An Intro to Noise Reduction (Droneward Bound)

Some SOUND ADVICE: Noise Reduction can be a tricky trade off– that’s why it’s important to know what the current tools available can do, and what they can’t. This makes you more prepared on set, and allows you to make informed decisions about your sound recording situation– what is acceptable, what is a real problem, and what can save you time or ultimately hurt you later on in post. In this tutorial, Kevin Senzaki walks us through the audio repair we had to do on our short, "Droneward Bound."

We encourage you to play around with different tools available to you and to learn the weaknesses and strengths of the software you have available– you don’t need expensive programs to keep yourself informed, problem solve, and to be creative when capturing sound.

While we focus on RX4 in this video, we hope that it gives you a better understanding of how audio repair works and its capabilities in a broader sense, and that you can apply that understanding to the tools you have available.

Special thanks to RØDE Microphones! While we tried to make our sound as crappy as possible in this short for educational purposes, their mics still performed above and beyond. Check them out here:

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[TigerXGame]

Always love how down to earth and simple you guys make these instruction videos. Really easy to understand and it's fun to know how it all works behind the scenes. Something that looks so simple on screen can have so many hours of work into it. Keep up the good works guys!

[kooky]

"...we’re thrilled they are supporting us."
Great video but you should mention that in the video itself.

[KevinLanigan]

My co-creator and I really needed this video for the web series we're working on. Thanks, Rocket Jump. You save actual lives.

[elektropassgo]

I clicked on this video hoping it was going to be about video noise reduction. Sound is definitely very important, I know that as fact, and I'm not discrediting the helpful information talked about in this video. A huge thanks for that. But, could you guys do a video on digital noise reduction as well? Most of us can only afford to use our entry-level DSLR's for video and those are AWFUL in low-light, and most of our schedules don't allow us to shoot in daylight all the time. Thanks!!

[thevidmaster]

Just finished shooting day one of a project and thought we had absolutely no usable audio. Thanks to this, our audio may have a chance! Thanks Kevin! :)

[BIGAACE]

You guys and gals get me pumped to shoot and edit I swear!

[sampsonraysimon]

That's remarkable! Wish I had this stuff back in the day!

[AbsoluteTravisT]

These tips also work great for just audio stuff too like podcasting! I've been doing these tips on Audacity which is decent for free but you can easily lose quality like you said. You're spot on that you just need to train your ears to make stuff sound more natural.

[Scifibasskid]

just figured out how to do it in audition and wow it's made a difference! thanks kevin and friends!

[yanwo]

Ironic. A video about noise removal has mindless strumming throughout.

[shaunsanders]

Great vids!! Thanks - I'm learning a lot.

[SwimtwobirdsNyc]

Highly entertaining demonstration of iZotope RX. For those who want to follow up by seeing more detailed videos, iZotope itself and Mike Thornton of Pro Tools Expert have videos on YouTube. Thornton also has a series on Groove3, and Scott Hirsch has a series on Lynda in which he explores using RX for both film and music. As Kevin implies, the best solution is to avoid these problems in the first place, but if you can't, iZotope can fix, or at least attenuate, a lot of sound problems.

RX is indeed highly regarded, and widely used, by post-production professionals. As someone who has used RX since RX 3, I think it's worth pointing out that there's definitely a learning curve. It isn't a matter of pushing a button and Voila! Regarding cost, the just released RX 5 Standard version, which has all of the features that Kevin demonstrated in this video, and more, is USD 300 until October 21, at which point it will be USD 350. Regarding those who are sensitive about sponsorship should probably know, before watching Thornton's videos, that he clearly has a relationship with iZotope, not that the many people who have benefited from his videos care.

[markgraves]

YES! Awesome tutorial -ish sort of thing.

[AwesomePorkchop]

Absolutely love this series!
Can you guys make an episode about recording ADR dialogue and editing it to fit the setting of the scene??

[HaloUnion]

Aw I was hoping this would be about video noise.

[maximvoltage]

This reminds me of context-aware-fill tool in Photoshop but for sound, not image.

[KevinSenzaki]

Hey there! If your YouTube account isn't enabled for "reply" and you've got a question, please either fix that business, or pop me a message on the RJFS forums (link in the description)! Otherwise I'm just tossing random words out on the YouTube comments, and that isn't happy times for anybody. Thanks!

[WtbgoldBlogspot]

I'll get a "tin-y" sound every once in a while, and now I for sure know why. At 6:59, they sounded better without all the background but definitely a little mechanical. Thanks for the great video.

And you can pretty much do all of this in Audacity and Premiere right?

[sammysalter]

you probably should have mentioned this was sponsored at the start. It just looks like you're trying to hide it, and it would help us to know. otherwise, great video

[JannikPitt]

Helpful, I always did noise reduction for my YouTube videos with Audition. But I never liked the result because there was just so much detail lost. But I'll try your tricks - thanks for the video!