Audio for post-production

Wherever possible, try to control your surroundings when filming, to minimise any unwanted noise. Avoid locations with a lot of reverberation.

Often overlooked by music mixers, audio phase is very important in TV sound...

After many years of complaints from the public about trailers and commercials sounding much louder than the actual programmes they fit around, broadcasters are tightening the rules

To obtain the cleanest and clearest sound the microphone needs to be very close to the subject. An on-board microphone does not achieve this so an external microhone and a skilled sound recordist will produce the best results. Minimise background noises. Good clean audio produces better results in compression.

Unlike video, audio is always captured uncompressed (unless your source is HDV!). This means there is no need to reconform your audio for the sound dub, so great care should be taken during the offline capture process to ensure audio levels are captured correctly.

Monitoring in most off-line suites is limited in comparison to dubbing theatres. External sound levels, Roland speakers and no external audio meters, let alone PPMs mean that it?s better not to be too ambitious with the sound mixer.

Current broadcast requirements are that digibeta or HD master tapes should contain 48kHz audio, also a DVD requirement. When filming, ensure cameras are set to record audio at 48kHz, which will eliminate having to sample rate convert or resort to analogue playouts.

When importing CDs into your NLE, the created clips are normally called Track 01, Track 02 etc. Renaming these with the CD title or catalogue number and the track name will help later when you need to do your music declaration and payment. Clip names are normally carried across to sound dub facilities, but source names aren’t.