Dialogue Editing

Dialogue Editing in a Nutshell 329
12.1. Use phase cancellation to determine if a pair of regions are
identical. On each odd-numbered track containing dialogue,
insert a zero-latency plug-in that can reverse phase.
12.2. Click the phase reverse button (ø). Don’t touch anything else
on the plug-in.
12.3. Turn off level automation.
12.4. Solo one pair at a time. One track will be in phase; one will be
phase reversed. If the material is exactly the same, you’ll hear
little or no sound. Use the track level adjustment to tweak the
cancellation. You’ll know you have phase cancellation if you
mute one track and the sound becomes louder and more robust.
Once you know that the tracks are identical, delete one of the
regions. It doesn’t matter which one because they’re similar
enough to phase-cancel.
12.5. If you don’t have phase cancellation, the tracks aren’t identical.
Do nothing, even if one side is signifi cantly “better” than the
other. You don’t know enough about the scene yet to make this
choice.
12.6. Continue for the rest of the regions; then cancel the inserted
plug-ins and turn on automation.
12.7. Click Save.
13. Mark and name the scene boundaries for the entire fi lm. This will allow you
to navigate through the reel and make quick, easy scene transitions.
Do it now before you get busy. Also mark obvious perspective changes
within scenes if you’re feeling industrious. (Chapter 9)
14. Organize the regions within each scene. This will give you better
control of the scene, to facilitate an easier mix, to allow for sensible
perspective control and processing, and to set up scene transitions.
Well-organized tracks also make editing much faster. (Chapter 10)
14.1. Split by source angle—not at each picture cut but at the camera
angle the soundfi le “belongs to.” Think of this as splitting by
boom angle or shot. Under normal circumstances, use the shot
information within the region name to organize the tracks. If
you’re working on scene 31 and the shots are 31A, 31B, 31C, and
31D, place the A shots on one track, the B shots on another, and
so forth.
14.2. If necessary, split by “sound problem.” Even from the same
angle with the same actor, one shot may have more traffi c, air
conditioning noise, etc., so split accordingly.