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1. 44 100 kHz Sample Rate WI Mono Downmix L R Channels Bit Depth Split Channels Real Time Export Import into Project WI Pool 9 Audio Track Create new Project ve eee Figure 25 Cubase s audio mixdown options 27 Figure 26 The newly aligned Dub track has been mixed down to track 3 in Cubase 28 G VocALign PRO 4 screen contents and controls Dub Ins 1 VocALign Pro 57 1 5 SELECTED AUDIO 1 6 Analyze Normal Flexibility v Align Delete C EDITI PLAYBACK 17 eH READY 31 c Time Domain v 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Figure 27 Key to VocALign screen contents and controls 1 Bypass button bypasses any VocALign processing applied on this Insert If OFF grey Vo cALign plays and transfers aligned Dub audio as long as 31 is green If ON yellow Vo cALign plays and transfers original unprocessed Dub audio 2 Capture Audio button arms VocALign to receive Guide and Dub audio from the editor during a play pass Yellow when waiting for audio flashing green when capturing audio 3 Side chain button turns on the side chain input to VocALign normally routed from a Send of the Guide track Orange when ON 4 Help button click to access help tips 5 Display start time and time offsets shows position of captured audi2. Revert E oe i eee zbo Channel Notepad Page Setup O Quick Controls Print Import MIDI File MIDI Loop Audio Mixdown Selected Tracks Replace Audio in Video File Cleanup Key Commands MusicXML Recent Projects OMF Figure 9 Selecting Audio Mixdown as an Export option 18 F Tutorial This tutorial 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 Cubase project that can be downloaded from the Synchro Arts website This can also be opened and worked on in Nuendo although for the rest of this tutorial it will be assumed that you are using Cubase The two user interfaces are very similar You will learn how to e Select the Guide and Dub audio that will be processed in VocALign e Transfer the Guide and Dub audio into the VocALign plug in e Use VocALign to create an Aligned synchronized Dub and audition it e Return the Aligned Dub audio to Cubase Step 1 Obtain the tutorial project and audio The Cubase project for the tutorial session can be found by going to www synchroarts com and lo cating the Downloads page On the Downloads page locate and click on the link Cubase Project for VocALign VST to download a copy of the tutorial project to your computer Copy the contents to a suitable folder on your computer s hard disk The copied material should contain the file and folde
3. 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 pointers 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 tracks Synch points can be set either automatically or manually In this example Figure 32 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 You can add synch points manually by clicking in the synch points area between the start and end selection pointers then dragging the green pointers to the appropriate locations In the example Figure 33 two synch points have been manually inserted Synch points can be deleted by right or control clicking Mac single button mouse on them They can all be deleted at once using the Clear button Protected sections 00 00 00 00 0 8 18 24 Sync
4. file of the processed ver New Library sion of the Aligned Dub Open 0 Open Library select the Audio Mix Close HW down function which is Save 5 under Export on Save As LEE Cubase s Fil Inserts Back up Project Prone 4 1 Equalizers Save as Template shown in Figure 23 Save Library Set Cubase s location indi Revert Notepad Page Setup Quick Controls Print Import MIDI File MIDI Loop Audio Mixdown p Selected Tracks Tempo Track Scores MusicXML Replace Audio in Video File Cleanup Key Commands Recent Projects Figure 23 Audio Mixdown selected from Export options under the File menu 26 i i i ih iit C UM G ET RN iaaii durs B i i eR ef VEC Ayed kam endl oes ooh 6 Figure 24 Setting Cubase s location indicators to highlight the region for mixdown B06 Export Audia Mixdown Channel Selection File Location Channel Batch Export Name Output Channels TWITDUE_aligned Stereo Out Path Audio Channels Guide Dub Naming Scheme TWITDUB_aligned wav TWITDUB aligned i msey Documents Logophon Consultancy SynchroArts Vocalign Project VST Downloaded ti File Format Insert Broadcast Wave Chunk edit Don t Use Wave Extensible Format Mi Insert i XML Chunk Audio Engine Output
5. hear both the Guide and aligned Dub audio together in sync If you left the start and end pointers unal tered before editing the laugh at the end of the Dub audio will still be audible and a little time 0000 00 40 9 0 T Capture Audio compressed VocALign s mapping of the two energy patterns as shown by the yellow trace results in an Figure 22 Bypass button in VocALign editor overall shortening of the Dub audio window The bypass button in the top left hand corner of VocALign s display see Figure 22 allows you to temporarily turn off the processing of this plug in so that you can hear the original unprocessed au dio The button is yellow when the plug in is bypassed Be sure to turn bypass off i e not bypassed if you want to use the Aligned audio If you move the Guide s end marker right hand blue pointer to just after the end of the Guide sig nal then press Edit again so as to regenerate the Aligned Dub the laugh at the end of the dub will be left unprocessed and will remain at the original speed You can move the right hand orange pointer as well if you wish the Dub s end marker so that the Dub energy end point is before the laugh starts then press Edit again This will eliminate the laugh from the processed version Step 12 Create an audio file of the aligned Dub In order to create an audio Edit Project Audio MIDI New Project ZEN Scores Media Trans pr
