My YouTube Audio Workflow: Get Quality Sound for Your Videos

In this episode, we run through my workflow for recording sound for my KZbin videos from start to finish - production to post production.
More detailed videos on the various steps:
KZbin Video Workflow - • My KZbin Video Workf...
Boom camera-top shotgun mic from a microphone stand - • Better Sound: How to B...
EQ - • EQ for Dialogue Audio:...
Compress and loudness normalize - • Understanding How to L...
Loudness vs Volume - • Volume vs Loudness - L...
Free Sound Only plugin from Alex4D to create audio crossfades - blog.alex4d.com/2011/07/11/fc...
If you’d like to learn how to make great dialogue audio for your film and video projects, please have a look at my courses at school.learnlightandsound.com including processing dialogue audio in Adobe Audition and DaVinci Resolve/Fairlight, recording sound, how to use the Zoom F4, F6, F8, and F8n, and how to get the most from the Sound Devices MixPre series of recorders. Our latest course is Sound for Live Streaming with the ATEM Mini.
Support my work creating videos by donating at ko-fi.com/curtisjudd
Gear used or mentioned in this episode. The links below are Amazon.com, B&H Photo, Sweetwater, DVEStore, or other affiliate links. As an affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases:
- Producer’s Choice Sound Blankets - vocalboothtogo.com
- Audio Technica AT875R shotgun microphone - B&H, Amazon geni.us/1zFDS5
- Sound Devices MixPre series recorders - B&H, Sweetwater, DVEStore, Amazon geni.us/O8e0
- ZOOM F series recorders - B&H, Sweetwater geni.us/V7TGkw
- Tascam DR-60DmkII budget recorder - B&H, Amazon geni.us/fdBt
- Sound Devices 888 - B&H, Sweetwater geni.us/zAryW4J
- Impact C-stand - B&H, Amazon geni.us/8a8tt
- Boom pole - Amazon geni.us/Aih1opX
- Boom pole clip, to hold the boom pole in the c-stand - Amazon geni.us/8jAgAst
- Aputure COB120d II for the key light - Aputure, B&H, DVE Store, Amazon geni.us/deg3
- Aputure Nova P300C for the b-roll - Aputure, B&H, DVE Store geni.us/TFVUy
- Amaran 100D for the background light - Aputure, B&H, DVE Store, Amazon geni.us/A3HByXB
- Aputure Spotlight Mount for the pattern on the back wall - Aputure, B&H, DVE Store, Amazon geni.us/kfAj
- Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera 6K - B&H, DVE Store, Amazon geni.us/uK8UqB
- Signa EF 24-70 f/2.8 DG OS ART lens - B&H, Amazon geni.us/bhOWVlW
Take your films to the next level with music from Musicbed. Sign up for a free account to listen for yourself: geni.us/G7by
Copyright 2021, Curtis Judd
#Sound #KZbin #Workflow
Index:
00:00 Start
00:15 Summary
00:25 Sound Blankets
01:27 BMic & Boom Pole & C-stand
01:44 Budget Boom options
02:02 Get Microphone Close
02:22 Audio recorded separate from camera
02:50 Budget Tascam
03:27 Post workflow
04:19 Isotope RX for processing
04:32 EQ
04:43 Denoise or Dialogue Isolate
05:08 De-reverb
05:26 Breath control
06:19 Loudness Normalize
06:29 Compression
06:46 Final Cut Pro
06:56 Sync audio to video
07:03 Crossfade cuts
07:44 Please buy my courses

[@Albanez39]

So much respect for an American using the Metric system. You are a hero my friend!

[@curtisjudd]

Thanks. Still befuddled as to why we didn't switch in 1980.

[@davidanderson8381]

Thank you, thank you and thank you! 30 years of stills photography did not at all prepare me for audio in video.. lol

[@curtisjudd]

👍

[@tombuck]

Thank you for this! I've been trying to fine tune my post workflow and this is hugely helpful. Sometimes I get incredible results and other times I just close the app and pretend it never happened.

[@curtisjudd]

Thanks Tom! Hahaha! It is amazing how the results can vary so much when we use the exact same setup in the same room. But our voices change day to day and hour to hour quite a lot more than we realize.

[@DRMAULIKSHAH]

Simple... workflow yet effective. Thanks Curtis.

[@curtisjudd]

Thanks!

[@tv510]

As always, another detailed, concise and informative video. Curtis has to be one of the best info sources on KZbin. Keep up the great work!

[@curtisjudd]

Thanks so much Terry!

[@luckytran]

Thanks so much for this! It was so helpful to see your workflow for KZbin, so many sound tutorials focus on gear, but I find understanding digital process most useful.

[@curtisjudd]

Thanks Lucky Tran!

[@traymac11]

Awesome! I respect you so much, and I was hoping to get your input on this as I prepare to restart my KZbin Channel. Thank you!

[@curtisjudd]

Thanks Tray and best wishes on restarting the channel!

[@mariachiaracolalongo7816]

As always useful and straightforward little gift from Curtis..I agree with Zack Darce..that twilight background is so pleasing!

[@curtisjudd]

Thanks for watching, Maria!

[@PaulSyng]

This is what we needed! Thank you!

[@curtisjudd]

Thanks Paul!

[@andrewp1513]

The quality of knowledge I’ve received from these KZbin videos and your online courses has been and continues to be outstanding. Thanks again and again Curtis.

[@curtisjudd]

Thanks Andrew!

[@toddb7948]

Andrew, I agree 100%. I took the MixPre course and learned a lot about the setup and operation of the units but also learned a lot about the audio recording process.

[@UpHillCinema]

Great video as always.

[@curtisjudd]

Thanks Levi.

[@philpritchard5173]

Grt as usual. Digging the background too!

