VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD!

[Joniv]

I've been using Sound Forge forever and have been happy with it. Not long ago I started noticing funny little problems, like clicks, buzzes and other unwanted issues. I replaced my mic with the Harlan Hogan mic, which sounded better than my Samson USB mic, but didn't do the trick. Then I learned that SF version 9 isn't really good to use with Windows 7, which my new machine runs. That didn't occur to me, as the problems came up several months after I got the computer. When my plug ins mysteriously vanished, Sony was really no help. They did, however, offer me a 20% discount on the upgrade. Since I already knew I needed to do it, I saw it as an opportunity to save some cash and got it. I must say that I've noticed a significant improvement in sound quality. My recordings are quieter and just simply sound better than version 9 did at its best. I'm a real cheapskate, so spending money doesn't typically make me happy at all, but I'm glad I did it this time. I may just do the dance of joy Are there other Sound Forge users who've upgraded to v 10 who've found this, too?
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Joni Lambert
www.jonilambert.com

[Ed Gambill]

I have been using Sound Forge beginning with V1.0 before Sony bought it. I don’t recall the problems you experienced but then I got V10 early on and I imay have been using it on an XP machine. My current machine is a 64 bit Quad AMD 3.0gig with 16 gig of memory with one 0 striped 1Terabit Raid.
I have found for the most part that the folks in Madison are very helpful. A long time ago Sound Forge decided to stop supporting SF5.0 so they sent me the serial number for SF 6.0.

Do I like it Hell Yes, it gets better and stronger every upgrade. As I mentioned in another thread SF10 allows for the conversion and saving of files in MP2 NPR format.
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[ricevoice]

I've linked to this before but it's worth sharing again:

http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/narrationwebinar

The video is about editing a narration in Sound Forge. I've been using SF Pro 10 for a while and still learned quite a bit from this... especially the Event editing mode (which is new to version 10), which has really sped up my workflow and can help with tricky edits where it's hard to get a clean cut without it clicking/popping.
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Chris Rice - Noisemaker
www.ricevoice.com

[georgethetech]

Great find, Rice! I always recommend SoundForge to my Windows people. I call TwistedWave the SoundForge for Mac that Sony will NEVER make.

Ctrl+K to skip selected audio is clever, that's a new one to me.
Event Edit Mode is a little like what Adobe Audition has had since 3.0 I believe, but very handy indeed.
Alt+P, M to mute? How about just M in TwistedWave...

But a Blue Snowball?? Oh man...
Notice with a strong, male voice directly in front of the mic, and the gain at 100%, he still can't get hot enough levels and blames it on the webinar software... I guess Blue donated the mic.
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[ricevoice]

Event mode is just like editing in Vegas Pro, which has been my multi-tracker for ages, really glad they finally brought that concept over to SF. As far as the keyboard shortcuts go, you can customize your own in SF, so for me Mute is alt-M.
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Chris Rice - Noisemaker
www.ricevoice.com

[Jan Anderson]

I'm a Windows user looking to upgrade my DAW. I'd been leaning toward Audition cs6 since so many people sing the praises of Audition. Should I rethink my stratagy and take a harder look at Sound Forge? Is it just as user friendly, etc?

Thanks!

[Frank F]

[D Voice]

[Jan Anderson]

Thanks for your reply, Frank! I'm still using Audacity, which I'm pretty good with but have been told that upgrading to AA or SF will help my editing abilities by leaps and bounds.
I'll see about downloading the trial versions of both and give them a side by side road test.
Thanks again, Frank.

[Frank F]

AA = VO and simple mixes. The editor is top grade, easy to use and allows me to mark while recording, among other things. This platform is simple to use, easy to manage, does not need three hands and two feet to make work, and is on all of my computers.

Sony Vegas = Audio mixing, sweetening, video production, video sweetening. I sweeten three to five movies a year and Vegas; although not real time video, is easier to use than Final Cut Pro on the Mac. Surround editing is better than any of my other editors and easier.

SF = Best conversion editor with minimal artifacts. Used specifically for simple "on-the-go" (portable, mobile) recording and editing.

Note: I sometimes use Audacity for it's plugin capability. I do not often use plugins, but when I do, Audacity and Reaper have the most comfortable platform.

I use Steinberg's Nuendo for high end audio for video production almost religiously. But it's price is prohibitive for most VOists.

Frank F
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Be thankful for the bad things in life. They opened your eyes to the good things you weren't paying attention to before. email: thevoice@usa.com

[melissa eX]

Two things I love about SF are

The ability to create regions while recording (and drop markers while recording and then convert to regions if necessary) and then have the program split them all up into separate files with a keystroke.

Its awesome batch converter.

[heyguido]

[ricevoice]

The separate files with a keystroke is one feature I'm not familiar with... anyone care to give a quick rundown of how it works, or what it's called so I can look it up in the "help" files? Thanks!
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Chris Rice - Noisemaker
www.ricevoice.com

[melissa eX]

Here's how I use it in SF8 . I have SF10 but haven't installed it yet - I'm sure it can't be much different.

I use this for jobs that have to be split into lots of separate files where each file is long enough that I know I'll probably have to edit. If the files are really short I use Word2Wav.

In the main record window I select "Multiple takes creating regions" in Mode. Then I put it into remote (either click 'remote' or hit ALT O) and that brings up a small record control (it'll sit over whatever is on your screen so I usually have my script on the screen and the control is small enough I can stick it in a corner.) I hit R to record (or you can use the mouse and the record button). Hit R to stop. and R to record again. Each time you hit R and stop it you create a separate region. If I flub within a file, instead of hitting R again I hit M. That will drop a marker (mine are red) within the file/region - without stopping the recording - so I know where I have to edit but my regions are still intact. I just do this until the job is done - saving often of course.

When I'm done everything is in one long file but the regions are clearly delineated - and you can bring up a 'Regions list' that lists them all. Then I edit using the Markers I dropped as a guide. I delete the markers as I edit but don't touch the regions. Once it's all done (and this way you can see how long the finished narration is if you need that info, since it's still one long file) I can either go to the regions list (View-Regions list brings it u and rename the files by just going down the list - or you can set up the program beforehand to number files consecutively or in other ways (under Labels in Preferences) .

Then Tools- Extract Regions brings up the extract Regions window. There you'll find a list of all the regions and you chose where to save the separate files and you can also add a prefix to the regions. i.e. if you have something like Module1_slide1 - you can tell the program (in Labels) to name all of the files Slide and then number them consecutively and then in extract Regions set it to have the prefix Module1_ before each file and when the files are split they'll be Module1_Slide1, Module1_Slide2 etc etc.

Hit extract and SF splits all of the regions into separate named files and dumps them into the folder you specified.

It sounds more time consuming than it really is. You just have to set it up the way you want initially. I put the extract regions icon in my toolbar so it's literally - once the editing is done - click the extract icon, browse for the folder to save them to (or create a new folder) and hit extract and voila! 150 separate files. And I never have to wonder how long the finished audio is or add up the duration of 150 separate files because it's there as one long file in the first place. Even if the files have to be named in a way that won't allow autonaming I still find it a lot quicker to rename by going down the regions list and doing it there, than to record, edit and save each file separately.

[heyguido]

Nicely done, Melissa. Teach much?
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