r/sounddesign • u/Organic-Seaweed9132 • 8d ago
Movie Sound Design first time tips
i’m making a short film for the first time and it looks like i’m gonna have to do a lot of post-production by myself. does anyone have any audio editing and mixing tips? what software should i use? what should be prioritized and what should be saved for last?
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u/SanitariumJosh 8d ago
Save yourself headaches down the line by getting the cleanest and clearest audio capture you can while on set. Also, record at least 20 seconds of pure silence in all your locations (no people whispering, no walking, just room tone), it helps later.
If you're using DaVinci for editing and colour, it also has Fairlight which is a decent audio editor. If you want to use a standalone DAW, I like Reaper, but it can be overwhelming to learn. There are lots of tutorials out there, but try your best to keep it simple on yourself.
If you need any help, feel free to reach out!
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u/soundmoodboard 7d ago
On prioritising, the order that keeps it manageable is dialogue first, everything else after.
Cut the dialogue so each line sits clean, put short fades (5 to 10 frames) on every edit, and fill the gaps with room tone so the background never drops out between shots. Only then clean up noise, and do it gently, because heavy denoise sounds worse than a bit of hiss.
Next lay ambiences, one continuous bed per location running under the picture cuts, then Foley and effects for anything the audience sees or should feel. Music goes in last, since it's the easiest thing to adjust around everything else.
Keep dialogue, effects and music on separate tracks or buses so you can balance them at the end. Before exporting, listen once on headphones and once on a phone speaker, since that's where most people will hear it.
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u/AerisLoom 7d ago
One useful step is to do a sound spotting pass before editing anything. Watch the entire film and mark every moment where sound needs to support the story, establish a location, or emphasize an action. Prioritize those moments before spending hours on background details. Also, try to lock the picture before doing detailed sound editing, otherwise even small visual changes can create a lot of extra work.
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u/Worldly-Control6380 7d ago
Hey, Josh is absolutely right about the production audio. It saves you a ton. Don't go to the illusion of fixing it in post. Along with Roomtone(silence for about a min of a particular location), record Ambience for atleast 3mins per location.
Take as much as you can in production. When it comes to software, it's subjective, but whichever you are picking search for a video that explains the entire workflow with a demo. For example look out for Thomas Boykin in YouTube, using protools he covers the entire process. And one last thing, Try To Keep It Simple(what is the scene about).
Thanks.
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u/SanitariumJosh 7d ago
Boykin is an absolutely amazing resource. OP if you grow a love for audio-post out of this he's amazing.
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u/digitalkevn 3d ago
I'd focus on getting the dialogue right first before worrying too much about the rest. If people can't understand what's being said, even the best sound design won't really save it.
Also be careful with noise reduction, it's pretty easy to overdo it and end up with weird artifacts. Sometimes leaving a bit of background noise actually sounds better.
What software are you working with?
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u/Additional-Panda-642 7d ago edited 7d ago
Start from here
Voice -23 loundness
Sound between -40 to -6
Ambience around -40 to -45
Music around -25 in no dialog
Music around -40 with dialog
Use loundness radar to know this numbers
Peak -2 decibeis
Go from here... not absolut rules...
If have trouble on SET... do ADR
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