- Synchro Arts
Contents
1. Figure 23 The Green loudspeaker shows audio is ready to be played While the loudspeaker symbol next to the Delete button is red you won t be able to hear any audio from the track being processed When it s green you will be able to hear audio Step 11 Play the aligned audio Once the Edit is completed and the speaker symbol is green 1f you press PLAY space bar in Logic you will hear both the Guide and aligned Dub audio together in sync The BYPASS button in the top left hand corner of VocALign s display see Figure 24 allows you to tempo rarily turn of the processing of this plug in so that you can hear the original unprocessed audio The button is orange when bypassed Be sure to turn Bypass Off De NOT Bypassed if you want to use the Aligned audio 19 Figure 24 Bypass button s orange when VocALign is bypassed You will hear unaligned audio Step 12 Create an audio file of the aligned Dub In order to create an audio file of the processed version of the Aligned Dub control click or right click on the Dub region in the Logic window and select Bounce in Place Logic 9 or Export gt Export as Audio File Logic 8 as shown in Figure 25 Bounce Regions In Place Name TWITDUB aligned Destination O New Track Selected Track Source O Leave Mute O Delete Bounce In Place Mute on off Loop on off L include Instrument Multi Outputs _ Bypass Effect Plug ins Recent Ite2. Guide Protect Figure 35 Selected a protected area using the red sliders Be 2 30 J Troubleshooting Some commonly occurring problems are listed below Problem VocALign PRO 4 does not appear in the Audio Units menu Solution Check that the file VocALign PRO 4 has been copied to the correct Plug Ins folder Problem In Logic when selecting the following menu Logic Pro gt Preferences gt Audio Units Manager VocALiegn is not displayed in the list Solution Try selecting Reset and Rescan Selection Further help and advice can be found on the Synchro Arts website at http www synchroArts com support O 31
3. Export as Audio File the new region will be available in the Logic Bin and can be dragged onto the new track If the Snap function is active in Logic the aligned audio can be dragged accurately to match the start of the original version LG ee VocALign AU Tutorial mod Bin em Lil AudioFile Edit Options View v Name SRate Bit Cha Size Y STEVEGUI WAV 44100 16 O 514 1 KB Users francisrumsey Documents Logophon STEVEGUI Y TWITDUB WAV 44100 16 O 789 2 KB Users francisrumsey Documents Logophon TWITDUB Y BG GUIDE WAV 44100 16 o 863 4KB Users francisrumsey Documents Logophon BG GUIDE Y BGVOICE2 WAV 44100 16 870 6KB Users francisrumsey Documents Logophon BGVOICE2 Y BGVOICE3 WAV 44100 16 862 3KB Users francisrumsey Documents Logophon BGVOICE3 TWITDUB_aligned aif 44100 24 2 4MB Users francisrumsey Documents Logophon Co Figure 27 Logic bin after alignment showing new aligned region TIP DO NOT save the modified Logic Tutorial session over the original Tutorial session when exiting Logic so it can be used again Save the modified one with a different name 21 G VocALign PRO AU screen contents and controls p View v Show Channel Strip Show Insert Side Chain Audio 1 1 Sypass Compare q Copy Paste 5 G2 00 00 16 20 4 0 6 0 8 0 10 0 0 10 11 12 13 Protect 14 EH ee 1 5 Selected Audio P 16 OOOO O ED Normal Flexibility ER Se yere Align
4. Logic capture will not start until the beginning of the next audio region Try to capture up to around 0 25 to 0 5 seconds of background or leader audio at the beginning of your Guide audio selection This will assist VocALign to set the noise floor levels and allow better alignment at the start of the signal In the current version of VocALign PRO 4 AU the selected audio can be up to 5 minutes long and must be longer than 0 25 seconds The Dub does not have to start at the same time as the Guide In other words the timecode position of the Dub is not used The Guide s timecode is important and so is the amount of background captured before the Guide and the Dub Try to leave as much or very slightly more background audio before the Dub signal starts than for the Guide If you capture an audio region that begins in digital silence VocALign may generate an error as it needs to be able to detect a signal to enable it to set its analysis parame ters Try to start capturing where there is at least some low level background noise within the audio region If you capture more than one audio region in separate capture passes while the VocALiegn plug in is open these will show up as separate waveforms in the overview window at the bottom of the display You can click on the waveform section that you want to align and this will appear in the upper display ready for processing The unselected regions waveforms are
5. Mode Synch Points Editing 17 Advanced Welt Glen Time Domain 31 18 Sa hee aoe oncom 19 VocALign Pro AU on 21 22 23 24 ap 26 27 28 ag 30 Figure 28 Key to VocALign screen contents and controls NB None of the controls or menus in the black area at the top of the window are relevant to the user in the current version except for Side Chain and Bypass Most of these do not ful fil an active function at present and are generic Logic plug in controls or menus p Bypass button if OFF VocALign plays and transfers aligned Dub audio If ON orange VocALien plays and transfers original unprocessed Dub audio 2 Capture Audio button arms VocALign to receive Guide and Dub audio from Logic during a Logic play pass 3 Side Chain selector selects the Logic track containing the Dub audio 4 Help button click to access help tips 5 Display start time and time offsets shows position of captured audio refer enced to the Logic time line 6 Aligned audio trace A representation of the energy of the new aligned signal 22 7 Guide energy a profile of the energy of the Guide signal in time 8 Guide start point selector adjusts processing start The corresponding end point selector 1s shown further to the right 9 Synch point pair click in this region and drag the green blobs to create and adjust pairs of synch points see Section I 10 Dub start point selector adjusts processing start he corresponding
