iZotope
Do you have a budding podcaster in your life? Do you have no idea what to get them this holiday season? Read on!
USB Microphone
The USB microphone is a perfect gift for anyone curious about getting into podcasting. It collapses several pieces of equipment into one affordable package. We're recommending the RØDE NT-USB Mini, a condenser mic that offers a warm, clear sound. This wallet-friendly mic naturally rejects room tone, which is great
It has been said through the ages that necessity is the mother of invention and, based upon the surge in interest we’re seeing in remote podcasting during these strange and uncertain times, I’m realizing that it truly is. COVID-19 has upended life as we know it for much of the US. People are cooped up in their homes, and everyone is wondering if this is the new normal. Many jobs have been lost, and if you’re lucky enough to have one, you’re working from home, doing everything you can to keep it. As many podcasters did, we scrambled to
Hey, you’re a video person. All you know is the video don’t sound good. Something’s off—but who knows what! Well, read this article, and you will. Or more accurately, you’ll have some tools for identifying what sounds off as you practice your craft. With some time and patience, you’ll get the hang of fixing the issue yourself. Here are eight tips to help you.
1. Get Familiar with the GUI of an Equalizer
GUI stands for graphic user interface. This is what you will interact with while you equalize your signal in your NLE or DAW. The GUI can look
Whether you do it for a living or just for fun, podcasting shouldn’t require a truckload of gear. If producing podcasts is something you do regularly, whenever you darn well please, or only in dreams, you should be able to achieve great results with a short list of wisely chosen essentials. So, let’s talk essentials, those things that qualify for a podcaster’s everyday carry kit.
The Microphone
Until some brilliantly crazy individual invents a throat-to-USB interface for connecting your vocal cords directly to a computer, you’ll have to rely
So, you got a friend. Maybe a niece, nephew, or kid of your own. Perhaps a grandchild, and you want your gifts to feel more relevant than the usual newspaper clipping and check for fifty bucks. And what’s this—your little buddy is making videos now? On YouTube? From the videos, it looks like they’ve got the video and lighting figured out, but maybe they could some help in the audio department.
If that’s the case, you can easily swoop in—cool friend or parental figure that you are—and get them something both useful and cool, something that’ll
Podcasts. Still strong in the boom phase, it’s a good time to get in while the getting is good, and you’ll want to do whatever you can to make your podcast stand out. But here’s the thing: different types of podcasts require different ways of working. So, we here at B&H thought we’d give you a five-tip primer to get you inspired. Be sure you check out the last one—it’s the most important tip by far.
Tips for a Two-Way
A two-way is a show that typically involves one host and one guest. Pieces of gear I’d recommend for such an interview
Short films—gotta love them! If you’re just starting out in the world of sound design, these will be your bread and butter until you get noticed by the big, gatekeeping fish. They usually don’t pay much, but they’re incredibly rewarding. Why? Because if you make them sound good enough, the director you’re working with has a better chance of scoring a feature; and if that director is loyal, you have a chance of getting hired for that higher-paying project.
One way you can make a film sound better is with judicious employment of sound design—
Coming at you fast and furiously, we’ve got eight quick tips for cleaning dialogues in a short film context—although, really, these tips could apply to any length film; from 30-second spots to feature-length films. If a project with dialogue has fallen into your professional lap, you’re going to want a cheat sheet for how to clean up that dialogue before you go about EQ’ing, compressing, and more.
Well, my friends, here is that cheat sheet. Follow these eight steps, and you’ll be ready to start mixing the dialogue of your audio/visual project
With its RX line of plug-ins, iZotope has crafted a suite of modules that can clean up nearly any audio hiccup you might have. Indeed, countless pros in television, film, Web, radio, and podcasting often turn to iZotope RX to remove extraneous noise, to eliminate clicks and pops, to fix bursts of distortion, and more. With RX Elements, iZotope has taken essential processes from this post-production suite and placed them in a wallet-friendly format, one that’s very easy to use. Just how simple is it to get started? Look at these videos to see
The new iZotope Spire Studio is the perfect piece of technology for tracking and recording music or musical ideas while on the go. This mini studio features an omnidirectional mic, a soundcheck feature for adjusting gain, built-in effects, and an easy-to-use mobile app for additional options.
When it comes to audio for video, no one ever seems to notice it unless it’s bad. And if it is bad, it can completely ruin your project. While we always try to record the best production audio we can from the get-go, problems are bound to pop up. In the end, we must assess the audio we’ve got and use our mixing, restoration, and dialogue replacement skills to make it all work. So, here are five post-production tips for better audio in your videos.
Tip 1: Pick the Best Sounding Mic for Each Shot
Once you’ve got your OMF or AAF file imported
Tis the season to be spooky! Or at least, there’s a one in twelve chance that ’tis the season to be spooky. If you’re reading this in any month besides October, you have two choices: You can use these tidbits in sound-designing a spooky, scary voice for appropriate media (scary movies, web series, theatrical productions, spooky podcasts, etc.), or you can grab yourself a stale bag o’ candy corn and pretend it’s nigh on Halloween.
Either way, let’s get started.
Step 1: Record Thyself!
Let’s record the relatively common spooky phrase of “Bwah ha
iZotope is a company known for its powerful audio software. If you mix audio, master songs, or clean up dialogue for films and television, you’re probably familiar with the algorithms of Ozone, RX, or Neutron. Now, however, iZotope is releasing a new piece of hardware—and we at B&H are proud to stock it.
Called the Spire Studio, it might look like your standard digital assistant. But instead of answering to “Alexa,” the
Here’s what you need to know right off the bat: Mixing vocals for podcasts is quite different from mixing vocals for music, where the trend is to impart sheen, sparkle, luster, and other trebly adjectives. A simple A/B test between any Gimlet podcast against any Justin Bieber song will prove the difference: What constitutes a solid, pro sound in the podcast world is a meatier affair, and an altogether different target.
Yes, your podcast vocals do need to be present. But, quite often, vocals are not the main attraction in a podcast—they’re the