I have to use a GoPro in its waterproof housing (I'm a fisherman) and the audio, especially for voice, is poor with a muffled quality.
I've tried using the "Remove Low Frequencies" audio effect and the Fat EQ to improve things. It's worked upto a point, but the audio still has a bit of that 'talking itno a can' quality.
Any other audio effects or filters that could help?
Damaged audio is really difficult to "repair..."
That said, try Specialized > Exciter
dial the Frequency down (200-1000Hz)
adjust the harmonics (probably upwards -- be careful about introducing noise)
and probably Color 2
If that's not satisfactory, try Levels > Multipressor
Open up the dialog window
On the right side of the top section, drag the midline upwards.
Drag the left side divider to a lower frequency ( you may have to do the same with "stage 3" as well to make room)
For the stage that seems to match the "muddy" region (usually stage 1), drag the mid line downwards slightly.
You can generally reshape sound with Multipressor (I use it to change the timbre of instruments slightly -- e.g., violins with soft attacks can be given much harder attacks with this effect while bringing out other frequencies in the timbre as well, making them sound more "rosiny" if you know what I mean.)
HTH
Damaged audio is really difficult to "repair..."
That said, try Specialized > Exciter
dial the Frequency down (200-1000Hz)
adjust the harmonics (probably upwards -- be careful about introducing noise)
and probably Color 2
If that's not satisfactory, try Levels > Multipressor
Open up the dialog window
On the right side of the top section, drag the midline upwards.
Drag the left side divider to a lower frequency ( you may have to do the same with "stage 3" as well to make room)
For the stage that seems to match the "muddy" region (usually stage 1), drag the mid line downwards slightly.
You can generally reshape sound with Multipressor (I use it to change the timbre of instruments slightly -- e.g., violins with soft attacks can be given much harder attacks with this effect while bringing out other frequencies in the timbre as well, making them sound more "rosiny" if you know what I mean.)
HTH
You will never get good audio from the gopro when it's in the waterproof housing. Always happy to be proved wrong and possibly with a lot of experience and serious audio tools beyond FCP it might be done but my best suggestion is to use a second audio mic and digital recorder. A lapel mic and a digital recorder in your pocket or (wherever) might make things a lot easier.
Huge amounts for me to learn in audio . . . .
The multipressor did improve matters quite a bit but the noise level increases.
Using an equalizer and desser, I pulled down the lows quite a bit and the highs slightly. The desser helped with some of the excessive hiss in some of the speech. Before the editing, 'fish' sounded like 'fiSSSsh'. Hardly my normal speech.
Both your suggestion and my early attempts improved matters. The multpressor introduced more noise, while the Fat EQ and Desser produced less noise but a tinnier voice.
Fun stuff to play with.
I know that this is an option, but if I come home with another video/audio toy, the finance minster is likely to have a rather negative reaction. 😢
I'm trying to get the best out of what I already have.
Here's a short, unlisted Youtube video that I just threw together to illustrate the two attempts so far, plus the original.
There's not a lot of the original audio to work with — a huge amount of the audio range is more or less gone (like a wide low pass filter had been used.) This is my attempt reconstruct some of it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=4eOwG9RfPCI
If it's acceptable I'll go over the processes I used.
Thanks for all you're efforts to work with this. I really appreciate it. The original clip is untouched from the GoPro, so whatever is missing in the original, was never captured by its mic.
Your results were definitely better than mine, but I'm afraid your original sentence is a very accurate one. It still does not compare well to the results from a decent wireless lavalier or shotgun mic. I think I'm going to have to risk the wrath of the finance minister and buy a digital audio recorder.
Ok... if you need recommendations, I think the new breed of portable digital recorders are very nice. Worlds better than the old Tascam PortaStudio 05 I had years ago. I have a Zoom H1 and an H2, but the H1 is a lot easier to use and pocket sized. With a corded lavalier, it's very convenient and can be concealed on the individual using the lavalier. I can even use it with my Shure SM58 with an XLR to 1/8 stereo jack converter making my best mic as portable as the Zoom itself. There are several high quality portable digital recorders under $100US and lavaliers available under $20US. All of these recorders are configured with stereo mics (most are omnidirectional condensers) and some (like the H2) are configured for 4 channel "surround" (we used to just call it quadraphonic... LOL)
I already have my eye on the Zoom H1 as it has the features I need plus it's relatively inexpensive. As a fisherman who wades in rivers, I'm always at risk of an unwanted bath. Expensive, unprotected electronics while wading is not an option. If it's not waterproof then it has to be relatviely cheap.
What do you think of the Zoom H1 mic as a decent tool to capture ambient river sounds for audio stock? Might also work with a directional mic to capture bid song etc?
Take a ziploc with you! Run a lavalier out (try wrapping the cord with some insulator foam where the bag closes so as not to damage the cord... should be waterproof long enough to get it out of the water before the mic is damaged.)
Capturing ambient sounds??!! You'll be able to hear the frogs blink 😉 Hyperbole for sure, but you'll be amazed at what you'll pick up with that mic and there's no (internal) noise. You will want a windscreen of some sort. Don't use Auto Levels... Record in WAV - 48kHz (96kHz is an available option but 48 is an FCPX "native" format). This mic is very sensitive to contact sounds (holding, pushing buttons, etc.) so you need to make sure once you start recording, not to move it around in your hand too much; better yet -- attach it to a tripod (this is not a problem when using an external mic) -- a shock mount would help as well. It's light enough to mount on a camera (hot shoe to tripod converter), etc. It will take a little practice to get the best recordings from this mic since it is so sensitive [e.g.: turning down the input until the meters either don't move, or barely move to minimize background clutter.]
The mic can also be used as an audio input source (usb) for Mac. I bought the Audio-Technica ATR-3350 lavalier mic with the H1. I use it as a guitar mic clipped to the sound hole (LOL) with the mic inside the body.
Ziplocks are one indeipensible item for us, especially with expensive cell phones on the water. 😉
That's good to hear about the Zoom H1. Sounds like that one is the ticket for me. I may rig up a little handle or boom for it so when I'm picking up ambient sounds, my hands are not on it. I suppose the manufacturer sells a windscreen.
Nice guitar piece, BTW.
Thanks for all of your help.
I found this thread by accident today, but I thought I'd chime in to show people how to get extremely good audio with the GoPro and the Zoom H1. You just need a Free Space Binaural Microphone from these guys, 3Dio:
It plugs directly into the GoPro (although firmware v.222 disables stereo audio... a known issue that will be resolved soon, per GoPro). Or you can record your high quality audio on the H1 and sync it up later using the GoPro audio track as a sync reference.
Improving GoPro audio
