25fps and sound issues

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sonickel
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25fps and sound issues

Post by sonickel »

hello everyone

I've got some more questions about software etc.

Because I'm using R8, I can't shoot at 25fps, only 24fps. But when the DV transfer is done, the video capture will run at 25fps.

Which means speeding up the sound 4% to make it fit.

I've found a software (free) called Audacity, you can speed up the sound by 4.2% (near enough).

BUT... I can totally tell it's been speeded up. It's very noticeable. Musical pitch increases by a semitone, and voices sound a touch pipsqueak and fast.

1. Am I a freak for being able to tell the difference, or have others found this same problem?

2. Are there any other alternatives to the "speeded up sound" approach?

3. Could it be that Audacity isn't accurate enough?

Thanks in advance :P
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timdrage
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Post by timdrage »

You could use software which can actually timestretch it; ie change speed independent of pitch. Not sure what to recommend, many apps (inc various free/shareware ones) do it, but some better than others. Because you're speeding up by only a small amount it should sound ok (if you were for example dramatically slowing it down it'd start to sound pretty artificial), but it does slightly degrade the sound depending on the settings.
Lucas Lightfeat
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Re: 25fps and sound issues

Post by Lucas Lightfeat »

sonickel wrote:Are there any other alternatives to the "speeded up sound" approach?

Thanks in advance :P
If you're getting your telecine done on a pro system, ask for pulldown, which duplicates every 24th frame during transfer.

You could transfer on a Workprinter and duplicate one frame every 24 in NLE.
Lunar07
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Re: 25fps and sound issues

Post by Lunar07 »

what R8 camera you are using that does not allow you to shoot at 25fps?
sonickel wrote:hello everyone

I've got some more questions about software etc.

Because I'm using R8, I can't shoot at 25fps, only 24fps. But when the DV transfer is done, the video capture will run at 25fps.

Which means speeding up the sound 4% to make it fit.

I've found a software (free) called Audacity, you can speed up the sound by 4.2% (near enough).

BUT... I can totally tell it's been speeded up. It's very noticeable. Musical pitch increases by a semitone, and voices sound a touch pipsqueak and fast.

1. Am I a freak for being able to tell the difference, or have others found this same problem?

2. Are there any other alternatives to the "speeded up sound" approach?

3. Could it be that Audacity isn't accurate enough?

Thanks in advance :P
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timdrage
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Post by timdrage »

Mine doesn't either... in fact I don't know what speed it does do... 16fps I think from what little research I did into the matter.
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sunrise
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Re: 25fps and sound issues

Post by sunrise »

sonickel wrote:3. Could it be that Audacity isn't accurate enough?
You need a programme that will preserve pitch while changing speed. Try the free Pro Tools or Soundforge.

michael
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timdrage
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Post by timdrage »

Yeah, pro tools free is great, I use that a lot... tho I don't think there is or will be an OSX version :(
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mattias
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Post by mattias »

you will hear the difference because you know there's a difference and you have something to compare with. people probably won't notice a 4% speedup if they don't know how it's supposed to sound.

/matt
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timdrage
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Post by timdrage »

Very true... it's easy to drive yourself insane over some minor inperfection in your movie that noone will ever notice! :)

But I suppose pitch-perfect people would notice if music is off...:?:

... then again most movies on TV etc are just speeded up to fit video framerates as far as i know, not to mention ntsc-pal conversion..
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