Noise Reduction

[vermutlich]

Hi,

Just joined the forum today, and I've looked around to see if there was already a post on this topic, but haven't found one, so forgive me if it has already been covered...

I'm using a trial version of 2.0 and I really like it. I recorded a short test project which has 20 slides including recorded narration. My recording has significant background noise (laptop fan primarily) which I'd like to remove. I have Adobe Audition so presumably I could export all 20 narration audio files, clean them up and then re-import them, but is there a better (and quicker) way?

Best regards,

Eric

[Shnoogins]

Hi vermutlich!!

Welcome to the party...

The easiest way, would probably be to make a backup copy of the audio files first...

Then open them directly from their location with Audition. When you are done "cleaning", simply save them.

Open Captivate, and highlight the audio files in your library panel. Click the Update button.

Hope this works for you!

[vermutlich]

Shnoogins,

Is that REALLY the best way to accomplish it? In my first project I have 20+ slides. That means saving each one as a .WAV file, opening up each one in Audition, removing the noise floor INDIVIDUALLY 20+ times, saving each file individually, and finally updating the library. That seems like an awful lot of work.

Is anyone actually making recordings WITHOUT the need to remove background noise? If so, please let me know what kind of microphone you use.

Best regards,

Eric

[Shnoogins]

That is the best way of editing a "already recorded" batch of audio. Captivate has a limited set of audio editing tools. If you have already imported your audio into captivate, it will be in the library as a wav file. From there, you can simply right click on the wav and select "Edit With Audition", or browse to the location of Audition if it isn't listed by selecting "Edit With". Once you are done editing, just click save in audition, and it will auto-update the wav in captivate. It's easier than it sounds. The removal of noise with Captivate would not be anywhere near the quality of Audition.
As an afterthought, you may just want to re-record using a good microphone.
I use a SENNHEISER PC 150, it was about 35 dollars. It cancels out alot of BG noise. We also follow some tips from the Adobe Edge article (FEB 07)

" * Find a room with carpet, and perhaps upholstered furniture and drapes.
A room with too many hard surfaces will cause echoes.

* If you don't like how a recording sounds, move around the room.
Change the way you're facing or where you're sitting.
Try putting a pillow in the corner and talking toward it.
You can get a great sound without a professional studio,
but you'll need to experiment to figure out where your room sounds best.

Hope this helps.