The Fundamentals of Sound in Post Production

[@Hunselmann]

4 years later... still one of the best tutorials out here. Thank you so much!

[@stanleymakafui]

Let's say 5 years. I noticed that audio technology isn't changing as fast as video technology.

[@jamesslick4790]

@@stanleymakafui I think the reason is that "we" pretty much have sound figured out at this point, Electronic audio recording and audio manipulation has been developed since the 1920s, and digital audio has been a "thing" since the 1970s, whereas video recording has only been a thing since the 50's (and stupid rare then) and digital video is even younger, only being a "thing" since the late 1980s. We have a handle on what the limits of human hearing, but not yet on human vision. What frame rate is "right"--What aspect ratio, Basic stuff like that are constanly debated and evolving.

[@stanleymakafui]

@@jamesslick4790 I couldn't agree more. Very well put. Love from Ghana

[@nikunj_films]

9 years later

[@DanielFowlerSr]

I have been involved with sound for over 40 years. I have never heard it explained like this, I love it! shared it with my whole team. I would recommend this delivery and presentation to anyone who wants to clearly understand the principles of sound as it relates to production in film, narration, and music. THANKS!

[@topmandan]

You should get an award. I am just getting into improving the audio in my video productions, and its been an 'up hill' task. Then I found this channel. I has experienced rapid improvements in my work already. I am sure you have contributed to many projects that you have never seen. Respect !

[@GDEMUvsGDROM]

Not only do you make informative and interesting videos, Its probably the only place on KZbin i can read the comments without feeling like I'm a kindergarten.

[@TVSkyhook]

Man I've got to say I really love this channel. You're the bomb Mr. Hess. Like most of your videos, this one contained info it took me many months of research to learn/get a comprehensible answer about online in forums etc, as well as information I still knew very little about. You are an excellent teacher and presenter, and I love how you go in depth you go on these topics. This is exactly the kind of content I look for and love. You're like the Bill Nye of filmmaking. You get really excited about history and the detail of these sometimes very clinical subjects, but we eat it up because your passion shines through. Keep doing what you do man.

[@FilmmakerIQ]

TVSkyhook Thank you so much!

[@vaibhavjain4317]

TVSkyhook he is professor P.Hess

[@suitssatire7600]

Can't believe I'm just now finding this guy...these are my new favorite go-to tutorials for video and audio production because of THIS DUDE. Thank god for your elegantly smooth voice and well-paced, detailed explanations! Best vids on the interwebs

[@DannyTaddei]

Others have said it but I feel I want to pipe in too. I've been making music and films since I was knee-high to a snake. I did my first 8mm at 8 and was in my first band at 9. I'm 55 next week! That's a long time to be doing this and I've toured the world, written scores for popular movies and have countless songs produced under my belt. ... Why is I going on like this? To make this point. Your channel is the best channel for this sort of thing on the entire youtube world. I'm here more than I want to admit. Even if I know every word of what you cover, it is still great to see and hear you present it. I use you to teach my kids because you do a better job then I do. Thank you for what you do. You do a great job!

[@yerayns]

Real professionals are always learning.

[@djosearth3618]

Ohh the feel, the feels all around !

[@manuellovelace]

I'm a Sound Engineer.....and I think....that this.....was...BRILLIANT!!!!!!!!!!

[@steveshambaugh]

Wow, I've seen a lot of audio tutorials and many of them are simply someone showcasing how smart they believe they are. This however is truly fact based and ground level informative. Sometimes it is a little too basic but then again, you can never have too much of the, well... basics. :) Thanks for putting these out.

[@jamesharrison4272]

A lot of good stuff here 1/2 hour at a time. Long enough to make them worth viewing yet short enough to not bother skipping areas where you don't need a refresher. Great work!

[@albertoperezpuyal3740]

The best compilation I've ever seen about audio for film making. Thanks a lot.

[@brucewilliamsstudio4932]

This information never gets old, thanks for pulling this together. From my electrical engineering days I can assure you that FFT calculations are brutal, and as you said, best left to the audio programmers. Great job!

[@BrandonFoltz]

Awesome channel. Great explanation and teaching style.

[@jaywolfenstien]

As a hobbiest who dabbles with video editing in his limited free time, your videos are invaluable. I've started dipping my toe into voice over, and knew there were tools to combat the problems I was encountering but never really knew where to begin researching and google results often give limited/incomplete answers with no overview or context. These videos do a magnificent job of balancing general overviews with comprehensiveness so while clearly no video can explain *everything*, I walk away with the confidence of, "okay, I know what I'm looking for now." Thank you sir.

[@stopdead1]

I am a guitar player and this video is amazing at explaining the effects we take for granted.