6. PRO AU SCREEN CONTENTS AND CONTROL S E 22 H IMPORTANT TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE OPERATION oi ccceeceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 24 EE 24 Tamane e capre d Dera EE 23 NEEN 26 ee 27 Ee EE 28 Eecher Ee EKS eege ege eege ege eege 28 ADVANCED MODE OPERATION 0 oo cccccteeceeeeeee ee eee ee eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeseaeneeseeeeeeseaenee 29 SCE POLN S e E E A 29 Protected E EE 30 J EBL EECH E EE Nee 31 vi A Introduction to VocALign What is VocALign VocALien is a process that automatically edits the timing of one audio signal to match an other In this version it is implemented as a real time plug in to Logic How does VocALign work VocALign works by applying varying amounts of time stretching or compression to one signal called the Dub to make its energy peaks and troughs align in time with a Guide signal It does this in 3 main steps Guide audio Time warping path Time aligned Time Dub audio alignment algorithm Dub audio Figure 1 VocALign block diagram VocALign analyses the Guide and Dub audio signals using identical spectrum analysers to produce time varying energy patterns Then it uses advanced pattern recognition techniques to examine the energy patterns and determine the best way to warp the time structure of the Dub signal so that its energy pattern is matched to that of the Guide The time warping path describes the best time distortion of the Dub for matching to the Guide The time warp
7. at any time by destroying all copies and recordings of the licensed software and documentation and giving a legally binding written assurance to Synchro Arts that you have done so This License will terminate immediately without notice from Synchro Arts Limited if you fail to comply with any provision of this License Upon termination you must destroy all copies and recordings of the Software related documentation and copies thereof and return to Syn chro Arts the originals of the Software and documentation 4 Limited Warranty Synchro Arts Limited warrants that the original disc 1f supplied on which the Software is recorded is free from defects in materials and workmanship assuming normal use for a period of ninety 90 days from the date of purchase If a defect occurs during this period you may return your faulty disc to Synchro Arts Limited along with a dated proof of purchase and Synchro Arts Limited will replace it free of charge This limited warranty is void if failure of the Software has resulted from accident abuse or misapplication Any re placement Software will be warranted for the remainder of the original warranty period This warranty gives you specific legal rights and you may also have other rights which vary by jurisdiction 5 No Other Warranties Except for the express warranty of the original discs set forth above Synchro Arts Limited grants no other warranties express or implied by statute or otherwise regarding th
8. at the boundary of the coloured audio material the cursor changes into a pair of horizontal arrows and drag the boundary left or nght Protect Figure 30 left Pointers to adjust start of Guide and Dub energy right scale controls b The display can be scrolled horizontally with the scroll bars to examine the captured waveforms You may need to scroll right to see the end point adjuster c The Scale controls Fig 30 right can be used to expand or contract the horizontal time scale slider or alter the range of the vertical scale in dB 25 Alignment Choose an appropriate VocALien setting before pressing Align e g 1f the Dub is very long compared to the Guide try Maximum Compression Guidance is offered in the following section Alignment settings After clicking Align visually inspect the results in the Guide window The peaks and troughs of the yellow aligned Dub energy trace should line up generally with those of the Guide as in Figure 31 2 0 Figure 31 Checking the aligned energy yellow trace If the alignment looks satisfactory generate the aligned audio by pressing Edit This creates the aligned audio A shortcut is to simply press Edit after capturing the audio as this will in effect run the Analyse Align steps first Preview the results by using the Logic play controls If the alignment is satisfactory transfer the edited audio to Logic as described
9. described in Table 1 Setting Main characteristics Low Flexibility _ is not very flexible sound quality may be Default 1t 1s recommended to try this first as 1t works best n most cases Normal Flexibility High Flexibility Alignment is the most flexible of the Basic settings e Tries to match the Guide by time compressing the Maximum Compression aligned audio as much as possible Tries to match the Guide by time expanding the Maximum Expansion l aligned audio as much as possible Table 1 Alignment settings 27 Editing Basis VocALign PRO offers two methods of editing the Dub audio The differences are highlighted in Table 2 Editing basis Optimum signal requirements Speed of editing Good for reducing editing Audio contains only a single artefacts in transients and Frequency pitch e g one voice or one Slower single pitched instrument EE EE panding Audio can be single voiced or Good for compression and ao l Fastest contain complex signals maintaining musical beat Table 2 Editing basis Further tips and tricks Latching To align just the start of the Dub with the Guide and leave the rest of the Dub unprocessed use the Guide End Point Selector to use only select 0 25 to 1 0 second of the Guide audio for processing and keep the Dub signal full length Reverb tals To stop the end of a Dub from being stretched to wrongly match a noisy or reverberant Guide stop the e
10. do main editing available in the VocALign Project version This can be useful for getting good results on single line melodic material such as solo singers or instrumentalists These features are covered in more detail later in this manual Be 2 D Software installation If you have not already done so you can download VocALign PRO 4 from www synchroarts com and install it The disk image dmg file that you download should open and the installer run automatically after downloading If it does not for any reason open the disk image that is mounted on the desktop and double click the VocALign package icon contained therein You will be guided through the various steps to install the software This will install the necessary Audio Unit extensions onto your computer Demonstration mode When you first download and install VocALign Pro 4 it will run in a fully functional demon stration mode for the number of days shown in the start up screen that appears when you open Logic and it scans the available plug ins If you have not already purchased a license clicking the Buy button will take you to the Synchro Arts on line store where you can pur chase a license to authorise the software using iLok see below Clicking the Try button will allow the plug in to operate in the time limited demo mode Logic first run If you have installed VocALign AU and not yet authorised it with an iLok Key before install ing and running Logic f
