Re:Workflow for mastering voiceover from raw recorded voice track?
2012/08/20 01:41:00
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I do a TON of voiceover and narration with Sonar. Here are some tips.
Room acoustics. I try to minimize reflections as much as possible. I use the Primaroustic VoxGuard in a relatively dead room.
Pop filter. The Pauly Pop filter is far and away the best I've tried, but it's really expensive.
Now to Sonar. These processes are listed in the approximate order that I implement them.
Mouth noises. Waves X-Crackle can minimize some of the little ticks and clicks that close-miking picks up.
Strip silence. This is incredibly useful for slicing the narration into pieces and getting rid of the nose between phrases.
P-pops. Split the clip just before the pop, then draw a fade-in over it. Changing the fade-in length determines how much of the "p" you keep (you don't want to get rid of it all).
Gain fixes. If some phrases are lower, or the level drops off at the end of a phrase, I use clip automation to fix the gain.
Breath noises. I take out some, but leave some in so it still sounds human.
Dynamics. I never use compression, only tools like the Concrete Limiter to keep peaks under control. It's up to the voice to provide consistency; use manual gain changes if needed.
EQ. Of course, this varies depending on the mic and your voice. I need a slight lift in the upper mids, and a steep low-cut filter below around 40-80Hz if there are any remnants of popping.
Ambience. I like to construct a space with VERY sublte ambience, not enough to notice, only enough so that if it's not there, you notice that it's gone. Some clients want a completely dry voice, but I slip it in when I can.