6. neza Unha N N udu al R d ite ish Finds Sum Pech pn EC Chopper Bex lor afn ls lever Reever b Turer Voln Pro SUT mahio Mnr 6 ign Proeri Spatial Fanner b Tals BAR rant Bas Syed 1 Bas Woo 2 0 rear r reperi XTY Machine LT whom FE 1 3 Figure 4 Selecting VocALign Pro as an Insert in Cubase 15 CA Dub Ins 1 VacALign Pro Capture Audio VOCALIGN ai 00 00 00 00 2 0 4 6 0 B U 10 0 Synch Paints Protect mm L ES UU SOU Ue a SELECTED AU DIO Analyze Maximum Compression W Align Edit 0 ALIGN MODE SYNCH POINTS EDITING PLAYBACK a R ee READY Figure 5 VocALign window before audio capture Pi Cn ii i ii E 0 UY J 0 1d PY cA DL J ji 1 ici 0 HD ii i F 0 or MTU Fh Dub fs 1 Woc lign Fro DB KS LIT S So bar Audia Figure 6 Turning on the side chain input 3 The VocALign plug in window will open as shown in Figure 5 4 Turn on the side chain input in VocALign by pressing the fifth button from the top left of the plug in s window as shown in Figure 6 5 Now select a Guide track in Cubase the material to which the Dub will be aligned and route one of its Sends to the side chain of the Dub track Insert that controls VocALign as shown in Figure 7 Turn on the Send and set its gain to 0 dB 6 In Cubase select the start point of the audio you want to process using Cubase s time line Th
7. Next double click the VocALign pkg to install the VocALign software For Windows Run the downloaded installer Demonstration Trial and Full Licenses VocALign can run fully functional in one of 3 Licensed Modes 1 Trial Mode requires an iLok Trial License installed in a iLok Smart Key to run for a Lim ited Period after launch 2 Demonstration Mode runs immediately on a built in Demonstration License for a limited time after launch This mode does not need an iLok Smart key 3 Full License Mode requires an iLok Full license installed in an iLok Smart Key to run without time limits NOTES e Different versions of the VocALign plug in will run either in the Demonstration or Trial Modes without having to purchase a license e The user will be informed before downloading the software if the Trial Modes is built into the software being downloaded e Software that runs a Demonstration mode does not need an iLok account or Smart key while the demonstration mode is active but will need both to run a purchased license in Full mode e If the software is using a Trial or has purchased a license to run in Full Mode the user will require both an iLok Smart Key described below and an account on iLok com The rest of this Chapter provides more details on each of these authorization Modes and on the iLok authorization system 11 Software Authorization VocALign uses the iLok system for authoriza
8. TIP If you need to capture more than one audio region into one instance of VocALign you may need to use the Overview display at the bottom of the window to select separate regions for pro cessing Click on the desired waveform to select it Use Delete to delete the selected waveform from VocALign This is covered in more detail in Section H Step 7 Prepare the settings for alignment Select the Advanced alignment mode as shown in Figure 18 above along with Tume Domain in the Editing menu to the right of it and Normal Flexibility above and between these two options These are the default settings This sets up the plug in with some typical settings for speech align ment In VocALign if required adjust the start or end of the Guide or Dub audio so that the sections to be aligned are roughly similar in terms of content This is done by clicking and dragging the waveform 23 Dub Ins 1 VocALign Pro 00 00 00 00 20 40 60 80 100 0 b Dio Synch Points M M ee SELECTED AU GIO Analyze Normal Flexibility r i dit __ ALIGN MODE SYNCH POINTS EDITING A PLAYBACK Figure 19 VocALign energy display after pressing Analyse from its ends when first captured or where it changes colour to grey after adjustment The selec tion can also be made by sliding the blue or orange pointers above or below the waveform as shown in Figure 18 There is a pointer at the beginning and at th
9. the alignment settings menu to select which preset is active as shown in Figure 31 above The main setting characteristics are described in Table 1 Low Flexibility Alignment is not very flexible sound quality may be best Default it i ded his fi i ks b Normal Fl exibility Default it is recommended to try this first as 1t works best in most cases Hish Flexibilit Alignment is the most flexible of the settings but may 59 compromise sound guality Tries to match the Guide by time compressing the aligned Maximum Compression audio as much as possible Tries to match the Guide by time expanding the aligned Maximum Expansion audio as much as possible Table 1 Alignment settings In general you will achieve better results by selecting the ADVANCED alignment mode BASIC 34 mode is provided to offer compatible behaviour with the Project version of VocALign Editing modes VocALign PRO offers two methods of editing the Dub audio The differences are highlighted in Table 2 Editing mode Optimum signal reguirements Advantages Speed of editing Audio contains only a single Good for reducing editing Freguency pitch e g one voice or one artefacts in transients and rapid Slower single pitched instrument pitch changes when expanding Audio can be single voiced or Good for compression and Fastest contain complex signals maintaining musical beat Table 2 Editing modes Further tips and tricks La
10. Capre Ne LOKO LO PRE E E 22 Step 7 Prepare the settings for alignment sss essen 23 KR OR ogy CIL aL MEAE E A E E N eee en E E oh suk mouka 24 Step 9 Align the DUDU sarsana kaata nanne nET AAEN ETENA TENETE RASA 24 Step 10 Create the time aligned version of the Dub audio sss 25 Step L1 Play the aligned audio ssisiciisisiirei iinei aaia askana KEE a KANEN aaan Re aka s 26 Step 12 Create an audio file of the aligned DUD 26 Step 13 Using advanced features of VocALign Dro 26 VocALign PRO 4 screen contents and controls ccccscscsecscsccccccscsccccccscsceccecscsceees 29 Important tips for effective operation ccccecccccccccsccccccscscscscscscsccccccccccccccccecscecens 31 Cubase Nuendo Preferences sss sss 31 Ke 31 Overview NIN e 31 Trimming The Captured MAEM Val H 32 ADOTE 0 O 33 Alone e erT 34 RST e e ea 35 Further tips and tricks tseecac ccsectcscscseaencucycacteses cose eee eee 35 Eeee 113 ee eee ere ene ASKO AAE R AA ee ee ee 35 CAVE g 02 1 K eee ME Pen V n P n ee ee er 33 Controlling the plug in SUQUUS seesinane aiian KAER NERAN NARAN ARANEA EANAN 35 fad ATM Lalo p eek cl glo eee cee NE ees ee eee ere eee eee ee ee eee ee 35 Advanced mode operation ministries enn 36 DALES To LE E E E E E E E E E E R 36 NS RER e eL 36 LISTE 1 TOOLI E prane cease a vein EENE TEENE 38 A Introduction to VocALign What is VocALign VocALign is a process that automatically edits the timing of one audio signal to match another In
