Vegas and ADR

farss wrote on 1/14/2005, 3:36 AM
Well I was going to ask how to do this but I thought I'd try to see if I could nut it out myself and from the point of view of making Vegas play along with my plan it's so damn easy it should be illegal!
So OK, I'm now thinking I've got the technology under control but of course the whole thing hinges on the talent doing his thing. Now this guys never been in a recording studio even though he's spent most of his life performing. So anyone got any tips on how to coach the talent / setup things so it's a bit easier on him?
I've had a bit of a go myself and I'll admit it's a bit harder than you'd think trying to talk back over the top of yourself. Obviously any latency is going to cause grief but anything else I should think about, coaching of the talent to get the right mindset etc? Would having an audio cue (say a pip) one second before dialogue start help him with his timing? How much of a pause before repeating the sentence / phase?
Bob.

Comments

filmy wrote on 1/14/2005, 5:49 AM
Not specific to Vegas for ADR but should work -

1> 3 beeps equally spaced as an intro to the line you want done is not only a help but "expected".

2> large monitor isolated but viewable by the talent is a must. Window Burn may help them as well.

3> Figure out a system so they can also monitor in "real time". I used to run a simple left/right mix...I would run their live audio from the board via the right channel and have the source going out via the left. The key is to let them hear both tracks but for you to record only the ADR. Some talent may want this, others may not want to hear themselves.

4> Playback is a must - as in after they record, play it back for them.

5> be careful of the "P". Direct them to stand off center if need be, or move their head off center when they say certian words. Or you can spend money on a "popper", or you can go out and buy some nylons and one of those circle nitting things and make your own.

6> Actors act so they are just acting with their voices now, but that doesn't mean they will do well. I worked with some kids one time who had never ever done ADR, most had not even done a feature. I was surprised at how perfect they did overall...where as the adult actors tended to do worse, even those with experience. My thought is that adults tend to overthink it - try harder to "act" rather than feel their voice. Sort of the differance between acting for film and acting for stage.
farss wrote on 1/14/2005, 6:17 AM
Thanks,
I went and read Audio Postproduction for DV and found a lot of answers.
(Thank you Jay for writing it and SPOT for recommending it)
I'm going to try Audio-dominant ADR, that seems a lot simpler. It's only a few sentences that need fixing due to a stuff up in the recording.
Bob.
rs170a wrote on 1/14/2005, 6:26 AM
Not specific to Vegas and ADR but should work -

You've done this before, haven't you?
Very useful info. Thanks Filmy.

Mike
apit34356 wrote on 1/14/2005, 6:31 AM
As filmy stated above is the way to go. I'm noticed that amateurs did better in the beginning doing voiceovers if they saw the audio track with the video as well in the beginning with the moving curser and cueing. Voiceovers is a science in itself and I'm always impress with how fast it done today, the audio guys are truely the unsing heros of the entertainment industry.
filmy wrote on 1/14/2005, 8:12 AM
>>>You've done this before, haven't you?<<<

Now what ever would give you that idea? :)

The silliest ADR I ever did was for a producer that had the actors come in and watch a video of the rough cut and than stand in a corner talking into a curtain. I say silly because here I am telling George Kennedy to watch a videtape and than go stand in a corner. I mean the guy has won an academy award...on the one hand this ADR session was so unprofessional, on the other he *is* a pro - and he never said anything negative. He came in, watched the video, did his lines perfect and left.
Lawrence_S wrote on 1/14/2005, 7:47 PM
When doing ADR it is important to generate Time Code. It really is easier for the talents when they see time code reference on screen monitor. Doing this is simple:

1. Import your video file into a video track (or capture it)
2. Aply Time Code FX using the track effect
3. Render a new file with time code (if you try doing ADR with some effect in real time you may experience some latency)
4. Remove the original video from the timeline
5. Import the new file (with Time Code) into a video track

6. After recording all talents and mixing the voices with music and sound effects, import the original file again (the one without Time Code). The sync will be exactly the same.
7. Finally, render the video WITH the audio you have created.


For monitoring I connected my firewire card to a Canopus ADVC-100. From the Canopus RCA video output, I send the signal (splited) to two external TV sets. One of them is close to me and the other one is in a separate recording room for the talent(s).