Voiceover advice

[austinladd3]

Does anyone have a template or recommendation for plugin chain for voiceover? ProTools uses a ptf file to accomplish this. Anything similar in DP?

[strikingtwice]

You mean a template? Seems like stereo audio for your bed, mono for your voice, maybe a bus for reverb and an eq and comp on the voice insert? Is that what you're asking about?

[HCMarkus]

I'm thinking plug-in chain may be the question. It all depends on what VO style one is seeking, i.e. PBS Nature vs Monster Trucks commercial.

[strikingtwice]

A bit crusher and ring modulator...always a bitcrusher and ring mod.

hc is right though, a health insurance commercial will be drastically different than the terry crewes old spice commercials, but the basic plugs i mentioned before will be used on both, regardless of style. settings and stuff are kind of hard to make, because if you have different vo artists and it's not just you, you will have to compensate for every voice.

[Phil O]

I agree. My advice for any track (voice or otherwise) is to listen and decide what the track needs using your ears. Then apply what the track requires. About the only time I use insert presets is when I'm looking for a rough starting point for guitar that was recorded direct. Even then, sometimes I start from scratch. JMHO.
(I do, however, confess to over-use of bit crusher and ring modulator )
Phil

[austinladd3]

thanks to all. The voiceover is more of the "cowboy storyteller" style.

[Gravity Jim]

The Waves AudioTrack (sort of a virtual Compeller) has a preset called "CLassic VO" that is a fine starting point. I'll start there, roll off the lows and adjust the rolloff point for the individual. Then I'll adjust compression and output gain setting based on the read... but for a VO recorded on something like an EV RE20 or 27 or a Shure SM7, that plug and setting is just about as close as you can come to "instant good."

[mikehalloran]

A bit crusher and ring modulator...always a bitcrusher and ring mod.

Always?

Are you only doing beer commercials, used cars and games?

[Killahurts]

Austinladd,

Which mic you're using is very important to your question. also, how dynamic the voice is.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Depending on the project, generally, I always feel 'less is better.' I'll only apply plugs and effects when there is either a specific reason to do so or the recording is in need of some massaging. Of course, one would never print a plug to a recording as it is being made. Only to the raw file.

Mics are, of course, critical as is the space the recording was made in. This may be the single biggest obstacle to overcome. Getting rid of noise, hum, breaths, clicks, pops, sibilance, dentures falling out, etc., are all individual challenges and every one should be address individually.

The important plugs for me are EQ, possibly dynamics, reverb, maybe a limiter, and perhaps a leveler. Which brings me to my ongoing request: that DP add a nice, robust noise reduction package to the DAW. That would be pig's heaven for me.

[cowtothesky]

I'm having to deal with film audio right now. I composed the music and have it ready to go, but our audio guy flaked out and we haven't heard from him. So, the director asked if I would fix the audio. I was up front in telling him that this isn't my thang, but would give it a shot. I was able to complete 2 scenes last night and it turned out pretty well. I'm concerned about 3 or 4 scenes where the audio is horrible. There is a bathroom scene where they have water running in the background and the dialog audio is terrible. Not sure how I'm going to go about this. I wish they would have left the water sound out as I could have added adr later. But, it is what it is. I guess I'm going to play around with the eq and see if I can enhance the dialog.

I was able to load up a pro tools omf file, which I had never done in DP. I really hate dealing with film audio, but I want to finish this project up asap as I should be getting my next project in the next week or 2. The one advantage for a composer doing audio is that I can mix the film and not have to worry about the audio guy screwing up the music track.

As MLC said, I believe that less is better. I want to use as few plugins as possible to accomplish the mission. It's amazing how cutting and pasting audio will cover up a lot of those production noises.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Not to mention fade in and outs at just the right time...

[KarlSutton]

I've been really surprised at the usefulness of Izotope RX for cleaning up dialog. There's a demo that runs un-hindered - but it was well worth the $299 for me.

[detroitdiesel]

Hardware. Good LDC mic and a channel strip (DBX 286A) Get it sounding good before you turn it into little ones and zeroes.

....Then tweak it. A good V/O person helps too.

Your computer will not save you. (not 100% anyway)

DD