Compressors - a question and some information

Help & Support
1

Michi asks (moved over from Mantis BT): Do you know anything about compressors? That is currently still my main problem with Cinelerra.

Andrea_Paz responds:

For compressors you can try watching videos from the creator of Cinelerra: Adam Williams.

Single Band Compressor

Multi Band compressor

You can also find other cinelerra plugins on his Youtube channel. Flanger, vibrato, chorus, tremomolo, reverb, synthesizer, etc:

Michi responds:

thanks for the tip. I know these detailed videos, but the single band compressor does not deliver a good sound for me so far.
So far I have been working with Vegas Pro on Windows. Everything was quite simple there.
My preferred compressor setting for spoken language is:
Threshold - ca. 10 dB to 30 dB, depends on sound
Ratio - 3:1 or 4:1, sometimes more
Attack: ca. 7-10 ms
Release: ca. 20-30 ms
Compression ca.-5 dB bis -6 dB,
Output-Gain: as much as the material was compressed.

Have any of you had good experiences with the single band compressor?

fary54 chimes in:

I have tried many different compressors with many different settings.

Result: The only compressor I have a perfect result with is L_SC4.
You have to wet the shirt to find the settings that suit you.

For info, to incorporate sound effects, I use this setting:
RMS/Peak: 0,000
Attack Time: 21,014
Realease Time: $125,402
Threshold Level: 0,000
Ratio: 16,376
Knee Radius: 3,250
Make Up Gain: 10,286

Michi responds to this:

Hello to all who are looking for a good compressor. I have now found it after all: It is the f_acompressor.
The setting is adventurous because the numbers are partly very abstract values and do not always represent the value in dB. But with a little trial and error I now get very appealing results: See screenshot.

In contrast to the single band compressor, the quiet passages are no longer raised so much and do not fall back into totally quiet nothingness. I still have to try a lot, but with the f_acompressor, which is of course quite awkward to use, I will certainly have a good sound soon. This is enormously important for me on my plan to make all videos with Cinelerra in the future. Thank you and I am very happy that Cinelerra and this forum exist. Right now write me @fary54 and recommend the L_SC4 - I will try it right away and look forward to it.

grafik-2.png

2

(Continued moving from BT to here).

Michi writes:

Hallo @fary54
great, yes L_SC4 goes well too. But I had to change your settings:
RMS/Peak: 0,000 ? I have to experiment with
Attack Time: 21,00
Realease Time: $125,00
Threshold Level: -20.00
Ratio: 16,376
Knee Radius: 3,250 ?? I have to experiment with
Make Up Gain: 4,00

Do you know where to find documentation for SC4?
Thank you all, it makes me very happy to get such nice help. Thank you

Andrea note:

Im sorry Im inexperienced in sound editing. In fact I wanted to ask you if your settings for vocals also fit a very bass voice like mine.

It seems to me that neither you nor fary54 have mentioned the LV2 calf plugins compressors. Have you tried them?

Michi responds:

no, no, we are all searching and did not fall from the sky as masters. In Cinelerra I am very new, 2 weeks maybe. I do not know the LV2 calf you suggested, how can I find it?
If your voice is very low, it could be that an equalizer setting is a priority. I could show you mine, depending on the microphone. What microphone are you using?

Andrea now:

For calf plugins, you have to install them on your system and then enable them inside CinGG following the guide:
https://cinelerra-gg.org/download/CinelerraGG_Manual/node216.html

[For an example of my horrible voice:

I use a Tascam DR-40 (in mono) as a recorder and in Audacity I only use denoise, normalization and sometimes compression.]

fary54 comments:

I have already tried LV2 calf plugins compressors.
The graphics are wonderful but I noticed some problems.
Such as:
-There is, when listening live, an audio latency that is very annoying (unlike Ardour).
-Many cinelerra crashes because of its filters.

So I stay with cinelerras native plugins.

Michi comments:

Hallo @Andrea_Paz
You have a wonderful voice. Here is a suggestion that might fit:
Equalizer
Frequenz Gain bandwidth
100 Hz - Inf. 12 Low Shelf
230 Hz -5,0 dB 2,0 Band
500 Hz -3,0 dB 2,0 Band
2.500 Hz +5,0 dB 3,0 Band
10.000 Hz -Inf. 12 High Shelf
This is my setting for a very muffled sounding microphone. I can not yet transfer the setting 100% in Linux / Cinelerra. But maybe an approximation. You have to try it and will already find the good setting.

Andrea says thanks and he will do some testing.

Michi again:

I have another question that is very important to me, because my only very painful lack in Linux so far was a good audio compressor for my video editing. Probably by now, also with your help, I have solved this big problem.
I thank you very much for that.
Which compressor is better now? L_SC4 with 7 settings or the F_acompressor with 12?

fary54 again:

Do you know where to find documentation for SC4?
I cant find any documentation, I work by trial and error.

Which compressor is better now? L_SC4 with 7 settings or the F_acompressor with 12?
As far as I am concerned, I prefer to work on a version with 7 settings rather than the 12 settings version. For my personal use, I dont think it is necessary to use a more elaborate and therefore more complicated version. The latter seems to me rather reserved for professionals, which I am not.

Not being a sound professional, Im waiting for more competent advice in this field.

  • RMS/peak, the blanace between the RMS and peak envelope followers.RMS is generally better for subtle, musical compression and peak is better for heavier, fast compression and percussion.
  • Attack time (ms), the attack time in milliseconds.
  • Release time (ms), the release time in milliseconds.
  • Threshold level (dB), the point at which the compressor will start to kick in.
  • Ratio (1:n), the gain reduction ratio used when the signal level exceeds the threshold.
  • Knee radius (dB), the distance from the threshold where the knee curve starts.
  • Makeup gain (dB), controls the gain of the makeup input signal in dBs.
  • Amplitude (dB), the level of the input signal, in decibels.
  • Gain reduction (dB), the degree of gain reduction applied to the input signal, in decibels.

This is the only information I could find on the L_SC4 compressor. I hope it helps

3

(Continuation).

Michi says:

But I dont want to miss to say that I am very happy to have finally found a good video editing software after my switch from Windows and Vegas Pro: Cinelerra!!!

the screenshot shows the equalizer EQ Graphic. During playback, the volume levels of the individual frequencies are also displayed. There you can see (maybe) where there is too much and where there is too little volume. My curve is only an example. You will surely get along well with it. Wish you a good success.

grafik-3.png