Muting guide when recording, How?

[jymmylu]

I'm looking for the right answer by or before this weekend or Monday April 29, 2002. Can this be done?

Here's a mouthful:

I'm using Protools LE 5.1 for digi001.
I am importing a quicktime video and a corresponding omf file to a protools session (should all go well with the translater I just downloaded, I'll tell you if you're interested.)

I am about to embark in an onslaught of voice-over/dialog recording for a movie.

When recording each artist's voice, I would like the original guide track, the sound from the original source, to play back as a cue-with some pre-roll-while recording this new dub track. Then, when the recorded selection's start point is reached, I want the guide track to drop out. This way, the artist won't hear the original take that they did while they are voicing over, as this is somthing that could easily throw a person off. How do I set up my recording session to accomplish this?

The solution that I'm looking for must be an easy adjustment for me once the artist is in the studio. He/She may wish to hear what he/she originally said and how they said it until they are ready to record. And then as I mentioned before, once I'm recording them, I want to be able to drop out their voice from the original guide track. Pressing the mute button on and off during recording does not count as an easy adjustment, as I would have to time it with when their line comes in, and I will want my attention on more important things while doing this demanding work.

The solution must also be a clean one. In terms of creating regions or marker points, it's enough work for me already to name markers for all the different selections. I really don't want to chop up the guide track into little regions, for example, which I then cut out and have to name if I want to keep track of all of them. What a mess, I assure you, that would be. Plus, remember, the region which I then cut from woud be, by default, split into separate regions and, by default, both separately named. The whole thing would have potencial to become cluttered and confusing, and the most crucial thing about this work, is that the dub tracks stay right where they are in the time line, and just as importantly, that they remain lined up with the original guide. I don't want to chase after a lot of snippets, even if I have lots of markers. Copying/cutting pasting: messy, not fun. Keeping track of 100s of regions and markers: messy, not fun.

I've noticed that only regions, not selections have the option to be muted, I tried it and it didn't work for some reason, and I don't want to do it this way anyway, as I explained above.

I'm wondering if there is anyway of automatically creating breakpoints exactly at the beginning and end of a selection, then using these two breakpoints by pulling them up and down in the mute editing in the edit window.

Doesn't this sound like a simple technique of an editing tool or two, or a preferences option for recording? If there's an easy answer out there, I applaud you. I'll accept creative and inventive answers as well.

Auditors and comrades: Please join me in this discussion.

My tip for people also hoping to use digidesign for looping:

I've created selection markers and named them everywhere a particular character's dialog comes in on the single guide track. I can then use the Selector tool to highlight a selection of recordable time the same length as the line of text I have iscolated from the guide track. Teh recording artist then has this small window to create the voice-over. this is a challenge however, it insures that their dialog remains the size and in the correct location in reference to the complete film. On a separate track I can have them record an alternative take recording in a larger window of time, or punch in their take with a pedal. Both approaches would allow them a more natural take, and the material can still be used if using time compression properly. On the subject of time compression, vocalign, seems like where it's at. In the first dub track, minimal compression would be necessary because the artist is already required to fit their voice over into the limited space. However, vocalign offers the artist, the posibility of giving a more free interpretation of the text and having that take remain usable for the engineer by using compression and peak analysis. Thus, a longer take, with a better interpretation may still be usable.

Let me hear from you.

Jim [img]images/icons/confused.gif[/img]

[Mr T]

I don't really see where the trouble is... I do this on a regular basis in post prod° studios, it's called a "drop"(at least here in France).
There are many ways to do this:
#1: the easiest-fastest one, in my opinion, is to place the voices to be replaced on a different track; just play the track when the actors want to listen to what they previously did; just mute it when you're (they're) ready to record.
#2: you can mute several regions at the same time... if you highlight many regions by just dragging the mouse over them (thus also selecting empty areas), this won't work ; but if you clic on several regions you wanna mute and then hit apple+M, it will work.
#3: If you really have a lot of regions to mute at the same time(and don't have extra tracks as in example #1), you can always highlight all of those region and just select Mute in the Waveform/Volume/Pan/Mute pop up menu on your track and drag the line to ON. It will only take a few seconds...

#1 is still the most convenient-fastest-most used one, in my opinion...or am I missing something obvious here?...
Hope that helps.

[Stone Knife]

To add to MrT's excellent solution (#1): Automate the mute on your reference track so it mutes at exactly the same place each time. You can also set up loop record so the actors can get in a rhythm of the takes without stopping and resetting. PT can automatically rename the new takes as they roll.
Later you can give the take you like a specific name to make sure you keep it in the session when doing 'select unused except whole files' and 'clear unused' clean-up procedure.