Shaping sound with the effect editors in Video by Zaweba
Open Clip > Sound effect editors in Video by Zaweba to drag points on EQ frequency curves and compressor level curves, with a slider for every setting.
Sound settings expressed as numbers are hard to picture. A frequency of so many hertz, a gain of so many decibels, a ratio and a threshold. It's much easier to understand what an effect is doing when you can see it. Video by Zaweba gives EQs and dynamics effects a proper editor window where the settings are drawn as a curve you can grab and drag.
Opening an editor
There are two ways in. Clip > Sound effect editors opens the editors for the selected clip, or you can click the gear on any sound effect in the clip's effect list. Either way, a window opens showing that effect's controls.
EQ curves
For an EQ, the window shows its frequency curve: low frequencies on the left, high on the right, and the line rising where sound is boosted and dipping where it's cut. Each band is a point on the curve, and you drag points to change it. Drag one up to bring a range forward, down to take it back, left or right to move the frequency.
A 5-band parametric EQ is included, which gives you enough points to deal with most voice and music problems: a low cut for rumble, a dip for boominess, a lift for clarity, a gentle cut for harshness, and a touch of air at the top.
Compressor, limiter and gate curves
Compressors, limiters and gates show their level curve instead. This plots how loud the sound goes in against how loud it comes out. A straight diagonal line means nothing is changing. Where the line bends, the effect starts working: a compressor bends it flatter above its threshold, a limiter flattens it completely at its ceiling, and a gate drops it away below its threshold.
Seeing that bend makes the settings much easier to understand. Move the threshold point and you can see exactly which levels will be touched.
Sliders and undo
Every setting is also available as a slider, so you can drag the curve for a quick change and then set an exact value on the slider when you know what you want. Each drag counts as one undo step. If you overdo a boost, a single undo puts it back exactly as it was, rather than unpicking a long string of tiny moves.
Working sensibly with curves
Cut before you boost. Taking away a problem frequency usually sounds more natural than pumping up everything else, and it leaves more headroom.
Keep changes gentle. Big spikes and deep notches on an EQ curve tend to sound unnatural. A broad, shallow move is often all a voice needs.
Listen while you drag. The curve tells you what you're doing, your ears tell you whether it's right. Play the clip in a loop over its most typical section, and adjust while it plays.
And compare. Switch the effect off now and then to make sure you're improving the sound rather than just changing it.
Where the editors fit
The editors work on effects from the sound effects library, whether they sit on a single clip or on a whole track as inserts. That means the same visual editing is there for a quick fix on one line of dialogue or for shaping a whole music bed. In Video by Zaweba the curve is simply a clearer way of seeing settings that are always there.
