How to Replace Footstep Sounds in Pro Tools
The first step in replacing footsteps is to decide whether or not re-recording is a possibility. It sounds obvious, but if you can squirrel yourself away in a Foley studio for an afternoon with a pair of loafers and a wooden plank, you may save yourself some time and sanity. But this is not always possible, be it location or money, the reasons not to do things the traditional way can be as endless as they are infuriating (especially from the producer/director's point of view).
The tutorial below will show you how to replace footstep sounds in your Pro Tools project in a more traditional, manual way. For an automatic solution or sound and Foley replacement, check out Audiokids Synchronicity Sound and Foley Replacer, which can replace sounds with new ones in a very powerful, flexible way.
Sound replacement tools such as SoundReplacer or Pro Tools' Replace Clip function, which can be useful on less repetitive sound effects, would be too limited for footstep replacement. The ear would notice repeating sound effects within a few seconds.
Step 1: Chop up your footsteps
Select your footstep track, and using 'tab to transient' (check it is activated in your options menu, alternatively you can locate it by typing 'tab to transient' in the help search bar) and Ctrl + E to begin chopping up the footsteps.
Step 2: Load in your replacement sounds
Select the footsteps you intend to use and drag and drop them into the clip list.
Step 3: Begin replacing your footsteps
Now that your new footsteps are easily located in the clip list, you can use the replace clip function to replace each chopped-up footstep. The replace clip function can be achieved by selecting the sound you want to replace and right-clicking on the new sound you want and selecting 'Replace Clip' (See image below).
Alternatively, you can hold down Command-Shift (For Mac) or Ctrl-Shift (for PC), while dragging the footstep replacement audio from the clip menu onto the clip(s) you wish to replace. Once you have done this or the previous method, a menu will appear that will dictate how your replacement clip is integrated. We recommend keeping the length of the selected clip so you don't disrupt the footfalls that occur afterwards (see image below).
With plugins like Audiokids Synchronicity Sound and Foley Replacer, you can go much deeper into clip replacement. It's an Audiosuite plugin (Mac only) that lets you select your original audio and replacement audio on the Pro Tools timeline, then swap the old with the new, while keeping each 'event' in perfect timing.
Find out more about the plugin and see examples on our Audiokids Synchronicity page.
