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Izotope RX-2: Anyone using it? And how?

Stephen Pruitt

Stephen Pruitt

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Hi all. . .

I'm very curious if anyone has any experience with using Izotope RX-2.

I downloaded the trial version plug-in for Premiere Pro CS 5.5, but when I go to apply it, it says it can only be used on stereo clips!

What good is that?

Anyone know how to use this thing on RED A/V clips?

I've definitely got to reduce some HVAC noise.

Thanks.

Stephen
 
Note that RX3 is about to come out next month...

http://www.izotope.com/products/audio/rx3/

For the last feature on which I did all the post supervision a few months ago, the re-recording stage we used had everything: iZotope RX, NoNoise, WNS, and many other tools. But Cedar DNS One did the most out of everything we tried, especially on problematic dialogue in traffic scenes and stuff like that.

HVAC is not that hard provided it's steady-state; if it's going up and down, or if the microphone's distance constantly changes (which is typical in a scene where actors are walking around), there's only so much you can do. Even knocking 10dB of the noise out of it is a substantial change.

I would suggest not trying to take any of the noise out yourself, but instead waiting to do it on the dub stage when you're doing the final mix. Let the mixer be the judge.

John Purcell's excellent book Dialogue Editing: A Guide to the Invisible Art goes into a lot of tips and techniques in great detail, and this is a good one to read if you want to know the inside scoop. But even Purcell advises dialogue editors not to apply noise reduction unless this is approved by the final mixer, and always provide the original track on an unaltered track within Pro Tools. And don't try to do this within Premiere or any other video editing program. That's using a meat cleaver... when what you need is a scalpel with surgical precision.
 
I use RX2 a lot to remove HVAC, but that's only in my VO studio, and I'd never use it in the barbaric audio butchering portion of Premiere. Best to apply it either standalone or within a proper DAW. The spectral repair system works very well and only has a small learning curve.
 
Yeah, the Spectral Repair portion of iZotope saved us on the last shoot. We had a scene in a park marred by a truck backing up (with the characteristic "beep beep" chirps), and we were able to completely eliminate just the beeping without affecting anything else at all. Fantastic tool, surgically precise. But this is with the standalone version of RX2.
 
How are you getting your audio into RX2?

And, are you using RX2 or RX2 Advanced?

And it works on mono clips, right?

Thanks much!

Stephen
 
Hi there, Paul.

A couple of questions.

Let's say I've got my R3D clips in my Premiere Pro timeline with embedded audio. How, specifically, do I get the audio from the R3D into RX-2 for processing?

And what features do you use in Advanced that regular doesn't have? I'm just plain running short of cash here.

:-(

Thanks!

Stephen
 
I will again say that I believe it's wrong to try to do this as part of the picture editing process, because I don't think the loudspeakers in most editing rooms will tell you the truth in terms of how the audio really sounds. The O.P. needs to wait until the film is mixed on the stage to do drastic changes like noise reduction. Doing it in the editing room is fraught with peril.
 
I agree. I should have pointed out that my editing suite is an acoustically treated environment that doubles as a mixing studio.
Best way is always to pull an OMF out of Premiere and mix the audio seperately. Never use the Premiere audio mixing, it's a disaster.
 
Marc Wielage said:
I will again say that I believe it's wrong to try to do this as part of the picture editing process, because I don't think the loudspeakers in most editing rooms will tell you the truth in terms of how the audio really sounds. The O.P. needs to wait until the film is mixed on the stage to do drastic changes like noise reduction. Doing it in the editing room is fraught with peril.
Click to expand...

Can you say a little more about this, Mark? I'm going through this process for the first time now, for a feature film project, and I'm finding this process to be somewhat confusing (and highly educational). If we are doing a 5.1 mix in a well built editing suite, how will that be differentiated from theater - and moreover aren't theaters themselves differently configured.

It seems a little akin to coloring on a well calibrated monitor and then viewing it actually being viewed are crappy uncalibrated monitors - or is that not an apt analogy?

How do you decide which theatrical configuration sets the standard?

I'm finding that listening first to the 5.1 mix, then to the stereo, and then listening to it again at home on my relatively crappy speakers is giving me a decent idea of how it will sound in many environments - definitely there are things which get lost in the pristine mix which I like to press a little (not a lot) for crappy stereo output, which is probably how the majority will hear this - but how will real theater mixing impact the process?

