Level 6 - Lesson 2: VO Audio Capture

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Level 6 - Lesson 1: VO Basics

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Level 6 - Lesson 3: VO Audio Editing

Lesson information:

As you watch the video, look out for these learning points:

Basics and best practices for capturing audio for voiceover using digital audio recording
Suggestions for equipment and how to set the settings for best audio results

Equipment needed:

a computer
a digital audio workstation (DAW)

Examples include: Pro Tools, Logic Pro, Audacity, Garageband, and more

microphone and pop filter
speakers or headphones
soundproofing

Tips

CoPilot Designer supports 3 types of AudioFiles → WAV, AIFF, and OGG.

The recommended settings are 48 kHz sample rate and 24-bit depth.

Minimize room noise and background sound by sound proofing (set up padding, a booth or use a closet!)
The most commonly used microphone for voiceover is a condenser microphone, and a pop filter (which is placed between the mouth and the microphone) is recommended to reduce plosives (low end distortion).
Recording levels should be set to an average of around -18 decibels.

‣

Video Transcript

In this lesson, we'll discuss capturing audio for voiceover. Currently, most people use digital audio recording. There may still be some people out there using tape machines to capture audio analog style for voiceover, and I commend you, but the vast majority of people are using digital these days.
So we'll discuss that approach here. There's certain equipment that you'll need to record audio digitally, including a computer, a digital audio workstation or da, a microphone and pop filter speakers and or headphones, and then soundproofing or acoustical treatment.
A DA is a digital audio workstation, and that's any program that's used to edit and record audio. Some examples include pro tools, logic, pro cubase, audacity, garage Band, and many more out there on the market.
So whichever one you prefer and fits your budget, feel free to use that as long as it can record and edit audio if possible.
You'll wanna set your DA to 48 kilohertz sample rate and 24 bit depth. These settings work best for video. Other settings will work, but that's what we recommend.
Co-pilot designer can support three different types of audio files, including wave files or Waveform audio file developed by IBM and Microsoft.
There's a I F F, which was developed by Apple and stands for audio interchange file format, and then O G G, which is less commonly used.
It's a container file format. Personally I like to use Wave files, but any of those three will work. And as I mentioned, ideally if you could set your audio for 48 kilohertz sample rate and 24 bit depth that works best with video.
If you're recording voiceover at home, you'll wanna set up some soundproofing to help minimize noisy rooms and background sounds in your recording.
So there's a number of different types all different price points. Check what's out there on the market. At the minimum, it's best to try to set up either a closet or a booth to try to isolate the sound.
Set up some padding to reduce reflections and reverb if you can. And always please remember to silence your cell phone.
As far as microphones, there are many, many different microphone options out there on the market. The three main types of microphones are dynamic condenser and ribbon.
Those are based on the different principles, how the Microphone works to pick up and convert audio. The most commonly used in voiceover is condenser microphones, and that's because they output a louder signal.
They do require an external power source, which is called phantom power, so that's something to consider as well. Condenser microphones tend to be a little more expensive, but that's what's most commonly used for voiceover.
If you're recording voiceover yourself, there are a couple of different techniques you'll want to keep in mind. It's best to have the microphone about six inches away from the actor's mouth and always, always, always use a pop filter, which is one of these.
If you can see in my little video. Now this is placed between the mouth and the microphone, and what this does is reduces plosives, which are hard.
P and b sounds like a sound. You don't want that in your recording, so it's best to use a mic, the pop filter between your mouth and the microphone.
You'll next wanna set your recording levels in your jaw, so you have to keep in mind a couple of things.
The noise floor, which is inherent noise within a system. If your recording levels are too low, you're gonna have a little bit of noise in there.
If it's too high, it's easy to distort. And we don't want distortion in digital audio. That is always a big no-no.
So it's best to have the average somewhere around negative 18 decibels. To summarize, you'll wanna select your equipment, your daw, your microphone, pop filter, and acoustical treatment.
Select settings in your daw, set your recording level, and then you're ready to go. Get out there and record.

