ADR tips 'n tricks

modernPrimitive

modernPrimitive

Active member
Hi,

I'm doing ADR for the first time (in Nuendo with multi-line recording). It's pretty effective and the free-warp tool does a good job however I was wondering if anyone could offer tips in terms of making things easier and more intuitive for the actors. (I have 25 minutes of dialog intensive script to get through and have spent at least 5 hours doing only 3 minutes so far)

The process I use at the moment is as follows: I send the original guide track through headphones to the actor into the booth and play it in a loop. When the actor starts performing the line I hit record and take multiple takes until I hear one that seems to be a fair match. From there I delete previous takes and tweak using split and free warp.

I'm finding the real difficulty is getting the actor to become comfortable with the line - they seem to try and rush the line, speed up and slow down to match the original through the headphones. There's either too much of a "handle" or too little either side of the part for them to sync up comfortably. Perhaps I should cue them with another actors line that precedes their own ...I don't know.

Also, if I break long lines up too much they tend to get the sync right but emphasis and flow of the lines don't match the original whereas if I give them a long line the sync is usually way out. I'm also not sure if them hearing the guide track during the actual recording is helping or hindering them but obviously they have to have it repeated a few times to get the flow before recording.

Oh, one other thing to mention - the actors don't have a monitor for visual reference in the booth. I could set one up (with some difficulty), but I'm not sure it will really assist them much.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.
mP

PS: Just a tip for other first-timers from the engineering side of things - I find it's a good idea warp the new track to the waveform of the guide track - one can clearly see the accents and dynamics in the waveform - this is actually sometimes a better reference than picture.
 
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- have everything ready before the actos come...actors don't like to wait

- record everything on different tracks...It's easy to overview everything

- let the actors relax

- practice first... it has no sense to rush up and go fast fast fast and speak at a speed of 65064064604680460404063434 miles/h because you're mother potato's are ready :-p

- don't be afraid to repeat things... don't worry to repeat it 576460874076076087 times

- it's important the actor can hear the recoded sound

- you have to know that for untrained people... ADR takes a LOT of time...

- Speak close to the mice, but don't eat it

- shut down all sounds that can be shut down
 
To get them to start in sync, I use a countdown– 3 tone beeps each exactly 1 second apart, that leads to the first line at the 4th second. For 2 sentences, it can easily take 15 minutes to nail it... and then sometimes the talent gets it on the second try :)

Try to break it into sections using natural pauses. If you're on an Apple, Soundtrack Pro has got a really cool ADR multitrack recording feature that lets you splice pieces from different takes together very easily.

I have done my own ADR a few times in a couple of different Apps (FCP, Soundtrack Pro) but for important projects, I spend a couple hundred bucks to take it to a sound studio and have them do it with Pro Tools and quality recording gear.
 
Getting everything recorded well and as in sync as possible is paramount.

Once you have everything recorded as well as you can, try using Vocalign by Synchro Arts for a finishing touch. You can download a demo for Nuendo. Use it quick, though, it is a time limited demo, but fully functional.

Vocalign works well, but the better the material is synced, the better it works, of course. I've seen it work great on stuff horribly out of sync, and I've seen it screw up the simplest task. Give it a shot. You really have nothing to loose.
 
ADR, especially with talent unfamiliar/inexperienced with the process, is going to be very time consuming, and will draw heavily on your people skills.

Your first chore, before you get the talent into the studio, is to be sure that your sessions are set up properly with markers, 2-pops, character tracks, etc. The director/producer/whoever should have a script all set up to check off the lines and make notes on favorite takes.

Your second chore is to create a space physically and an atmosphere emotionally where the talent is comfortable. Make sure that the room is, well roomy; you don't want the talent to feel claustrophobic. Be sure that the room is a comfortable temperature, there is a stand for the script, a seat for while you are auditioning takes, someplace for drinks, etc. The headphone cable should have plenty of length so they can walk around without pulling on it. Be very cognizant of headphone levels. Your attitude of concern for the talent is extremely important so that they can relax and concentrate on doing ADR. Keep your comments positive, or make negative ones humorous. Believe it or not, keeping the talent positive and motivated is probably your most important job. Remember the "stupid" things - cell phones off, remove noisy jewelry and clothing, have plenty of water handy.

Not having a video monitor for the talent isn't a huge drawback, and with inexperienced talent a monitor can sometimes be a distraction.

As much of a PITA as it can be, sometimes "hear and repeat" is the better way to go instead of having the talent say the line with the production sound. It's a bit harder on you - you now have to slide the ADR dialog over to match the production dialog, but inexperienced talent often responds to this much better.

Line by line is the way to go; really long lines can sometimes be broken up, but, as mentioned, the flow and inflection usually suffers. BTW, don't be afraid to jump around a little if they are having a tough time with a line; finish the scene and come back to it. You should also go back to the first scene you did that session and see if you want to redo it now that they are in the groove. DO NOT ERASE ANY COMPLETE TAKES. This stuff can be a gold mine when you go back and do the actual ADR editing.

If you want the talent to speak louder you can turn their voice down in the headphones, they'll push harder. The converse is also useful; turn their voice up in the headphones and they won't push as hard. Be cognizant of the location of the scene - people don't whisper to each other on a construction site or a battlefield, for example.