[@curtisjudd]

Thanks Phil!

[@curtisjudd]

@Zack Darce Thanks Zack!

[@michaelpoczynek]

Great work as always, Curtis. That low-cost mic sounds good. Cheers!

[@curtisjudd]

Thanks for watching, Michael!

[@insanejughead]

Yes, I have been hoping you'd release something like this, Curtis. My early vids were SO plagued by sub-optimal audio editing workflow.

[@curtisjudd]

👍 and now they're impressive! (I've heard them, in case anyone was wondering about whether I was just making an egotistical pat-on-the-back sort of comment).

[@insanejughead]

@@curtisjudd You give the absolute best feedback, too! I have no problem paying you (or donating, as it can be called) for critiques on future projects. Also, what advice do you have for someone like me looking to change careers by getting into a video/audio media job, yet has only done it as a hobby? I am incredibly tech-minded, but my urge for creativity has me in a pickle about where to look and start.

[@curtisjudd]

@@insanejughead Do lots of projects and put together a reel. And clarify for yourself whether you want to do freelance work or work for a company or where it is you want to head. I will warn that working for a company doing corporate video, a lot of the creativity is sort of squeezed out of the process in a lot of cases.

[@PeterMossUkulele]

Another great video Curtis. I had never heard of "Breath removal" before today. Continuing to watch your video from 06:25 onwards, it became obvious (listening through headphones) there was no breath noise, yet you still retained a nice loud and clear voice. Pretty amazing stuff. Thank you for sharing that tip. Peter.

[@curtisjudd]

You bet, Peter!

[@alexanderwelsh]

LEGEND KNOWLEDGE! THANK YOU!

[@curtisjudd]

Thanks Alexander.

[@stevetimko1461]

Another great video. Thanks.

[@curtisjudd]

Thanks Steve.

[@AjushiPhotography]

Great Job as Always 👍

[@curtisjudd]

Thanks Ajushi Photography.

[@StevieRichardsFitness]

Excellent video as always.

[@curtisjudd]

Thanks Stevie!

[@clurkroberts2650]

Love the use of boom mike off camera, versus eating a desk microphone on camera. Sounds great, looks even better. Plus, standing allows a greater vocal range and physical expression.

[@curtisjudd]

👍

[@FelipeBaezFilms]

When Curtis uses metric system

[@curtisjudd]

Hahaha! Thanks Felipe. I’m still sad that the USA hasn’t converted to metric.

[@apatheticfilmmaker1431]

Thanks for the rundown! That breathe control plugin looks great. I've been stuck manually lowering breathes, but I'll have to research if there's a similar plugin for premiere.

[@curtisjudd]

Thanks Apathetic Filmmaker. Yes - it is a huge time-saver!

[@HomesickMac]

Woo woo, what's this Mr. Judd, video appereance is awesome, content impeccable as usual...

[@curtisjudd]

Thanks Homesick Mac!

[@eagereyes]

Very interesting to fix the audio before editing the video! Seems so obvious now, but had never occurred to me. This was super useful, thank you! And I think this is the final push to get RX as well for the breath control…

[@curtisjudd]

Thanks for the feedback Robert! Happy editing!

[@plrpilot]

I use isotope’s derustle a lot, too. If talent has loud clothing, it will often take that out. The workflow is the same as what you mentioned for breath removal. It’s saved me from people holding paper notes off camera, too, where I didn’t catch them moving the paper around while they spoke.

[@curtisjudd]

Good input - thanks for sharing, Glenn!

[@TheFamousMrPaul]

great video!!!

[@curtisjudd]

Thanks!

[@bowmanesque]

I don't know what to say. I spend a lot of time watching your videos. I can't fathom the time it takes you to make them. But I'm glad that you do.

[@curtisjudd]

Thanks, Ben.

[@xplorick]

Thanks for the tutorial. Exactly what I need on my edits for a few youtubers that I'm editing for. not sure if you've noticed this before, but there is now an audio crossfade command in FCPX. Initially it doesn't have a keyboard shortcut assigned to it, but you can easily assign it yourself (I set mine to SHIFT+S). You can also adjust the crossfade duration in FCPX preference to better suit your talking head.. then simply cut everything, select all, and crossfade everything with one shortcut.

[@curtisjudd]

Thanks Thomas! Yes, I still prefer Audio Only because it is faster to adjust the length for each cut.

[@mhaustria]

Thanks for another great video! I have to look into the denoise plugins.

[@curtisjudd]

Thanks Markus.

[@mhaustria]

@@curtisjudd these plugins for breathing and denoise are pretty cool. Just a bit pricey. Are there good alternatives?

[@curtisjudd]

@@mhaustria Isotope RX Elements has the de-noise plugin and is often on sale for well under $50 USD. Breath control - I haven't found any good alternatives, but I haven't been looking since I've been very happy with the RX processor.

[@mhaustria]

@@curtisjudd thanks a lot - I will have a Look!

[@mhaustria]

@@curtisjudd Thanks a lot!

[@galachiev]

Your sound videos taught me a lot! Really appreciate that) Curtis, are you planning to make a video or course about audio post processing for films. With a lot of sfx, tracks... advanced level. It would be great to see that from you)

[@curtisjudd]

Yes, I hope so!

[@Okeimas]

thanks for sharing your work flow! Sometimes if more useful to learn about new gear or software this way, so we can learn to apply them.

[@curtisjudd]

👍

[@AudioforContentCreators]

Man, the first two tips here are SO critical. Nothing to do with gear. 1) Treat the space, either for real or naturally; 2) Position the right kind of mic in the right place. Boom.

[@curtisjudd]

👍

[@AudioTones67]

Fond memories of building my first voiceover booth with (cardboard) egg cartons. A poor man's Sonex foam, but it worked great. Technology today makes things so much easier.