11. guides you through the use of VocALign in easy stages so that you can learn about how it works and how best to use it It uses a prepared Logic project that can be down loaded from the Synchro Arts website You will learn how to e Select the Guide and Dub audio in Logic that will be processed in VocALign e Transfer the Guide and Dub audio into the VocALiegn plug in e Use VocALign to create an Aligned synchronized Dub and audition it e Return the Aligned Dub audio to Logic Step 1 Obtain the tutorial project and audio The Logic Project for the Tutorial session can be found by going to www synchroarts com and locating the Downloads page On the Downloads page locate and click on the link Logic Project for VocALign AU to download the tutorial project to your computer The copied folder should contain the file and folder shown below Logic Tutorial Project ReadMe VocALign AU Tutorial Figure 11 Contents of the tutorial project download The folder VocALign AU Tutorial should contain the following audio files and Project LO OO C VocALign AU Tutorial Y DEVICES EY iDisk v Li Audio Files i Macintosh HD i Untitled 160G _ Logic Tutorial Project alba I gt I gt TWITDUB WAV SHARED E Backupserverl ll syo BR administration E fire octopus I gt I gt PLACES EZ Desktop cn john A Applications A BG GUIDE WAV BGVOICE2 WAV BGVOICE3S WAV ST
12. in the tutorial If you make any changes to the selected waveform or energy profile region after initial alignment such as modifying the start or end points the yellow aligned energy profile display disappears and Align or Edit will need to be pressed again to perform a new alignment If the alignment does not look or sound satisfactory there are a few options Select another setting or alignment mode which will clear the aligned trace click Align again and examine the results Adjust the leader audio before the start of the Guide and Dub to be roughly equiva lent with the Dub leader being slightly longer Adjust the end of the Guide or Dub see previous section Reselect and recapture the Guide or Dub audio in Logic if the original selection 1s thought to be causing the problem 26 Alignment settings You can control the alignment settings which greatly affect how the alignment performs Use the alignment settings menu to select which preset 1s active as shown in Figure 32 Selected AUGIO Maximum Compression E Neger Normal Flexibility Gi ee High Flexibility Se Advanced 57 Maximum E r by Time Domain l m EES OAN I A Figure 32 Selecting alignment setting In general you will achieve better results by selecting the ADVANCED alignment mode BASIC mode is provided to offer compatible behaviour with the Project version of VocALign The main setting characteristics are
13. or later Logic 8 Mac OS 10 5 7 or later Logic 9 e VocALign PRO 4 processes audio with sample rates up to 192 kHz Acknowledgements e Special thanks goes to our beta testers and EMagic staff for their help and support e Thanks to Steve Cooke for providing the English voices in the demonstration audio e VocALign is developed and sold under license from Wordfit Limited Table of Contents A INTRODUC TION TO WEE IEN eege 1 EE l How docs VocALI oN WOLK aeria n E E A l Howcin VCore Up errno N e 2 Workine without E Meissenin A E TE E EEE OTE EE 2 EE 2 APPLICATIONS vscaceetiestcnctces seston steasdoes ten edoaneees sane ea 3 BASIC AND ADVANCED OPERATION MODES cccesccceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeseeeees 4 SOFTWARE INSTALLATION 2 0 cc eeeeceee ence eee ee aaeain eaaa 5 Demon e 5 LOSIES EE 5 GEIER 5 GE THNG STARTED RE 8 BE ET TEE 8 TUTORIAL cosis aaa 12 Step 1 Obtain the tutorial project and audio E 12 Step 2 Open the RE 13 Step 2 Add ee EE 14 Step 4 Select the GUIDE audio as the side chain Input 15 Step 5 Set the location indicators in Logic E 16 SIE ER o a a on nul sae e e Beertere ener E E rere aetna eee eer reser 16 Step 7 Prepare the EE 17 Ste peo alse tie TUO n ata ae aa a A 18 SIE E E 18 Step 10 Create the time aligned version of the Dub audio 19 Sep RRE the a ie A EE 19 Step 12 Create dn audio file of the aligned Du jis ic josass esse sri Lenepractineacuessnetdarnaterateeeemnaeee 20 G VOCALIGN
14. synch points Clear synch points press to delete all synch points NO ep VocALign settings controls the characteristics of the alignment processing NO zl Editing basis click to choose between time and frequency basis for non linear time compression and expansion NO CO Edit button click to generate aligned audio 31 will indicate when done NO CO Delete button click to remove all waveforms from VocALign Qo Overview waveform display scaling slide to zoom in and out Oo p Editing complete indicator If green edited aligned audio is processed and ready for playback 32 Selected waveform display scaling slide to zoom in and out 33 Energy scale shows range of display 23 H Important tips for effective operation Assuming you have mastered either the Quick Start introduction or the Tutorial in the previ ous sections the following will help you to get the best results from VocALign Capture In Logic you will start with a session in which there is Guide original audio con tained on one track and Dub replacement or new audio on a second track In the Logic Arrange window select the desired portion of the Guide and Dub audio regions for processing by using the location indicators green bar at the top This can include any individual region or multiple regions Your selection can begin and end in the middle of a region If you start in a blank area between audio regions in