[@rafah9696]

This presentation is a gift to the planet. Very professional and very technical without sounding dry. The Information is very essential and reference use. I have a sub to the channel. great video.

[@kurrizzle]

Wow that was fantastically scripted, explained, animated, narrated, etc. Why this doesn't have way more views is beyond me.

[@arkabhattacharjee4242]

I have rarely seen a better teacher in my life. And by teacher I mean any person, because we learn from everyone. A thing or two. You are even better than an ex girlfriend. Anyway, I guess for all the amateur film makers, sound is the most difficult part. Because we all decide to make films with our experience with the visuals and with the dialogues. Sound is like salt in film making. And that is exactly where the most amateur fails. This video was very important to those people, to me. Let's make something great. Thanks John for all of your wonderful tutorial videos. They made us rich. They retained hopes.

[@FilmmakerIQ]

words like that inspire us to carry on - thank you!

[@joefilmco]

Thanks for all of these amazing videos. I can tell there's a crapload of work that goes into them from the research time to animating all those motion graphics. Your hard work is appreciated and I hope you keep going! Cheers

[@thatguytx]

John, Thank you for your effort. I'm brand new to digital video (creating educational videos for my wife's business) and your series is the first tutorial I ran across. Not sure I need much more! Thanks a bunch!

[@OhayoMacchiato]

I kept hearing these terms in class and never understood them, but the way they’re explained here is great!

[@RCAvhstape]

Thanks you for this. As an amateur musician with an engineering background, I've been using various guitar effects such as delay, reverb, chorus, etc, for years, and this video is the first time I have seen these effects explained so simply and effectively in so few words. I am not a film maker, but I love your videos and they make me want to learn more.

[@shootinbruin3614]

That intro is a perfect test for stereo separation and speaker placement!

[@dylanrogersfilm]

Thanks! This is very helpful for me in the process of finishing my short film. I'll be watching this video several times to make sure I absorb everything.

[@spielundzeug]

This was incredibly helpful. Thank you.

[@rkrao8582]

I am an Electrical engineer and I gotta say nobody in my college had taught me about Fourier transform better than you

[@thewalrus1968]

brilliant ... ive engineered music as a hobby for years and although i knew all of this ... the way you explained it was wonderful, concise and clear .... thank you very much

[@mgehrisch]

This is an incredibly helpful video. Thank you for taking the time to make it!

[@zusurs]

As usually - I'm amazed about great and entertaining lesson from John and FMIQ. Thank You very much!

[@dkrhymes]

Your videos are truly professional and very informative. Thank you very much.

[@SimonBarnes]

This channel has been the best discovery. Thanks for the lessons!

[@KawaiiHD]

Thank you, you're a great teacher ;D

[@Bassbarbie]

Another excellent tutorial - all beautifully explained. I have been fiddling with my bass pedals without understanding what they were doing.

[@alanlmsca]

Wish there were more folks like you! This and other tutorials I've recently watched by you are brilliant! I'll have to watch them a few times for it to soak in, but it's like everything I need it there! Thanks you for producing them :)

this is by far the most infomative video if ever seen on this topic. thank you!

[@chrisgillmangable]

Just learnt a great deal in 15 minutes. Many thanks.

[@noneban]

You sir, are an excellent teacher.

[@dchurch911]

Thank you. Fantastic presentation! I especially found the audible examples very helpful during the explanations.

[@divinity718]

Thank you so much for providing all of this info on your channel, you've been an amazing help!

[@simontemplar6898]

I am loving watching your videos. Thank you.

[@jubelbrosseau7966]

This is great! I've gone to school for sound, and have done a lot of recording and mixing for music and video, but I like to refresh myself on the basics now and then, because it's important to understand on a deep level what each of these tools do, especially EQ's and Compressors. Also, one of the best explanations of compression and expansion that I've seen, which are among the most confusing concepts to a novice.

[@ndodamakayi5220]

Jubel Brosseau compression concepts could really be confusing. Care to explain the input and ratio to the the output ratio for me please. This is the part I never understood in my Music technology dynamics section.

[@arande3]

@@ndodamakayi5220 wickiemedia has a good video on compression

[@openmindpictures7084]

This channel is awesome, and so is this video. Sound was always hard to do for us. Thank you

[@andriegilsson6623]

You're an epic teacher. Great work.

[@MomoxEstudios]

Thank you, as a video producer your videos have help me so much

[@noelr9376]

John thank you for providing such an articulate video on a complex subject. Sound is such an important aspect to filmmaking often overlooked by many. I have found very little information available on post sound mixing and mastering. There was a lot of food for thought and some very good nuggets you provided in this video.