[@curtisjudd]

👍

[@TylerDarlington]

The keyboard command “Option T” between two selected clips (or all selected clips) in FCP will also do a cross fade 👍🏼. Great video, need to check isotope RX

[@curtisjudd]

Thanks Tyler. Isn't that a cross dissolve? The Sound Only is a little different in that it doesn't do anything visually, just cross-fades the audio. Important for cases where I need a jump cut.

[@TylerDarlington]

@@curtisjudd Yes it is a cross fade, it was added in 10.5. If you expand the audio of the two clips you can see how it fades out one clips and fades in the other. I believe the default curve is a S curve as well

[@curtisjudd]

@@TylerDarlington Thanks! I looked a little closer and see it now, thanks! I think I'll probably stick with the "Sound Only" plugin as it makes it faster to adjust the length of the cross fade which I often do depending on the number of frames I have on the clips around the cut.

[@uja1096]

Just wanted to suggest on your summary card screen to maybe put the title next to summary so when we're going through the saved screenshot we know what the summary is of. Makes it easy for us later. Thanks

[@curtisjudd]

Thanks U Ja.

[@techsavvydaddy5616]

Curtis, as always great video. My wife and I have cooking channel, she handles the Cooking and is the Talent, I handle all the A/V. We have almost 200 videos up and have come a long way from the early days...school of hard knocks. Typical audio format now is TASCAM DR-10L Lav recorded separately and synced in post, on camera mic is a RODE NTG, for the last year this has worked great for our needs. OK so as you know when things start to get into AUTO mode, things happen, our last video I thought I had hit the record button (as always) BUT did not. So when thru the whole video with No Lav Audio and did not realize until I started Editing. I was stuck with the on camera mic audio, and had to upload in a few hours, so no time to send to an audio specialist. Thankfully that mic is under 4' away from talent, I use sound blankets and we are indoors in controlled environment, so not terribly horrible, but. If this ever happens again, which I pray is never...is there a way to tweak the on-camera mic audio to sound as best possible? I use FCPX as you do, are there simple plug-ins to help with this? Thank you in advance for your help.

[@curtisjudd]

Hi TechSavvyDaddy, just the fundamentals - EQ, de-noise, de-reverb. And maybe a checklist. I don’t mean that to sound mean, but I’ve found checklists helpful to make sure I don’t forget things.

[@techsavvydaddy5616]

@@curtisjudd Thank you 🙏🏼. Need Checklist for sure

[@charliebell5073]

Another fine video! Thank you. I got a kick out of your automatic "40 cm" rather than just holding your hands ~40cm apart. (Though I appreciate the ambiguity of perspective...) An engineer to the core! Again, many thanks for your helpful work.

[@curtisjudd]

Thanks Charlie.

[@GriffinConway]

Great stuff Curtis. I picked up 6 of those sound blankets a few years ago after watching some of your videos. Also use Izotope dereverb and a compressor with a little bit of EQ. I recently picked up the sanken cs m1 and it requires little to no eq compared to my NTG3. Anyways, thanks for sharing Curtis!

[@curtisjudd]

Hey Griffin - great to hear from you and hope you're doing well. Congrats on the new Sanken - solid microphone!

[@Julian-zd9kx]

I'm thinking about buying some Acoustic Blankets at the moment. But I have a hard time to justify the high prices. Delivery of 3 Producer's Choice Blankets would cost me with shipping and Taxes around 400 to 500$.. I can just pick up some heavy Curtains at Ikea for a fraction of the price. Did you get a tangible Difference when putting them up? And can you recommend them? Thank you and I wish you a good day

[@curtisjudd]

@@Julian-zd9kx Anything will help at least a little. The sound blankets are ridiculously heavy which helps them absorb more sound, especially the mids and lower frequencies. What I would NOT do is buy a microphone with the hopes that it will solve all reverb issues.

[@Julian-zd9kx]

@@curtisjudd hey curtis thank you very much for your answer. Alright, i will try this and keep it in mind. I won't buy a better microphone before i soundtreat the room :)

[@RayOrtega]

Sound Only plugin. Amazing and ridiculous that someone had to make it. Come on FCP;) Good one, Curtis, stay well!

[@curtisjudd]

They did add a way to add audio crossfades in the last year or two, but it is harder to change its duration than the custom cross fade I use. Love FCP, but there just isn’t a lot of audio love there.

[@MichaelGreenwoodMG]

Thanks Curtis, the way that you explain compression really makes sense. Great workflow. I agree it's a lot simpler to just do one take rather than lots of clips to have to deal with. This is also how I film interviews. Just a single take and keep the cameras and recorder rolling even if mistakes are made. Do you have any guides on using the audio editing feature of DaVinci? Also, do you have a paid online course that you offer?

[@curtisjudd]

Hi Michael, thanks. I have a short, basics of mixing in resolve course over at School.LearnLightAndSound.com. It was recorded on a previous version so there are a couple of bits that have changed in the UI. We're hoping to update the course before too much longer.

[@HuSmokin]

Hey Curtis thank you for the video! The course I enrolled in does a more in-depth walkthrough but you were using Audition at the time. Is there a similar video available with you doing the same in-depth walkthrough but with the Izotope RX?

[@curtisjudd]

It is in the works. 👍

[@silversulu]

Always thorough & helpful, Curtis. Thx. Question: does RX Standard have sufficient tools (came w my Music Production Suite) or do you have the deluxe Pro version ?

[@curtisjudd]

I have the advanced version for my regular corporate and commercial work. But the standard or even elements versions can be useful for KZbin or other passion project videos.

[@rsmith02]

Most of what he mentioned is in Standard. Download the trial- I'm testing it out now.