I feel very in the dark on this end of things. I'm a musician so it's been quite fascinating to be part of this process and I think I have pretty good instincts for it, at least just enough to be dangerous - but on the technical side, I would like to understand more about how this is done in larger markets, for larger productions, which I am finally breaking into...larger by CO standards anyway.....
 
Meryem Ersoz said:
Can you say a little more about this, Mark? I'm going through this process for the first time now, for a feature film project, and I'm finding this process to be somewhat confusing (and highly educational). If we are doing a 5.1 mix in a well built editing suite, how will that be differentiated from theater - and moreover aren't theaters themselves differently configured.
Click to expand...
I don't believe it can be done in a small room. The acoustical environment is so wrong, it's just not going to tell you the truth. The main thing is that you're going to be too close to the speakers, since I would bet they'll be in a near-field environment. The other problem boils down to what program level you're using and whether it follows the recommended 85dB level for theaters or the 79dB level for TV.

You'd be well-served by visiting an actual re-recording theater -- even one for modest TV shows and low-budget films -- and examine how they do it, what it sounds like, and how efficient it is. Ask them what the advantages are of mixing there vs. trying to do it yourself. When you "bake in" a specific sound while you're in the editing process, my feeling is that this will wind up as a folly and a detour, because you're still not in the right environment, and you need an experienced set of ears to help you make the right decisions for final release.

It's kind of like people color-correcting on badly-calibrated monitors in an edit suite: the same problem will come up when you're in a real Rec709 or theatrical DCI/XYZ environment. And again, I can't stress more thoroughly the point of getting an experienced colorist or mixer to help you. And there are affordable people out there if you look around hard enough.

Trying to do noise reduction in the middle of an Adobe Premiere edit session of a feature film is, to me, like being in the middle of constructing a house and worrying about what color to paint the walls. Worry more about the concrete, about getting the roof on, and getting the place wired up. You're putting the cart before the horse. The mix and the color-correction should come at the very, very end of the project, after all the editing is done.

Note that I have no problem with people who need to do temp color or temp mixes, which is also a necessary part of the editing process. Just don't consider those to be final.
 
this is good, this is good. Sometimes half the battle is knowing the right questions to ask.

Thanks. I think I have a good mixer and a very well put together recording suite. I had my color done at LightIron in a theater but the audio mix done locally with a Colorado re-recording engineer. I think he is best of breed locally, but his primary experience is in our commercial world, not as much--though certainly some -- film work.

This gives me some good, new information. Now I can go back to peppering him with questions....

Thanks, Mark, I appreciate the thoughtful response.

For future reference, how do I go about finding a re-recording theater? My audio engineer has built these out locally for projects in the past (not recently) which needed mixed in a theater environment, and the cost to do so locally is prohibitive. I imagine LA has much less expensive, ready-made options. Do you (or anyone else) have recommendations?

It's too late for this project, but I'm always looking for the right connections to do the best work.
 
I would ask around on the Gearslutz Forum's Post section:

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/

where a lot of re-recording mixers and editors hang out. Again, a good mixing stage need not be expensive -- not every place is a $600/hour union stage -- and there are deals to be had, particularly if you're willing to do the sessions during odd hours or on weekends, etc. There are also TV/home video mixing stages that are smaller than medium size but far bigger than an average editing room, using calibrated speakers that will translate well to different kinds of environments, both bigger and smaller.
 
Just writing some experiences with Izotope.

I think the program is a complete marvel and would recommend everyone to use it. The things I can do in the program are so useful to me so I can't believe it.
I'm removing hum in it, removing general noise VERY successfully and I can even paint out bad sound in it. For example we did this sound recording in the jungle and then you could hear cars far way. I just copy and pasted sections with good jungle sound and you would NEVER hear that its not originally there.

You can even do crazy things like cut out bird sounds (even when there are other sounds at the SAME time) but izolating the spectrum and then paste it in other areas to flavour up the sound. Very useful.

I also use it to quickly review audio because the frequency spectrum makes it very easy to see what types of sound is coming. You can "see" the sound, very cool.
/Andreas
 
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