11. Project VocALign VST Tutorial cpr F E l 1 5 00 Guide E i S k aE l L Inserts E l Equalizers Oo nn oD be EEE TWITDUB Notepad Quick Controls Rec 44100 Hz 16 Bit Max KLT E 3 Figure 11 Tutorial project display in Cubase CD D SEE 5 EE ira S jm o KACI r e ee T ei bl K ko 3 l i l u P G ka el lo o E Pe alel ee UI Mu mI m Carbon PATA Wat Laer F LYK ai ame j she on Delay K free De 19561 is aiaa in Lfe d Dean b selec Foc iarr tO b re from il Fiker K Cher Patani Mastering LW ZHA ne Plug ins rma Una Erg i koula Le F je K F D hpr RZ nash PIG Shift Pech Comment Chopper Reshoraben b er Revert Titer Spatial Fanner b VIST 1 HT Fr Kiurrnurel rm eh hen malign rn erl Tals je Fle rant Bas Bratz 1 BAS Woo 2 0 fra prap rez char XTY Mar hime LT whom BE 1 3 Figure 12 Select VocALign Pro as an Insert in Dub track 20 a Dub Ins 1 VocALign Pro Capture Audio 00 00 00 00 2 0 4 8 8 0 10 0 Synch Points ea Protect SELECTED AUDIO l Analyze Maximum Compression oF Align it Delete P i ALIGN MODE SYNCH POINTS EDITING l PLAYBACK k READY Time Domain Figure 13 VocALign Pro plug in editor window before audio capture as shown in Figure 12 The VocALign PRO window should appe
12. T HHH 7 H w can Corey feral ils 0 acier ee er ee NEE arare TaT ETE a a ar EEEa 7 Working witout VOCAL ON aisis yasr an n a EE E aaa E E EAEE EEN Eaa 7 Worki with VOCALION T 8 Ne cre rte ewe sees en erste deen meet ONO ARTS EPA PRE meaty PR MPP POV ones MPO O casts 9 Basic and advanced operation modes csccscsecscsccscsccscscsccsceccsceccscnceccnceccsceccsceees 10 D Software Installation and Authorization sessssesssosossesossesossssosessosossosossosossssosess 11 aTe T E T E E E E E E E E E E E 11 Demonstration Trial and Full Licenses sss sss sss 11 SOVA POU Sl 12 More information on iLOK COM sss 12 PUTS CHV SN OSM O ooo E E vaca seeps ten 13 Obtaining your Irial or FUN OER nananet anana aana 13 How to install your VocALign License from iLok com onto your iLok Keu sss 13 How to authorize your VocALign software with your iLok Keyuissssssssssssessssssessesssssesssssssssesssnsesesns 13 Reauthorizing VocALign if the iLok Key is removed sss 14 IBOR Up O eran SENA ee 14 E ie OSS OPPO P ea o pores ten nce P OE M PP P P eo ee P Pe 15 OTO E O HT T T 15 Pe T 4 T 1 SPM OSM MM POMO P E Pe PO SO POP 19 Step 1 Obtain the tutorial project and audio sss 19 Step 2 Open the project In CUD AS 6 srseiriasiiraroennns inanasan aikaani aaan 19 Stepa Add V cALI en aS all IMSET Esnia sad iaa i S raa ANAA ETRA ASEA raa ARI A 19 Step 4 Select the Guide audio as the side chain Input 21 Step 5 Set the start pointin CUDaS6 essen 22 Sepo
13. VOCALIGN VocALign PRO 4 VST VST3 Plug In for Cubase and Nuendo User Manual Manual Version 1 1 0 SYNCHR O ARTS Contact Information SYNCHRIO ARTS 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 2013 End User License Agreement PLEASE READ THIS LEGAL AGREEMENT CAREFULLY PRIOR TO USING THE VOCALIGN SOFTWARE PROVIDED WITH THIS AGREEMENT THIS AGREEMENT IS BETWEEN SYNCHRO ARTS LIMITED AND YOU USE OF THE SOFTWARE CONSTITUTES YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THE TERMS OF THIS LICENSE IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THE TERMS OF THIS LICENSE YOU MAY NOT USE THIS SOFTWARE INSTEAD PROMPTLY CONTACT THE SOURCE FROM WHICH IT WAS OBTAINED FOR A REFUND AND REVOCATION OF ANY LICENSE 1 Hardware key license In fully authorized licensed mode in order to function this software requires an Authorization Code to be deposited on a hardware key PACE iLOK USB Smart key You may install this software on multiple hardware devices but you may only use the software on one hardware device at a time and only in connection with your properly Au thorized hardware key 2 License The application demonstration and other software and audio accompanying this License whether on disc in memory
14. ar as shown in Figure 13 If you are using a trial version of VocALign there will be an option either to continue using it for a limited number of days by pressing Try or to purchase a license by pressing Buy see the earlier section on software installation Step 4 Select the Guide audio as the side chain input A side chain to the VocALign insert is used to connect the audio track that will be used to guide the alignment process Turn on the side chain input in VocALign by pressing the fifth button from the i 9 il ii I J Hi i E ii u i L L i L I 9 PC i A i ii I H d n I t l n I M 1 I i ii S N s LL l p PC P l Dub bis 1 Woc Lign Fro 8 lt e KZ w P zE l Figure 14 Turning on the side chain input 21 Guide Inserts Equalizers Sends Sead gard control Mader aa Mie e fair 07 dine lier ihe aimera valie fo enie 9 aumie Figure 16 Setting the Send controls in Cubase top left of the plug in s window as shown in Figure 14 The button will now glow orange Now select the Guide track in Cubase and route one of its Sends to the side chain of the Dub track Insert that controls VocALign as shown above in Figure 15 Turn the Send on and set its gain to 0 dB as shown above in Figure 16 Step 5 Set the start point in Cubase In Cubase select the start point of the audio you want to process using Cubase s time line The Guide and Dub audio should be approximately in the sam
15. de 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 possible The display changes to an energy plot of the two extracts and in the Guide window the yellow trace shows how the energy of the Dub is matched to that of the Guide Press Play in Cubase after moving the time line back to the start of the region in guestion and you will hear the effect of the alignment Use Cubase s Export gt Audio Mixdown function to create an audio file of the Aligned Dub This can be found under Cubase s File menu as shown in Figure 9 Set Cubase s location indicators so that they highlight the time region of audio that is to be mixed down Select the Dub track to be mixed down The mixdown options are discussed in more detail in the Tutori al Make sure the original tracks in Cubase are not muted faded down or solo ed then press Export to create the aligned file This will be available in Cubase s Pool and can optionally be written to a spare track as part of the mixdown process Cubase Edit Project Audio MIDI Scores Media Trans n New Project aN R New Library i Open 0 e Open Library Close aw I Save 5 Save As DHS Aeneane ete Inserts Back up Project Equalizers Save as Template TEVEGUI ooo Save Library k Sends T 7 Z
