Erasing annoying background noise/hum

[Scubbie]

I'm in the process of capturing a live video stream but there is an annoying humming noise in the background.

Does anyone have any tips on removing just this background noise? There is a definite pattern to the noise and it makes hearing the wanted noise difficult.

Ideally free software or an option within VS Ultimate 2018.

Thank you.

[gewb]

Try using Audacity (freeware).

[Ken Berry]

I would agree with using Audacity -- though of course you would first need to export the audio. But if you can find an isolated part of the sound track with just that noise/hum, you can get Audacity to find and remove it from the rest of the track.

[Scubbie]

Thank you both.

I was wondering if there was anything better, but it appears audacity is the clear winner.

There is plenty of white noise in the stream, so I should be alright to find a short piece. There are three distinct patterns, so I'll have to play around a little.

[Davidk]

You could try using the audio filters in VS
select the clip, in the options panel choose the attribute tab and then the audio filters option: screenshot here

I have to say tho that background noises like hum or wind that are recorded in the main clip are pretty hard to remove without damaging the clip sound that you want to keep. Especially wind noise or something similar - the wind filters on camcorders don't work all that well, and the impact on a voiceover commentary is usually drowning.

What I have found most useful in these conditions is to;
1. record in a quiet room the same commentary at the same pace you used in the reference clip
2. insert that voice file into the voice track and use the sound mixer to "rubber band" (ken's delightful phrase) it in concert with the main clip, so your commentary is clear and closely matches any visual speaking images.
3. reduce the sound level of the main clip so the background noise is there (provides a reality context) but not overwhelming.

Edit Update
This function seems to have been removed from VS2018 - I could not find it anywhere in the options panel of that version.

[gewb]

Edit Update
This function seems to have been removed from VS2018 - I could not find it anywhere in the options panel of that version.

That function is still in VS2018.

Click on the sound track to select it.
Click on the Sound Mixer icon (on the Track Pane toolbar).
Right-click on the sound track then select and click on Audio Filter from the pop up list. The Audio Filter pop up window opens.
Scroll down the list of Available filters and click on NewBlue Hum Remover.
Click the Options... button.
Do your thing on settings and click the OK button.

[Scubbie]

Thank you Davidk,

My experience of using the built-in filter suggests that it will not handle this task very well.

http://www.chichesterperegrines.co.uk/live%20link.htm

The source has some interference. I've been chatting with the main volunteer and it's unlikely that the noise will be fixed. I was hoping to clean up the video I've captured over the past couple of days to see if it is possible to hear the eyasses hatching. If the source was good, then this would have been possible on the live stream.

I have the footage, so now is the fun part where I put some work in to clean it up.

This is where I'm struggling. At the moment I'm getting very 'metallic' noises when the peregrines are chatting after I've applied the noise reduction.

[Davidk]

Hi gewb,
Thanks for that. I usually - prior to 2018 - used the options panel icon to get into that function. And that rt clk list also worked in X10, but it took several more clicks to open the filters option box, compared to the icon in the options panel.

But, it's there.

[Scubbie]

Ok, I've gone for a combination of NB Hum Remover & NB Audio Polish. This reduced the volume somewhat, so I've increased it. I've just had feedback that it's too loud, so I'll reduce the amount for the next upload.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... xFzSUKhiiU

[lata]

Audio filters are also available from the FX library, drag filter to clip, then double click for Audio Filter -- see attached images

click image for larger view

[Scubbie]

They are the same audio filters.

[sh9168]

Here is a good video on how to use Audacity to get rid of background noise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upxjRvoQ7tA

[Scubbie]

Here is a good video on how to use Audacity to get rid of background noise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upxjRvoQ7tA

Thank you sh9168.

There are quite a few guides for using Audacity on the web. I have been able to go through the process and gained some reasonable results.

For the material I'm working on the NB audio effects are working reasonably well. There are a few advantages to this, one being that they can work on the frequency of the noise being picked up (electric is 50Hz and this is the source of the hum).

One major advantage is that I've kept a short file with the effects loaded in my media library. This means that I'm able to copy the attribute from the to any new clips very quickly. This is saving me a lot of editing time, as I've also added "Color fixer plus" to the mix to improve the colours a little too.

The results I gained through Audacity were going to require a lot more work for each series of clips. The raw clips may be a few minutes up to several hours.

I'm trying to upload the content as soon as I can, but over the last few days, I've had some technical issues with the old laptop being used to capture the content. I've narrowed this down, but I think that it's just too old to work in a stable manner. I have another laptop to use, but I'm waiting on something for it first. This meant that whilst I was able to edit together a couple of 'highlights' pieces yesterday evening, I had to stop as I needed my main laptop to continue to capture more material.

What I'd prefer is a small program that could capture just the capture stream directly, record in 30 minute periods and not pick up sound from other programs. I have Webcam XP but sadly it doesn't pick up this stream. I've tried a few different tricks, but each isn't working. I have looked for other things but I'm trying to work on a £0.00 budget.

[lata]

Hi Scubbie
A little confused as to what you are capturing
If you are connecting a camera to the laptop to capture whilst recording (not sure how to do that) but you should be able to select the pc recording input/device to deselect system audio/ stereo mix etc. using only the audio from source.
Most modern cameras will record to memory card, other than tape based, but that is a matter of transferring the video not capturing as you would do with analogue.
What cameras are you using, and how are you transferring the recordings to the pc?

Maybe I have misunderstood what you are doing?

[Scubbie]

Hello Trevor,

Currently, I'm using a combination of VLC to play the stream and VS Screen capture to record it. I've set the screen capture to pick up the system sounds, not the mic, which works well to a point.

The laptop I'd like to use to capture the stream is struggling (underpowered & old) to be stable. This means that I keep having to use my main laptop to capture it all.

If I could use my main laptop to capture the footage without picking up all other sounds (i.e. playback as I edit a video together) then I'd be happier and would be free to do other things once more. Something such as Webcam XP would be great.

I've been looking around and all the guides/apps I've come across so far all point to using screen capture, which isn't how I've like to proceed.

As for the other laptop, I've got another plan of action. Until something arrives, I can't test that out.