| Audio Pop | |
| Display Text | Audio Pop |
| Description | An "Audio Pop" is a signal amplification not related to a creatively intended sound/musical effect or actor’s performance. It is visible in an audio waveform as a spike in the signal. |
| Impact | Audio Pops can be distracting to the member experience by taking attention away from the creatively intended dialogue/music/effects. |
| Severity Assessment Guidance | |
| FYI | The source of an audio pop is ambiguous, with no clear indication that it is related to an actor’s mouth noise or a sound effect inherent to the scene, but it also cannot be definitively ruled out as such. Alternatively, there are visual cues indicating it may be attributed to an actor’s performance/inherent sound effect, but the extraneous mouth noise or sound effect still noticeably distracts from the line of dialogue or main focus of action. |
| Issue | The audio pop is loud and cannot be attributed to any creatively intended sound effect, music cue, or actor’s performance. It stands out during normal playback of the full mix and is audibly distracting. |
| Blocker | N/A |
| Solutions | |
| How to Prevent |
Be careful not to introduce pops during mixing or editing. Run an automated de-pop process. Also, do a full review of all audio elements as they interact in the final mix. Manually “clean up” any extraneous audio pops. Sometimes, audio pops are caused by vocal performances. To avoid this, place the mic further away from the actor's mouth, position the mic above or to the side, and/or use a pop stopper. |
| How to Fix |
Isolate the pop and add a 3-4 frame constant power fade to smooth out the anomaly. Ensure this does not significantly alter the final mix. If the pop is loud and distracting in the dialogue, replace it with alternate production audio or ADR. |