15. two extracts It isn t strictly necessary to do this as a separate step because Align or Edit will automatically do it anyway but it helps to see what is happening ef a 00 00 00 00 2 0 4 0 6 0 8 0 10 0 0 Guide gt Est Protect ak AN r Selected Audio CLD EU Normal Flexibility GED C Align Mode Synch Points Editing Advanced 1 CUSSL OE Time Domain gt Figure 21 Energy display after Analyse Step 9 Align the Dub audio Clicking Align creates a processed version of the track on which the VocALign plug in is in serted You will now see a yellow trace superimposed on the Guide audio track s waveform see Figure 22 which is VocALign s proposed mapping of the Dub track s energy pattern to match that of the Guide Initially this is done in a temporary fashion but soon you can also create a more permanent audio file of the processed version 10 0 0 e 00 00 00 00 20 4 0 6 0 8 0 K Synch Points 2 e e Protect Figure 22 Yellow trace over Guide showing proposed alignment Step 10 Create the time aligned version of the Dub audio Click EDIT to create a rendered version of the aligned audio that is written temporarily to disk The loudspeaker symbol next to the Delete button see 31 on the display guide in the next section changes to green to show that audio 1s ready to be auditioned Editing Time Domain
16. EVEGUI WAV bes VocALign AU Tutorial 7 items 11 8 GB available Figure 12 Files involved in the tutorial project 12 Date Modified 16 February 2009 09 48 28 February 1998 19 06 28 February 1998 19 06 28 February 1998 19 06 18 April 2001 20 45 27 February 2002 10 59 11 March 2009 10 58 eg Step 2 Open the project in Logic OOO SS VocALign AU Tutorial Arrange oO SC DE ZEN omg o m BE BBE B E aft SS IG x E S O D w Inspector Preferences Settings Auto Zoom Automation SetLocators Repeat Section Cut Section Insert Section Split by Locators Split by Playhead Merge Bounce Colors Lists Media Y STEVEGUI zs P EE ow Edit v Track Region MIDI Audio View v Snap Smart Drag Overlap Ge DE l pl 2 4 Sl 7 11 L l Loop Fade in 0 gt Global Tracks Curve 0 OG fe Fade Out 0 Curve 0 Delay 0 3 gt Guide Audio 3 Audio 4 be gt oo Mixer Sample Editor Piano Roll Score Hyper Editor Figure 13 This is how the Logic project window will look after opening the tutorial project 13 Step 3 Add VocALign as an insert In Logic add VocALign PRO AU as an Insert on the DUB track by selecting the folders Audio Units and then Synchro Arts Ltd gt VocALign PRO AU gt Mono as shown in Figure 14 j mi B a 2 Feet Si Inspector Preferences Settings Auto Zoom Automation Flex Se
17. Figure 6 Selecting the Guide audio Chain menu 4 Use the Logic location indicators by dragging the ends of the green bar at the top of the Logic arrange window to select the time region to be captured into VocALien t amp H Edit Track e Region MIDI Audio View el 1 NRS d es Global Tracks z Guide j Kan rer a Meld ils wl Logic s location indicators figure 7 Setting Logic s location indicators 5 In the VocALign window press Capture Audio The green light in that button will flash showing that it 1s waiting for audio Press PLAY space bar in Logic The selected section of the Dub track will be loaded into VocALign and a pair of waveforms will be displayed Press STOP in Logic space bar View v Show Channel Strip Show Insert v Side Chain Audio 1 Bypass Compare a k Untitled ES 00 00 00 00 20 4 0 6 0 8 0 10 0 Selected Audio CI GL Normal Flexibility GED Ge Basic Synch Points Editing CLD GD Time Domain 8 VocALign Pro AU Figure 8 VocALign window after capture showing selection of ADVANCED mode 10 6 Select ADVANCED align mode Time Domain editing and Normal Flexibility Provided the Guide audio content is sufficiently similar to the Dub starts in roughly the same place and has a small amount of lead in containing a bit of background noise press EDIT and the Dub audio will be aligned to the Guide audio as well as pos s
18. VOCALIGN VocALign PRO 4 AU Audio Units Plug In for Logic 8 and 9 User Manual f A A AN WM W d VA Manual Version 1 0 0 SYNCHRIO JA RTS Contact Information Synchro Arts Limited 13 Links Road Epsom Surrey KT17 3PP UK Tel 44 1372 811934 UK Tel 01372 811934 Fax 44 1372 817976 UK Fax 01372 817976 Email info synchroarts com Online Support at Web http www SynchroArts com Email support SynchroArts com Synchro Arts Limited 1995 2010 VocALien is a registered trademark of Synchro Arts Limited All other trademarks are the property of their respective holders End User License Agreement PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING LEGAL AGREEMENT CAREFULLY PRIOR TO USING THE VOCALIGN SOFTWARE PROVIDED WITH THIS AGREEMENT USE OF THE SOFTWARE CONSTITUTES YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THE TERMS OF THIS LICENSE IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THE TERMS OF THIS LICENSE PROMPTLY RETURN THE UNUSED SOFTWARE MANUALS AND ACCOMPANYING MATERIALS TO THE LOCATION FROM WHICH THEY WERE OBTAINED FOR A REFUND AND YOU MAY NOT USE THIS SOFTWARE l License The application demonstration and other software and audio accompanying this License whether on disc in memory or on any other media the Software and the related documentation are licensed to you by Synchro Arts Limited You may use the Software on a single computer make one copy of the Software for backup purposes only and physically transfer the Software from one
19. and Normal Flexibility above and between these two options his sets up the plug in with some typical settings for speech alignment In VocALign if required adjust the start or end of the GUIDE or DUB audio so that the sec tions to be aligned are roughly similar in terms of content This is done by clicking and drag ging the waveform from its ends when first captured or where it changes colour to grey after adjustment The cursor changes to a pair of arrows pointing inwards when hovering over the adjustment point The selection can also be made by sliding the blue or orange pointers above 6 0 BEE E E wm Figure 20 Adjusting the end of the Guide left or Dub right audio using the pointers or below the waveform as shown in Figure 20 There is a pointer at the beginning and at the end of each waveform to begin with You may have to scroll to the night in the VocALign window in order to see the pointers at the end of the waveforms Logic s transport commands are used to play the audio Try to ensure the start of the audio selection is in silence or low level noise for about 0 25 seconds before the waveform energy appears and try to ensure the end of the selected audio 1s at the desired stopping point Step 8 Analyse the audio In VocALiegn click Analyse The display changes to show an energy plot of the Guide and Dub tracks Figure 21 which is what VocALign uses to create a time warp path to match the
