voice over work

brendandwyer

New member
i know this is a horribly general question but any help would be great.

I've bee offered some work doing simple voiceover work on existing dvd's for a colleagues emerging web development firm.

He'd more than likely give me dvd's and i'd bring in the script and a voice to do the recording of the voice.

i have an imac g4 and digital performer 4.5 with motu 828 mkii.

How much of a hassle have i gotten myself into? With this equipment, can i accomplish what i need to? thanks
 
Yeah, you'll need a microphone, too, and potentially some acoustical treatment for the room you're recording in.
 
i know that it is a general question, but i didn't think i had to list my mic cabinet and outboard gear. But if you do need that to answer my question, our website has a gear list under studio.

Thanks in advance
 
eh, it's workable...not ideal though.
You can just play the DVD on the TV and talk along with it if you want. Only problem is you don't have a lot of control over the DVD...and you can't sync it up to your computer.
Ideally you'd have a SMPTE source of some sort, either on one of the channels of audio on the DVD or on it's own channel on a different video tape.
 
Im guessing here but couldnt you rip the dvd to your DAW then work with the file their? I know even the most basic video editors are setup for overdubs.
 
well, i don't have an external smpte generator, reader. for my audio work i use the mackie sdr and a tascam 38 and use smpte between the two. I would imagine that i would record all the audio tracks on the mackie which can be mtc syncd to the DAW. the question remains can i open DVD files in DP 4.5 and then record audio on my HDD
 
brendandwyer said:
well, i don't have an external smpte generator, reader. for my audio work i use the mackie sdr and a tascam 38 and use smpte between the two. I would imagine that i would record all the audio tracks on the mackie which can be mtc syncd to the DAW. the question remains can i open DVD files in DP 4.5 and then record audio on my HDD

I would doubt you would be able to open the video on DP. DAW programs mostly only recognize mpeg, DV, or avi files. You'd have to encode it onto your computer first. There are programs out there that will rip the DVD into a file....but a lot of the good ones you have to pay for.
Record all the audio tracks onto the SDR? If you're going to sync things up it's going to have to be between what you record and the video device you use. But, I'm assuming there is no time code on the DVD so that's out of the picture.

Your best bet is the a) get a program that will encode the DVD into a file that is readable by DP. You should be able to find what format this is easily in your manual or by looking at the import movie option (or whatever DP calls it).
OR b) just deal with the hassle of trying to play the DVD on a TV and press record at the same time...then hopefully you can record it in one take. Otherwise you may find your audio will drift from the video.
I've had to do this before, and it's a bitch. Unfortunately, without a sync source of some sort these may be your only options. This is the whole reason time code was invented :)
 
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ok thanks for the options. i think because this will be paid work i'll ask for a deposit and some time to learn the system and hopefully i'll grasp it by the time i have to produce.

sweet
 
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