VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[captain54]

I'm finding that more and more of my work is requiring me to track alongside a client supplied video... I have a big project coming in and need to get this sorted out PRONTO...


I'm fortunate enough (or crazy enough) to use three Mac platforms for various purposes... Twisted Wave, Logic Pro, and ProTools LE

1) Twisted Wave is useless for this type of work.. at least for me

2) Logic Pro works nicely.. I can't figure how to track through headphones though.. I have to have monitors on, mix button on the Mbox to P/B, track enabled, no software monitoring, "punch on the fly" and "audio input monitoring selected.. I can track alongside the video, and even punch on the fly to record each section, where I manually select a pre roll..you get the video to show in the little window in the inspector view.. Sweet!

3) ProTools also is cool.. my problem is trying to track with no latency.. I can track thru headphones, (mix button to P/, and also have Quick Punch enabled to work with the punch ins like Logic. problem is, the moment I show the video window or try to record with a 64 or lowest buffer setting for no latency my system chokes..

I would rather track in Protools because I'm quicker in that program and I hate hate hate the way Logic handles file management.

I suspect the culprit is my computer 1.83 ghz core 2 duo Mac Mini with 2 gb ram.. recording to an external firewire...Oxford chipset. maybe underpowered? then why is it fine with Logic..?

I know its a lot to ask, but I need to get straightened out.. I can't futz around with this too much longer and deadlines are approaching...
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Lee Kanne
www.leekanne.com

[Bruce]

What I do is put the video in QuickTime Pro (cheap) and export the audio only as an aiff file, then import that into my editing program. I record each section of the replacement narration on a separate track and if the client wants it matched exactly for time I can see or hear the original and line it up and Bob's your uncle.

It's a bit of a bugger when the original is in another language that takes more or less time to speak, but you can adjust your read and it usually works just fine.

B
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VO-BB Member #31 Enlisted June, 2005

I'm not a Zoo, but over the years I've played one on radio/TV. .

[Bish]

I don't think your Mac is underpowered, but converting the file to a small mov or mp4 is a good idea anyway... you only need the audio and a small preview.

I do a lot of re-voicing of Italian documentaries (go figure!), and I'm always dropping-in the new narration tracks between subtitled talking-head segments... as Bruce says, it can be a massive pain in the rear end due to the differences in the English script and the time taken for the original Italian narration. (Personally, I think every Italian narrator hits about five espressos before punching the record button!)

I always record on a separate aiff file, only using the original to get a feel for the whole thing. I then take the aiff and drop it into Soundtrack Pro for the slicing and dicing against the video/SMPTE code. The standard practice is that I then send them an aiff of the same length as the video (usually 45 mins), and they can just drop the track straight into their video editing suite.

Bottom line... if I get the feel and pacing of the individual elements right I can edit it all together... I find it much quicker than trying to record while live tracking the video.
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Bish a.k.a. Bish
Smoke me a kipper... I'll be back for breakfast.
I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls.

[heyguido]

Brilliant description of workflow, guys.... Kudos.
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Don Brookshire
"Wait.... They wanna PAY me for this?"

[captain54]

Yes, very helpful.. this situation I'm facing is a tad different though in that I have no audio to match against.. Its basically me given a script with numbers to hit and video w/o scratch VO.... and some very tight numbers to hit.

My first test pass was to track like Bish suggested, getting a general flow of the thing going, then going back into PT or Logic and slicing and dicing against the mov or mp4.. invariably though, I end up having to re-track certain sections because I'm run past my time allotment per frame...

If I could figure out why my Mac is choking in PT I could probably have this bad boy figured out and finished by now...

Maybe tracking into Soundtrack Pro ?
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Lee Kanne
www.leekanne.com

[Bill Campbell]

We do this type of work all the time. We time each video scene and then just record the narration to exact times. Much easier, as long as the copy fits each scene.

When we produce/shoot/create the video, we always produce the audio first and then edit the video to the audio.

Captain, I hope your charging them a premium, because your doing voice over and post production jobs.
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www.asapaudio.com

[captain54]

I ended up recording in Logic. Slicing and dicing for time code as I went. I tried recording one continuous but as I was slicing and dicing, I noticed at times I was over and had to re-record anyway. Not as quick as I would like but the client wasn't looking for anything precise, it turns out.
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Lee Kanne
www.leekanne.com

[cjadams]

That is one reason I love working with Nuendo. it has built in video and ADR facilities. Great for those kind of matching and re-dubbing situations. The Focusrite forte lets me monitor in real time with no latency with direct pass though. Seems to work well.
CJ Adams