[@deneme56]

Thank you very much John for your wonderful video.

[@indyshome]

Really great way to sum up a lot of complex info. Studied all this at an ivy league college, and this would have helped me get all these concepts easily. Well done!

[@AdamMcDermott]

Another brilliant video. Who knew learning is fun and interesting?

[@kierenwuest5113]

Thanks I really appreciated this video, great structure and pace of information. Well done.

[@serei_oque_serei]

Man... what a nice video!!!! I'm so glad to find this channel!!!!

[@MaghoxFr]

Great video, can't believe it has no comments. Thanks for making it.

[@KevinStudent]

Extremely informative! Thank you so much for this video!

[@raphiwaffles2920]

THANK YOUUU for this Video ! I study film and I have an audio -exam on wednesday ... i didn't quite get it in class but now, thanks to you, I have a good chance of passing . :)

[@FlorianFahrenberger]

This channel continues to amaze me. I wanted to basically make the exact same video, to spread the knowledge, but there is no need now. :) Also: I never thought of a Multipressor to lift certain frequencies, I always used an EQ and applied a Compressor afterwards. The Multipressor for me was only interesting when I added a pre-mixed track like music and I wanted to tinker with it but couldn't get to the seperate instruments like bass or cymbals... great idea!

[@yourcelebrant]

Thanks J.H. I am a complete Novice in video & sound capture and editing and your tuts have helped me get my head around where I am / was going wrong and given me options and ideas of how to fix / improve my future efforts. I think the obvious choice for me might be the Audition suite as seems to have the juice and usability without the hellishly steep learning curve of some others. After all I do want to create music and mix loops I just want clearer, higher quality sound for my amateur videos. Thanks again for your great work.

[@FilmmakerIQ]

+Ron Gallagher Audition is a great choice.

[@FlyingOverTr0ut]

Great video. I learned a lot.

[@peterADL]

Thanks for this. Nicely explained

[@abiodunfalana4036]

Oh John,this is a very detailed tutorial.

[@ievgeniilarin]

Great intro to the sound engineering in the post.

[@benjaminmuller8095]

Such a good video thank you so much! Helps so much to really understand it!

[@JamesEstenilo]

Experiment, play and repeat... good one. Thanks!

[@Drummerette13]

Thank you SO much for all your videos - they're unbelievably informative! please make a video on some tips for live sound :)

[@annanphootage774]

This video is not only technical, it is theoretical, great job.

[@DAVIDSDIEGO]

Immensely informative! I always look forward to watching your new videos. Before your video, I wasn't too familiar with compressor, like in the software Audacity.

[@Wes_Jones]

What a great lesson! Thanks!

[@BobHeroinVideos]

Thanks buddy! Awesome lesson!

[@PatrickPoet]

Thank you.

[@Yamahman]

Thanks, you are a great teacher.

[@AdviseMyStyle]

John! This is the best channel to learn about film making I've ever seen! Subscribed and binge watching your videos. :) I have two questions. 1) Is it possible to to cut the ambiental sound that the Rode Videomic Pro picks up by using a preamp like Zoom H4N or Tascam DR-60? I am recording makeup tutorials in my living room and when it rains the audio is noisy. 2) Or should I just buy a condenser microphone?

[@FilmmakerIQ]

+AdviseMyStyle regarding the ambient sound. You can use noise reduction in software like Adobe Audition to try to cancel our the noise but it may not work well with random sounds like rain. The best thing is to move the mic close to you. Get your hands on a mic stand with a boom arm and attach the mic some how (use tape if you have to). Then put the mic so it's above you pointing down. The closer it is to you, the softer the ambient sound will be.

[@AdviseMyStyle]

Filmmaker IQ Incredible!!! I just tried it and it works great! I thought that if I get close it will start peaking, but it doesn't. :) Very interesting! :) Thank you sooooooooooo muuuuccchhh!!! This really means a lot to me. :) Spent a whole day watching your videos and now I need to eat something. :) Best from London, Jure.

[@FilmmakerIQ]

Yep - it's all about Signal to Noise ratio - you want the biggest difference between good signal (your voice) and bad signal (background noise) - then you can always turn down the volume to keep from peaking ;) Glad it worked out! Cheers!

[@AdviseMyStyle]

Filmmaker IQ Awesome! Thanks!!! :)

[@Friedeggonheadchan]

Should be noted that EQ and filters also pretty much always use FFT :). It's an essential operation for any digital (especially realtime) frequency domain processing!

