Dialogue Editing

112 GETTING STARTED ON DIALOGUE EDITING
Processing differences between the two tracks could result in unequal
latencies and hence phasing.
Two identical tracks mean twice the work, twice the fades, double the
click removal, and more tracks consumed.
It is much harder to organize your scene when lugging around these
useless tracks, and it’s diffi cult to glance at the scene’s layout and
know what’s going on when you have unnecessary material.
The extra regions make your session bigger and more unwieldy.
And remember, there’s nothing to gain from having two tracks with the same
sound.
You could, of course, rely on your ears to compare the two sides of each
region, or on your eyes to evaluate the waveform of one side of a pair against
the other. You could also paint your house with a toothbrush. There are a
few thousand regions in a fi lm, and I think life is too short to wear myself
out on such foolishness. Somewhere in your studio you have the tools to help
you hunt down these annoying dual mono fi les.
Using an external console, pan to center the two tracks making up the pair
in question. Set the output of your DAW to discrete channels rather than
summed stereo. Invert the phase of one channel strip on your console to see
if the tracks are the same or are different.
If you’re using a DAW and no external console, insert a simple plug-in into
every other dialogue track and use it to inverse its phase. (See Figure 9-4.)
Pick a zero-latency plug-in. I like to use a 1-band equalizer (EQ)
because it sits near the top of the list of options (so it’s easy to get to),
its interface is charmingly low-tech, and it’s free of latency. Pro Tools’s
Trim plug-in is also useful. Every workstation has a mechanism for
reversing the phase of a track; you just have to look.
Open the inserted plug-in, fl ip the phase, and copy the plug-in onto
every odd track.
Temporarily disable volume automation for all tracks so you can make
volume adjustments to the track without “fi ghting” the automation.
Solo the two tracks you want to check. If they’re identical, you should
hear almost complete phase cancellation. Adjust the volume on either
of the sides of the pair to perfect it.
If you’re unsure if the two tracks are phase-canceling, mute one. If the
sound suddenly becomes much louder, with more low frequency and
fuller fi delity, you have a match. You can delete either side of the