20. and ADVANCED In both modes VocALign automatically aligns the selected Guide and Dub audio regions using either time or frequency domain processing In VocALign you can trim the starts and ends of regions to be processed and control the degree of flexibility in the time warping alignment process BASIC mode uses an alignment algorithm that has compatible behaviour to VocALign Project The ADVANCED mode uses a more sophisticated and robust alignment algorithm which generally results in more successful and accurate alignment It also provides more flexibility and control during the alignment process and may work better with audio signals that are difficult to align in BASIC mode In general you should use ADVANCED mode unless you specifically want the algorithm to behave like VocALign Project The ADVANCED mode adds two important controls one that enables you to determine synch points and the other to select protected regions in the audio to be aligned Synch points are pairs of pointers that relate specific locations in the Dub to specific target locations in the Guide VocALign will try to ensure that the points are put in synch In essence this en ables you to attempt to force VocALign to match the audio at these points Protected regions are user specified parts of the Dub audio that will not be affected by VocALign s time warp ing VocALign PRO also includes frequency domain editing in addition to the normal time
21. computer to another provided that the Software is only used on one computer at a time You may also transfer all your license rights in the Software the backup copy of the Software the related documentation and a copy of this License to another party pro vided the other party reads and agrees to accept the terms and conditions of this License 2 Copy and use restrictions You are not allowed to distribute copies of the Software or the documentation This Software 1s protected by the copyright laws that pertain to computer software It 1s illegal to make copies of the Software except for backups It is illegal to give copies to another person or to duplicate the Software by any other means including electronic transmission The Software contains trade secrets and in order to protect them you may not decompile reverse engineer disassemble or otherwise reduce the software to human perceivable form You may not modify adapt translate rent lease or create derivative works based upon the Software or any part thereof You may not provide use of the Software in a network time sharing or multiple user arrangement You acknowledge that no title to the intellectual property in the Software is transferred to you and that title and full ownership rights to the Software a will remain the exclusive property of Synchro Arts Lim ited or its suppliers and licensors 3 Termination This License is effective until terminated You may terminate this License
22. dimmed as shown in Figure 29 Align Mode Synch Points Editing Advanced l Su TER Time Domain Figure 29 Overview display showing dimmed waveform for unselected audio right 24 Trimming the captured material Captured audio material may need to be trimmed before alignment in order to ensure that the extracts are optimised for processing VocALign will work best if Guide and Dub material start at a similar point in their energy profiles and both have a small pe riod of background noise before they begin It is preferable to trim starts and ends of extracts using the energy display You can help VocALign do a good job by trimming the audio so as to match initial energy pro files and ensure that there is a good chance of starting the alignment accurately To convert a captured audio waveform into the energy display press Analyse IMPORTANT There is currently no way to return to the waveform display once an energy analysis has been done The current contents must be deleted and recaptured if you need to start again You can optionally perform several operations on the energy display waveform itself before Alignment a The start and end boundaries of the selected regions can be modified by dragging the blue or orange pointers at either end of the audio selections as shown In Fig 30 left The waveform turns grey to indicate unselected audio energy Alternatively you can position your cursor
23. e discs and related materials their fitness for any purpose their quality their merchantability or otherwise The liability of Synchro Arts Limited under the warranty set forth above shall be limited to the amount paid by the customer for the product in no event shall Synchro Arts Limited or its authorized distributors be liable for any special consequential or other damages or breach of warranty 6 Severability In the event any provision of this Agreement is determined to be invalid or unenforceable it shall be adjusted so as to best reflect the intent of the parties to the maximum extent possible and the remainder of this agreement shall be valid and enforceable to the maximum extent possible 7 Entire Agreement This Agreement is the entire understanding between the parties with respect to the sub ject matter hereof and replaces any previous discussion and or agreement regarding such subject matter No amendment to or modification of this License will be binding unless in writing and signed by Synchro Arts Lim ited 8 Governing Law This Agreement shall be interpreted and enforced in accordance with English law and the English courts shall have jurisdiction to determine any dispute Important Notes e In this manual VocALign PRO 4 AU Plug In for Logic will be referred to simply as VocALign PRO 4 Technical specifications e This program is compatible with Apple Logic 8 or higher software running on Mac OS 10 4 9
