Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1197255
16 W I N T E R 2 0 2 0 C A S Q U A R T E R L Y result. Sometimes these matches are quite good but often need a little extra EQ help for the match, additional reverb and, almost always, a good level match. Apologizing for a poor performance by playing it lower doesn't make it any better. I fi nd when listening to shows that this is what is most likely to give away an ADR line. Often, an ADR match will be great coming out of production but not going back into it or vice versa. In these cases, some EQ tweaking to either the ADR or production sound at the transition can be of help. In the end, it comes down to using your ears and not expecting any process on its own to fi x all of your problems. Ears are still required. Listen! GARY BOURGEOIS CAS: It seems that matching ADR to production can be broken into various categories: 1) Miking on the original ADR session 2) Quality of the original production 3) Actors' abilities to match performance 4) Director's intention as to whether the idea is to match or change performance 5) The "soup" that it is all going to be swimming in! 1) I fi nd that most ADR is recorded with a boom mic and also a radio mic setup. This gives the re-recording mixer the choice as to which one might match the original production or [if it will require] a combination of both. The boom might have a better quality and a little more ambient acoustical feel. The radio may have the lav match better because of the lav characteristics. The choice in the end will be determined greatly by the FabFilter's Pro-Q 3 EQ will, in essence, "listen" to any audio played into it and create an overall EQ map of this source. It's a sound that is pleasing to you, one that you'd like to emulate. In this case, production dialogue. One can then play the new audio, the ADR, into the plugin. It will then create an EQ curve that will move that ADR closer to the overall sound/tonal color of the production audio. The EQ Match feature in iZotope works in much the same way. Both plugins have various ways of modifying the resulting EQ curve so one may salt to taste. However, as we all know, that is just the beginning. These tools get you in the ballpark, so to speak, but the mixer still has to bring it all home with other choices/techniques. In that vein, I spoke with a few mixers about their methods. Here are two who offered to outline some of their approaches. ELMO PONSDOMENECH CAS: Getting a good ADR match is a great ear-training exercise and a favorite challenge for me. I start by breaking it down into components much like the production dialogue I am matching: performance, mic characteristics (boom vs. lav, etc.), EQ, reverb, continuity of underlying production ambience and movement (and/ or Foley), and level. I use several of the available tools when necessary, but begin by assessing both the production and ADR being matched. Often, I fi nd that minor changes in EQ and matching reverb and level is all that is required if the miking is close. And always try to have continuous fi ll that matches production. I can't stress enough how important this is as ambience matching is usually not enough. If all movement ceases at the ADR line, it reads as a big arrow to me. Foley and cloth movement are also helpful as are sound effects that begin before and go through the ADR to the next line of dialogue. When necessary, I use iZotope EQ Match, FabFilter EQ Match and, most recently, iZotope Dialogue Match plugins. I fi nd these are particularly helpful if the microphone characteristics are very different. I keep a couple of "x-tracks" for myself to copy the production to be matched (the reference) and the untreated ADR, so I am able to go back if I don't like the processed iZotope EQ Match FabFilter Pro-Q3