6 Davinci Resolve Audio Editing Mistakes You NEED to Avoid

[@JasonLorette]

Audio is one of the things (like color grading) that gives me fits, compressors, de-essers, eq, dynamics, bands, graphs...hurts my brain. Thanks for this Jay!

[@JayLippman]

Haha yeah there’s a lot to wrap your head around for sure. Thanks dude!

[@smrgoose364]

@@JayLippmanyou definitely make it easier to get in small doses

[@Stone1108]

I found this very useful, thank you.

[@smrgoose364]

I need help editing audio. So much info here. Thank you. I’m slowly learning. Wanted to ask, on average, how long does it take you to audio edit a 5-10 minute video ?

[@JayLippman]

That really depends on a few factors. If its one of my tutorials (one person talking, maybe a background music track), everything was recorded properly, and I'm doing everything from scratch (no presets) and using ONLY Resolves built in plugins? I’d say 10-15 minutes. That being said, the more complex the audio is, the longer it will take. I've spent 2 hours on a 15 second section of a video before.

[@Camkhs]

thanks for it. this is very useful for me

[@kevinbillington9773]

I bought a Zoom F3 a few weeks ago, as not using a sound guy. Two cameras me and another guy. 32bit recording, with shotguns in a church hall. Just needed to pull up levels a little, add voice isolation. Sounds like it was recorded in a studio. Well impressed. Obviously can tweak a bit, but for outta the gate. Sweet.

[@henryeowens]

This is one of the most helpful videos for me. Thanks.

[@HoundDogMech]

Jay: If you put Dialog on a MONO Track won't you have the Diolog only on one speaker/ one ear of your head phones. Most of my timelines contain 8 tracks 1.) 5.1 Surround 2.) Stereo 3.) Left front 4.) Center 5.) Right Front 6.) LFE 7.) Left Surround 8.) Right surround Diolog would go on a center track most of the time.

[@JayLippman]

No, a mono track will push sound towards the center by default. You can pan it left or right (and front to back if you're working in surround sound), but if it's pushed to the center, you will hear it out of both left and right equally. That being said, I don't play around with surround that much so it might be different for you, but I would think that a mono signal would make it easier to place the dialogue where it needs to be.

[@frankinblackpool]

Interesting about the first tip mono/stereo because I use a Shotgun mic or lav mic with almost everything and they are set to a backup safety level. This means that I get two tracks which are both mono. I’ve been converting track one from mono to stereo and then doubling up track one so I can hear something in both sides of my headphones. It’s a pain in the arse and takes ages to solve with so many clips on the timeline. Each clip gets this treatment. I’m guessing that I’m doing all this wrong with a shotgun mic or lav mic? Non of this came with instructions and I’ve guessed my way all these years. What makes things even worse for me is my Panasonic GH6 and G9m2 and Ninja recorder all produce four tracks. My brain goes pop at this point. I delete three tracks and then turn the mono track into stereo and double up on track one as before. So, just make the timeline audio track mono and all my woes will be solved? I need a sound 101 course for the basics in audio that many take for granted. Doh!

[@JayLippman]

I think it depends on how the microphone treats the main and backup tracks. If you're getting 2 separate mono tracks, than yes, slap the one you want on a mono track and you're good. If it's giving you a stereo track where one channel is the main and the other channel is a safety, then still stick it on a mono track, but then right click on the audio clip, go to clip options (or something like that) and choose which channel you want to hear on the mono track.

[@UKHeritageRailways]

Before adding the clip which has different audio left and right to the timeline do this. Right click on the clip in the Media Pool and select Clip Attributes. Under the Audio tab change the Format to Mono and Tracks to 2. Click Add and 2 mono tracks will be added. Click the bin symbol next to the stereo pair to remove them and click OK. Now when you drag the clip from the Media Pool to the timeline it will create 2 mono audio tracks. You can of course have already created 2 empty mono audio tracks in the timeline and the clip audio will drop onto these. If you don't want one of the audio tracks just delete it or, with the tracks unlinked, delete the audio from that track.

[@frankinblackpool]

@@UKHeritageRailways I will check this out. Cheers

[@frankinblackpool]

@@JayLippman I shall give it a go. The mics are from Rode. You sir, are a star.

[@HoundDogMech]

Jay: You should really have explained why you think a Mono Diolog signal can't/should not be placed on a stereo track.

[@JayLippman]

The general rule in audio (both in music and in video) is mono sources get a mono track. A single person's dialog is almost always picked up by a single microphone (not counting backup mics). If you have a stereo microphone setup for dialogue (which typically only happens if you are capturing a group of people, and even then it's rare and done specifically at the request of the director), then you would use a stereo track. I'm actually planning a video about this, but the short version is this: if you put a mono signal on a stereo track in Resolve, it's going to double up that mono signal, which will only accomplish two things: it will make the dialogue slightly louder, and it will double up on any problems you have to fix (noise, muddiness, resonant frequencies, etc.). If you put a mono signal on a stereo track in almost any other NLE or DAW, you're only going to hear the sound out of one ear. Either way, mono signal, mono track, less problems.

[@UKHeritageRailways]

If you place a mono signal onto a stereo track it will default to the lefthand channel of the stereo pair and that's how you will hear it. A mono signal on a mono track will come out equally left and right of the output bus.

[@Tekkerue]

​@@JayLippman A mono signal on a stereo track that doubles up equals a 3dB boost in volume. Turning the clip down by 3dB results in exactly the same signal as a mono track. It won't cause problems for noise, muddiness, resonance, etc. anymore than turning your mono track up by 3dB. Since you will use ear to balance the track you will most likely end up with the same result either way. The drawback to mono tracks is you won't be able to use stereo effects like reverbs, delays, etc. so it depends on your needs. I use stereo effects frequently, so using stereo tracks for mono sources works best for me.

[@JayLippman]

@Tekkerue I put reverb and delay on bus sends, which are stereo to take care of that issue.

[@Tekkerue]

@@JayLippman I use clip effects for video projects as my effects change a lot throughout the project. So I'd say it's not a "mistake", just be aware of the 3dB boost (which you'll adjust for anyways when setting volume by ear) and it's all good.

[@dyazmanifold7987]

Why Putting Dailogue on Mono, when people watch our KZbin videos with their Earphone our Voice will only come on the Left ear, is that good?

[@JayLippman]

A mono track doesn’t mean left or right, it actually means it will be pushed evenly down the center.

[@dyazmanifold7987]

@@JayLippman Oh, is that so, my bad

[@HoundDogMech]

You really don't need to mess with an equalizer for dialog do U? Not withstanding all the free Voice changers out today. Heck U could make yourself sound like Olive Oil or Minny Mouse, Just saying. Your voice doesn't sound like Lester Holt or Walter Cronkite.

[@JayLippman]

Well, you do have a point. There are a lot of AI-powered plugins that can help with how your voice sounds. But if you actually want to fully control how your voice sounds? Yes, you need EQ.

[@UKHeritageRailways]

Whatever the source of your dialogue it may still need Compression to control its dynamic range, and EQ to make it sound good and fit in with the rest of your soundtrack. Remember, you can have the most beautiful video but if the soundtrack is crap people will not watch it, whereas a not so hot video with a good soundtrack people will watch and make allowances for the picture.

[@RicoLee27]

Eq is basic. So remove rumble, mud, make it more clear etc. Or a deesser to remove rough sharp S sounds and stuff. And compressor to make it sound full and clear dynamicly