Voiceover/Narration requirements

digifish wrote on 6/15/2005, 4:18 PM

>a) An audio card -- I was looking into the Audiophile 2496 card. >However, this has a PCI interface and I have a laptop (dell inspiron >8200) that has PCMCIA slots. How would I hook up the audiophile >in the laptop..? are there PCMCIA --> PCI adapters?

Yes - Creative: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1746178,00.asp

and

Echo Indigo: http://www.echoaudio.com/Products/CardBus/IndigoIO/index.php

You also have the option of using an external USB audio/mic interface, this the one below is a pre-amp + A/D converter all in one.

Search for audio interface on google.

http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/MobilePreUSB-main.html

>b) a mic. The previous post recommended the HM1.

A large diaphragm condenser is probably the go here. The Rode NT-1A is an excellent place to start (cheaper? Behringer B1), there are a large number of inexpensive yet completely capable (professional) mics on the market. Just note that most of these sorts of mics require phantom power (voltage supplied down the mic cable from the pre-amp), the Maudio USB interface above does this.

>c) a pre-amp.

You may find that this is built into the audio interface you buy. It is clear that your laptop built-in soundcard preamp will suck. However before go go to far you should see how well it records a line-level signal (plug a CD player into it and check the result). You may find you can make excellent recordings already. If this is the case you just need a pre-amp and a mic.

>This is my first time doing something like this, so please bear with >this basic question:
>How is the typical voiceover recording setup?
>Mic --> preamp --> audiophile card --> record on laptop.

Not typical of a recently purchased setup.

Mic --> USB interface --> Laptop

Would me a more typical modern solution.

>What recording s/w should I be using..? Sony Acid?

Why not? :)

Regards Scott

kunal wrote on 6/15/2005, 4:46 PM

Hey Scott, thanks for that MobilePreUSB link..it sounds like a good deal for me, considering that it has a pre-amp built in and has a much 'cleaner' interface.

Kunal.

kunal wrote on 6/15/2005, 4:54 PM

Just a quick follow-up question -- the mobilePre does have its own built-in sound card that will bypass my laptop's sound card, right?

kunal wrote on 6/15/2005, 4:59 PM

Just a quick follow-up question -- the mobilePre does have its own built-in sound card that will bypass my laptop's sound card, right?

digifish wrote on 6/15/2005, 5:30 PM

Yes

Regards Scott

James Young wrote on 6/16/2005, 12:07 PM

I wouldn't use ACID. If that's all you have then fine, but it does lack alot of basic audio editing features you may need for narration. If you are looking to buy software, you could get away with something much much cheaper and more suited to what you are doing. I think Sony has a 99 dollar audio editor that would work, but there are tons of others that do the basics just fine.

drbam wrote on 6/16/2005, 2:09 PM

"I think Sony has a 99 dollar audio editor that would work, but there are tons of others that do the basics just fine."

If you're on an extremely tight budget, you might take a look at Audacity. Its basically a lite version of Sound Forge and its freeware. I know it works fine on a mac and is supposed to be equally good on Windows but I haven't tried it. It'd be a good app to experiment with and if you need more features, then certainly I'd recommend the full version of Sound Forge.

drbam

farss wrote on 6/16/2005, 3:02 PM

I'd assume if the guy is posting here, maybe he already has Vegas which is more than adequate for recording. Sorry if this sounds like a really dumb comment but several times (mostly in the video forum) I've come across Vegas users who don't know you can record audio with Vegas (sigh).
Bob.

digifish wrote on 6/16/2005, 3:59 PM

>I'd assume if the guy is posting here, maybe he already has Vegas >which is more than adequate for recording. Sorry if this sounds like >a really dumb comment but several times (mostly in the video >forum) I've come across Vegas users who don't know you can >record audio with Vegas (sigh).
>Bob.

Agreed Bob.

Vegas actually has some very powerful audio capabilities. It can function as a multi-track recorder for pure music (acoustic) work quite easily.

If you need an audio editor audacity is excellent (as suggested), also www.goldwave.com is also very sophistocated and comes with a very generous demo period, and is only $50 or so if you want to buy it. Vegas is more than up to the task of Voiceover editing.

Regards Scott

James Young wrote on 6/16/2005, 4:37 PM

"Vegas is more than up to the task of Voiceover editing."