[@FilmmakerIQ]

Bad Bandwidth I really tried to wrap my head around FFT - as a filmmaker it's not something we need to understand the inner workings of - but we are so lucky to have engineers, programmers, and mathematicians who figured out how to use FFT to process audio - as I understand it, FFT is the basis for almost all audio processing being done today - including voice recognition.

[@physixger]

Filmmaker IQ The most important thing here is to understand how to get from an audio signal (amplitude dependent on time, as you get from a microphone) to a signal in frequency space (amplitude dependent on frequency). That's what the Fourier transformation basically is: an integral transform that can transform Schwartz space functions into their "frequency spectrum", and back. The FFT is just a fast algorithm to do the DFT (discrete Fourier transform), which performs this on sampled signals (-> sampling rate 44.1 kHz means you have 44100 datapoints for amplitude per second, which are for example 16 bit of size each. This is not a function, but just a set of points.). That's basically the thing that I missed in this video and the "theory video".

[@Friedeggonheadchan]

Filmmaker IQ True, someone using these tools really doesn't need to know about the particulars. I just thought it was peculiar that an audio effect was given a name so generic as FFT :). Also yes voice recognition pretty much always uses FFT, since the data is processed by frequency basis, so FFT is needed to convert the signal into such representation.

[@FilmmakerIQ]

***** That helps explain it a little :)

[@basscat111]

I've never looked at the code for an EQ plugin, but it would be much more efficient to use an IIR or FIR algorithm than an FFT.

[@willisboyd202]

Very nicely done. Thank you

[@anyuisbjoern]

It’s a really great video! Really explains so much! I am very grateful:-)

[@brianstraight9308]

Ah, the equalizer. That little series of sliders on my boombox as a child that I don't know what they did but when things sounded good from it I got angry when someone messed with it. Good video, John,. Though a very technobabble heavy episode that I think could have been more augmented with audio demonstrations of the changes you were talking about. Still, love the channel and will always watch.

[@ksanavengsar4050]

Thank you so much. Its fantastic 👏

[@RinoaL]

this video is very awesome, i'm going to be doing some videos going over what i've discovered in the past decade or so with filming and the steps i go through to make my youtube videos. my audio knowledge is very limited so if i do a video about how to quickly handle audio i would prolly direct viewers to this video if they want to learn more about audio, i would prolly have a few second clip from this as an example. would you be ok with that? it would basicly be a shout-out. and i would be sure to tell you if i ever do it.

[@JD..........]

Very good stuff!

[@mychalsimmons4177]

You ALWAYS learn the essentials with Jon......

[@fostina05]

love it, easy to get this

[@junorolands1135]

This was a really informative and well put together video =]

[@beatrizcavalcante3890]

keep doin` more videos like this! Really Great!

[@jayashrishobna]

Wow. Have you considered setting up a patreon? I would absolutely donate for this amazing stuff.

[@arjaegonz]

I've always admired horror but not as avid as other true horror fans, but I'm surprised at how the genre itself has an interesting history in film, especially the evolution for each generation. I'm also surprised on how informed my knowledge of horror films are after watching this, and I really appreciate the lesson so much.

[@FilmmakerIQ]

Wrong video :P

[@RobertMertensPhD]

I always wondered what the Compressor function did. It makes things sound better, but I do, occasionally, get the "pumping" effect. It makes me want to reverse out of it, but then I go back and listen to the original track and have to decide which way to go. Noise reduction always comes first, though, and that also changes the sound. Lots of other neat ideas, here - thanks! I have the best luck with Audacity, although it doesn't have a lot of the advanced functions, it's free.

[@majdglory]

I really love what you do, n I wanna request for a history of cartoon filming pleeeeease

[@alberteye]

Thank you John! It is still the best explanation EVEN for non english (originally born) students ))

[@MultiSciGeek]

Great video. This really helps a lot :D

[@MrPinkpiggie]

4:20 made me chuckle, way to go rode for marketing a 'flat' response :)

[@sheldonnorton9035]

That was excellent

[@SandraDawson]

Very good presentation. Thanks. :)

[@oscarfotosono]

Bien hecho, muy interesante!

[@DreamsBegin]

Thank you, that was really useful, straight and good info :)

[@mayabz5300]

Thank you for this video 👍🔥

[@mychalsimmons4177]

Awesome man

[@Carlfishing]

Fantastic channel, cool 😎

[@DarioBarrosFilmmaker]

great one! thanks a lot

[@FaisalJafar]

thank you for share

[@ammodomini]

If it sounds good, then it is good. - James Brown

[@andrewau1993]

I think that some theoris in editing like the montage is also applicable in the sounds and audio of films. I think that they are also includable as mise en scene and are as expressive as visuals.

[@williampalenikjr8433]

very good info here

[@propmadepostapo]

you are the best !