Using VocAlign plugin for ProTools for ADR?

Matthew Bennett

Matthew Bennett

Well-known member
Any pro tools users out there using the VocALign plugin (by synchroarts, something like that..) for Protools?

I'm doing a massive dialogue replacement in FCP right now (quite difficult because you can't align sound on a sub-frame level..), and I was reading about the VocAlign plugin for Protools. Sounds like heaven for an ADR editing session, just wondering if anyone has used it and what their experiences were.

Thanks for any replies...
 
Matthew Bennett said:
Any pro tools users out there using the VocALign plugin (by synchroarts, something like that..) for Protools?

I'm doing a massive dialogue replacement in FCP right now (quite difficult because you can't align sound on a sub-frame level..), and I was reading about the VocAlign plugin for Protools. Sounds like heaven for an ADR editing session, just wondering if anyone has used it and what their experiences were.

Thanks for any replies...
Click to expand...

Matthew,

Volcalign is a Godsend! It really works, as long as your 'guide track' or production audio is of sufficient quality (i.e.minimal bkg noise) that Vocalign can do its magic.

SynchroArts has a 30-day demo version of VocAlign (VocAlign Project) that works outside of protools. You simply make a dropet in Compressor to convert your AIFF/QT audio (both guide and ADR tracks) into mono WAV files. Then drag your WAVs into VocAlign and let it do its thing.

best,
--Greg
 
I have a completely different opinion of this program. Its rubbish.


It makes normal people sound like dial up internet.

and not only on long complex lines, it performs badly on short ones too. Lines where a simple time-stretch in a word is needed for example. If you have a half-way decent ear for hearing whats needed, then just cut, stretch and hey presto. vocalign seems to just sizzle the sss's and add a bit of stammer in for good measure.

Don't let it lure you into false security or false economy, the time it takes to ajust the settings and select the audio for syncing you could be doing it manually and 1000 times better sounding. its not like the program can just crunch an hour of dialogue over lunchtime for you without any guidance. to get any decentish results out of it it needs to be babied.

So I recommend trying the free trial, and giving it a shot - who knows, robotic voices may be the style choice the director was looking for!
:D
 
ScoobySounds said:
I have a completely different opinion of this program. Its rubbish.


It makes normal people sound like dial up internet.

...
like the program can just crunch an hour of dialogue over lunchtime for you without any guidance. to get any decentish results out of it it needs to be babied.

So I recommend trying the free trial, and giving it a shot - who knows, robotic voices may be the style choice the director was looking for!
:D
Click to expand...

An interesting opinion not shared by the majority of ADR editors I know. To get results as bad as you mention the program would have to be doing massive time stretches. Or something was dreadfully wrong. It will not take a totally incorrect - way too long/ short -reading and make it fit and sound great. Nothing will though a lot of editing might work. What it will do is take a line that is soft and make it tight. That is about all you can ever expect software to do, and it does a great job of it. If the readings have nothing in common with the original you didn't shoot the ADR right in the first place and it's slice and dice time.
It's a tool not a miracle. You can make holes with a hammer but it's still not a drill. If you use a tool for the right job things work out better.
 
I also found the vocalign didn't work for me. It's ok for stuff that's a little off, but I don't depend on it. I usually get the actors to just get it right.
 
Dave,

We had somewhat opposite reactions but we are both saying the same thing. I think it may be we came at it with different expectations. I never expected VA to work on any line that was far off and I don't use it on anything that seems on. What I found it very good at was taking a reading that was soft and tightening it up. Doing that by pure editing can be very time consuming. It's always preferable to use a line that was done dead on but one can't always get the actor to come back and do it again and it's also a total waste with some talent, they will just never get in sync. I use it on maybe 10% of the lines depending on the need, some times much less. Most of the time editing will get you there. The only time I have heard the "robot voices" have been when using it to try to futz a new line to try and get it to sync with a different line in production. But that was a desperation move and I didn't expect that it would work.

It is not an automated ADR editor, it's a fine tuner.

Anyway I think we mostly agree on this one. It's useful (or might be useful) for tightening up loose sync. And it's not much help if your not close to start with.
How useful that is to you probably depends on how tight the sync needs to be and how close the lines are to start with and of course personal choice.
 
I am on that same page. I don't use VocAlign for the stuff I do regularly but have used it in the past. What it will do is some very fine tuning on lines that are already 99% of the way there. It will not take something like a wild line reading and sync it to the original delivery (well I guess it could but the results would be the "robotic" voice already discussed).

The only miracle of ADR is an awesome actor. Everything else is sweat.

Cheers
 
wabbit said:
The only miracle of ADR is an awesome actor. Everything else is sweat.
Click to expand...
...And good ears

The bottom line with vocalign is that there is no substitute for sharp hearing and articulate direction. If the pauses and breaths between words aren't there to start with, then vocalign will try and put them in and fail.

I exaggerate a little when I say that it just 'throws stammering in'.. not quite.. but certainly it sometimes can't recognise relatively simple solutions, where manually, it syncs perfectly.
 
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I would just add that it works very well for music, but I would say that generally music is going to be closer to "on the money" to start with than an ADR. You should definately use short selections if you want it to work. I generally use a bar or two at a time, which is going to translate to a couple of seconds of audio.
 
Works great for me too. Like any tool, you have to find where it's limitations are but it's never given me any problems. Short selections, good guide track to start with and your Voice Over needs to be at least in the ballpark.
 
That seems to be the key with audio - the source has to be 90 percent there. I actually just used VocAlign yesterday on some ADR sync work and it's great. It does sound terrible when it tries to stretch a line, though. It seems to work best when the line is slightly too long, and it shortens everything to match.

Great tool.
 
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