16. e Guide and Dub audio should be approximately in the same place and the start point should be within low level noise before the chosen audio material 16 Guide Inserts Equalizers Sends No Bus Outputs Figure 7 Route a Guide track Send to VocALign s side chain P suis Ins 1 VocALign Pro Ae e Capture Audio O g ee See ee 00 00 00 00 2 0 40 6 0 8 0 10 0 U Synch Points dB 86 Porororot bo bot tot i SELECTED AUDIO 5 Analyze Normal Flexibility Oo S E d ALIGN MODE SYNCH POINTS EDITING PLAYBACK READY Advanced Auto Clear Time Domain w Figure 8 VocALign display after audio capture 7 In the VocALign window press Capture Audio The light in that button will glow yellow and show Stop Capture to show that it is waiting for audio You can press it again to cancel the capture if necessary 8 Press Play space bar in Cubase The light in the button will flash green while the audio is be ing captured The selected section of the Dub track will be loaded into VocALign Press Stop in Cubase space bar when you reach the end of the audio material to be captured and a pair of waveforms will be displayed in the VocALign window showing the selected Guide and Dub au dio see Figure 8 above 17 10 In the VocALign window select Advanced align mode Time Domain editing and Normal Flexibility these are the default settings Provided the Gui
17. e Project window drag the time line current play time so that it starts just be fore the desired portion of the Guide and Dub audio regions for processing The captured material can include any individual region or multiple regions Your selection can begin and end in the middle of a region VocALign PRO works best when working on relatively short regions at a time for example from 20 seconds to say a minute But effective alignment will depend on many things e g gaps in the signals how similar they are and other features Some experimentation will help the user find the best lengths to process for each signal Try to capture up to around 0 25 to 0 5 seconds of background or leader audio at the be ginning 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 VST the selected audio can be up to five 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 err
18. e end of each waveform to begin with You may have to scroll to the right in the VocALign window in order to see the pointers at the end of the waveforms Cubase s transport commands are used to play the audio TIP Try to ensure that the start of the audio selection is in silence which should be low level noise within an audio segment rather than an empty part of the track that lies between segments for about 0 25 seconds before the waveform energy appears Try to ensure the end of the selected audio is at the desired stopping point Step 8 Analyze the audio In VocALign click Analyze The display changes to show an energy plot of the Guide and Dub tracks Figure 19 above which is what VocALign uses to create a time warp path to match the two extracts This step can be omitted because the Align or Edit buttons will automatically include the analysis step The Analyze control is available to obtain a quick overview of the anlaysis stage with out further processing Step 9 Align the Dub audio Clicking Align creates a processed version of the track on which the VocALign plug in is inserted You will now see a yellow trace superimposed on the Guide audio track s waveform see Figure 20 next page 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 per 24 P Dub Ins 1 VocALign Pro Ca
19. e place In this case it means dragging the time line back to zero before the start of the audio extracts Step 6 Capture the audio In the VocALign window press Capture Audio as shown in Figure 17 next page The light in that button will glow yellow and show Stop Capture to show that it is waiting for audio You can press it again to cancel the capture if necessary Press Play space bar in Cubase The light in the button will flash green while the audio is being captured The selected section of the Dub track will be loaded into VocALign Press Stop in Cubase space bar when you reach the end of the audio material to be captured A pair of waveforms will be 22 L Capture Audio otop Capture 00 00 00 00 20 00 00 00 00 20 a O Figure 17 Selecting Capture Audio left after which the light in the button glows yellow and shows Stop Capture right DIE UTM i I HL Eil r e N Fig 102 nj di fa ji sry z l l Lire 1 Ld s m ard cud Dot iF dear tex fa MT Dru ised Lra Til d ri LO N Bet Eia re a BET Ft Pi N NDA HELO iE ETE EEK Ark Farma lac r T 4 or pLIG R PEF IY Ne Soa TH L Cu Tim Domin oF E A aerated dili Pa rag fh TEDEN H fire oF TYT rde urn CARETO dimi Aaii Figure 18 VocALign plug in editor window after audio capture displayed in the VocALign window showing the selected Guide and Dub audio see Figure 18 next page
20. ft The waveform turns grey to indicate unselected audio energy Alternatively you can position your cursor at the boundary of the coloured audio material the cursor changes into a pair of horizontal ar rows and drag the boundary left or right The display can be scrolled horizontally with the scroll bars to examine the captured wave forms You may need to scroll right to see the end point adjuster 32 c The scale control Fig 29 00 00 00 00 right can be used to ex pand or contract the hori zontal time scale slider or alter the range of the verti cal scale in dB gt Synch 0 Points dB Bn 96 e Choose an appropriate Vo 1 ze cALign setting before press B ing Align e g if the Dub is Figure 29 left Pointers to adjust start of Guide and Dub very long compared to the energy right scale control Guide try Maximum Compression Guidance is offered in the following section Alignment settings e 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 30 e Ifthe alignment looks satisfactory generate the aligned audio by pressing Edit This creates the aligned audio e A shortcut is to simply press Edit after capturing the audio as this will run the Analyze and Align steps first e Preview the results by using the Cubase play contr