24. end point selector 1s shown further to the right 11 Dub energy A profile of the energy of the Dub signal in time 12 Protected region see Section I 13 Protected region start and end markers drag the red sliders to mark regions that will remain unaffected by processing see Section I 14 Scroll bar use slider to move waveform position in window 15 Align button click this to generate and display the aligned Dub audio energy trace in Guide window does not create aligned audio 16 Analyse button click to analyse and display the energy plot of the Guide and Dub VocALign displays the energy in only one band 500Hz 1kHz but actually splits it into four bands 17 Overview window shows multiple captured regions and clicking waveform selects the Dub and Guide waveforms to be processed 18 Selected Guide waveform Guide audio that will be processed 19 Selected Dub waveform Dub audio that will be processed 20 Advanced Basic mode selector menu Use Advanced mode unless you specifi cally want compatible behaviour with the Project version of VocALign 21 Unselected Guide waveform Guide audio that will not be processed shown as darker waveform 22 Unselected Dub waveform Dub audio that will not be processed shown as darker waveform NO OO Overview waveform display scrolling slide to move display Ko NO om A Se OO Ne ae Oe A ser Automatic synch point setting press to let VocALign pick possible
25. ible The display changes to an energy plot of the two extracts and in the Guide win dow the yellow trace shows how the energy of the Dub is matched to that of the Guide Press PLAY in Logic and you will hear the effect of the alignment View v Show Channel Strip Show insert v Side Chain Audio 1 Bypass Compare Copy Paste 00 00 00 00 2 0 4 0 6 0 8 0 10 0 Protect Figure 9 Yellow trace over Guide showing proposed alignment 7 In Logic nght or control click on the Dub region waveform and select Bounce in Place Export to Audio File in Logic 8 This enables you to make a new aligned audio file that can be played on a new track in Logic You can either select the track yourself before bouncing or let Logic create a new track If you have used the Export to File option you will find the processed file in the Logic Bin Bounce Regions In Place Name TWITDUB aligned Destination O New Track Selected Track Source O Leave Mute O Delete include Instrument Multi Outputs IT Bypass Effect Plug ins Mute on off kb Loop on off V Add Effect Tail to File _ Add Effect Tail to Region Recent item 4 Recent item 5 V include Volume Pan Automation Normalize Overload Protection Only H Restore Defaults Cancel OK Edit Select Playback B Figure 10 Choosing Bounce in Place left and selecting options right 11 F Tutorial This tutorial
26. ic select the part of the project you want to process using Logic s location indicators as shown in Figure 17 The Guide and Dub audio should be approximately in the same place t La ni edit v Track v Region v MIDI v Audio v View v E Global Tracks 1 Guide Logic s location indicators Figure 17 Setting Logic s location indicators Step 6 Capture the audio In the VocALign window press Capture Audio as shown in Figure 18 The green light in that button will flash showing that it 1s waiting for audio Figure 18 Capture Audio button showing green light Press PLAY space bar in Logic The selected section of the Dub track will be loaded into VocALign and a pair of waveforms will be displayed in the VocALign window showing the selected Guide and Dub audio see Figure 19 Press STOP in Logic space bar x 7 View Show Channel Strip Show Insert Side Chain Audio 1 Bypass Compare d gt Untitled Y Copy Paste 00 00 00 00 20 4 0 6 0 8 0 10 0 0 03 Ki en OH Synch Points 2 zl e Protect Selected Audo mnn qq CI E noma Flexibility ee eae Basic Synch Points Editing omm GD Time Domain i Figure 19 VocALign window after capture showing selection of ADVANCED alignment mode VocALign Pro AU Step 7 Prepare the settings for alignment Select the ADVANCED alignment mode as shown in Figure 19 along with lime Domain in the Editing menu to the right of it
27. ing path is fed to an audio editing processor that time compresses and expands the Dub audio to create the aligned version based on the path It 1s this edited version of the Dub that 1s re turned to the audio editing software for the desired use Note In the above diagram the spectrum analyser colours match those used in the VocALign PRO 4 screen for Guide and Dub audio signals and controls How can VocALign help If you are a dialogue editor needing to lip synch vocals or a music editor needing to tighten up lead or backing vocals instrumental tracks or perform a number of other alignment tasks then VocALien will help you Working without VocALign A dubbing session for film post production or music production begins with a guide track Then the voice over artist singer or musician will dub this as closely as possible Because humans are not machines they will not be able to get exactly in time with the Guide This is generally not acceptable for lyp synching nor for double tracking of vocals or instru ments Often the next step is to loop record the more tricky sections individually but this can break up the natural flow of the line Lastly the editor will attempt manually to cut and nudge individual sections of the new recordings into time with the Guide The above process can take many hours for both the artist and the editor Working with VocALign The above process becomes a simple matter of getting the artist to c
28. inserts in Logic to select VocALagn from the Audio Units plug ins In Logic select VocALign Pro AU gt Mono as an insert on the track to be aligned the Dub track It is found in the list of Audio Units in the plug in menu as shown 2 mm ER fF SS P eS AS B amp B Inspector Preferences Settings Auto Zoom Automation Flex Set Locators Repeat Section Crop Split by Playhead Y moi mru GR VEEE EAE E antize off a 1 3 4 Sje e Q Swing Ke Loop D gt Global Tracks E Transposition Delay 1 Guide Dynamics 2 Gate Time Clip Length Score Iw Advanced Quantization b Duh No Plug in Amps and Pedals Delay Distortion Dynamics EQ Filter Imaging Metering Modulation Pitch Reverb Specialized Utility K Ah 0 A0 0 0 0 dh 0 d 0 YF Audio Units F Apple b LEXICON k Synchro Arts Ltd p VocALign Pro AU SE Figure 4 Selecting VocALign as an insert in Logic The VocALign plug in window will open as shown in Figure 3 Selected Audio nalyz He ER Se e Align Mode Synch Points Editing a i Figure 5 VocALign window before audio capture 3 In VocALign s Side Chain menu select the audio track that you want to use as Guide audio the original sound to which the Dub audio will be matched amp View Show Channel Strip e Show Insert e Side Chain Compare T Copy Paste Select Guide audio track from Side
