Hi

As Jeff says Vegas Pro has its own forum, however the answer is also relevant to any video editing and audio cleaning program.

Wind noise is a very random type of noise which can be difficult to analyse because of this variability.

Reducing/eliminating wind noise from audio without introducing undesired side effects to the voice depends on the level and variability of the noise.

Elimination of wind noise is best done at source ie using a 'Dead cat' wind shield on the microphone - you can see the one on the mics of my video camera (top right of image)

HTH

John EB

Just to add to what John has written:

As always, with audio problems, as John says, they are best fixed "at source". However, there is one software I use that is pretty good (= remarkably effective) at removing wind noise; it is iZotope RX6 Advanced. It is both a stand alone app and a series of VST plug ins that VPX/MEP can see and use; if Vegas Pro can also use VST plug ins it should be available there.

BUT, THE PRICE!!!, especially if you are purchasing as a new user!

Jeff

Jeff,

Never heard of IZotope before but after your posting have checked out the program. Really impressed.

Okay, with the price and for probably what will be infrequent use and only for family videos, it would be a rather an over the top purchase, but I am still tempted. Especially as we come up to the 'what do you want for christmas' time. Some money towards IZotope please perhaps?

But my question, as someone who I know will initially struggle with a lot of the technology terms used in the industry, would you say that this program is still simple to at least get started with for a complete beginner? (My videos are either taken with a Camcorder or Digital Camera so would be unable to eliminate excess noise, including the annoying wind noise at source.)

George

Hi George.

If you are seriously considering RX6 I would suggest the "Standard", i.e. non-"Advanced" version. I suspect that for your needs it would be more than adequate. (I have the Advanced one, and have had several previous versions, because it integrates so well with the audio editing programs I use, most notably Adobe Audition, and offers a very high degree of noise reduction without creating the sort of artefacts that excessive use can produce; every adjustment is easily controllable, which is not something you can say for some other noise reduction software.)

As to how easily a new user could master it, that's very difficult to say but iZotope themselves have a large number of tutorial videos on their YouTube channel which are easily accessible to registered users, if not the general public.

Perhaps I should also add that Magix themselves do manufacture "Video Sound Cleaning Lab" as a standalone product. From my use of it I would say it is "good" but not nearly so effective as RX6. VSCL has a dedicated module for reducing wind noise; the problem I have with it is it does not always convincingly distinguish between "wanted" and "unwanted" audio. That is where RX6 really scores because it has a "learning" mode and the Advanced version has an "adaptive" mode, i.e it adapts its operation to match the audio; more reduction on really noisy audio, less reduction on less noisy. I'm not sure whether the Standard version includes the "adaptive" capability.

If you do decide to trial RX (I think you have ten days to test it on your computer) and come up against a problem you're not sure how to deal with, although I am by no means an expert in its use I'm happy to help in whatever way I can, either through the forum or via PM.

HTH

Jeff

Jeff

Thankyou for that comprehensive reply.

Trouble is that whilst now long time retired, I still have a 'wanta' (ie I want this or that). Yes I certainly would only require the standard version. Guess, now I need to justify to myself to spend that kind of money for occasional use. Still what the hec, you only live once my hidden voice says.

Thankyou again

George

Hi George,

Before you commit you hard earned to something like iZotope, (which is very good), I would seriously consider spending a similar amount on something like a Rode video mic and deadcat wind jammer to mount on your cameras to avoid that wind noise on future recordings. That is always going to be better than trying to clean them up afterwards.

Roger

Roger,

A good point although as I am only doing relatively basic, and certainly not pre-planned, movie clips and with the type of cameras I use, not sure that either is a possibility.

Does remind me of years ago when I had a SLR camera. Never a photographer, although a pretend one but just took photos mainly of family, I recall buying filters and extra lenses, But then after a while it was a pain to carry around the large camera bag, especially with all the bits and pieces needed with children around. Of course, never prepared, the moment had gone by the time I had the right lens on so another 'seems a good idea at the time' purchase is left to one side. With that in mind and knowing the type of movie clip I am likely to take, for me, I think it is the attempt at a clean up afterwards.

Your comment though does make us think. I can recall in some instances before when putting a family movie together, because of possibly the wind noise, I eliminated the audio completely and added my own choice of music, just playing quietly in the background. So perhaps I can do without?

George    

Hi George,

I have to agree with Roger even though iZotope does a fantastic job.

In MEP or VPX, you can also double-click on the audio part of the a video file to open the Audio cleaning tool, click on DeNoiser, pop down noise sample and try out the preset for removing wind - near the bottom of the list. There is also a Wind and Rumbling filter under Effects, Audio effects, presets that you can try.

On the other hand, there is an excellent post on the Samplitude forum about using iZotope RX6 to clean up an audio speech file. It did an amazing job. I tried using the many tools that I have from Magix and got close, but it took much more work. I will try to find the files on this.

@Bob650942

I seem to recall that Magix may have added in some tools to Vegas Studio that look like the Audio cleaning tool that I described above. I would be curious to know what is available in any of the Vegas products for cleaning up audio noise.

Hi

. . . . Camcorder or Digital Camera so would be unable to eliminate excess noise, including the annoying wind noise at source . . . .

Have you looked to see if you can get custom 'Dead cats' for your cameras?

The company in the US who made mine appear not to be trading any more, which is a huge shame as they made custom self adhesive dead cats for most common video cameras, however there may be other custom manufacturers around.

Here is a better picture of mine - the microphones are fitted in the top of the camera under a grille which the 'dead cat' covers with double sided sticky tape - just need to comb it every so often 😀.

There are also many videos on Youtube and Instructables.com on how to make your own.

HTH

John EB

There is a way to make a simple deadcat wind reducer if you have a camera that looks like the one in John's pic, which will cost you almost nothing. Most of those types of cameras have a built in flush top mounted stereo mic. Pop down to your nearest fabric shot and buy the smallest piece you can of the sort of very fluffy material that you can make cuddly toys from. The hairy stuff only needs to be about 1" long. Cut a piece big enough to overlap the mics by about 1/4" and glue it around the edge with Pritt Stick. Not sure if it's the same name everywhere but it is a glue for sticking paper down. It can be rubbed off the camera body with your finger if you ever need to remove it. Just fluff up the hair and it will work beautifully. I have 3 Panasonic SD700 HD cams that are years old and only occasionally get dug out for 4th or 5th backups. The fluffy stuff has been on them for at least 6 years and still works fine. There is still enough of the original material that I bought for £2 to do the same for about 100 more cams. You never have to worry about an external mic as the fluffy bit is always on the camera, so ideal for family and fun Stuff 🙂

Roger