What are the best settings and plugins for automixing dialogue in pro tools?

1 Why automix dialogue?

Automixing dialogue is a process of adjusting the volume and dynamics of multiple dialogue tracks automatically. This can help you achieve a consistent and balanced sound, reduce noise and feedback, and avoid clipping and distortion. Automixing dialogue can also free up your time and energy for other creative tasks, such as editing, mixing, and mastering.

2 How to set up automixing dialogue in pro tools

To start automixing dialogue in pro tools, you need to create a dialogue bus and assign all your dialogue tracks to it. Then, you need to insert an automix plugin on the dialogue bus. There are different plugins available for automixing dialogue, such as Waves Dugan Automixer, iZotope RX Loudness Control, or Avid Pro Multiband Dynamics. Each plugin has its own features and parameters, but they all work similarly by analyzing the input signals and applying gain reduction or compression accordingly.

3 How to adjust the automix plugin settings

Once you have inserted an automix plugin on your dialogue bus, you need to adjust its settings to suit your project. The settings may vary depending on the plugin, but some common ones include the threshold, ratio, attack and release, and makeup gain. The threshold determines how loud a signal has to be to trigger the automixing process, with a lower threshold meaning more tracks will be automixed. The ratio determines how much gain reduction or compression is applied to the automixed tracks, with a higher ratio resulting in more aggressive automixing. Attack and release determine how fast or slow the automix plugin responds to changes in the input signals, with a faster attack and release providing more responsive automixing. Lastly, makeup gain determines how much gain is added to the output signal after the automixing process, with a higher makeup gain leading to a louder output.

4 How to fine-tune the automixed dialogue tracks

After adjusting the automix plugin settings, you may still need to fine-tune the individual dialogue tracks to get the best results. Automation can be used to manually adjust the volume or mute of certain dialogue tracks at specific moments. EQ and filters can be used to shape the tone and frequency of the dialogue tracks. De-essers and de-noisers can be used to reduce sibilance or noise of the dialogue tracks. For example, a de-esser can be used to tame harsh sounds of "s" or "t" and a de-noiser can be used to remove hum or hiss of a dialogue track.

5 How to monitor and evaluate the automixed dialogue

The final step of automixing dialogue in Pro Tools is to monitor and evaluate the results. To do this, you can use meters and loudness standards to measure the level and dynamic range of your dialogue. Additionally, you can use headphones and speakers to listen to your automixed dialogue in different environments and devices. This will help you check for details, problems, balance, and clarity in your dialogue. With the right settings and plugins, automixing can be a powerful tool for audio post production that helps you achieve a professional sound.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?