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Dialog recording
Hi all,
I’ve been recording one narrator at a time to produce audio guides in a museum for a couple of years now without any problems but this year, they want to record a “Grandad takes little Suzy to the museum” type dialog with two narrators in the booth at the same time. I usually recorded with one mic to Betacam SP tape, digitized, edited and cleaned on Media 100.
Sorry for the long set-up, here’s my questions. If the dialog overlaps at some point, how do I edit little Suzy’s dialog if she misses a line ? Should I insist they never overlap each other while talking ? Is this type of recording usually done with narrators in separate booths ? Do I get them to redo both lines from an easier edit point ?
Sorry if this sounds basic to most of you but this is my first 2 narrator recording and I’d just like to end up with good raw material.
Thanks,
Marc
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4 Replies
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I would suggest you invest in one of these USB or FireWire units and bypass the hassle, expense and signal degradation caused by going to analog videotape. Record the two voices at the same time, but isolated. It would be best to locate them in two separate (sound treated) rooms with glass in the wall so they could see each other. If you don’t have that luxury, just separate them by about ten feet and close mic them. Record the tracks “dual mono” and you should be able to edit between the two sources.
It’s well worth the time saved to go direct to computer and the basic Cubase software included with these devices is fine for your purpose.
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System Info – G5/Dual 2 – 10.4.8 – QT v7.1.3 – 8GB ram – Radeon 9800Pro – External SATA Raid – Decklink Extreme – Wacom 6×8
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Hi,
Thanks for your insights. I’ve thought many times about going straight into the Mac but although I’ve never needed them, I’ve always found having the B’cam tapes as a back-up a comforting thought.
The 2 separate booths is a bit out of reach at this point but the method you mention, putting a bit of space between the two narrators, just confirms what I was planning to do as a viable scenario.
Thanks for your time,
Marc
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You don’t have to separate them 10 feet apart. That’ll screw up any complicity, especially with a child. You can have them face each other, each with their own cardioid mic (the cardioid part is very important here) with the mic stands placed as close as possible. Even if they overlap, you can cross-edit, as the other talent’s voice is in the null of the cardioid pattern. What little bleed will be left at the top and bottom of a sentence can usually be hidden with well-placed fades. Don’t stop them from overlapping, as that is the best way to kill a vibe. Any session with children can be hard, and will work your psychology skills as well as your technical chops, and you want things as smooth as possible, with no technical concerns for the child. Otherwise, you’ve got a looooong day ahead of you.
Have a good time on this. When they work well, sessions with kids can be super-fun.
And please do ditch the Beta SP from the signal chain. You’ll be making yourself a huge favor in the long run.
JC Boulay
Audio Z
Montreal, Canada
http://www.audioz.com -
Each person gets their own mic. Each person goes to a separate track.
Fix it in post. Try not to overlap.Regards,
Ty Ford
Ty Ford’s “Audio Bootcamp Field Guide” was written for video people who want better audio. Find out more at https://home.comcast.net/~tyreeford/AudioBootcamp.html
or https://www.tyford.com
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