21. ftware in an authorized mode iLok Keys can hold licenses for a large number of protected software products You can also have li censes from Synchro Arts and other software vendors on the same iLok More information on iLok com The www iLok com website provided by PACE lets you create a personal account which is used to manage your software licenses If you don t have a user account you will need to create one before you can authorise your VocALign Trial or Full software On http 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 iLok Keys Using software available from iLok com you can transfer licenses from iLok com to your computer and also identify the iLoks 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 12 First time using iLok If this is the first time you have used iLok you may need to download and install the iLok extensions and drivers from http www ilok com Obtaining your Trial or Full license 1 If you haven t done so you need to inform Synchro Arts or your software dealer of your iLok com User ID This is normally done at the same time you obtain a Trial license or purchase a Full License Synchro Arts will deposit a license into your iLok c
22. h Points Figure 32 Automatically selected synch points shown in green 00 00 00 00 14 28 42 56 Synch Points Figure 33 Manually inserted synch points 36 Sections of the Dub track can be protected so that they are not edited by VocALign Click in the Protect bar below the Dub display to add a red pointer at the start of the intended section then drag it to highlight in red the relevant area The example in Figure 34 uses the material from the tutorial examples Here the phrase unreal time has been protected so that after processing it remains spoken in the rather more languid way used on the Dub track as opposed to being shortened as on the Guide track This can be useful for example in foreign language dubbing when you want to avoid inappropriate modification of certain words in the dubbed language Drag the pointers to alter the starts and ends of the protected section remembering to press Edit again in order to perform a new alignment Click and drag again in the same bar to add further protected sections Red pointers can be deleted by right or control clicking on them Synch Points Protect Figure 34 Selecting a protected section using the red sliders 37 J Troubleshooting For help and advice visit the Synchro Arts support website at http www synchroarts com index php PAGEID support 38
23. hout 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 lip synching nor for double tracking of vocals or instruments Often the next step is to loop record the more tricky sections individually but this can break up the natural Guide audio Time warping path Time aligned Time Dub audio alignment algorithm Dub audio Figure l VocALign block diagram 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 concentrate 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 guality of results Most importantly art ists are allowed to produce their best performances free from the rigidity
24. ircumvention of this technology is prohibited Attempts to circumvent this copy protection technology may make the software or certain features unusable or unstable and may prevent you from updating or upgrading the soft ware 5 Termination This License is effective until terminated You may terminate this License 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 contact Synchro Arts to allow them to revoke your Software Authorization on your iLok Smart Key 6 Educational Use If the software is designated as specially priced Educational version it is licensed only for non commercial use by students faculty and staff of an educational institution 7 Evaluation software If the software is designated or licensed as a Not for Resale NFR or Trial version you may use the software only for demonstration testing or evaluation purposes If the software authorization is time limited any rights granted to you by Synchro Arts terminate at the end of the stated time limitation 8 Limited Warranty Synchro Arts Limited warrants that the software if properly authorized and used as described in the documentation which accompanies it will perform as desc
25. nd 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 enables 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 warping VocALign PRO also includes frequency domain editing in addition to the normal time domain edit ing 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 O 10 D Software Installation and Authorization Installation If you have not already done so download VocALign from www synchroarts com downloads For Macs Double click the disk image dmg file that you downloaded to mount the disk image on the desktop
26. normally associated with dubbin g 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 Syncing 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 Syncing 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 C Basic and advanced operation modes VocALign PRO 4 has two modes of operation BASIC and ADVANCED In both modes VocALign automatically aligns the selected Guide and Dub audio regions using either time or freguency 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 re sults in more successful a
27. o referenced to the editor time line 6 Aligned audio trace a representation of the energy of the new aligned signal 7 Guide energy a profile of the energy of the Guide signal in time Display elements relating to the Guide are coloured blue 8 Guide start point selector adjusts processing start The corresponding end point selector is shown further to the right 9 Synch point pair click in this region and drag the green blobs to create and adjust pairs of 29 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 synch points see Section I Dub start point selector adjusts processing start The corresponding end point selector is shown further to the right Dub energy a profile of the energy of the Dub signal in time Display elements relating to the Dub are coloured orange Protected region see Section I Protected region start and end markers drag the red sliders to mark regions that will remain unaffected by processing see Section I Scroll bar use slider to move waveform position in window Align button click this to generate and display the aligned Dub audio energy trace in Guide window does not create aligned audio Analyze button click to analyze 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 Overvie
