VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[Dayo]

Hi all

I first ditched the multi-track in favour of a digital solution in 1995. Back then the only affordable software was called SAW Plus, so that's what I got. And throughout the generations I've stuck with it. Bob Lentini is the software developer and I love the fact that you can drop him a note with any issues or queries. He's really responsive.

Well SawStudio - as it's now called - has been great. It's just rock solid. Some even claim that because it's written in assembly code that it actually sounds better. I won't get into that, but it's been a brilliant platform.

Fast forward to 2012 and it's beginning to dawn on me that there are other systems out there with more enhanced features. As an example, last week I did a session in London and had some time to kill until my next one, so I hung around the control room for playback. The engineer was doing a clean - up edit on the stuff I'd voiced.

Now here's the thing: as the session was playing back he was highlighting breaths and snipping them out on the fly. In SawStudio I'd have to stop the playback, mark the in and out then do the edit and start play again. . He was even shuffling chunks of v/o around during playback. The engineer was using pro-tools.

Call me a dinosaur, but I think I've been missing out. I reckon that just these two tricks could save me eons of time when doing my clean up edits at home.

I think that if I did make a switch from my much loved SawStudio, I'd probably only go down the PT route. I know there are others out there, but the entry cost isn't really an issue and if I'm going to jump on a learning curve, I'd rather do so on a platform that is pretty much industry standard.

Which leads my to my question: what's the PT learning curve like? Any PT users out there with thoughts? Tips? Cool tricks you can do?

I'm very tempted. SawStudio has been great, but at this stage in my life it's all about workflow and making best use of my time. Not making a lot of commercials these days - mostly just editing voice tracks. Tried that in Soundforge but it's too clumsy.

What do you think?

Thanks in advance!
_________________
Colin Day - UK Voiceover
www.thurstonday.co.uk

[bobsouer]

Colin,

While it's not the only tool in my box, I do use ProTools pretty often. In fact, it's launching as I type this note to you. The way I learned was by hanging out with some ProTools wizards for several weeks, asking all kinds of dumb questions and then trying things out on my own. I'll never be a wizard, but I'm able to do everything I need to with it.

You'll be slower for a while, but will gain speed as you learn the new finger memories.
_________________
Be well,
Bob Souer (just think of lemons)
The second nicest guy in voiceover.
+1-724-613-2749
Source Connect, phone patch, pony express

[Monk]

I've used a lot of programs, started off with E-Magic Logic 1.5, moved to Digital Performer, ProTools LE and now on ProTools 10

The smart tool on PT is lighting quick, and having the timeline set to shuffle, to pull what I just edited out, mistake, burp, together saves all kinds of time verses dragging things around.

PT also has been unshackled from it's need to have a Digidesign box on the outboard end, so when I switched from DP5 to PT, I could use my MOTU 2408MKIII as the input device. WIN! No heavy changes to my studio.

I still use PT-LE on my laptop when traveling, and the sessions open right up on the home studio without any conversion.

So, ya. I'm a fan.
_________________
Company, villainous company, hath been the spoil of me...

www.monksvoice.com

[Rob Ellis]

I'm an Amadeus Pro guy.

It has the ability to let you delete or silence breaths while the audio is playing back (as Dayo mentioned) tho a couple of times I've lost recordings doing that---I guess the system gets overwhelmed or whatever.

Has anyone noticed an improved overall sound quality with Pro Tools over the garden variety programs? That would be my main reason for considering it.

[georgethetech]

Can also do this in TwistedWave, FYI...
The auto detect silence tool in TW can be extremely handy for long-form projects as well, and is useful for setting markers at each prompt. There's a batch tool for auto-splitting into hundreds of files in the format you need, which PT can't do. The Effects Stacks makes post-processing lightening fast, too.

TW can't:

Multitrack
Work non-destructively
Punch-in

_________________
If it sounds good, it is good.
George Whittam
GeorgeThe.Tech
424-226-8528
VOBS.TV Co-host
TheProAudioSuite.com Co-host
TriBooth.com Co-founder

[Dayo]

Thanks for all the input so far guys.
_________________
Colin Day - UK Voiceover
www.thurstonday.co.uk

[Chuck Davis]

I've been on PT since Pro-Tools 3 in the mid 90's. I use in the studio on a PC with a Digi 002 and on the road on a Macbook Pro and Mbox 2.

It only keeps improving. I'm very fast on that platform...but mostly because I'm so used to it. I've taught lots of folks how to use PT. It never takes them long to become reasonably proficient.
_________________
Wicked huge.....in India.
www.chuckdaviscreative.com

[Deirdre]

I'm still using my coal-fired PT version 6.9 with an Mbox 1 because it is rock solid. I think I've crashed it twice in 10 years, no kidding.

I started back in the old days of Pro Tools Free (no proprietary hardware needed!) after watching a radio production guy use PT a couple of times.

It's way more than you need for daily VO stuff, but when I need to do a massive multitrack project, it's the shiznit.
_________________
DBCooperVO.com
IMDB

[captain54]

The multitracking ability in PT is invaluable if you were sent a QuickTime video and asked to sync a VO. This is a major percentage of the work I do

Twisted Wave does what it does quite well. A simple one track editor. PT cannot compete with its ease of use. However, if I didn't have the multitracking, punch in, drawing tool for writing out pops and clicks and slip and shuffle modes from PT I'd be handcuffed

[Scott Pollak]