Services

Sound Transfer

Transfer of production sound to Pro Tools® HD via OMF from locked picture.

Sound Editorial

Complete sound editorial of all sound elements in the film.

Dialogue Restoration

Dialogue restoration is provided as part of a complete sound post package, or as a stand-alone service. The dialogue restoration process allows us to fix common sound recording problems that negatively impact the location dialogue recordings. We can minimize and even eliminate the need for expensive and time-consuming ADR, preserving the original sonic tone and emotion of an actor’s performance.

Our dialogue restoration process includes a combination of precise, sample level, dialogue editing and next generation digital sound restoration.

Problems that can often be fixed include:

• Excessive and undesirable location noise (traffic, airplanes, machinery, generators, dolly noise, impact noise, electrical and machine induced hum, clothing rustle, digital clicks and pops, rumble, wind);
• Specific sonic elements (cricket chirps, car horns, sirens, chair squeaks, coughs, etc.); and
• Some heavy over-modulation and distortion.

 

Problems that typically cannot be fixed:

• Poor microphone placement resulting in excessive room sound and off axis microphone;
• Severe digital distortion or too much extraneous noise and not enough of an actor’s voice (e.g. an actor speaking next to a jet engine, or in a hurricane);
• Constant electrical malfunctions (e.g. a microphone cutting in and out due to poor wiring or low battery packs);
• Severe impact noise during words (e.g. jack hammer hits while an actor speaks); and
• Excessive limiting and compression applied during recording on set.

 

Our dialogue restoration tool kit includes:

• Cedar DNS, a high-end dialogue noise suppressor;
• iZotope RX Advanced with intelligent noise reduction, de-click, de-hum, and spectral repair;
• Waves plugin bundles;
• VPre from V Sonics for intelligent, adaptive voice-processing;
• Oxford (de-click, de-pop, de-crackle); and
• EQuality, a high-end equalization plugin from DMG Audio.

 

Check out Cedar Audio’s explanation of audio restoration. You can also see the magic of iZotope the video below. It’s like Photoshop for audio waveforms!

ADR and Voice Recording

Automated dialogue replacement, voice narration recording, and vocal special effects creation.

Diegetic Sound Design and Recreation

Comprehensive sound re-recording, invention, re-creation and design for all the audio spaces and environments in a film. This may include going back to original locations to source exact audio prints.

Hard Sound Effects

Produce custom created sound effects and sound library sourcing.

Soft Sound Effects and Move Tracks

Foley, soft effects and move tracks.

Non-Diegetic Sound Design

Creation, invention and production of non-musical sound elements. Creation of sounds designed to enhance picture, convey emotion, and complement story telling.

Music Editing, Re-synchronizing, and Up-mixing

Import, edit, re-synch, and up-mix film music to Surround Sound 5.1 from stereo stems of premixed music files.

Master Sound Mix

Provide comprehensive Surround Sound 5.1 or 7.1 mixes for film and television productions that are delivered at theatrical (pre-mix for Dolby print mastering), DVD (Standard and Blu-Ray), or broadcast reference levels. Deliver customized mixes for output to any new delivery platform, including mobile video and interactive kiosks.

Deliverables

We can provide masters in various delivery formats, including:

• Discrete 5.1 masters;
• M&E tracks;
• Pro-Logic 2 LTRT (Neyrink encoder);
• Stereophonic down mixes; and
• Mixed stems deliverables.

We mix to MVTE (Master Video Tape Evaluation) international standards and meet each individual broadcaster’s technical requirements.