Audio Editing

I just got asked to do some extensive voice over work. Excellent client. Looking forward to it. 

Is there a tutorial for getting rid of breaths? I thought I read something somewhere about quickly removing silence from audio tracks. 
 
Thanks 

Voiceover editing 101!
 
The best way to do it is in a separate editing program. Not so much a DAW. They are well worth having. I have edited lots of voice overs. Breaths can be attenuated not completely removed so much. You can drop them down around 10 dB and you will still get the feeling they are there. Some breaths are just plain loud and horrible so yes take them out.
 
Nothing beats manual editing bit by bit. No plugins or gates or anything can do it as well as you can and it does not take as long as you think either. You won't need any noise reduction if you record it properly.
 
You will want to also remove silence where they may have done a perfect read but hesitated between two words for example. Sometimes slicing out a little silence goes a long way to making a read a lot smoother. Sometimes too they rush a little section and you need to insert a little silence here and there too. Editors do it all way better than a DAW as well. In an editor for example if you slice out or shorten a long pause it moves everything down immediately etc which is what you want.
 
You may also find yourself lifting/lowering the gain of words and syllables here and there and lowering it too here and there. If you do alter timing and things always go back a little way and listen right through the changes you have made to ensure smoothness. It does not take much to make an edit sound really obvious!
 
When recording use a pop filter and get the mic in close please! None of this get the room in crap. Won’t work!  I use an analog downward expander on the way in too and a touch of compression but you can do that in post too. It just takes what little room sound there is out further in a very natural way leaving the impression you have recorded them in a totally silent environment.
 
When all the editing is done too you can drag it into your DAW and add a touch of compression and maybe even a little EQ over the whole thing to get it sounding really sweet. Dont add reverb either they won’t like it! VU meters are excellent to have around when editing voice overs too.
 
There's more!
 
Get a copy of the script for yourself as well. If they send you a script (in advance) try and print out their copy in a slightly larger font and space the lines further apart eg 1.5 or 2 spaces. And make sure there are obvious paragraphs too. So what if it takes up a bit of paper. They will read that much easier. Make sure paragraphs end at the end of a page and begin on a new one. Make sure they dont rustle paper while they go from one page to the next! On your copy if and when they screw up, mark that point with a pencil and put two little lines eg // at that very spot. (this will save  a lot of time later) Make sure they back up and re read at least a sentence before the mistake and then go on. Listen carefully while they read and listen for diction eg ends of words. The best readers make it very very very easy. A terrible reader will make your editing 50 times harder, end of story.
 
 
 

envelopes. enter the nodes manually
 
OR.....
 
 
move the track to the top of the track view....and zoom in. Highlight the breath by dragging the mouse on teh time line to encompass it..... then use PROCESS AUDIO>  MUTE
 
I have used both and they both work fine. just depends on how you want to do it.

gloglee
I just got asked to do some extensive voice over work. Excellent client. Looking forward to it. 

Is there a tutorial for getting rid of breaths? I thought I read something somewhere about quickly removing silence from audio tracks. 
 
Thanks 

If you want it to sound good and professional, it will not be done "quickly". And, why would you want to get rid of breaths. They are part of the script and the emotion in the voice. Sculpt them. 

timidi
If you want it to sound good and professional, it will not be done "quickly". And, why would you want to get rid of breaths. They are part of the script and the emotion in the voice. Sculpt them. 

Best advice you will get, well that, and use the right tool for the job.