[@jibi4820]

Your content is really spectacular in it's quality and professionalism. I'm thinking of getting the Rode Videomic NTG for shooting KZbin videos and possibly streaming/as a gaming mic for my PC (given it can run on USB). Is that a good idea or is there something else you would recommend?

[@curtisjudd]

Seems like a good option, yes!

[@GuidoGautsch]

Thanks, Curtis, great vid! How come you don't run the output of the MixPre directly into your camera? Is it so you can capture the audio as 32-bit WAVs?

[@curtisjudd]

Hi Guido, because we process the audio first anyway, and we’re only syncing one audio clip so it isn’t a big deal. Also, we use different recorders each week and calibrating levels between recorder and camera takes more time than syncing a single clip in post.

[@alisonjonespharmacist]

Hey Curtis, Great video! I've found myself in the KZbin rabbit hole of diffusers and absorbing panels. What are your thoughts on investing in them vs Producers Blankets, in a 15'x14'x7' room, recording dialogue only. Thanks, Alison

[@curtisjudd]

I’d opt for sound blankets for recording. For mixing, there’s a more complex set of considerations.

[@datarecoverysweden]

Really concise, and informative. Thank you for sharing your knowledge. What noise floor level is generally the maximum acceptable limit for Voice recording, anything lower than -60? (And can noise levels be different for ambient compared to self noise)?

[@curtisjudd]

There isn't a standard, but as a rule of thumb, I generally aim to keep the noise floor, including ambient sound and any self noise of the equipment, below -60dB RMS Max.

[@datarecoverysweden]

@@curtisjudd Thank you for clarifying that. Appreciated.

[@Dwija108]

Clear and helpful as always, thanks. You mentioned that you DON'T take a line out from the recorder to the camera. I'm assuming that when you sync video and audio you are replacing the camera audio with audio from the recorder. With a camera with no mic input, there's no choice, so I'm wondering why you would choose to not use that option. I've been feeding a line into my camera and find that, once it's in my video editor, it seems to be pretty close to the audio from the recorder (of coarse, I'm only making video for KZbin). Since the camera would receive high quality audio from your recorder already, is the audio from the recorder that much better? Is it that you want to be able to process the audio in a file independent of the video? Is it that you want to keep the audio lossless as long as possible, WAV rather than, in my case, AAC from the camera. Syncing the audio is not very difficult I know and it's what I have been doing. However, I'm not that smart and also very lazy. It's just one less thing to think about and get wrong, having to do it all over again. I've been mulling over this issue recently and would appreciate your take on it. Thank you.

[@curtisjudd]

Mainly, I don't rig my audio recorder up to my camera so it is just easier to sync it than to run a cable. And also, yes, I'd rather process the 48kHz, 24-bit wav file so that I get the best possible results when processing the audio, noting that later in the workflow it ends up in AAC format during the final export.

[@Dwija108]

​@@curtisjudd Thank you for taking the time to respond and thanks for tipping the scales toward NOT connecting the camera and recorder. I'm pretty new at this video lark and totally forgot that my camera records at 16-bit. I recently had a bad experience that absolutely supports your method. I filmed with the camera receiving audio from the recorder and was horrified to discover that the camera audio had intermittent bursts of crackling distortion. Camera broken - the worst case scenario. Camera mic input broken - still pretty bad. Recorder mic/line output broken - not as bad but still...$300 Tascam. User error - that's a given. Turned out to be nothing more than a faulty cable. Amazon Basics!! Why I oughta....

[@curtisjudd]

@@Dwija108 👍 Ah yes, the old, "A signal chain with more stuff in it has more places where it can break..."

[@Seanonyoutube]

Hey Curtis, great video! I was wondering why you seem to usually use shotguns for your youtube videos (and recommended them in this vid as well) when the common rule you hear is that super/hyper cardioid non shotguns are better for indoor dialogue?

[@curtisjudd]

In the space here where I have the sound blankets and the mic on a static boom and I don't move around, the shotgun microphones are fine. When there's more risk of moving off axis or lots of reverberation, I generally prefer to work with a non-shotgun boom. Also, I am in the process of testing out the AT875R for a future review.

[@Cencolor]

Always great videos! Did you tried different kind of “sound blankets” before getting those? I know you did a video about them, but when importing from another non-USA country, each pound counts 🥲 to mess up the right one

[@curtisjudd]

I tried a bunch of household blankets and they helped a little bit. Then I went to the hardware store and looked at the "moving blankets" but they were much lighter weight than the sound blankets so they would absorb as much sound - mainly just the higher frequencies. You actually need the weight to capture some of the lower frequencies.

[@Cencolor]

@@curtisjudd Thanks a lot. I made a sound panels with fiber glass, but the particles made me sick. I see a lot of advise about this, but none about the dangers or potential danger to the lungs. Even the “professional” makers use the same dangerous materials, so it’s a bit confusing in that regard, as well as what really works the best, it’s cost is not too high and also safe for the health.

[@curtisjudd]

@@Cencolor Oh no! Yes, be careful with insulation. The sound blankets I use use cotton filler and should be safe for use close to people - no breathing hazard.

[@BurscheBB]

Thanks! Do you use the Hardware-Limiter in the mixpre while recording?

[@curtisjudd]

Yes, definitely. Same with the 888. It doesn't engage very often during interviews or talking head video, but does occasionally.

[@coppunkhead]

Hi Curtis, love your vidoes, they have been very helpful many times! I was s wondering if you would consider a Sennheiser 416 P48 a good solution for low-budget filmmaking for indoor and outdoor situations? Is there even such a boom mic under that performs reasonably well in both situations?