28. ols 00 00 00 00 20 40 6 0 Synch Points Protect Figure 30 Checking the aligned energy yellow trace 33 SELECTED AUDIO Analyze Normal Flexibility edit Maximum Compression e EDITING P Low Flexibility Advanced Normal Flexibility High Flexibility Maximum Expansion Time Domain Figure 31 Selecting alignment setting e If the alignment is satisfactory transfer the edited audio to Cubase by using the Audio Mix down function as described in the tutorial e If you make any changes to the selected waveform or energy protile region after initial alignment such as modifying the start or end points the yellow aligned energy profile dis play disappears and Align or Edit will need to be pressed again to perform a new align ment e Ifthe alignment does not look or sound satisfactory there are a few options a Select another setting or alignment mode which will clear the aligned trace click Align again and examine the results b Adjust the leader audio before the start of the Guide and Dub to be roughly equivalent with the Dub leader being slightly longer c Adjust the end of the Guide or Dub see previous section d Reselect and recapture the Guide or Dub audio in Cubase if the original selection is thought to be causing the problem Alignment settings You can control the alignment settings which greatly affect how the alignment performs Use
29. om account and notify you Alternatively you might have originally received an iLok Trial or Full License Code which you must redeem on iLok com in order to obtain your iLok license in your account Failure to keep your iLok com account up to date may result in delays in providing you with services or other support How to install your VocALign License from iLok com onto your iLok Key 1 Insert the iLok Key into an available USB port on your computer and ensure its indicator light is lit Log in to your account at www iLok com On iLok com if you have received notification from Synchro Arts that your electronic li cense 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 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 Trial Demo NFR 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 Before an authorization transfer can take place synchronize your iLok Key with iLok com Once you have synchronized your iLok select the authorization s you wish to transfer to your iLok If you have multiple iLoks connected to your computer it is important to select the co
30. or as it needs to be able to detect a signal to enable it to set its analysis parameters Try to start capturing where there is at least some low level background noise within the audio region Overview window If you capture more than one audio region in separate capture passes while the VocALign 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 dimmed as shown in Figure 28 a above In this case the two regions occupy separate periods 31 a b Figure 28 a Overview display showing dimmed waveform to the right for unselected audio that is separate in time from the selected audio b Showing overlapping regions that have been separately captured in Cubase s timeline so it is easy to tell them apart in the overvicw window Selected highlighted waveforms in the overview window are those that will be processed by VocALign If you press Delete only the highlighted waveform will be deleted If you have accidentally or intentionally captured more than one region in separate capture passes within the same period on Cubase s timeline one will be overlaid on the other s in the overview window as shown in Figure 28 b The latest captured one will be highlighted and the
31. or on any other media the Software and the related documentation are licensed to you by Synchro Arts Limited You may transfer all your license rights in the Software the related documentation and your Authorization and License to another party provided the other party reads and agrees to accept the terms and conditions of this License 3 Copy and use restrictions This Software is protected by the copyright laws that pertain to computer software The Software contains trade secrets and in order to protect them you may not decompile reverse engineer disassemble or oth erwise 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 Limited or its suppliers and licensors You may copy the software only to the extent necessary for backup or archival purposes in support of your use of the software You must include all copyright and other legal notices appearing on the software in any copies that you make 4 Circumvention of copy protection This software includes technology designed to prevent or detect unlicensed use of the software and c
32. other s will be dimmed If they overlap completely you will not be able to see those lying behind and the only way to reveal the hidden material is to delete the highlighted material this is hiding it However if part of the dimmed waveform is visible in the background you can click on it to select it Trimming the captured material a b 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 mate rial start at a similar point in their energy profiles and both have a small period of back ground noise before they begin It is preferable to trim starts and ends of extracts using the energy display You can help Vo cALign doa good job by trimming the audio so as to match initial energy profiles and ensure that there is a good chance of starting the alignment accurately To convert a captured audio waveform into the energy display press Analyze 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 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 29 le
33. pture Audio Synch Points Protect SELECTED AUDIO Analyze Normal Flexibility dit j ALIGN MODE SYNCH POINTS EDITING PLAYBACK P K READY Figure 20 Yellow trace over Guide showing proposed alignment I 11 I I I I 1 I 1 EDITING __ PLAYBACK READY Time Domain Figure 21 The Green loudspeaker shows that audio is ready be played manent audio file of the processed version If you press Help then About in VocALign you can see where the plug in stores these temporary audio files and you can change that location 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 red loudspeaker Not Ready symbol next to the Delete button will change to green Ready to show that the audio is processed and ready to be auditioned see Figure 21 above While the loudspeaker symbol next to the Delete button is red Not Ready 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 TIP Generally for the fastest operation once audio is captured press only the Edit button 25 Step 11 Plav the alianed audio Once the edit is completed and the speaker symbol 1S Dipa Bidqion av yea LAR green if you press Play space bar in Cubase hav Lew qf ante nt biba ced ing moved the time line back to the start you will
