Voice over problems Posted by erir - 13 Oct :15

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1 Voice over problems Posted by erir - 13 Oct :15 Hi, I am actually not sure if voice over should work at all. However I tried it and I got bad results. I am using an Mixer with USB connection to the PC. All works fine in other video editing apps on the same PC. In Lightworks I created an new microfone device. As soon I press the standby" button I see the audio display flashing. There is a high rate while the microfone is off. When I than press record. I am able to record voice but the resulting audio file is not usable. It seems that the beginning part of the audio record is missing and the complete audio is to fast and very bad quality. I am not sure how to do voice over rightly in Ligghtworks. In other video editing apps there is a time when starting to record and after the record the audio is in the timeline. Aside the video in the edit does not start to play when I am pressing the audio record button. Is Lightworks able to works with asio drivers? The used cheap mixer (Alsis Multimix 4 USB) provide some free asio4all driver. I would like to ask for some hints to get the voice over working. Best regards, Erik Posted by rmfarrar - 14 Oct :36 I too am having serious problems with the Voice over feature. I've read a lot of the posts on this forum about it. I Added a new device of type Microphone with the U SB/Direct sound setting and voice over setting. As my project is 720p 30fps I even read that I had to go to the project card to set the format as 1 / 6

2 NTSC for the voice over recording to work; which seems a bit of a mad requirement! When I hit stand by the record level meter bounces up and down to just under 0db at a rate of 2Hz ish. If I try recording I was getting about 4 or 5 seconds of clicks and then silence, now I seem to get audio, but with these annoying clicks every 14 frames??? Posted by erir - 14 Oct :03 Ok. That match with some of my experiences. So I will stop trying further until there is an official announcement that it should works. I think there are a lot of other special tools for this purpose (audio recording). So adding the voice over later in Lightworks should be possible too. Posted by sennahojx - 14 Oct :29 I haven't get it working either. But use Audacity to record and edit audio. Posted by rmfarrar - 14 Oct :22 I use Audacity a lot for recording and editing podcasts, but for recording voiceovers in synchronization with the video track I would like to try the apparent Lightworks feature if possible. Posted by Forum Admin - 15 Oct :06 I haven't spoken to the Devs or Tech Support about this but I seem to remember that Lightworks won't work if you don't have a working audio system. Most of these reports of the voice over not working properly seem to be with systems that use a USB microphone. 2 / 6

3 I'm just guessing here but if Lightworks relies on the audio card for its master clock source (dividing the sound card's sample rate down to give the frame rate and therefore keeping audio in video in sync because one is derived from the other) then if you use a USB microphone - which is essentially a separate audio sub system - the incoming audio probably won't have its sample clock synchronised to the PC's main audio system. So you will get all manner of weirdness depending on how the system handles it. This could range from complete silence to occasional clicks as the sample rates of the two audio systems fall out of sync. Anyone having problems should try using an analogue microphone (+ pre-amplifier) into the PCs normal audio input. This will be clocked at the same rate as the PCs main audio card, and hence will be in sync with Lightworks' sample clock. Posted by erir - 15 Oct :35 Just checked the specs of my USB-audio mixer: "16-bit, 44.1 khz digital audio over USB". So the mixer presents himself as a 44.1 khz soundcard to Lightworks. Perhaps this is the reason for the strange sound. So far I know Lightworks only works with 48 khz proper. Perhaps is this the reason why another video editing program works with this USB-audio mixer (accept other sounds too). I tried the internal soundcard (48kHz - some Intel HDA) with a normal headset. No luck so far because it works not at all. However using an extenal audio program like Audacity is an option for me. So I can convert the sound to 48 khz too and Lightworks should be happy too. Posted by Forum Admin - 15 Oct :55 Well most audio for video is at 48KHz, so it's not Lightworks that is at fault here. Yes, your best bet is to record this externally. Posted by rmfarrar - 15 Oct :03 3 / 6

4 "Your best bet is to record externally" - This completely negates the option of having a built in VO function that we would like to use to get audio into Lightworks quickly and synced with the video. "Most of these reports of the voice over not working properly seem to be with systems that use a USB microphone " - so why does Lightworks VO option quote "USB/Direct Device" if it can't work with USB; it's not doing what it says on the tin. On my system I tried my USB webcam mic, but only as a last resort. My preferred option would be to use my Focusrite Saffire Firewire audio interface (set to 48kHz sample rate) with a good quality condenser microphone; a set-up I use successfully with other Windows programs such as Audacity and Cubase, but not Lightworks unfortunately. Posted by Forum Admin - 15 Oct :13 Hang on! What I'm saying is that if you're using a device that won't work, then it won't work. Presumably (and I don't know this) the USB device is showing up in Lightworks because it's connected to your system. That doesn't mean it's going to work. You can't record a digital device that's working at one sample rate to another one that's working at a different one. Posted by rmfarrar - 15 Oct :41 Hi, I fully appreciate about matching sample rates and know that the video standard and Lightworks is 48kHz, which is what I was trying to achieve with my Focusrite interface set to 48kHz, but to no avail. The USB thing I tried just in desperation in an attempt to get some usable audio into Lightworks, having seen the "USB" otion. I don't understand what you're trying to say with "using a device that won't work, then it won't work" as my USB microphone does work, just not very successfully with Lightworks. 4 / 6

5 Perhaps some clarification as to what technical requirements are required for audio devices to work in LW would be useful as I think the majority of us lay people are flying blind trying random things to get it to work. If my previous response came across a bit harsh, please accept my apologies; a bit of frustration setting in I'm afraid. Regards, Richard Posted by rmfarrar - 15 Oct :50 P.S. I did set my USB webcam to 48kHz in the Windows control panel settings so the sample rates match, but still get this clicking every 14 frames. Any other suggestion would be most welcome. Posted by Forum Admin - 15 Oct :06 No problem. At the bottom of this, I still think it is essential that you ensure that Lightworks is clocking from the audio input device that you are using for your microphone. This may not always work but it is a necessary condition for it to work. At least, that's my understanding. Posted by rmfarrar - 15 Oct :14 Thanks David. 5 / 6

6 Any suggestions as to how people can ensure that Lightworks is clocking from a particular audio source? There doesn't appear to be a specific button for this Posted by JAMacAlister - 25 Dec :12 I'm having problems with this too. I'm using a lavalier plugged into the mic jack on my sound card. I also tried the mic on my headphones and get the same result - a click in the audio that also shows on Lightworks' audio input meter. I configured the mic in Windows for 16-bit, 48kHz. It was on 44.1kHz which gave the same result. Any ideas what I'm doing wrong? 6 / 6