[@curtisjudd]

Thanks name996. Yes, the 416 is a classic and has been used indoors and out on a lot of productions with great results. Indoors, you may need to manage reverberation or sound bouncing off the walls. But the 416 is great. You can also get very good results from less expensive microphones like the DEITY S-Mic 2 or RODE NTG5. Here's a comparison of them in the NTG5 review here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mKeUqYiJndqIj5I

[@coppunkhead]

@@curtisjudd Thank you so much!

[@dylandubeau]

I recently set up a very small studio space at my office. The only room we were able to use has massive air ducks running through it, so it’s very noisy and sounds just awful without a lot of post work. We can’t turn the air off, as it’s controlled at the building level. We have some cheap acoustic panels sitting on top of the light grid to try to help reduce the noise and reverb, as well as panels on the wall. Rugs on the floor. Recording hosts with a sennheiser lav and a rode ntg 1 mounted to an arm on the grid, both going into camera (c300 2). Any tips on things I could try to hide the AC duct sound while shooting/before shooting, and reduce our post work? Thanks! Love your channel.

[@curtisjudd]

Can you build a false ceiling and add rockwool?

[@dylandubeau]

⁠@@curtisjuddwe have to leave the sprinklers exposed, but maybe we could build around them and leave a hole open. Maybe we could get the building to lower the sprinklers so we could build a proper false ceiling. Right now I have these thin sound panels just sitting on top of the lighting grid, maybe a first test would be to swap those out for really thick ones and see if it improves. Thanks for the suggestion!

[@curtisjudd]

@@dylandubeau Roxul Safe & Sound wrapped in porous fabric or panels from a company like GIK Acoustics can be useful.

[@HookedOnSonics]

Do you use any hardware timecode/sync jamming in your workflow to match audio to video in post for example using something like Tentacle Sync E on a Zoom F6 and one on your camera etc...? Also, are you using Standard or Advance iZotope 8? Thanks!!!

[@curtisjudd]

Not for my KZbin videos, no. I do use Tentacle Sync Es when I'm working as the sound mixer on a narrative film or any other situation where we're going to end the day with a LOT of takes.

[@misterunfocused7818]

I watched the video where you discussed the F6, F8N, and the mixpre6 (I believe it was the 6, may have been the 3). That was about a year or so ago, is your stance on the F8N still positive? Thanks for the information

[@curtisjudd]

Yes, I still own and appreciate the ZOOM F8n.

[@sting9650]

Hi Curtis. Great content and thanks for the videos. I’m a filmmaker producing mainly documentaries and short narratives, I’m struggling to find a decent enough Audio Interface for my MacStudio, Resolve NLE setup. I’m using a pair of JBL 308P mk2 (with the sub). I will eventually want to edit 5.1/7.1 sound (obviously with additional speakers). What Audio interface(s) would you recommend for around the £600 ($750) mark? Cheers.

[@curtisjudd]

Hi, Sting. I'm not familiar with any interfaces which support 7.1 playback in that price range. Not to say they don't exist, I'm just not familiar with them. My UAD Apollo x6 supports 5.1 but it was over $2000 USD.

[@sijoalex5951]

Can the rode lavalier mic achieve similar audio quality as the shotgun you are using in this video?

[@curtisjudd]

Not in my experience. Boom mics almost always sound better than lavaliers. But you can achieve audio quality that is close.

[@HendrikusDeVaan]

How did you do the background? Just a fresnel and a cookie? Looks great

[@curtisjudd]

Thanks, yes, Aputure Spotlight Mount and Schneider Scattered Light gobo.

[@HendrikusDeVaan]

@@curtisjudd cool, thanks for sharing.

[@keithbrueton5435]

Hi Curtis, nothing to do with light & sound. You mentioned in your 2018 live video that you lived at 6000ft elevation. A little browsing on your website came up with a small town in Utah with only 400 population. I think it would be interesting to hear about your life story, Where did you receive your education and training in audio & video? what pushed you to work in your industry? was it luck or did the opportunity happen to come along? Does the area you live in offer specific opportunities in your profession? I think such a video would be helpful and informative to other budding audio professionals amongst us. all the best Keith in London UK

[@curtisjudd]

Hi Keith, thanks for the suggestion. Up until recently, I still had a day job where I was mostly a product manager (not at all related to video or audio production) and part-time a few times a year, filled the role of video producer. A few times a year, I would take time off from my job and do a freelance location sound job. So I want to be clear that I wasn't a full-time sound mixer or video producer until just recently. Most of my learning is from generous mentors, books, videos, and a few classes at community colleges. I started shooting 35mm still photography in 1989. I learned about audio recording starting in 2006 from my brother who is a musician. I don't believe that in 2021, where you live is necessarily a critical factor. I just took a job as a full-time video producer at a company which is located over 750 miles from my home. I'll consider how to tell the story in a way that will be useful to people looking to get into the industry, noting that "the industry" I'm in is more corporate and commercial video vs. Hollywood.

[@DavidKfilmmaker]

Hey Curtis. I’ve always used advanced joint channel in rx...any reason you choose joint channel?

[@curtisjudd]

No reason other than I generally haven't found it to make any sort of substantive difference. Need to experiment more with it.

[@pizzomedia7261]

Great video. I have an XLR port directly to my camera (Sony FX3). Would I get better audio with a stand-alone recorder vs the XLR handle of this camera? Thanks

[@curtisjudd]

Maybe, it depends on a lot of factors. Raw audio quality alone would probably not change dramatically.

[@pizzomedia7261]

@@curtisjudd thanks! Your channel has been incredibly helpful for both lighting and audio. I’ve applied what I have learned from your videos have been amazed with the results! Those sound blankets alone helped so much!

[@LearnLightAndSoundSessions]

@@pizzomedia7261 🙏

[@nsharma99]

I literally searched “Curtis Judd audio workflow” about 5-7 days ago. Get out of my head!!!!

