Learning to edit for dialog clarity

I'd like to learn how to edit dialog audio tracks for clarity. I've blundered around a bit with fair to good results, setting keyframes to adjust volume and such. But I know a lot more can be done with compressors, limiters, equalization, phasing and Lord knows what else amongst the seemingly infinite audio plugins available both in Fairlight and in the wild.

Can someone suggest a good book (or other affordable resource) that I can use to learn how to restore and enhance this kind of audio?

Thanks!

I would start with the free Fairlight tutorials that BM provides, which are linked from the Help pulldown in DR.

I would start with the free Fairlight tutorials that BM provides, which are linked from the Help pulldown in DR.

Thanks, I'm working my way through the Fairlight book now. But I'm looking for something that covers dialog recover/speech in depth, explaining not only which filters to use, but why and how they work.

I'm not necessarily looking for something specific to any given program, but something specific to Resolve or Reaper would be even better.

I would read John Purcell's excellent book on Dialogue Editing:



https://www.amazon.com/Dialogue-Editing ... 0415828171

[I'm quoted a couple of times in the book, but don't let that throw you.]

Dialogue and sound editing is really hard and requires great instincts, nerves of steel, lots of experience, plus a quiet room and great loudspeakers. It also helps to have tools like iZotope RX (and possibly the Waves plug-in package plus some good reverb plug-ins). Purcell's book gives some guidelines on what to do and what not to do, and one of them is always leave one copy of the sound completely untouched, so that you have a "processed" version and an "unprocessed" version available in case your final re-recording mixer needs to compare them. (If you're doing the final as well, then different concerns apply.)

It also helps to understand different kinds of microphones, so if necessary you can re-record the dialogue later on (ADR) and precisely match the mic as well as the shooting conditions for worry-free editing later on. It's a complicated subject.

I would read John Purcell's excellent book on Dialogue Editing:

Thank you. This sounds like exactly what I was looking for!