Sound tip needed: shooting speech with DSLR right next to aircon condenser

[Morne]

Hi all

So I'll be shooting video with speech with a Nikon D3100 and the built-in mic. The catch is the action and speech is happening outdoors right next to an aircon condensor. I'm geussing the mic will pick this up as a loud noise.

Is there any way to edit it out or at least make it less noticeable so the speech is clearer using Premiere? (any other mic except for the built-in one is not an option)

[glyph]

no - removing noise from audio is never satisfactory
been there done that
get another mic - it IS the only solution
..try a tie pin mike (sony shops sell them) (wireless or not) and connect it to another camera and sync up afterwards - not as hard as it might seem
mics MUST be close to the speaker unless you are using pro mikes with targetting tubes

or overdub afterwards, but that really is hard work

[Morne]

Oops! I'll have to live with bad sound then on this one. My DSLR doesnt have external mic input (Nikon D3100), and don't have 2nd device I can use to record the sound.
Good thing then it is just a private project, and not for a client.

[Subburb]

simple trick, but not perfect :
Sample again, at the same place, the aircon alone (with nobody speaking) sound.

then use a noise reduction plugin (like sonic foundry NR) in soundforge (for example). You can "explain" to the noise reduction plugin wich is the problematic noise, providing to it the file you recorded with only the aircon sound.
This method will drive it to remove this sound to your speech sound file. Not perfect but reduces noises significantly.

Hope it helps !

[Subburb]

oups i forget something :
you can help to improve even more your speech sample like this :

in Sound forge : apply a normalize
then use ozone plugin : vocal treatment (-4db input).
It helps to boost and clarify the voice.

[Morne]

Cool thanks for the tips!

[glyph]

sound subtraction only works on a reasonably constant noise like tape hiss and an air con unit will be rattling and probably have a rhythmic beat to the noise - let us know what works!

[Morne]

yes will do, it might be a while however. My other actor had to cancel at the last minute, so waiting to reschedule the shoot

[chriserskine]

if you have soundbooth, or and old copy of cool edit. you can view the waveform and lasso the problem sound and drop its volume to zero.

http://www.mediacollege.com/adobe/so.../remove-sound/

its easy to use without having any idea about audio production.

but still easier if you can avoid it in the first place.

[Morne]

It's very likely that I'll be using Audacity for this.

[Morne]

if I happen to borrow a DSLR with mic input, would a shotgon mic be best for this sort of thing? A mon on the person wont work I think as they would be fighting and the mic would pic up the wind and their clothes rustling together etc. Not to mention physical contact from each other

[wxyz]

Ozone RX2 spectral repair is amazing, but pricy

[Morne]

i'm limited to free resources at the moment