[@curtisjudd]

Hahaha! 👍

[@sparketech]

I can see the 1 take thing as being far more simple for the sync of audio. I'm looking at a different route for myself and direct to camera however the way you do it I am sure provides better audio results.

[@curtisjudd]

Most people won’t be able to tell if you use a decent preamp and feed the audio from there to camera. *if you gain correctly, etc.

[@sparketech]

@@curtisjudd I never used an amp till 2 days ago. Big difference actually, I purchased the Scarlett 2i2 and am using a new K&M stand I got today. The Samson boom arm was resonating through the mic as I spoke.

[@sparketech]

@@curtisjudd My new equipment is in my new video... my audio testing is on my last video on my other channel listed in my description "Not Bios Studio"

[@curtisjudd]

@@sparketech Sounding good. A bit of background noise, but overall quite good.

[@sparketech]

@@curtisjudd I've decided to use external USB recorded audio from now on. Way too many distortion or clipping issues without anything showing clipping. No more AUX out, got the DM-1 Preamp now and been having fun with condenser mics doing cartoon and comedy voices :P. PS. the Elgato Wave XLR is a hissy mess with pre amps that are more temperamental than a grumpy cat when pushed to even half levels.

[@mariachiaracolalongo7816]

Curtis I saw in your Audio setup an Audio Technica AT875R, have you ever reviewed it ? I'm curious because I've read it's a good budget option..

[@curtisjudd]

Hi Maria, I just received it a couple of weeks ago and am in the process of testing it. I agree that it seems to be a good budget option, but generally will require some EQ to sound its best.

[@mariachiaracolalongo7816]

@@curtisjudd Thank you Curtis, I'm waiting for your opinion..

[@MarcoBattocchia]

I have a zoom h5 to record the audio from the microphone, but it is quite noisy. Do you think that Tascam dr60 will do a better job?

[@curtisjudd]

Which microphone are you using? Do you have all the noise in the room handled/turned off where possible? Often microphones generate more self noise than recorders so it might make sense to replace the mic.

[@AllenCavedo]

Nicely done. I find it interesting that without another mic to compare with in the video the $150 AT mic sounds just fine on the boom. Yet we normally use $1200 to $2000 mics on a job. Sometimes I ask myself why?

[@curtisjudd]

Full disclosure: I did a good bit of EQ to get it sounding decent here, and it still seems to emphasize mouth noises a bit more than I'd like. But for its price, definitely a good option for those on a tighter budget. Or for those working professionally and needing a crash mic.

[@AllenCavedo]

@@curtisjudd So to answer my own question as to why we use expensive pro mics, maybe because there is much less post processing needed to sound great? I don’t do post audio but when I listen my raw ISOs they sound really good using pro gear. I don’t know what post does with my tracks but usually they make it all come together nicely.

[@curtisjudd]

@@AllenCavedo Often that is the case, yes. But not always. My voice sounds absolutely awful on the Schoeps CMC641 and the Sanken COS-11D, two staples in the production audio world. But they clean up nicely. And many of my other mics do sound great, even in the recorder/mixer.

[@soundwise]

BTW FCP has now also a builtin audio only cross fade.

[@curtisjudd]

Yes, but I find the custom transition I use to be quicker to adjust in length.

[@MuslimBestLife]

Hi Curtis, why a boom mic instead of a lav mic, like a Rode Pro?

[@curtisjudd]

Lavalier mics usually do not sound as good as a boom mic.

[@JamesMatthewGallagher]

Wow....that Izotope software is pricey!

[@curtisjudd]

Indeed. Thankfully, most of the tools I use are also available in NLE and other DAW apps. I have Izotope for my corporate work and since I have it on hand, it makes my KZbin workflow faster.

[@rsmith02]

There are massive sales periodically.

[@HeresMo]

I have a question. I’m making a set for my videos and wondering if I should try to get a dead sounding room or treat as much as I can. I know for listening/mixing and vocal booths it’s a bit different. What would you suggest?1

[@curtisjudd]

For recording, I often find that sound blankets are sufficient for most spaces: kzbin.info/www/bejne/q6vcdpSMjqieadU

[@HeresMo]

@@curtisjudd brilliant. I shall check it out

[@Layarion]

Curtis, the loudness of your intro music is way louder than the rest of the video. I would think after all these years you'd match it's loudness to your voice part? or actually...are you trying a "shock" and awe approach? :P

[@curtisjudd]

I just measured the opening music and the dialogue of this video with the loudness meter in Adobe Audition. Music came in at -16.99 LUFS and the dialogue came in at -17.23 LUFS. Pretty close.

[@Layarion]

@@curtisjudd well dang, it sure sounds loud though

[@AngloSaxon1]

Hello Curtis, Just a question concerning interfaces. I am currently updating my gear to a professional level but I am having trouble making my mind up about what interface to get. I am looking at two different ones at the moment. The Sound Devices USBpre 2 or the Rodecaster. I am also buying Sound devices Mixpre 6. But I need a separate interface because the mixpre 6 is going to be a dedicated recorder for my voice-over recording. What would your advice be?

[@curtisjudd]

Tell me more about what you plan to use the interface for? Headphone playback during edits? Driving near field monitors? Recording VoiceOver? Streaming?

[@AngloSaxon1]

@@curtisjudd hello, I intend to use the interface for spoken word, podcasting, and musical instruments such as guitar and ukulele.

[@curtisjudd]

@Fighting Arts of England I'd probably look at one of the entry level Universal Audio Apollo interfaces instead of the others.

[@AngloSaxon1]

@@curtisjudd thank you for the advice, I will definitely look at what you recommend.

[@marclattoni1959]

Do you still record at a safe level and then loudness normalize to -23 LUFS before everything else? Or is your KZbin recording setup loud enough to start with?

