Put $800 into a video production studio rental and got back unusable footage

I booked a sound stage in Austin for a 2-day shoot and the HVAC was so loud it ruined every single take. The owner swore it would be fine but I didn't even check with my own mic setup beforehand. Has anyone else had a rental space completely trash their audio like this?

2 comments

2 Comments

susanm221d ago

That sucks, I've had the same thing happen with an old HVAC unit and it's a total nightmare. Always do a quick mic test walkthrough before you sign off on a space.

the_taylor1d ago

Did you try using any noise reduction plugins after the fact? I had a shoot once where we were filming in this old warehouse that supposedly had "great acoustics" but the fridge in the break room was this ancient buzzing monster. Our boom op kept having to reposition and we still caught it in half the dialog. Ended up spending a whole weekend with iZotope RX trying to scrub it out, which worked okay for the wide shots but the closeups still sound like someone's phone is vibrating under the table. The producer still brings it up every time we talk about scheduling lol.