29. m A V Add Effect Tail to File Recent item 5 _ Add Effect Tail to Region Edit Select D E Include Volume Pan Automation Playback 7 Normalize Overload Protection Oniy Figure 25 Choosing Bounce in Place left and selecting options right If using Bounce in Place the processed audio will be bounced onto a new track in syne with the start of the original one You can either let Logic choose a new track or you can select the track onto which it will be bounced before you select Bounce in Place right diagram Fig 25 For now the new extract can be renamed shown below as PT WITDUB_aligned and bounced onto track 3 Notice that VocALign has only processed that part of the Dub audio that matches the Guide The source original Dub audio region can either be left as it is muted or deleted during this process right diagram Fig 25 In the example shown in Figure 26 it was muted during the bounce indicated by a blue dot before the region name on the Logic display This means you will only hear the newly aligned file when you play You can unmute a muted region by con trol right clicking on the region concerned and selecting Mute on off Alternatively you can mute the entire source track using the track mute control to the left of the display 20 Figure 26 Aligned audio on track 3 in the Logic display showing blue dot on track 2 s audio region to indicate muting If you have used
30. nd of the Guide for processing to be 0 25 to 1 0 second before the Guide sig nal of interest ends and use the entire Dub Controlling the plug in status After having first added VocALiegn as an insert on a Logic track the name of the plug in will appear on the relevant insert button To change or remove the plug in click and hold on the insert button and select the appropriate plug in or no plug in To reopen the VocALign window once the plug in window has been closed double click on the insert button Previewing material Once the Dub track has been provisionally aligned before bouncing the aligned audio back to another Logic track you can listen to either the Guide track or the Dub track separately by using the track mute or solo controls in Logic Mute the Guide track to hear only the Dub track for example Use the Bypass control in VocALiegn to turn on or off the alignment effect 28 Advanced mode operation Synch points Synch points are used to pick target points where VocALign will try to ensure that the two extracts remain in synch In essence this enables you to attempt to force VocALign to match the audio at these points Synch points are created as pairs displayed as linked green blobs one relating to the position in the Guide and one relating to the position in the Dub audio You can move each point in the pair independently of the other so that the synch point can be different in the Guide and Dub
31. ndicating that the transfer was success ful How to authorize your VocALign PRO 4 software with your at Rey If you followed the above procedure correctly and the iLok Key with the plug in authoriza tion is inserted in the computer running the plug in the plug in should run in an authorized mode by simply launching Logic and then the VocALign plug in Reauthorising VocALign if Lok is removed If you subsequently try to run the VocALign plug in without the ok inserted into your com puter the following window will appear Press Buy and reinsert the ok containing the rele vant license The software will be reauthorised VocALign Pro VOCALIGN ELY VocALign Pro 4 0 1 1995 2010 Synchro Arts Ltd This version of YocALign Pro requires authorization again in order for you to continue using it Please press the Buy button to begin the reauthorization process Buy Quit Figure 3 Reauthorisation window Lok Support For further information on 1Lok go to www iLok com E Getting started To learn to use the basic functions of VocALign PRO 4 only takes a few minutes but for quickly getting the best understanding we strongly recommend that you first follow the brief tutorial in Section F which uses prepared audio examples The following how ever 1s a Quick Start guide for those that want to jump straight in without following the tuto rial Quick start l 2 Click on one of the spare
32. oncentrate on creating a great performance rather than worrying about the fact that it may drift in and out of exact synch with a previous performance VocALign can then be used to adjust the timing by automatically time stretching and compressing the material to allow the Dub to take on the same timing pattern as the Guide This saves studio time saves artists time and improves the quality of results Most importantly artists are allowed to produce their best performances free from the rigidity normally associ ated with dubbing Q B Applications VocALign was originally designed for lip synching replacement dialogue for film and video post production but it has been adapted to work successfully in the following applications e Synch ing replacement dialogue in post production for film and video e Double tracking vocal parts or instrumental parts e Tightening the ensemble of singers with one another or with the lead vocal e Tightening the ensemble of backing instrumental tracks e Synch ing a drum machine audio output to a real drummer or vice versa e Giving a dubbed vocal the timing of a live vocal performance e Changing the voice or even apparent sex of a singer or actor s performance e Replacing the vocals from a music video shoot with a production track achieving perfect lip synch e Foreign language dubbing Cit C Basic and advanced operation modes VocALign PRO 4 has two modes of operation BASIC