I would go as far as saying it's the BEST for this, and editing in general. Give me one other program out there that handles editing like Vegas does and I'd be all over it. Nothing else has me convinced yet, and I've spent hundreds of hours trying to get as fast and precise with other programs, some of which I've spent years and years more time with then Vegas (like protools and logic for example). Vegas just kills them all in this department. Despite it slowly but surely turning into a Video app and improvements to the audio side coming to a seemingly screetching halt, I still feel the need to praise the editing capabilities! So, now I'm done, for the year!

digifish wrote on 6/16/2005, 8:25 PM

"I've spent hundreds of hours trying to get as fast and precise with other programs"

Download the demo of www.flstudio.com see what you think. I use this for most of my serious sound sculpting work.

Regards Scott

kunal wrote on 6/19/2005, 7:30 PM

Thanks all for your replies. I've done some very elementary audio recording with Vegas but haven't used it yet with voiceover. In fact this is the first time I'm doing voiceover. I'll try out Vegas for audio recording and see how it goes!

I did come across a post that advises against using condenser mics with the MobilePre.
http://www.mojopie.com/mobilepre.html

Any idea what other alternatives (for mics) I can use with a budget of about $150?

Thanks!

digifish wrote on 6/20/2005, 4:17 AM

>Any idea what other alternatives (for mics) I can use with a budget >of about $150?

Behringer B2-Pro

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/apr04/articles/behringerb2.htm

http://www.zzounds.com/item--BEHB2PRO

Great starting mic.

Regards Scott

rraud wrote on 6/20/2005, 3:19 PM

Though I have not used one, the new $99.USD Audio Technica AT-2020 (medium diapham, side-address) is getting good reveiws.

digifish wrote on 6/20/2005, 3:46 PM

One point to make about large diaphragm condensers is that they are usually very sensitive, this means you will pick up all sorts of sounds like birds, passing cars, neighbours and you PC.

So unless you can isolate your PC and have a quiet place to record, You may be better off with a less-sensitive dynamic mic.

Regards Scott

JMacSTL wrote on 6/27/2005, 12:33 PM

Vegas is a fantastic program for recording and editing voiceover. I am a sound designer and record narration/voice over every day. Some projects require hundreds of "takes" and vegas is very fast, reliable and totally professional. Because of Vegas' "trimmer" window, I find editing dialog and voice over in Vegas to be easier, faster, and with better results than ProTools.

jmm in STL

pubrica wrote on 11/1/2022, 12:16 AM

A woman hired me with a fantastic storytelling voice to record her for some research service audiobook recordings. She, like myself, is fresh to the industry. I explained that I had no prior experience with this and could hardly utilize an equalizer. Despite this, she believes I can do well and demands that I videotape her. As a musician, I am not used to making much money. Therefore I took the position even though I have no prior expertise. I'm a solid bassist and a competent guitarist. I'm experiencing problems primarily with compression, and how to combine things. Because I record music, I generally utilize reverb and delay on my vocals, but I'm stumped when it comes to narration.

Dexcon wrote on 11/1/2022, 1:26 AM

Since you have posted this on Vegas Pro's website, it is assumed that you will be using Vegas Pro to process and mix the voice recording. On that basis, which version of Vegas Pro are you using and what audio plugins appearing in Vegas Pro do you have?

If you are not using Vegas Pro (the purpose of this forum) but using another NLE or a DAW, you will probebly be better off going on to a forum dealing with that NLE/DAW and asking there. The reason being is that plugins, settings and processes will differ from product to product. If you do a Google/Bing search for voiceovers and narrations, you will find a treasure-trove of helpful articles and videos, but most involving mixing (etc) voiceovers are based on using a specific DAW, audio editor or plugin. For example, the following webpage with a YT video might help as a general approach: https://motionarray.com/learn/premiere-pro/voice-over-premiere-pro/

rraud wrote on 11/1/2022, 10:06 AM

It takes 'a while' to gain experience and skills with dynamics, EQs and the other audio tools or trade. Choosing which comp/limiter and EQ to use is part of the skill set as well (0ne size does not fit all). That is why professional audio engineers get paid a lot.

JMacSTL wrote on 11/3/2022, 10:59 AM

@rraud That is why professional audio engineers get paid a lot.

Define "a lot". ;)