Andreas Kluge has become the first Cedar DNS 2 user in Germany after shooting episodes for German TV series, The Family of Dr Kleist.
Kluge has worked in TV movies and series, cinema and advertising for 20 years, and put the dialogue noise suppressor through its paces before committing to it: ‘Although the quality of Cedar products is well known, deciding whether or not to use dialogue restoration on set can be critical,’ he explains. ‘But it turns out that the DNS 2 can be an immense asset in our work.
‘Preparing for my first shoot using the DNS 2 was promising due to its simple operation – and my first impressions of its sound were encouraging. On the set, it then proved able to reduce unwanted background noise significantly in almost any situation, without changing the intrinsic sound of the original recordings and voices. Together with the director, I used headphones to compare the Cedar processed signal directly with the original and, in most cases, it was both impressive and motivating to hear the improvements. Of course, you should use the DNS 2 carefully, but its simple controls make it easy to find the right balance.
‘Actually, the DNS 2 does most of the work itself and, in general, the operator needs only to adjust a single knob,’ he adds. ‘Of course, there are situations where the DNS 2 is reaching its limits, but even these can be useful because they help me to make decisions about obtaining the best recording on set.’
Before purchasing the DNS 2, Kluge sought the reactions of colleagues to the mix: ‘It was positive, and using the DNS 2 helped to make the sound of multiple takes more homogenous even without further processing,’ he reports. ‘In addition, large jumps in atmos levels are significantly reduced, eliminating the need for ADR.
‘Although there is no substitute for careful sound work, the DNS 2 makes it possible to be more flexible on set and to obtain higher quality mixes – which is especially valuable with increasing recording workloads and cost pressures in postproduction.’
More: www.cedaraudio.com
