Most useful plug-ins for post?

Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2002 11:55 am

I do post production for TV with a Pro Tools Mix Plus system. I was wondering what plug-ins everyone was using, what for, and how they were using them, i.e. settings, etc.

Thanks. Smile

Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2002 11:17 pm

Hello Karen,
i don't do post myself but a bunch of my friends do post, and I will put this to them. Are there any specific situations you are curious about? Cheers from, yes, Vancouver, Doc.

Posted: Sat Apr 13, 2002 8:15 pm

Hello Karen,
Haven't had a chance to talk to anyone yet, but I can give you my insights on various Pro Tools plug-ins. I use Digi 001, so there may be some differences vs. your system. I will try to address plug-ins that I think would be useful for Post.
DiNR- noise reduction plug- I have found it to be useful and inobtrusive. It does not color the sound too much and does the job. Essentially you sample backgound noise, have the program learn the characteristics of the noise, then let the program remove the noise from the audio.
EQ- I suggest the standard Digidesign EQ would be all you need for Post. Some music folks prefer the Sony Oxford plug-in because of it's musicality, but I don't see that as a concern for you.
Compressor-wise I find the Bomb Factory plug-ins to be significantly better than the factory comps, and better than the (admittedly not current) Focusrite plug-ins. My faves are the LA 2A and 1176 plugs.
Pitch correction-wise I think Autotune wins over Speed by Wave Mechanics, but I am not really a fan of pitch correction.
Cheers, Doc.

Posted: Sun Apr 14, 2002 12:21 am

Thanks doc,

Sounds like I could use the Dinr, could've used that sooooooo many times!!

I have the "old" focusrite compressor/limiter. I use them for VO, and interviews. What is a good setting for VO? i.e. threshold, ratio,attack, etc.

Sometimes I need to "futz" the sound, and make it sound like it is coming through the telephone. There must be a formula for this. EQ is what I've been using, but don't quite have it nailed down. I'll bet there is a preset on a plug-in for doing just this process. Smile

Posted: Sun Apr 14, 2002 12:23 pm

The famous telephone sound, eh??? Hehe...

Basically you need to use both low-pass and high-pass filters, and just keep the middle of the spectrum intact. You can fiddle around to get the optimum settings...

Posted: Sun Apr 14, 2002 9:42 pm

Hi Karen,
As regards the telephone sound I agree with Doublehelix- try a high-shelf cutting off at about 8-10 kHz and a low-shelf at 50-80 Hz, chopping 5-8 dB. Squash that through the compressor at 1:6 ratio and I think you've got it.
I will check on compressor settings for VO in the next few days. I assume you are looking for what people are using now, as opposed to any specific time period from the past.
Cheers, Doc.

Posted: Fri Apr 19, 2002 12:50 am

Thanks Doc and DH,

I'll try the telephone thing next time I'm at work. As for the V.O. compressor, yes,a current sound is what I'm looking for. Ratio, threshold, attack, decay, limiter, etc.

Thanks.

Posted: Sat Apr 20, 2002 10:43 am

as for the telephone sound, I will sometimes add a bit of distortion also. In mixing all I use is compression on the individual dialogue tracks. Usually no bus compressors, because some of the Broadcasters specs specifically note that they don't want to have compression on the split stem tracks.

Mark, also from vancouver, but a Fairlight user.

Posted: Sat Apr 20, 2002 4:06 pm

Speed isn't really designed for pitch correction - the Wave Mechanics plug for that would be PitchDoctor. It doesn't have the chipmunk effect of AT, and also tends not to make everything sound like that Cher song. Unfortunately, it's not yet available for RTAS (only TDM).

Ken Bogdanowicz
President, Wave Mechanics, Inc.

Posted: Sun Apr 21, 2002 12:30 pm

Ken, welcome aboard. I love your products and it is a total pleasue to see you here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Guys like Ken Bogdanowicz are more than welcome here.

Smile

Posted: Sun Apr 21, 2002 3:56 pm

Hey Boomchic,

I noticed on one of the other forums you were wondering how to do stem laybacks to DA-88 from pro-Tools, however you stated you don't have a House synch box.

All I can say is, that since you are doing post, I strongly suggest you get house synch.

Then the way to hook up would be Video synch into your USD, Wordclock, and Time-code out of the USD into the DA-88. Set the DA-88 to synch to wordclock, and chase . You can still go ahead and record to the DA-88 analogue.

Also, the way we do it, picture is always master. So feed timecode out of your deck, into the PT. And since the video deck is also referencing to your house synch, everything is happy.

Mark

Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2002 7:27 pm

Hi Karen,
Sorry to be offline for such a long time- doing overdubs and two shows in the past week (one show 90% new material, with only two practices to get it together- went great, somebody even asked us if we had a CD out). The only person I have found who might be helpful hasn't gotten back to me, however it appears you are getting some help from other members here (great thread everybody). Cheers, Doc.

Posted: Sun Apr 28, 2002 11:37 am

Hey everyone,

Thanks for all the info! Sorry I haven't been here for a week, just got back from Tahoe for some spring skiing, and getting my 3 1/2 year old on skis for the first time. French fries, pizza, french fries, pizza.

My system is a TDM system so I could use the abovementioned plug-in with my Pro Tools system.

Who makes a "house synch" box, and how much does it cost? What type of connections i.e. inputs/outputs does it have?

Thanks.

Posted: Sun Apr 28, 2002 4:22 pm

The ones we use do both Pal as well as NTSC. I'll check for the exact model and make on monday. I think they will run you about $500,-.

Mark

Posted: Mon Jun 10, 2002 11:09 pm

yo Karen: I use Waves Gold Bundle, Haven't tried the new Platinum version yet but Gold has been the best for me so far for most of my plug-in needs.

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