As mentioned Vocalign is the freakin' BOMB! I quite often do a quick test on lines as we go.

That's all I've got, although I'm sure I forgot some things.
 
There is the 'big budget" way and in then there is the low budget way. Big budget usually works to picture low budget usually doesn't. I find that the best I have gotten is to play the guide track once or twice and then have them say the line a few times. They seem to get the pace better this way. You can then play it against picture to do a quick "is it close enough" check. Then move on, don't futz with it while the actors cool their heels. Something like Vocalighn usually will get you there if the line was close.

But it's a balance of performance VS sync, so it's a lot of work to get good ADR.

You pace seems about right. It should get faster a bit as you go on but a LOT depends on the actors.
 
There's an important question here. Why do you need 25 minutes of ADR? That's what it looks like you meant, at least. An entire script should never have to be dubbed if you expect it to look anywhere close to correct. It's always a huge pain, and it always takes ridiculously long. There really isn't a quick way, so hopefully this project has taught you a valuable lesson- do everything possible to avoid ADR in the first place.

As for actual suggestions, I agree with what others have said, just remember that it's on the actors to be good at repeating. If they're rushing it might be because they're getting frustrated or nervous, so reassuring them and giving breaks is a good way to go.
 
I once had to do ADR for over half of an indie feature - about 45 minutes worth, seven different characters - because the production sound was absolutely horrible. By painstaking coaching, lots of cutting and Vocalign the sync/appearance was great. The performances could have been a lot better, however. Sometimes you just don't have a choice.
 
Here's some low budget ADR advice, take it or leave it

1. ... screw the booth ... get rid of it, it just puts a barrier between you and your actors and a little room tone anyway doesn't hurt. I do ADR with the actor sitting next to me and someone holding a shockmount mic inches from their mouth.
That way if the actor moves or turns as they get into the flow the person holding the mic can move with them and maintain good signal to noise ratio.

2. If you did your casting properly and you have trained actors they should be able to watch a take once and spit it out perfectly .. I recently did ADR with two top actors (one SAG one from RADA) and this was my experience. It was so awesome.

3. If you have amateur actors play the cut off the timeline so they can see and feel the vibe of the scene. If they can't 'get it' then forget the edit and just play back the take without the handles that way they can judge
the timing and the lead-up. I do this sitting in front of the computer in a quiet room with the actor.

4. You can do loops if you want - but I avoid this especially with amateur actors. It's a fast way to get a dull drone of a performance.

5. Keep it organic .. keep the connection between you and the actor, they will need you to direct them and bring them back to the moment.

edit:
if you are having problems with an actor, get his co-actor there and act it out. If possible go to the location or recreate a dummy version of the location.
Remember the more inexperienced the actor ... the more they will rely on you to take them back to the scene (props, co-actors, location, clip playback etc).
The better the actor .. the easier it will be and the greater the chance they can pull off perfect adr while away from their co-actor, director or 'in a booth'.

good luck and hope it helps :)
 
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THere are a few quibbles I would have with the above. A good dead space or going out site is the only way your going to get believable EXTERIOR ADR. So in that case room tone will be a killer.

Personally on low budget films I'm a big proponent of shooting ADR in a location that sounds like the original space. My studio is in a house so I run cable to whatever room, or outside, sounds the most like the space the scene was shot in. Saves a lot of post futzing and tends to fit in better.

Also it could be read that you are having the actors sit, probably not what you meant but it could be read that way. You want the actors in whatever position they were in in the shot. Someone sitting sounds a bunch different from the same line standing.

And lastly some experienced actors are terrible at ADR and some inexperienced ones are fantastic. As a rule I would agree that the more experienced generally the better they are at ADR but you can't count on it. With less experienced actors the biggest indicator of how smooth the session will go is whether or not they have musical training. If they gan sing decently they are usually pretty good at ADR.
 
With this actor I had over 100 clips of him attempting just to match the emotion of his original performance. Luckily I have VocAlign to assist with the timing. But it took me like 4-5 hours to get 2 minutes of audio done. My only tip is to plan better and get it right on location. I never want to have to do this again. I say we need to physically smack anyone who suggests, "We'll just ADR it later!".


UPDATE. I did the ADR in a treated, deadened space, then added convolution reverb to create a space similar to a wooden church. I used a AT4053b and Cubase.
 
modernPrimitive said:
Hi,


Oh, one other thing to mention - the actors don't have a monitor for visual reference in the booth. I could set one up (with some difficulty), but I'm not sure it will really assist them much.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.
mP

PS: Just a tip for other first-timers from the engineering side of things - I find it's a good idea warp the new track to the waveform of the guide track - one can clearly see the accents and dynamics in the waveform - this is actually sometimes a better reference than picture.
Click to expand...

In our ADR studios we always used sizeable pix monitors. The talent has to hear *and see* themselves a couple of times to get comfortable.

Waveform displays can be helpful but it's easy to get carried away, miss the feel of the take and use up valuable time. You can easily lose the good take because the peaks don't match on a headturn, you need a monitor.

And watch your talent and the clock, don't run them both into the ground .. new anxious actors will plow on till they drop, schedule breaks, send them out into the fresh air for a time.

Sometimes on the set, having a paragraph or line re-recorded immediately can be dropped and matched up later, saving hours.

Cheers.
 
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