Final Cut Pro X Ripple Lesson - Using A Compressor 2 - SOUND

Question 1

Choosing a Compression Ratio

First we’ll adjust the Ratio. The Ratio determines how much the ____ sounds are compressed.

Answer 1

loud

Question 2

Choosing a Compression Ratio
First we’ll adjust the Ratio. The Ratio determines how much the loud sounds are compressed. Right now it’s set to 1:1, so there’s no compression applied to the sound. Set to 2:1, the compressor would cut the volume that exceeds the threshold by _ ____.

Answer 2

a half

Question 3

Choosing a Compression Ratio
First we’ll adjust the Ratio. The Ratio determines how much the loud sounds are compressed. Right now it’s set to 1:1, so there’s no compression applied to the sound. Set to 2:1, the compressor would cut the volume that exceeds the threshold by a half. Set at 6:1, the audio will be compressed to _____ of the original excess volume.

Answer 3

1/6th

Question 4

Choosing a Compression Ratio
First we’ll adjust the Ratio. The Ratio determines how much the loud sounds are compressed. Right now it’s set to 1:1, so there’s no compression applied to the sound. Set to 2:1, the compressor would cut the volume that exceeds the threshold by a half. Set at 6:1, the audio will be compressed to 1/6th of the original excess volume. For dialog, you’re usually looking for a ratio of around ___ to ___.

Answer 4

6:1 to 8:1

Question 5

Determining the Threshold

The threshold determines how ____ a sound needs to get before its __________.

Answer 5

loud, compressed

Question 6

Determining the Threshold

The threshold determines how loud a sound needs to get before its compressed. I’ll press _ to select the audio…

Answer 6

X

Question 7

Determining the Threshold
The threshold determines how loud a sound needs to get before its compressed. I’ll press X to select the audio, then use the forward slash key to ____ through the clip and watch the audio levels.

Answer 7

LOOP

Question 8

Determining the Threshold
The threshold determines how loud a sound needs to get before its compressed. I’ll press X to select the audio, then use the forward slash key to loop through the clip and watch the audio levels. Dragging the threshold ____ we get visual feedback of when and by how much the audio signal triggers the compressor.

Answer 8

down

Question 9

Determining the Threshold
The threshold determines how loud a sound needs to get before its compressed. I’ll press X to select the audio, then use the forward slash key to loop through the clip and watch the audio levels.Dragging the threshold down we get visual feedback of when and by how much the audio signal triggers the compressor.
I’ll adjust until I’m happy that the _______ sounds are triggering the compressor, but not the quieter ones, then pause playback.

Answer 9

loudest

Question 10

Determining the Threshold
The threshold determines how loud a sound needs to get before its compressed. I’ll press X to select the audio, then use the forward slash key to loop through the clip and watch the audio levels.Dragging the threshold down we get visual feedback of when and by how much the audio signal triggers the compressor.
I’ll adjust until I’m happy that the loudest sounds are triggering the compressor, but not the quieter ones, then pause playback. One of the really nice features of Final Cut Pro X is the ability to see the effect of your changes instantly on the clip’s waveform (IN THE COMPRESSOR).
Notice as you adjust the threshold you can visually see the extreme peaks of the waveform being compressed, while the rest of the signal remains unaffected. Let’s set the threshold to around -28 dB. Listening back, you can hear that the ________ of the scream and whimper are much more even.

Answer 10

DYNAMICS

Question 11

Controlling the Release and Attack
Let’s turn to the Release control. Release determines how ____ the audio will continue to be compressed after the compressor has been triggered.

Answer 11

LONG

Question 12

Controlling the Release and Attack
Let’s turn to the Release control. Release determines how long the audio will continue to be compressed after the compressor has been triggered. Set this too _____ and you’ll hear heavy breathing–often called pumping–right after the compressed sound.

Answer 12

quick

Question 13

Controlling the Release and Attack
Let’s turn to the Release control. Release determines how long the audio will continue to be compressed after the compressor has been triggered. Set this too quick and you’ll hear heavy breathing–often called pumping–right after the compressed sound.
Set it too ____ and you’ll end up reducing the volume of quiet sections of dialog that should be left untouched.

Answer 13

long

Question 14

Controlling the Release and Attack
Let’s turn to the Release control. Release determines how long the audio will continue to be compressed after the compressor has been triggered. Set this too quick and you’ll hear heavy breathing–often called pumping–right after the compressed sound.
Set it too long and you’ll end up reducing the volume of quiet sections of dialog that should be left untouched. Adjust the release time until it works for the current clip. For dialog you’ll find __ to ___ milliseconds is usually sufficient.

Answer 14

60 to 100

Question 15

Controlling the Release and Attack

Finally, Attack determines how _______ the compression kicks in.

Answer 15

quickly

Question 16

Controlling the Release and Attack
Finally, Attack determines how quickly the compression kicks in. For dialog, you’ll want to keep this fairly low, __ milliseconds or less.
You may find that really short attack times reduce some of the “crispness” of dialog by preventing certain consonant sounds from building properly. If the talent was too close to a microphone, you may be getting a lot of plosive sounds. Tight attack times can help to tame that particular issue.

Answer 16

10

Question 17

Controlling the Release and Attack
Finally, Attack determines how quickly the compression kicks in. For dialog, you’ll want to keep this fairly low, 10 milliseconds or less.
You may find that really short attack times reduce some of the “crispness” of dialog by preventing certain consonant sounds from building properly. If the talent was too close to a microphone, you may be getting a lot of plosive sounds. _____ attack times can help to tame that particular issue.

Answer 17

Tight

Question 18

Controlling Gain

Once your compressor’s been set, you can use the ____ control to bring the overall level of the audio back up.

Answer 18

GAIN

Question 19

Controlling Gain
Once your compressor’s been set, you can use the gain control to bring the overall level of the audio back up. Since you’ve _______ the loud sounds by compressing them, you’ll probably want to boost everything back to an acceptable level.

Answer 19

quieted

Question 20

Controlling Gain
Once your compressor’s been set, you can use the gain control to bring the overall level of the audio back up. Since you’ve quieted the loud sounds by compressing them, you’ll probably want to boost everything back to an acceptable level. Let’s set the gain at around 12dB.
Auto gain attempts to automatically set the gain to compensate for the _________ in level. Like many automatic fixes, it rarely works well. Instead, leave it off and adjust the Gain ______ to achieve the levels you’re after.
In the next lesson, we’ll look at some great time-saving options for editing voice over - something almost every editor is tasked with.

Answer 20

reduction, slider