ADR

[FalTorPan]

Does anyone here have experience with ADR? I'm considering having some or all actors from my otherwise almost completed Astronuts movie return to loop their dialogue. I've never done ADR before, so I expect to do some experimentation before I decide whether to go forward with it. How have some of your ADR experiences been?

 

[Tom Hendricks]

Does anyone here have experience with ADR? I'm considering having some or all actors from my otherwise almost completed Astronuts movie return to loop their dialogue. I've never done ADR before, so I expect to do some experimentation before I decide whether to go forward with it. How have some of your ADR experiences been?

I will tell you how I do down and dirty ADR.

First construct a box about 2x2x2 and line it with Soundproofing foam.
Set up a monitor, from your computer to play back your clip either under or on top of the box
Use headphones for Actor
Put a microphone in the box.
Connect microphone to your Camcorder
Have actor watch clip and practice line several times
Record several takes of the actor doing ADR

Now, why the box? It will allow for a clean, non-echo, tracks. Without a sound studio, this is the best way to do ADR that I have found. Need any additional information, or for me to clarify anything, just IM me.

 

[Picard Alpha]

In the many years I've been doing this, it's always been my opinion that ADR is one of the much more complicated post elements you will work on. The suggestions above will get you everything you need, but remember this: even professional actors have a difficult time re-recording their dialog. It might take you a bit of time to get an actor without ADR experience to be able to re-enact the scene.

From a directors perspective, you need to get the actor back into the element, back to the scene. You need to have them watch the clip, many, many times and rehearse it out-loud as you preview it. It may take a few attempts to get the actor back into the element, when you recorded the scene the actor was involved in that moment. They were immersed in sets, environment, props, costumes and were truly the character they were portraying. It might take a few tries, but the actor can easily return to that moment, and sometimes, perform the scene even more brilliantly with a slightly different take or inflection.

The other thing key to ADR is being able to recapture the sounds of the environment. Most professional films actually record static noise for several minutes from the actual location or set to be able to do ADR effectively. If you don't use actual or re produced location sound your environment will fall flat and it will immediately take your audience out of the scene. If you don't have a good track of actual location or set noise, I recommend ADR on the entire scene, otherwise it will cut really odd...

 

[FalTorPan]

Thanks, Tom and Picard. I've not yet decided whether to pursue ADR for Astronuts, but you've both given me much to think about.

 

[Maurice]

Another thing is to make sure the actors are in the same position when recording that they are in the scene in question: if they were standing in the scene, they should be standing when looping, etc. This is important because posture affects the way you speak.

Looping is very troublesome, because a) it's hard to match the pacing of a previous take without sounding mechanical, and b) it's not the same as acting with other actors, and having things to react to.

 

[FalTorPan]

Thanks to everyone for their advice. Because Astronuts is about 23 minutes long, I've decided that looping would be too nightmarish... for now anyway. I wish the audio were better, but then again, I also wish Industrial Light & Magic had made the visual effects.

 

[Picard Alpha]

"Don't be afraid of the wind, ensign!"

 

[FalTorPan]

I'm still giving it some consideration, although it would be difficult just to get all the actors to do it at all, much less to do it well. It's been nine years since we shot this thing, and since that time I moved about an hour's drive away from almost everyone who acted in it.

Tom or anyone, what are your recommendations for hardware? Tom, you mentioned a 2x2x2 box with acoustic foam. I was thinking that a "Rubbermaid" or "Sterilite" tote might work, if it were lined with foam. What do you think?

And what do folks recommend as far as microphones go?

If possible I'd like to cap the expenses at $100 -- preferably significantly less -- for equipment.

Thanks!

 

[Tom Hendricks]

Fal,

I do think the tote would work, interesting idea. I don't think you could do it for under $100 but not really that much over that amount. You will spend the most money on the Microphone, I recommend the Blue snowball http://www.bluemic.com/store/index.php?crn=205&rn=376&action=show_detail that is $99.95. Acoustic Foam is kind of expensive, but you can get good 12"x12" 2" thick for around $4.95 a tile at http://www.zzounds.com/item--AUR2WD01CG Plus the cost of the tote.

 

[FalTorPan]

Thanks again, Tom. What's it like to match up newly recorded dialogue to old video? Obviously the actor makes several attempts to match his or her new vocal recording to the old video, but how do you go about nipping, tucking and/or stretching the audio to match the video as perfectly as possible? What is your favorite software for this purpose? Am I overthinking this?

 

[Tom Hendricks]

Thanks again, Tom. What's it like to match up newly recorded dialogue to old video? Obviously the actor makes several attempts to match his or her new vocal recording to the old video, but how do you go about nipping, tucking and/or stretching the audio to match the video as perfectly as possible? What is your favorite software for this purpose? Am I overthinking this?

Personally I like Adobe Soundbooth, but there are ton of applications out there that would do the same thing and many of the for free. You would also be surprised how much control you have in just your editing software (What do you use?) I use both Final Cut Pro and Premiere Pro, so for simple ADR I have used just the editing programs.

PS: I have watched your program and while the audio is not ideal, I don't think it is bad enough to go through the ADR process. If you ever mount a project again, I would just a little more thought to audio next time.

 

[FalTorPan]

Thanks for evaluating the movie audio. I'm still undecided about whether to re-record the dialogue, but I keep leaning toward not doing it. I'm unsatisfied with the quality of the dialogue audio, but none of the movie's ten performers -- including myself -- has any experience with looping. I suspect the result would look like a poorly dubbed martial arts film.

 

[Potemkin_Prod]

Is there any way you can separate your existing audio and enhance it and then merge it back together?

 

[Tom Hendricks]

Yes, a program I use and love called Sound Soap. I highly recommend it, it will take out background noise and crackles and pops. It's a bit expensive but it is available for both PC and Mac.