33. or the first time this section may be relevant When first launching Logic it will scan the available Audio Unit AU plug ins in order to optimise them It may show a warning that one of the AUs is not authorised It will take you to the PACE website to download the necessary 1Lok software There 1s an option to ignore the plug in or continue Logic launch If you select Continue Logic will continue to load and eventually you will be able to open a project However you will not see the Synchro Arts VocALign plug in in the list of available Audio Units Quit Logic and follow the instructions below to authonise the license for VocALign using ok com Software authorization VocALign uses the ok system for authorization and once installed your license will reside on a USB smart Key shown below If you already have a license installed on your ok you can skip this section on authorization Figure 2 ot Key Once your ok Key contains a VocALign license plug the Key into a USB port on the com puter that runs your audio editing software to run your VocALign in an Authorized mode Ilok Keys can hold licenses for a number of protected software products You can have li censes from Synchro Arts and other software vendors on the same ok Licenses for VocA Lign are downloaded from an d ok com account What is ok com The www iLok com website provided by PACE lets you create a personal account which 1s used to manage your softwa
34. re licenses If you don t have a user account you will need to cre ate one before you can authorise VocALiegn On www iLok com you can receive new licenses from software publishers such as Synchro Arts see what licenses are on your iLok Keys register your licenses and move your licenses between 1Lok Keys Using software available from ok com you can transfer licenses from iLok com to your computer and also identify the 1Loks you currently have connected to the USB port on your computer Synchro Arts may also use your iLok com account to provide your license and give you technical support first time using wok If this is the first tme you have used 1Lok you will need to download and install the InterLok Mac OS X extensions from 1Lok com currently at http www ilok com download ilok software html You will also need to download the Interlok iLok Client Installer for Mac OSX This will require you to logout and login again to your Mac before proceeding Obtaining your license 1 If you haven t done so you need to inform Synchro Arts or your software dealer of your 1Lok com User ID This is normally done when you purchase your software 2 Synchro Arts will deposit a license into your ok com account and notify you Failure to keep your Lok com account up to date may result in delays in providing you with services or other support System requirements To use ok with VocALign PRO 4 AU and Logic you will need a computer wi
35. t Locators RepeatSection Crop Split by Playhead t e H edit Track Region MIDI Audio View l d 2 3 4 JF 6 Quantize off 3840 Q Swing Loop Kk Global Tracks Transposition EH Click on one of Delay the spare inserts in Logic to select VocALign from imaging the Audio Units plug ins Audio 3 Audio 4 Specialized Ke Audio Units K 0 0 0 d 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 d T Apple b LEXICON b Synchro Arts Lid VocALign Pro AU b hg Figure 14 Selecting VocALign as an insert in Logic The VocALign PRO AU window should appear as shown in Figure 15 14 Selected Audio nalyz lic ER P i Align Mode Synch Points Editing a Ti co p A wemmer 7 Figure 15 VocALign window before audio capture Step 4 Select the GUIDE audio as the side chain input The SIDE CHAIN selection in VocALign decides what audio material will be used to guide the alignment process It is selected as shown below in the top right hand corner of the plug in window Select the Audio Guide track containing the audio file STEVEGUI at the start for the tutorial O View e Show Channel Strip e Show Insert e Bypass Compare 4q E VM Copy Paste s Audio 1 4 Guide 00 00 00 00 ah K mm K Figure 16 Selecting the Guide audio Sba Onean track from Side Chain menu Step 5 Set the location indicators in Logic In Log
36. th a USB port an Internet connection Mac OS 10 4 9 or later Logic 8 Mac OS 10 5 7 or later Logic 9 How to mstall your VocALign PRO 4 License from iLok com onto your ok Rey l Insert the dok Key into an available USB port on your computer and ensure its indi cator light is lit 2 Login to your account at www iLok com 3 On iLok com if you have received notification from Synchro Arts that your electronic license has been deposited then your authorization is available for transfer Your iLok com account will display a notice saying You have licenses Select that link to start the transfer 4 The next page on iLok com will display the pending licenses available for download along with the name of the plug in the manufacturer the type of authorization Demo Not For Resale or License the date the authorization was deposited and the date when the authorization will no longer be available for download from the server 5 Before an authorization transfer can take place synchronize your ok Smart Key with ok com 6 Once you have synchronized your 1Lok select the authorization s you wish to transfer to your 1Lok If you have multiple 1iLoks connected to your computer it 1s important to select the correct 1Lok as the destination to which you want an authorization to be transferred 7 On iLok com click Download Licenses to begin the process When the transfer fin ishes you will be asked to confirm completion i
37. tracks Synch points can be set either automatically or manually In this example Figure 33 from the speech material at the beginning of the tutorial audio automatic synch point selection was chosen The display shows one synch point detected where a particularly high energy peak is present in both versions The plug in attempts to match alignment at this point adjusting the sections before or after it separately A shading change is shown at the synch point boundary Figure 33 Automatically selected sync points shown in green You can add sync points manually by clicking in the sync points area between the start and end selection pointers then dragging the green blobs to the appropriate locations In the ex ample Figure 34 two sync points have been manually inserted Figure 34 Manually 0 inserted sync points D o Synch bi gege Points bei bei 2 Q Sync points can be deleted by control clicking on them They can all be deleted at once using the CLEAR button Protected sections Sections of the Dub track can be protected so that they are not edited by VocALign Click and drag the red pointer in the Protect bar below the Dub waveform to highlight in red the relevant area see Figure 35 Drag the second pointer to alter the start of the protected sec tion g View Show Channel Strip Show insert v Side Chain Audio 1 Bypass Compare lt gt Test preset 2 00 00 00 16 20 4 0 6 0 8 0 10 0 0
Download Pdf Manuals
Related Search