34. ribed in the relevant documentation This limited warranty covers the software and updates for 90 days following the date of purchase and can only be extended if required by law This lim ited warranty is void if failure of the Software has resulted from accident abuse or misapplication Any replacement 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 9 No Other Warranties Except for the express warranty set forth above Synchro Arts Limited grants no other warran ties express or implied by statute or otherwise regarding the software 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 10 Severability In the event any provision of this Agreement is determined to be invalid or unenforceable it shall be ad justed 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 11 Entire Agreement This Agreement is the entire understanding between the parties
35. rrect iLok as the destination to which you want an authorization to be transferred On iLok com click Download Licenses to begin the process When the transfer finishes you will be asked to confirm completion indicating that the transfer was successful How to authorize your VocALign software with your iLok Key If you followed the above procedure correctly authorizing VocALign is simply a matter of inserting the iLok Smart Key that contains the correct license into the computer that you are using with your host audio editing software Once that iLok Smart key is inserted you will be able to use VocALign See the next chapter for details on how to do this For further information on iLok go to www iLok com 13 Reauthorizing VocALign if the iLok Key is removed If you subsequently try to run VocALign without the iLok Key inserted into your computer you will receive a warning message Press Retry or if different version press Buy as shown in Figure 3 and reinsert the iLok Key containing the relevant license The software will be reauthorized WARNING Do not remove the iLok from your computer while you are using VocALign If the iLok is removed VocALign will stop working and you might lose your work iLok Support For further information on iLok go to www iLok com VOCALIGN PRO VocALign Pro 4 0 3 1995 2010 Synchro Arts Ltd This version of YocALign Pro requires authorization again inorder for you to contin
36. rs shown in Figure 10 The cpr file is the Cubase project file and the folder called Untitled contains Audio and Image folders for the project In the Audio folder are contained the two audio files used in this tutorial STEVEGUI WAV and TWITDUB WAV I Untitled I Audio STEVEGUI WAV VocALign VST Tutorial cpr Images b Ej TWITDUB WAV Figure 10 Contents of the tutorial project download Step 2 Open the project in Cubase When you open the project file in Cubase you may get a message that the project has been moved because Cubase thinks it was created somewhere else Simply click on the button New to select the location to which you have copied it as the project directory The displayed project should look simi lar to that shown in Figure 11 next page You may need to do a bit of zooming and rearranging to fit your screen In the VST gt Plug ins page of Cubase s Preferences disable untick the setting Suspend VST3 plug in processing when no audio signals are received If this setting is enabled then Cubase will not re play the complete Aligned Dub when the Aligned Dub is longer than the original Step 3 Add VocALign as an insert In Cubase add VocALign PRO as an Insert on the Dub Audio 2 track by selecting Other from the list of plug ins that drops down when you click on an available Insert slot and then VocALign Pro 19 u lel rouch lea 39 5 s igh e Cubase 5
37. tching 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 tails To stop the end of a Dub from being stretched to wrongly match a noisy or reverberant Guide stop the end of the Guide for processing to be 0 25 to 1 0 second before the Guide signal of interest ends and use the entire Dub Controlling the plug in status After having first added VocALign as an Insert on a Cubase track the name of the plug in will appear on the relevant Insert slot To change or remove the plug in click and hold on the Insert slot and se lect the appropriate plug in or No Effect To reopen the VocALign window once the plug in window has been closed click on the round button in the Insert controls containing an italic e to open the plug in editor window Previewing material Once the Dub track has been provisionally aligned before mixing down the aligned audio to an audio file you can listen to either the Guide track or the Dub track separately by using the track mute or solo controls in Cubase Mute the Guide track to hear only the Dub track for example Use the By pass control in VocALign to turn on or off the alignment effect Remember to remove these modifi cations before mixing downa processed track 35 I Advanced mode operation
38. this version it is implemented as a VST3 plug in that works with Cubase or Nuendo 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 three main steps as shown in Figure 1 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 warping 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 is this edited version of the Dub that is returned to the audio editing software for the desired use Note In the above diagram the spectrum analyser colours match those used in the VocALign 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 Vo cALign will help you Working wit