[@curtisjudd]

No, usually the audio is in the mid -20s in terms of LUFS. In my course I did that mainly to make the waveform easier to see so you could use that as a learning tool - understand what the various plugins do to the audio both in terms of how it sounds, and how the waveform changes.

[@VirtualTourPhotographer]

I'm curious, you didn't speak about mouth de-click processing. Do you not bother with that or do you have some other process outside of Izotope for that?

[@curtisjudd]

I missed that! Yes, I actually usually handle that with the Isotope de-click plugin but I usually catch those during the edit in Final Cut Pro. I put in two cuts - one on each side of the click - and then drop the de-click plugin on the new little clip and that takes care of the mouth clicks.

[@VirtualTourPhotographer]

@@curtisjudd thanks I somewhat expected that. I’m using RX 8 element but wondering if there is any value in upgrading. Working on an audiobook and it’s proving to be a rather long process so every bit of time savings is worth considering.

[@curtisjudd]

@@VirtualTourPhotographer The expense was worthwhile in my case for producing 1-3 videos per week. This chart compares the versions. I also use the Phase plugin quite often. www.izotope.com/en/products/rx/features.html#compare

[@NewVisionLCS]

Question for you. I have a Panasonic Lumix G1 Blue Body Camera. Do you know of an audio adapter that would work with this camera? It doesn't have an audio input.

[@curtisjudd]

I'm sorry, not that I know of...

[@NewVisionLCS]

@@curtisjudd Thank you for responding!

[@samfraulino]

Quick question, When I record my audio on my Rodecaster Pro, my levels are fine, sounds great, I bounce around the -15db range, but when I export that file and import it into Adobe Audition, it's way louder. The levels in Audition bounce around the -6 to the -3db mark. Am I doing something wrong with my export settings from the Rodecaster when I am downloading the file from the Rodecaster to my computer?

[@curtisjudd]

Hi Sam, I'm not sure - would need to be there to see if all. But are you looking at the channel meters or the master meters when recording. Be sure to look at the master meters - that's the actually mix level vs. just the isolated channel level. But again, would need to see more detail. Sorry I couldn't help more.

[@samfraulino]

@@curtisjudd No worries, I am looking at the master meters, I think when I am exporting the podcast from the Rode to my computer in the settings, I think it's the custom option for LUFs that is causing it. I did one at -14 and one that was off as a test and there is a huge difference in level/loudness when I import it into Adobe Audition, so that might be point of setting that up for a good level. THanks so much, I appreciate it and your videos

[@ThisWayUpTravel]

Loving this video, thanks so much! I wish I had your toys. I am too much of a poor videographer 😔

[@curtisjudd]

Thanks! On the bright side, 95% of this can be done in most video editing apps including Resolve which is entirely free.

[@bluedun9816]

I have sort of an unrelated question, I have started shooting an outdoor documentary short, working on b-roll now but moving to shooting activities with dialogue. I am thinking of renting a Sanken CS-3e for this purpose. What are your thoughts on this microphone? Is this overkill?

[@curtisjudd]

The CS-3e is a classic. One of the tightest polar patterns among short/medium shotgun microphones. Probably a very good choice for documentary.

[@bluedun9816]

@@curtisjudd Thank you for the quick response. It rents for $35/day which seems pretty reasonable. I have a MKE 600 but some of the sound tests I have run with it are less than optimal outdoors. My other option is to consider purchasing a Rycote windscreen but I am unsure if that will completely degrade the higher frequency response and I would just be better off with the Sanken. Of course the Sanken would be great WITH the windscreen but this is a budget issue.

[@curtisjudd]

@@bluedun9816 Oh, you'll need wind protection regardless of which microphone you choose, of course. My recollection from using the MKE 600 was that it was very, very bright so I wouldn't be too worried about cutting some of that with a Rycote zeppelin cover.

[@bluedun9816]

@@curtisjudd Thank you, that puts my concerns to rest.

[@bluedun9816]

@@curtisjudd Sorry to keep asking questions but I have one more. I have an AT4053b I used to use for drum overheads, would this work OK with indoor fixed booming or would you stay with the MKE 600? This is for sit down interviews.

[@davidmillsaps659]

Hey Curtis.. the linked videos arent showing.

[@curtisjudd]

I added them to the description. Thanks!

[@alaneddy4575]

This looks like a damned useful bit of software. You should partner and see if you can get us a deal!

[@curtisjudd]

They sell the elements version on sale quite a lot, often in the less than $50 range. So that's a start!

[@alaneddy4575]

@@curtisjudd That sounds cool. I bet it doesn't do breath tho!

[@curtisjudd]

@@alaneddy4575 Good point. You have to move up to the standard version for that.

[@alaneddy4575]

@@curtisjudd From what you demoed I think it is worth it. Does Logic have any of these features to your knowledge?

[@curtisjudd]

@@alaneddy4575 It has the usual plugins - compressors, EQs, limiters, de-essers - and they're very good. But it doesn't have de-noise or breath control or adaptive phase rotation like RX Standard and Advanced.

[@ThePrimordialChronicles]

Yeah, when it comes to youtube stuff - one take is prolly the way to go

[@curtisjudd]

👍

[@roryonabike5863]

You list phase correction in your "only as necessary" category. You don't do it as a matter of course? For talking head audio, it's one of the first things that I do.

[@curtisjudd]

Hi Rory. I find that only about 50% of the voices I record really need adaptive phase rotation to reclaim additional headroom.

[@sparketech]

I really need to figure out and find that software to remove breaths *UPDATE iZotope RX8 found it :). Feel like such a small fry compared to all that fancy stuff you use. When I am not using the Shure MV7 I am usually using the Rode NTG.

