stereo dialogue?

[vindaloo99]

I'm sure this a very basic question but I haven't been able to find a discussion thread that answers it. I'm looking to post my short film and was wondering if it's standard to put a stereo effect on mono recorded dialogue tracks for added depth. Is this ever done, even on low budget productions or is dialogue usually mono? My final mix will be stereo, not 5.1. Thanks in advance.

Rupert

[RicardoEscallon]

Dialogue is usually mono. You can have dual mono, but it will almost always go to the center channel. In movies Stereo means 4 matrixed channels, so everything you pan to the center will sound in the center speaker. Everything out of phase will go to the surround speakers.

Don't forget to use some noise reduction. If your budget cannot afford Dolby, you can try at least Ultrastereo.

Good luck,
Ricardo

[vindaloo99]

Thanks Ricardo,

That's the info I was looking for. I was thinking of using the Waves X-Noise plugin. For the most part, the film (video) will be shown on TV and again in Stereo mode, not 5.1 so I imagine Dolby NR doesn't really apply or does it?

[Noiz2]

minor corection there is a stereo 35mm format. The 4 channel Lt Rt is a Dolby suround encoded signal that you need a liscence to use.
For video there is a "suround" format but I don't know how many people can decode it. Dialog as a rule is center but if you splashed some reverb on it it would of course go a bit to the sides. The big advantage to having it mono center on the little screen (on the big one it's mostly because it would apear too far away from the lips) is that it makes it more inteligible if you keep it center and keep FX and music spread pretty wide. Even in 2 channel stereo it will help keep the FX from sqashing your dialog.

[RicardoEscallon]

If you are not going to print on film, 2 channel stereo must be enough, without Dolby. All the pro video decks (Betacam SP ...,) have a built in Dolby NR, so you don't have to worry about that.

Ricardo

[vindaloo99]

Thanks for all of the "sound" advice! My mix will be much better as a result.

Rupert

[douglas roberts]

To avoid your movie being all in the center, except for music that I guess you'll put in in stereo, it's always nice to add some stereo ambiences to each scene. For interiors you can drop in a room tone that somewhat matches your production sound, maybe distant cars through the windows? For city exteriors some skyline ambience or traffic, for the country some birds, wind in the trees etc etc...if your pushed for time you can drop in one stereo track for each scene. It all goes to add some wideness to your sound, and if you mix in surround you can put a touch of the ambiences in the back speakers for depth. If your film is going to be primarily seen from video or on tv make sure that you check your mix in mono as you go to avoid any pesky phasing problems.
GGood Luck!

[vindaloo99]

Douglas,

Which is the best way to check for mono compatibility / phasing problems? Do I need to do separate mono M & E tracks, as well as stereo M & E tracks?

Rupert

[vindaloo99]

Douglas,

Thanks for your advice. I'm feeling a lot more confident about the sound edit / mix.

Rupert

[douglas roberts]

>Which is the best way to check for mono >compatibility / phasing problems?
It's usually as easy as pressing the button on the mixer that says "mono" [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Some consoles have metering that will show things are behaving in mono versus stereo. We usually have a single small speaker mounted on the console that allows to check how something will sound in mono and approximate a speaker in a tv, the old Auratones were very popular for this. You need to "fold" your stereo mix down to mono and just listen carefully, if you feel that your sound has lost some depth and feels thin then solo each pair of stereo tracks and find the culprit. One source of problems is using tracks from the cheaper cd sound effects collections, 500 sounds for your home movie type things, often they take a mono track and simulate stereo, these can phase like crazy when you listen to them in mono. Also if your recording into your rig via analog check your connections are good.
>Do I need to do separate mono M & E tracks, as >well as stereo M & E tracks?
How come I've never seen a book on the joys of making M&E's? Really the answer is no but...your M&E is derived by editing out all dialog from your production sound tracks and replacing what's missing, either by copying and pasting where possible or doing foley. For example, you have a scene of someone walking and talking in the street, you edit out the dialog, now you miss the sound of some of the footsteps, so you steal from in between the dialog and see if you can edit them in and match what's missing, if it sounds crap you need to redo the whole scene, replacing the street sounds and foleying the footsteps...depends how close to the original you want to get!
Remember that your original dialog/production tracks are in mono so they will stay mono in the M&E, the rest of the film stems (music/sfx/ambience etc) will be used in the M&E just as they are in the full mix. In the ideal world the M&E should sound exactly like your full mix but without the main dialog (or tv's or radios!).