In this video and article for Production Expert, Korey Pereira, a dialogue editor, takes a look at how using VocAlign Ultra from Synchro Arts can speed up his ADR workflow.
As a dialogue editor, my job is to make actors’ performances the best they can sound. This often means using an array of tools to clean up clicks and pops and smooth out the edits between takes. There are typically some lines in every project that just cannot be used. I then dig through all the other takes recorded on set to find alternate takes to fix problematic lines. If alts can’t be found, actors will then be called into a studio to re-record their lines in a process known as ADR. By far one of the bigger challenges as a dialogue editor is matching ADR or alt takes to production. SyncroArts offers a range of products that helps us dialogue editors match these replacement lines to production.
I am a long time user of Synchro Arts’ VocALign Project. While I like the advanced control and better sounding algorithm Revoice Pro offers, I prefer the simplicity of VocALign Project. With ever-shortening deadlines and budgets, working quickly often wins out over quality.
With VocALign Project, you learn from a reference file, then you apply this sample to the ADR or alt take you are trying to match to the original, then hit render. It’s that simple and most of the time sounds good enough to move on.
One of the studios I work at, Soundcrafter also has Revoice Pro, which I have also used on occasion. You have a LOT more control over the match, but using it is more of a process. Much like iZotope RX Connect, you need to send your samples to standalone software, tweak the match, then send it back to Pro Tools. On narrative projects with enough time to really dig in, you can dial in the match beyond what VocALign Project offers.
Then VocALign Ultra was released. With a little under a week since upgrading, I couldn’t be happier. Coming from VocALign Project, the interface feels very familiar, but offers additional controls to create a better match. VocALign Ultra feels like the perfect evolution of these two ways of working. I love that it has an AudioSuite interface, similar to VocALign Project, but with the more advanced algorithm from Revoice Pro and additional tweakbility.
There are also a few new controls that have already come in really handy when matching ADR and alt takes:
Tightness Control lets you really dial in just HOW much you want to match your alt to the original. While the goal is to have perfect lip-sync, sometimes the result sounds overly processed or unnatural. The tightness Control seems to let you find a happy medium.
Sometimes your available alt takes or ADR from a session just don’t work. Not because they don’t match lip-sync, but because the inflexion is off. The actor’s voice went up in pitch instead of down. My current approach to these situations has been to use iZotope’s Dialogue Contour to manually draw in the inflexion I am looking for. With VocALign Ultra, I can now match the inflexion using the Pitch Control at the same time I am adjusting the timing. This is HUGE. To me, it works the same way you would use a vocoder. Pretty darn cool.
Formant Shift has also been another helpful tool when an actor delivered the alt in a different register and changing the pitch just doesn't sound right. I could also see this being helpful for changing the character of an actor’s voice, perhaps for creature voices or a young actor with a changing voice when they come in for ADR six months down the road (this has happened more than once, personally)
Check out the video below to hear VocALign in action:
Pro Tip: Do you work in foreign dubbing? Be sure to check out the presets designed just for this task. There are also a few other post-focused presets if you are new to the platform and unsure where to start.
For as long as I have been in the business, SyncroArts’ VocALign has been the de-facto tool to match ADR and alt lines to production. VocALign Ultra takes its dominance to the next level. This is the best sounding and easiest to use tool for matching ADR, and I don’t see myself ever cutting dialogue without it again. If you work in post sound, this product is a must.
For full details and to download a demo of VocALign Ultra, head to Syncro Art’s website.