[Bob]

Dear Professionals,

I am a translator, and I have a large voice-over project where I need
to submit voice-over audio files in aiff (the client uses FCP on Mac).
Since I have a Windows XP system, I was suggested to use Samplitude
10. I am testing it at the moment, but I would need some advice on:

- is Samplitude 10 a good/the best choice for doing DVD voice-over
- if so: how should I do it (just a rough outline to avoid dead-ends)
- if not: what software do you recommend for a Windows laptop (Dell
Latitude D830 + MBQuart MBK C 800 USB headphones and mic) that can
export to aiff

Your guidance will be highly appreciated.

Kind regards, Bob Makovei

[Mike Rivers]

Bob wrote:

- is Samplitude 10 a good/the best choice for doing DVD voice-over

What do you mean by "voice-over?" If all you need to do is talk, perhaps
edit, and export your work as AIFF files, there are many programs
simpler and less expensive than Samplitude that will do the job. If
you're doing the production, where you need to watch video or hear music
and match your speaking to something else, then a multi-track program
like Samplitude is a good way to go. Though still, there are many choices.

- if so: how should I do it (just a rough outline to avoid dead-ends)

Sit comfortably in front of the microphone, push the Record button, and
talk.

Your guidance will be highly appreciated.

If you've never done this before or watched someone who has experience,
the place to start is not with a project that would require the
capabilities of a program like Samplitude. Your biggest job is not going
to be driving the software, it's going to be to find the right
microphone, recording space, and interface hardware to make your voice
sound good for the project. If you think you can just sit at the kitchen
table in front of a microphone, that's what your project will sound like.


--
If you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring and reach
me he
double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo -- I'm really Mike Rivers
)

[Bob]

What do you mean by "voice-over?" If all you need to do is talk, perhaps
edit, and export your work as AIFF files, there are many programs
simpler and less expensive than Samplitude that will do the job. If
you're doing the production, where you need to watch video or hear music
and match your speaking to something else, then a multi-track program
like Samplitude is a good way to go. Though still, there are many choices.

It is a DVD voice-over project, need to watch the DVD and translate
simultaneously. It doesn't need to be in a voice-over artist's level
though.

If you've never done this before or watched someone who has experience,
the place to start is not with a project that would require the
capabilities of a program like Samplitude. Your biggest job is not going
to be driving the software, it's going to be to find the right
microphone, recording space, and interface hardware to make your voice
sound good for the project. If you think you can just sit at the kitchen
table in front of a microphone, that's what your project will sound like.

Thanks for the constructive comments... However, I still need some
more specific hints to start out.

Cheers, Bob

[Steve King]

"Bob" wrote in message
...
| What do you mean by "voice-over?" If all you need to do is talk, perhaps
| edit, and export your work as AIFF files, there are many programs
| simpler and less expensive than Samplitude that will do the job. If
| you're doing the production, where you need to watch video or hear music
| and match your speaking to something else, then a multi-track program
| like Samplitude is a good way to go. Though still, there are many
choices.
|
| It is a DVD voice-over project, need to watch the DVD and translate
| simultaneously. It doesn't need to be in a voice-over artist's level
| though.
|
| If you've never done this before or watched someone who has experience,
| the place to start is not with a project that would require the
| capabilities of a program like Samplitude. Your biggest job is not going
| to be driving the software, it's going to be to find the right
| microphone, recording space, and interface hardware to make your voice
| sound good for the project. If you think you can just sit at the kitchen
| table in front of a microphone, that's what your project will sound
like.
|
| Thanks for the constructive comments... However, I still need some
| more specific hints to start out.
|
| Cheers, Bob

If it were me I would pipe the original sound-track into one channel and the
recording microphone into a second channel. That way you can allow yourself
the freedom to make a mistake from time to time, back the DVD up a bit and
have another go, then edit out the bad parts later, all the while keeping
the original track and your translation in synch. Lay off just your new
track in your DVD authoring software and slide it into synch, when you make
the new 'extra language' version.

The software is the least of your issues: Audacity, Adobe Audition, Sound
Forge, and a host of free-ware will do what you need. As someone else said,
the quality of your recording will depend primarily on how quiet your
recording space is (free of outside noise including the sound of fans in
your computer), whether the space is reverberent (as most home rooms are....
think of a closet, or hanging blankets and lots of soft furniture in small
rooms), the microphone you choose, and your ability to maintain a consistent
distance between your mouth that the microphone.

If were starting from scratch with nothing but a computer I would strongly
consider a USB microphone. It simplifies your set-up considerably. Yes,
you can get much better microphones and a good pre-amp or mixing console,
but I get the idea from your post that you don't need that. In most
business playback environments no one, but no one will be able to tell the
difference between a $10,000 classic Telefunken and a $150 USB microphone
much less care if the difference were to be pointed out to them. Look at
Marshall mics.

Good luck to you.

Steve King

[Richard Crowley]

"Bob" wrote ...
What do you mean by "voice-over?" If all you need to do is talk, perhaps
edit, and export your work as AIFF files, there are many programs
simpler and less expensive than Samplitude that will do the job. If
you're doing the production, where you need to watch video or hear music
and match your speaking to something else, then a multi-track program
like Samplitude is a good way to go. Though still, there are many
choices.

It is a DVD voice-over project, need to watch the DVD and translate
simultaneously. It doesn't need to be in a voice-over artist's level
though.

Are you translating from a script and viewing the visuals?
Or are you translating on-the-fly from the original language audio track?

If you are providing a translation of the existing audio track, then it
would seem to make it much simpler. You could simply view the
video on a DVD player and run the reference narration track into
one channel of a stereo recording application, while recording your
mic on the other channel.

Else you are into the intrigue (and complications and co$t) of an app
that handles video tracks. Essentially a high-end video NLE application.

If you've never done this before or watched someone who has experience,
the place to start is not with a project that would require the
capabilities of a program like Samplitude. Your biggest job is not going
to be driving the software, it's going to be to find the right
microphone, recording space, and interface hardware to make your voice
sound good for the project. If you think you can just sit at the kitchen
table in front of a microphone, that's what your project will sound like.

Thanks for the constructive comments... However, I still need some
more specific hints to start out.

Hints about workflow?
Hints about equipment/software?
Hints about environment?
Where are you starting from?
Are you already a VO talent?
Are you a translator getting into VO?