✭✭✭RichyX


    Thanks for the reply.

    I've been playing around with the notch and band-pass filters in FCP, but it hasn't really made any positive difference.

    Whatever I do to reduce the sound it also reduces her voice.
    The original is almost sounding the best I'm sad to say.


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    #4
    DWCommuter
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,032 ✭✭✭DWCommuter


    I can tell you now richy, youre wasting your time. I have a **** hot sound man with me (both live and post) and on a recent edit he could not remove/improve similar problems to yours. He even exported the audio into different audio software for treatment, but no joy. Most bad live sound is just a reality that we face from time to time. Years ago, I'd a problem with a chainsaw in the background and that was in analogue days!!!!

    Hope you can at least make it work.


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    #5
    Deliverance
    Registered Users Posts: 1,674 ✭✭✭Deliverance


    At the start of the audio there is the sound of the engine noise on it's own, you can sample that in an audioprogram and tell the program to eliminate just that sound, not sure what audio program will do this though, possibly logic.


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    #6
    Truck
    Registered Users Posts: 211 ✭✭Truck


    i done a bit of this in college, i'll giv it a go in in a min


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    #7
    Deliverance
    Registered Users Posts: 1,674 ✭✭✭Deliverance


    Tried doing it in audacity and the engine noise is gone but the voice is distorted. I also tried sampling the first second,copying it and pasting it to a new track, I then inverted the new track and it totally cancelled out the noise.

    So logically I extended the second track by copying and pasting the inverted noise sample across. Didn't work at all for the rest of the track? Strange, I'd like to see what works for this problem as well.


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    #8
    DCC
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1 ✭DCC


    Hi - It might be too late, but I ran your .wav through some software and managed to get rid of 90% of the engine noise. Do you want to hear the results?


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    #9
    studiorat
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,408 ✭✭✭studiorat


    Engine noise is pretty wideband making it difficult to remove...

    If the shot is obviously on a plane what's the problem with having the plane noise on the track?


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    #10
    RichyX
    Registered Users Posts: 2,221 ✭✭✭RichyX


    DCC wrote: »
    Hi - It might be too late, but I ran your .wav through some software and managed to get rid of 90% of the engine noise. Do you want to hear the results?

    I handed the finished product in a few months ago, without the offending footage.
    I'd still be interested in hearing the results though. Might be back there next summer so that footage may still be used.


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    #11
    RichyX
    Registered Users Posts: 2,221 ✭✭✭RichyX


    Video is online btw, I'd be interested in any comments ye might have on it.
    http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=Ctg20i8-I6s


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    #12
    sunny2004
    Registered Users Posts: 2,538 ✭✭✭sunny2004


    Excellent video !


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    #13
    studiorat
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,408 ✭✭✭studiorat


    Good work. One thing though and it's just a pet hate of mine. I felt there was a bit much of the room in some of the dialogue in the interview shots.

    It's not bad, I just finished mixing a short with scenes shot in a horrible sounding room and I'm probably just hyper sensitive to it at the moment.

    It looks well though and the music's good who did that for ya?


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    #14
    RichyX
    Registered Users Posts: 2,221 ✭✭✭RichyX


    Thanks guys :)
    studiorat wrote: »
    One thing though and it's just a pet hate of mine. I felt there was a bit much of the room in some of the dialogue in the interview shots.

    Do you mean the interview with the American lady?
    I was doing video, sound and lighting for all of the interviews so a few things were always gonna go wrong for a newbie like myself :)
    studiorat wrote: »
    the music's good who did that for ya?

    Declan Boyle, a lad I'm in college with.
    The music has had a very mixed response, a few people thought it was embarrassing and didn't fit at all, others liked it.


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    #15
    studiorat
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,408 ✭✭✭studiorat


    RichyX wrote: »
    Do you mean the interview with the American lady?
    I was doing video, sound and lighting for all of the interviews so a few things were always gonna go wrong for a newbie like myself :)

    You spotted it yourself so. A shotgun mic would have a narrower pick up but sometimes there's nothing can be done about it.

    Music works for me, seems like a little nod at U2 in it, good for the foreigners dollar...


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    #16
    RichyX
    Registered Users Posts: 2,221 ✭✭✭RichyX


    studiorat wrote: »
    You spotted it yourself so. A shotgun mic would have a narrower pick up but sometimes there's nothing can be done about it.

    She had a mic on her lapel, same one as the other interviews.
    Not too sure why it came out so poor.
    studiorat wrote: »
    Music works for me, seems like a little nod at U2 in it, good for the foreigners dollar...

    He's a big U2 fan so that's no surprise :)


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    #17
    studiorat
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,408 ✭✭✭studiorat


    RichyX wrote: »
    She had a mic on her lapel, same one as the other interviews.
    Not too sure why it came out so poor.



    He's a big U2 fan so that's no surprise :)

    Probably the room itself, I guess sometimes the audio's got to take a back seat to the picture!


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