✅

Mark Actions as ‘Completed’ in the Actions Checklist

Download any supporting Resources & Documents:

📘

Mark this Lesson as ‘Completed’ in the Progress Tracker

Level 6 - Lesson 2: VO Audio Capture

Completed

…and then go to the next Lesson! 💪

Level 6 - Lesson 3: VO Audio Editing

Completed

Lesson information:

As you watch the video, look out for these learning points:

Basics and best practices for capturing audio for voiceover using digital audio recording
Suggestions for equipment and how to set the settings for best audio results

Equipment needed:

a computer
a digital audio workstation (DAW)

Examples include: Pro Tools, Logic Pro, Audacity, Garageband, and more

microphone and pop filter
speakers or headphones
soundproofing

Tips

CoPilot Designer supports 3 types of AudioFiles → WAV, AIFF, and OGG.

The recommended settings are 48 kHz sample rate and 24-bit depth.

Minimize room noise and background sound by sound proofing (set up padding, a booth or use a closet!)
The most commonly used microphone for voiceover is a condenser microphone, and a pop filter (which is placed between the mouth and the microphone) is recommended to reduce plosives (low end distortion).
Recording levels should be set to an average of around -18 decibels.

‣

Video Transcript

In this lesson, we'll discuss capturing audio for voiceover. Currently, most people use digital audio recording. There may still be some people out there using tape machines to capture audio analog style for voiceover, and I commend you, but the vast majority of people are using digital these days.
So we'll discuss that approach here. There's certain equipment that you'll need to record audio digitally, including a computer, a digital audio workstation or da, a microphone and pop filter speakers and or headphones, and then soundproofing or acoustical treatment.
A DA is a digital audio workstation, and that's any program that's used to edit and record audio. Some examples include pro tools, logic, pro cubase, audacity, garage Band, and many more out there on the market.
So whichever one you prefer and fits your budget, feel free to use that as long as it can record and edit audio if possible.
You'll wanna set your DA to 48 kilohertz sample rate and 24 bit depth. These settings work best for video. Other settings will work, but that's what we recommend.
Co-pilot designer can support three different types of audio files, including wave files or Waveform audio file developed by IBM and Microsoft.
There's a I F F, which was developed by Apple and stands for audio interchange file format, and then O G G, which is less commonly used.
It's a container file format. Personally I like to use Wave files, but any of those three will work. And as I mentioned, ideally if you could set your audio for 48 kilohertz sample rate and 24 bit depth that works best with video.
If you're recording voiceover at home, you'll wanna set up some soundproofing to help minimize noisy rooms and background sounds in your recording.
So there's a number of different types all different price points. Check what's out there on the market. At the minimum, it's best to try to set up either a closet or a booth to try to isolate the sound.
Set up some padding to reduce reflections and reverb if you can. And always please remember to silence your cell phone.
As far as microphones, there are many, many different microphone options out there on the market. The three main types of microphones are dynamic condenser and ribbon.
Those are based on the different principles, how the Microphone works to pick up and convert audio. The most commonly used in voiceover is condenser microphones, and that's because they output a louder signal.
They do require an external power source, which is called phantom power, so that's something to consider as well. Condenser microphones tend to be a little more expensive, but that's what's most commonly used for voiceover.
If you're recording voiceover yourself, there are a couple of different techniques you'll want to keep in mind. It's best to have the microphone about six inches away from the actor's mouth and always, always, always use a pop filter, which is one of these.
If you can see in my little video. Now this is placed between the mouth and the microphone, and what this does is reduces plosives, which are hard.
P and b sounds like a sound. You don't want that in your recording, so it's best to use a mic, the pop filter between your mouth and the microphone.
You'll next wanna set your recording levels in your jaw, so you have to keep in mind a couple of things.
The noise floor, which is inherent noise within a system. If your recording levels are too low, you're gonna have a little bit of noise in there.
If it's too high, it's easy to distort. And we don't want distortion in digital audio. That is always a big no-no.
So it's best to have the average somewhere around negative 18 decibels. To summarize, you'll wanna select your equipment, your daw, your microphone, pop filter, and acoustical treatment.
Select settings in your daw, set your recording level, and then you're ready to go. Get out there and record.

✅

Mark Actions as ‘Completed’ in the Actions Checklist

Download any supporting Resources & Documents:

📘

Mark this Lesson as ‘Completed’ in the Progress Tracker

Level 6 - Lesson 2: VO Audio Capture

Completed

…and then go to the next Lesson! 💪

Level 6 - Lesson 3: VO Audio Editing

Completed