well any of the above will say "garbage in, garbage out", or "you can't polish a turd". that seems to be the consensus. get it sounding the best when you record it. this has less to do w/ equipment than the performance itself. no software has a talent pluggin. when it does i'll buy it.

if you want to know how sound works, look up acoustics. it'll start w/ the ears, then how sound moves air, then how boundaries, or lack there of affect it. then get into recording books which talk about mics how they work, and interact w/ the physical movement of sound. mix books offer thoughts on how to compensate for lackluster things, or how great sounding recordings were made into great sounding things on the final pass.

there are books titled 'handbooks' in each category. i'll say why not read 'behind the glass'. it's a bunch of short interviews w/ a bunch of high echelon audio people. it'll give ya a sense of what the commercially successful did besides get lucky. they all recorded highly acceptable songs well. people don't buy 'good' mixes, they buy 'good songs', whatever hits home w/ them.

Eventually the tried and true you'll just become aware of. it's a good thing to make a foundation of undersatnding out of. not trying to be vague, just saying there are alot of thoughts about sound, so explore the 360.

more importantly, ask the people who are doing what you want to do when you advance in the company. they're doing it, learn from them, what TO do and NOT to do. real world experience is what your after, reading up is great too. do both.

there are no rules. who cares what anyone else did. go for it. as far as software, just learn your keyboard shortcuts and dazzle people w/ cut and paste, ya dig?

"well any of the above will say "garbage in, garbage out", or "you can't polish a turd". that seems to be the consensus."

you CAN polish a turd if you freeze it first! but then all you have is a very cold and shiney turd. duh

When doing ADR work, it's not just the dialogue that you're replacing. It's the acoustics as well. And learning how to acoustically and electronically mimic other acoustic scenarios isn't easy. This has less to do with your plug-ins and more to do with your engineering technique and expertise. And that's why ya find so many shotgun microphones for ADR work. Because sticking them on a 87, ain't going to sound like that Sennheiser shotgun. So it's not just the listening but also understanding the acoustic signatures of different pieces of equipment. That kind of intimacy frequently takes a few years to master. Not that it takes years to do but it takes years to learn. Just wanted to get that straight. Not that I am.

Learning how to listen is an acquired taste.
Mx. Remy Ann David