39. tion and once installed your license will reside on a USB smart Key shown in Figure 2 This is different from the USB dongle that is used to authorize Cubase or Nuendo If you already have a license installed on your iLok you can skip this section on authorization Figure 2 iLok Key For Trial and Full Licenses the VocALign licenses are downloaded from an iLok com Account and installed on one of the USB smart Keys pictured above Before you can download a license one must be deposited into your iLok com Account There are two main methods for getting VocALign licenses from Synchro Arts into your iLok com Account e Synchro Arts can deposit a VocALign iLok license directly into your iLok com account if we are told your account USER ID This can occur if you purchase from Synchro Arts store or dealers Or e You can obtain a Trial or Full License Code from the Synchro Arts website or from an au thorized Synchro Arts Software Dealer The License Code must be redeemed i e traded in on iLok com for a VocALign License that is deposited into your iLok com account Once your iLok com account contains a VocALign license you can log in and download the license to your iLok Key When your iLok Key contains a VocALign license plug the Key into a USB port on the computer that will be running your copy of VocALign software and any host application You will then be able to launch and run the VocALign so
40. ue using it Please press the Buy button to begin the reauthorization process Figure 3 Re authorisation window when no iLok is present on Trial Version 14 E Getting started To learn to use the basic functions of VocALign PRO 4 only takes a few minutes but for guickly get ting the best understanding we strongly recommend that you first follow the brief tutorial in Section F which uses prepared audio examples The following however is a Ouick Start guide for those that want to jump straight in without following the tutorial Although the plug in works with Cubase or Nuendo the text refers to use with Cubase The two user interfaces are very similar Guick start 1 In the VST gt Plug ins page of Cubase s Preferences disable untick the setting Suspend VST3 plug in processing when no audio signals are received 2 In Cubase add VocALign PRO as an Insert on the track to be aligned the Dub track by se lecting Other gt VocALign Pro from the list of plug ins that drops down when you click on an available Insert slot as shown in Figure 4 Clik a awe of HG ahe 1161 iR Cabdi fa select bo n re from the Liner Plug in T OES COS 2 ECN L l E ne LIF La mias OT mm OBIE jin elul D e j it A EMELAI v Mu Effect E aed E boj a Tarhan MGA WT Farh Dao ly D steclinn Dried ra ire LO hiker Barier i UHA mesa Hug ins
41. w window shows multiple captured regions If more than one independent audio region has been captured these will be shown as separate waveforms in the Overview display ar ea Clicking one of them selects the Dub and Guide waveforms to be processed Selected wave forms are highlighted in bright blue and orange whereas unselected waveforms are dimmed Selected Guide waveform Guide audio that will be processed Selected Dub waveform Dub audio that will be processed Advanced Basic mode selector menu Use Advanced mode unless you specifically want compatible behaviour with the Project version of VocALign Unselected Guide waveform Guide audio that will not be processed shown as darker waveform These will only be visible if multiple regions occurring at different time values have been separately captured into the plug in Unselected Dub waveform Dub audio that will not be processed shown as darker wave form These will only be visible if multiple regions occurring at different time values have been separately captured into the plug in Overview waveform display scrolling slide to move display Automatic synch point setting press to let VocALign pick possible synch points Clear synch points press to delete all synch points VocALign settings controls the characteristics of the alignment processing see section H Editing basis click to choose between time and frequency basis for non linear time compres sion and e
42. with respect to the subject matter hereof and replaces any previous discussion and or agreement regarding such subject matter No amendment to or modifica tion of this License will be binding unless in writing and signed by Synchro Arts Limited 12 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 VST will be referred to simply as VocALign PRO or simply VocALign Technical specifications e This program is compatible with Steinberg Cubase 4 5 2 5 or above also with Nuendo 4 3 and above running on Mac OS 10 4 9 and above or on Windows XP and above e VocALign PRO 4 VST is a VST3 plug in Acknowledgements e Special thanks goes to our beta testers and Steinberg 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 Trademarks e VocALign is a registered trademark of Synchro Arts Limited e All other trademarks are the property of their respective holders Table of Contents C OTCE MGT VAE DOR as ina ea o CA a E 0 SZK prea E 0 64 He 2 End User License 2 ales 001201 TT 3 As Introduction to VOCA LION seriinin eka Aie 7 UO Ta y 01675 V 23 9 oar PRO tren NA ON ere ere ov o etre ete as ee eee 7 How COGS VOCEL WO
43. xpansion Edit button click to generate aligned audio 31 will indicate when done Delete button click to remove the selected waveforms from VocALign Overview waveform display scaling slide to zoom in and out Editing complete indicator If green Ready edited aligned audio is processed and ready for playback If red Not Ready aligned audio is not yet ready to be replayed Selected waveform display scaling slide to zoom in and out Energy scale shows range of display 30 H Important tips for effective operation Assuming you have mastered either the Ouick Start introduction or the Tutorial in the previous sections the following will help you to get the best results from VocALign he text refers to use with Cubase but the same principles apply when used with Nuendo Cubase Nuendo Preferences In the VST gt Plug ins page of Cubase s Preferences disable untick the setting Suspend VST3 plug in processing when no audio signals are received If this setting is enabled then Cubase will not replay the complete Aligned Dub when the Aligned Dub is longer than the ori ginal On the same Preferences page you may wish to set Cubase s preferences so that the plug in editor window is always on top Capture In Cubase you will start with a session in which there is Guide original audio contained on one track and Dub replacement or new audio on a second track In the Cubas
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