I just finished shooting footage of almost an hour of instruction video for a package I'm putting together on a DIY CTW wallet....

And on hitting editing I realize that my cockatiel, who I've learned to tune out, is WHEETing all over the footage.

I think I'll go over to the video section and see if any body has any ideas on saving the soundtrack that wont cost me more then this project is ever going to bring in...

But right now, I have the disturbing urge to wring the little fellows neck. So I'm gonna stay away from him right now.

How could you?? ahahaha. I feel you man. I've got a cockatiel as well and I've tuned out her whistling. Anyways, I think investing in a good lapel mic would help. If the sound is bi directionally captured, you might be able to key out the sounds.

Ultimately, Cover the cage or put your bird elsewhere!

Its going to be nearly impossible to get the sound out unless you are on two separate tracks, meaning, as Kyle said, you have a mic, and the room tone is another mic. Then you can use your editing program to separate the voice (sound) tracks and delete the tweeting. If you are just recording from a standard Camera without additional mic set up, your cockatiel is now part of your video. You can "muzzle" the points of tweeting, but there again, unless you are on a separate track, you will muzzle yourself too.

I used to have two cockatiels that tweeted all the time, and like most, just tuned them out. Good luck!

-Alpha

Thanks.

My older brother is actually into very sophisticated computer based sound shaping (even more then I realized) and thinks he may have some tools and techniques that might help. (He records wild sound at concerts and then cleans it up.)

And yes, next shoot he goes upstairs first

You could always use the tape as is and give Tweeter co-star billing.

I was talking to a client on the phone a week or so ago when my cockatoo started up three rooms away. The client goes silent for a second then asks, "Um...you got a pterodactyl living with you?"

Hey skip,

If it was in the background, or wasn't so shrill, I'd just accept as "Hey this was filmed in a magic household so there are birds." But he is VERY talkative and at times its down-right unpleasant to listen to. I have hire standards for something I'm planning on charging $10 or so for.

So either my brother performs a miracle, or I do a redub.

The only day I feel like killing all my animals is on February 30.

What you might also be able to do is delete the sound or move it to mute, then make a sound track on the music track in the video editing process.

Just have to say the same thing at the same time, so the lip sink is not off a whole lot. I is like doing voice over work.

Trade your cockatiel for a Nanday. You'll stop griping about the cockatiel.

Yeah thanks Bill. Half my college degree was film production, so I know about foleying and that most movies don't use wild sound.

The part that aren't re-shootable easily are all of my hands doing construction anyway so lip-synch isn't really an issue, I just hate to lose the sort of spontaneous narration feeling it has because it actually works pretty well. And of course as is you can hear the sounds of construction (when the birds aren't chattering over them) which gives it a nice "workshop" sort of feel. I hate to lose that.

My brother who is a bit of a digital recording whiz (he cleans up wild sound from recorded folk concerts) is going to try to see if he can sweeten it enough to be usable. if not then I guess I'll have to over-dub.