When making video, it's quite common to focus primarily on the editing and picture quality of your video.
Yet, it may not seem like it, but the audio dimension of your video enhances the feeling of immersion more than any other factor.
Well-synchronized, well-cut and well-balanced audio tracks reinforce the impact of the images on the viewers, and make them experience the action more closely. Here's a step-by-step guide to getting high-quality audio in your video.
The quality of audio tracks in a video is often overlooked by novice video creators. However, once they start to work on it, they can achieve remarkable effects in terms of reception and performance. Here are the benefits you can expect from a well-edited sound:
Are you ready to go? We'll give you everything you need to get started.
Good sound editing starts with a proper acoustic environment. Not all recording spaces absorb and reflect sound in the same way. Some are tight spaces that muffle sound, while others have walls that crush sound frequencies or produce echo. The ideal setting allows sound to spread across a wide space and return naturally to the recording receivers.
When choosing such a location, you should record your sound in a room spaced away from walls, and provide types of equipment against the wind if you want to shoot outside.
The choice of recording equipment also plays a major role in getting the sound right. An external microphone (tie, shotgun, stereo) helps you pick up the sound as close as possible to its source, whether it is the voice of a person or an action sound.
You should for example use a tie microphone if you are speaking alone. If you have other people talking, you might use a portable microphone. As for filmed scenes, you might use shotgun microphones to pick up all the sounds in the room.
When you have recorded your sound correctly, you can then process and optimize your sound parameters. The software I mention below will help you select and mix the most interesting audio elements, and optimize their rendering. Here are the technical editing you can apply:
Once you have optimized your audio tracks, you can then add them to your video, synchronize them and trim them according to the effect you want. There are a number of recommendations for good audio trimming:
After cutting and processing the audio, it's time to add music tracks and voice-over. Music allows you to amplify the emotions conveyed in the video. To have the most impact, however, it must fit with the tone of the video and the timing of the words and actions.
As for voice-over, it allows you to clarify and add a narrative touch to your filmed scenes. You can add your voice-over by running your video at the same time, to ensure perfect synchronization.
Studios and production agencies go even further in optimizing their video by mixing sounds or creating artificial sounds. So-called FOLEY are quite often added afterwards in recording studios. Action scenes do not have the same depth without the addition of manufactured sounds. For example, sound engineers can reproduce the dry sounds of fights by tapping on vegetables or jackets.
You can also use the sound effects in your video editors (echo, nature, voice, street noise…) to add a new dimension to your videos. The important thing is that these effects are always consistent with the image.
When you have finished all this, all that remains is to listen to your video several times. Pay particular attention to the synchronization of your audio sequences with your image or voice, and to transition errors. It's easy to leave a gap of a few seconds between these tracks that can cause your entire video to lag.
In video editing, quality work often depends on the tool you use. Each video and audio editor has different features, and therefore do not offer the same result depending on the type of video you want to create (sales video, video creation, for social networks…). To edit the sound of your video, there are two types of software:
Filmora is a video software that allows you to quickly add, cut, and synchronize audio tracks on your video. You can also easily separate the audio from your video to optimize it for other platforms. It's a handy tool to edit the sound of your videos in a few clicks.
The most complete video software, Premiere Pro also has rather wide audio editing tools. You can normalize, mix, trim and add transitions to your audio sequences. It's a good start to getting clean, clear audio for your video.
For Mac users, this is the perfect free tool to improve the quality of your audio tracks. With simple features like trimming, equalizing and reducing ambient noise, you can do proper and basic audio editing. Give it a try if you want to make quick edits!
Audacity is a free open-source software that allows you to improve the quality of your video from A to Z. By adding audio to your video, you will have access to many tools and filters to optimize the rendering of your sequence. There's no better way to do in-depth audio editing without spending a dime!
AVS is another program that allows you to directly edit the tracks of your video file. Just include your MP4, MOV, AVI file and you can edit and trim your audio recordings. By saving the changes in your new video, you have a video with improved sound.
For in-depth video editing, Adobe Audition is one of the most comprehensive tools on the market. Combined with Adobe Premiere Pro, you can edit, arrange and mix the various technical parameters of your audio sequences. With intelligent technology, you can even repair and transform your audio spectrum. It's the right tool for video creators who want perfect sound in their creations.
Well, we hope we've helped you get to the ears of your audience! And if you're looking for a fast and effective automatic subtitling solution, you can also contact us.
