workflow suggestions for this terrible audio recording (long post) -Sound Forge - PC

Subject:workflow suggestions for this terrible audio recording (long post) Posted by: musman Date:6/25/2004 4:21:17 PM Nearly finished VAAST Sound Forge dvd and have learned a lot. Now I'm trying to figure out how I should use these tools for a short film I shot a while ago and could use some suggestions. I'm preparing the film for submission to my local film festival. The film was made in one of those make a movie in 48 hour contests and I didn't have many people to help out, so my idea was to make a reality show (about the last man in America who's never been on a reality tv show) so I could double up cast and crew. That way, I figured, I could get the boom mic guy in close and wouldn't have to hide him. Well, we still managed to screw it up and recorded into a Sony pd150 (which has lousy sound to begin with and still has a hiss even after Sony 'fixed' it in later the later serial #s). In most places the recording is way too low but in a few places it's too hot. Part of the problem is the mic (Sennheiser me66) is very directional and often is not pointed at the speaker (like when the boom mic guy says his lines). Here's what I'm wondering: 1- What level should dialog be at on SF's meters? Think I was told it should peak at around -3db and I'm guessing you want to keep the rest of the dialog as close to this as possible. Is this right? 2- What is the best way to get my audio uniformly near the -3db? What I've tried so far is to: a) go pick out the occasional loud spots and lower them with the volume tool. b) Then I use the speech preset in the "normalize". This brings things up a lot. c) Finally I use the Maximize volume preset in Compression. This brings things up close to or over the -3db. 3) The way I've done things as described above results at this point in the noise inherent in the lousy recording being very noticeable. To remove the hiss, etc, I first use the 'hiss removal' (a high frequency shelf) preset in parametric eq. Then I use the noise reduction and play with that a bit. So, is there a better way to do this? Seems like I'm using the same kind of tool in the Normalizer and the Compression twice and not sure if this is a good idea. Also, should I use the Noise reduction and hiss removal tools earlier in the process? Though it might make a difference in what the Normalizer and the Compression use as reference for their most quiet sounds. Sorry for the long post, but I'm a newbie with sound and am trying to learn the best ways to use Sound Forge. Any help is appreciated!

Nearly finished VAAST Sound Forge dvd and have learned a lot. Now I'm trying to figure out how I should use these tools for a short film I shot a while ago and could use some suggestions. I'm preparing the film for submission to my local film festival.
The film was made in one of those make a movie in 48 hour contests and I didn't have many people to help out, so my idea was to make a reality show (about the last man in America who's never been on a reality tv show) so I could double up cast and crew. That way, I figured, I could get the boom mic guy in close and wouldn't have to hide him. Well, we still managed to screw it up and recorded into a Sony pd150 (which has lousy sound to begin with and still has a hiss even after Sony 'fixed' it in later the later serial #s). In most places the recording is way too low but in a few places it's too hot. Part of the problem is the mic (Sennheiser me66) is very directional and often is not pointed at the speaker (like when the boom mic guy says his lines).
Here's what I'm wondering:

1- What level should dialog be at on SF's meters? Think I was told it should peak at around -3db and I'm guessing you want to keep the rest of the dialog as close to this as possible. Is this right?

2- What is the best way to get my audio uniformly near the -3db? What I've tried so far is to:
a) go pick out the occasional loud spots and lower them with the volume tool.
b) Then I use the speech preset in the "normalize". This brings things up a lot.
c) Finally I use the Maximize volume preset in Compression. This brings things up close to or over the -3db.

3) The way I've done things as described above results at this point in the noise inherent in the lousy recording being very noticeable. To remove the hiss, etc, I first use the 'hiss removal' (a high frequency shelf) preset in parametric eq. Then I use the noise reduction and play with that a bit.
So, is there a better way to do this? Seems like I'm using the same kind of tool in the Normalizer and the Compression twice and not sure if this is a good idea. Also, should I use the Noise reduction and hiss removal tools earlier in the process? Though it might make a difference in what the Normalizer and the Compression use as reference for their most quiet sounds.
Sorry for the long post, but I'm a newbie with sound and am trying to learn the best ways to use Sound Forge. Any help is appreciated!