"Voices in FL,FR,BL,BR?" or "Where do you put your stuff?"

[futon88]

In the movie I'm editing presently, I'm finding the dialogue is often present in the front and back channels, not just the center. Not in all cases, just some. In some cases, FL/FR is just music and light SFX, and in others the talking is present, albeit at a very low level (seems to peak around -30). In the areas where I've done vocal extraction, I've left those channels devoid of talking, and I'm wondering if I've left the mix feeling shallow.

Is there a general rule of thumb around where to position your replaced dialogue and sound effects?

For SFX, I'm currently using a track that's essentially 100% forward (FL,C,FR, with panning directly over C). In other words, equal output on front and center. Is that correct? Where do you position your SFX? I could copy these sound clips to a discrete FL/FR track and reduce volume so there's more C and less L and R, but I don't know if that's what I should be doing.

For replaced vocals, I'm currently using a track that is just C, with all other speakers disabled. Is that correct? Where do you position your vocals?

For ambient "background" noise, I'm using a track that's everything but C, with volume very low, but I don't know if that's correct. Should I place these sounds only in BL and BR? I'm guessing no, as I can hear them spread throughout the original mix. But should I also include C in the mix for these things (eg. quiet city noises).

For music I'm also doing everything but C, so essentially same treatment of background sounds, but as we know, the music is often also present in C. Should I be in including C in the mix for music?

I know, so many question. If you're able to help me piece together an answer for even one, I'd really appreciate that.

 

[asterixsmeagol]

I'm running into this with my Picard edit. The dialogue is mostly in the center channel, but about 80% of the time, it's also in the FL and FR channels just loud enough to be heard over the music, which is really frustrating. On any scenes where I am extracting dialogue from one scene and placing it in another, I just use the centre channel portion of the dialogue.

 

[DigModiFicaTion]

On any scenes where I am extracting dialogue from one scene and placing it in another, I just use the centre channel portion of the dialogue.

This may cause issues as the other dialogue is still present and audible at the same to me as the new dialogue. If you run your audio through Ultimate Vocal Remover you can get the best vocal only and karaoke versions that can ade in dialogue replacement and/or soundtrack replacement.

 

[futon88]

Do you send some of that vocal signal to FL and FR when you do your edits, or just C? I've got two edits on the go at the moment. In one source, I can clearly hear some vocals in FL and FR (though not all scenes), and in the other movie, the vocals are only in C (channel 3), with zero bleed. Is there a general rule of thumb, or just "when in Rome"?

 

[DigModiFicaTion]

Depends. If the edit has the dialogue on the surround track I try to emulate the sound as best I can. If there is music present I'll try to use a clean center track that I create using Ultra Vocal remover and then create new surround tracks and add some filters and eq to replicate the sound of the original surround tracks. I'll also use a karaoke track if they come out good that removes the dialogue so I can make the surround tracks sound the most seamless as possible. Official soundtracks also come in hand here too.

 

[asterixsmeagol]

This may cause issues as the other dialogue is still present and audible at the same to me as the new dialogue. If you run your audio through Ultimate Vocal Remover you can get the best vocal only and karaoke versions that can ade in dialogue replacement and/or soundtrack replacement.

To clarify, I'm only saying I do that if there is no dialogue in the other channels at that point in the timeline. You're right, if there was it would sound messy.