[@curtisjudd]

Also, don’t totally eliminate the breaths, that sounds totally unnatural. I generally just reduce them a bit so that they’re not distracting.

[@sparketech]

@@curtisjudd the program isn't cheap and I am currently layoff so no go on purchasing this program unless I put on into visa debt. Program is currently on sale 50% off standard edition. Guess I'll have to watch for next time that happens. Thanks for the advice. I'll be testing the Scarlett 2i2 and Elgato Wave XLR at the end of next week.

[@sparketech]

@@curtisjudd Decided to get RX8, I can now see why it makes even more sense for recording audio separately (if you can't send to both devices which I can do). After editing it has to be added in later anyways but it is truly amazing what you can do with the proper tools if you know how to use them. You do a fine job sir, beyond your crazy high end equipment I can see why you audio is so clean... I just assumed you were talented with breathing and somehow your mic didn't pick up much. So disappointed ;). You're awesome sir.

[@curtisjudd]

To be clear, on my KZbin videos, I do NOT use noise reduction for 99.9% of the videos. Instead, I do what I can to manage noise during recording and optimize microphone placement and gain.

[@TheJadedFilmMaker]

🙏🙏

[@curtisjudd]

👍

[@1BigBucks1]

Shoutout to Alex G

[@curtisjudd]

👍

[@mrheng562]

I avoid editing with Final Cut Pro X because of sound. It’s soooooooooooo annoying to do basic stuff like cross fade sound. You have to go create your own transition that works okay. Oh, and don’t get me started with L cuts and J cuts in FCPX. LOL!!!

[@curtisjudd]

To each their own, I suppose. 😀 I like that I don't trip on 1-3 frame gaps in my edits like I used to with Premiere.

[@rsmith02]

Odd, I found FCP X pleasant to work with for L and J cuts and fades. Was intuitive for me.

[@matthewTobrien]

A de-breath plugin??? Such a thing exists??? I spend soooooooo much time ducking all of my breaths. Going to have to look at iZotope in the future. Final Cut Pro doesn't have a de-breath plugin. 😓

[@curtisjudd]

It is a huge time saver!

[@derekjcooper]

Did Curtis say "Centimeters?" All the Americans just visited Google...

[@curtisjudd]

Hopefully we make the change to metric.

[@derekjcooper]

@@curtisjudd When recording dialogue audio on say your SoundDevices 888, what target dB are you looking for?

[@curtisjudd]

@@derekjcooper If I'm working on something like my own KZbin videos, where I know things aren't going to be too crazy and it is just talking, I usually adjust the gain until the peaks top out at around -12dB. If I'm working on an unscripted piece, I often leave more headroom and aim for -18dB peaks.

[@derekjcooper]

@@curtisjudd Ok. To get -12dB you must be in a very carefully controlled environment? I find anything near -12dB picks up too many ambient sounds and I end up closer to -18dB to -20dB otherwise there is just too much background popping through. In post, I typically have to add 6dB to get near your recommended -16dB for KZbin videos. Sound about right?

[@curtisjudd]

@@derekjcooper I'm not always in a very carefully controlled environment. The reality is that there is noise in office environments where I do my corporate work so we just do our best. If you gain down, you're still getting the actual noise in the space and it will come up just as much once you loudness normalize. So I do the best I can to control the noise and then sometimes have to do some de-noise work in post. In short, the set the gain with an ear to leaving the right amount of headroom for the piece. I use sound blankets, unplugging or turning off things that make noise, setting up "Quiet, filming in progress" signs, retakes, and microphone choice and placement to manage noise as best we can. But I haven't found that turning down the gain/trim helps avoid noise floor in the end after we loudness normalize the audio.

[@slavensselection]

Maybe I'm imaging things, but your audio appears to be out of sync, even by milliseconds. Otherwise great advice.

[@curtisjudd]

That can sometimes be the playback device

[@michaelknight2342]

For the cost of buying Izotope, couldn't almost anyone just get a better mic?

[@curtisjudd]

Of course they could. But a better mic doesn't loudness normalize your audio for you.

[@BensTechLab]

Room treatment? That's not a shiny new tech gadget to buy! What kind of KZbin video is this? 😜 /sarcasm

[@BensTechLab]

All jokes aside, I saw a new KZbinr who went out and bought a Sennheiser MKH 416 + Zoom F6 Audio Recorder and proceeded to produce videos in their 100% concrete floors and walls basement room with zero room treatment. Should probably have bought a

[@curtisjudd]

Hahaha! It is a KZbin video for realists. 🥸

[@curtisjudd]

Could not agree more! Thanks Ben!

[@ToddSauve]

If people would just normalize their audio on KZbin it would be a huge leap forward. I don't know how many videos I've had to lunge for the volume control just to keep my neighbours from murdering me! Keep all your audio tracks from beginning to end at the same amplitude people--including your intro and exit music! Slamming people with subterranean bass levels is only going to prevent people from subscribing to your channel!

[@curtisjudd]

Thanks Todd.

[@zacariasmalaquias8717]

I don't understand why you put so much compression with just a voiceover, youtube takes you down 3.2 db on this video, for me your voice doesn't sound natural, but overcompressed... not to mention the EQ...😃

[@curtisjudd]

KZbin does NOT take the levels down 3.2dB. The levels came in at 3.2dB lower than the max loudness KZbin allows. Very different. And tastes are different. That's ok. If I were mixing for TV, I wouldn't compress and push the loudness nearly as much. But this isn't TV and a ton of people are listening on mobile phone speakers or earbuds which on trains, planes, or in cars - some of the worst listening environments possible. Master to the loudness you prefer. I'm not here to say you need to do it the same way I do it.

[@YourVinylSucks]

NOBODY DOES IT BETTER!

[@curtisjudd]

Thanks!