TWISTED WAVE FOR AUDIOBOOKS. a workflow for the narrator using twisted wave to record, edit and master their audiobooks.

Transcription

1 TWISTED WAVE FOR AUDIOBOOKS a workflow for the narrator using twisted wave to record, edit and master their audiobooks.

2 WHY TWISTED WAVE Flexible Easy to understand Not locked into session parameters / documents / formats Supported by the developer Inexpensive Companion app for ios Support for plugins and mastering techniques

3 WHAT IT DOESN T DO Multi-Track Video Timecode Hardware integration (midi / video peripherals / ISDN) Soft synths / creative

4 INFORMATION 30 day free trial ($90 after) Mac only App available for ios ($10) Different operating system, same interface, but separate purchase Control app available for ios ($free)

5 WORKFLOW OVERVIEW In this class/document, we ll cover installation of both Twisted Wave and the limiter plugin LoudMax. This limiter will help us master our audio. We ll cover project organization, recording basics and progress through editing. Then we ll cover batch processing as a way to master without fuss. Finally, we ll cover use of an ipad as recording/reading device.

6 UP AND RUNNING

7 TWISTED WAVE

8 DOWNLOAD TWISTED WAVE Install.dmg file Drag app from Applications folder to Dock

9 LOUDMAX Download AU version of Loud Max (Audio Unit Version) Unzip the downloaded.zip file Copy the.components to the correct locations (see slides)

10 LOUD MAX

11 SAVE DOWNLOAD

12 UNZIP DOWNLOAD TO REVEAL FOLDER AND CORRESPONDING COMPONENT PLUGINS

13 INSTALL LOUDMAX IN USER LIBRARY Copy both.components by highlighting both and using Command+C Click on finder app (smily face) in dock Use the shortcut SHIFT+COMMAND+G In Go To Folder box, type ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components Paste components with COMMAND+V Authenticate with your password if necessary

14 INSTALL LOUDMAX IN SYSTEM LIBRARY Copy both.components by highlighting both and using Command+C Click on finder app (smily face) in dock Use the shortcut SHIFT+COMMAND+G In Go To Folder box, type /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components Paste components with COMMAND+V Authenticate with your password if necessary

15 GETTING ORGANIZED

16 Getting organized is the key to successful work. Creating muscle memory in the process will help in workflow, reduce time in looking for things and begin to create good work habits. By organizing yourself here, you ll be able to work effectively, quickly and be able to archive projects with ease. Hopefully these habits will also inform your other computer related tasks and aid you in thinking about how to manage your clutter better. :)

17 FOLDER STRUCTURE Create a hierarchical folder structure with places for the lifecycle of your narration. Folders to create Top Level (Should stand out from standard folders) Scripts Recordings Masted WAV files Final MP3 Files Notes

18 FOLDER HIERARCHY

19 RECORDING

20 WHAT YOU LL NEED Analog Microphone & Audio Interface --or -- USB Microphone Pop filter Headphones Quiet location Room temperature water Cotton clothing that s comfortable A desire to sit for at least one body of the book (chap/section/etc.)

21 BEFORE WE RECORD Get job! Duplicate the book template folder (copy it and paste it in same location) Download PDF script and save to the Script folder or save PDF to reading device (ipad / Kindle / Android slate) Old School (Print PDF out - Ouch!!!! 350 pages)

22 START TWISTED WAVE Have your hardware already plugged in If possible, laptop away from recording area (fan noise) Close other applications Open Twisted Wave Create new document Mono / 16 bit / 44,100 khz

23 MONO 16 BIT 44,100 KHZ

24 CHECK INPUT LEVELS OPTION

25 CURSOR TOOLS BACK / PLAY / FORWARD / RECORD / LOOP UNDO / REDO ZOOM IN / ZOOM OUT / ZOOM VERTICAL NORMALIZE / FADE IN / FADE OUT

26 CURSOR TOOLS (CONT ) PLAYBACK VOLUME CURSOR POSITION SELECTION LENGTH METADATA INFORMATION

27 SET A LEVEL Away from noise floor Leave headroom Think about dynamics Good starting point -25 db for average audio

28 SETTING A LEVEL Analog audio levels are always done with hardware gain knobs, usually on audio interface USB mics are set with either dials on mic, or commonly, in software.

29 SETTING LEVEL IN SOFTWARE Go to System preferences / Sound Click on Input tab Select Mic Use slider to adjust input volume Watch meter in Twisted Wave for desired level

30 ADJUSTING AUDIO LEVEL

31 NOTES ON RECORDING Recording should be done after you ve prepared. This often means reading the part of the book you ll record before you sit down to do so. Recording should be done when it s most quiet. Noises that show up mean you ll need to re-record. Pay Attention! Record a whole chapter or section at a time. Record 10 seconds of room tone at beginning. Name files with proper names, no abbreviations!

32 RECORDING STANDARDS ACX & Audible require specific levels and audio gaps of room tone to be considered professional. Needed room tone gaps in final recording (in seconds).5 at head / 2.5 after chapter header / 3.5 at end Record with this in mind Record 10 seconds of room tone at head, then go about recording chapter. Do this for each recording session. NO silence ever!!!!! Room tone needed always and through whole book.

33 RECORDING BEST PRACTICES Snap fingers close to mic when you make mistake (visual cue for editing) Snap fingers twice on double mistake After mistake, pickup after snap at logical break (period, comma or section) If frustrated, take a breather, then return to reading Learn how to page turn without stopping Record with required room tone breaks in mind (ACX / Audible)

34 AFTER RECORDING Save As... to WAV audio Save the chapter to the recordings folder in your new book template Title the chapter or section correctly (e.g.) TaleOfTwoCities_Chapter01 (notice leading 0 in Chapter01 ) TaleOfTwoCities_OpeningCredit TaleOfTwoCities_RetailSample

35 EDITING

36 EDITING NOTES Edit and QC (quality control) at same time Copy a chunk of the 10 second room tone to clipboard (Greater than 5 sec) ALWAYS vertically zoom when editing, paying attention to noise floor issues first ALWAYS edit using headphones, NEVER use the speakers on your computer Use Special Paste to fill room tone (saves time) No breaths before new paragraphs / sections Leave normal breaths alone, minimize loud ones that need to stay Destructively save over chapter as you progress

37 KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS CMD + X = Cut CMD + C = Copy CMD + V = Paste CMD + Y = Special Paste CMD + Z = Undo / SHIFT + CMD + Z = Redo CMD + = Zoom In / CMD - = Zoom Out

38 SPECIAL PASTE (CMD + Y) EDIT > SPECIAL PASTE OPTIONS DROP ATTENUATION SLIDER TO

39 SPECIAL PASTE Replaces selection with clipboard contents Replaces variable amount up to the copied amount Need to copy more room tone than you ll need, 5 or more seconds is good Room tone should be free of defects and noises to alleviate loop problems This little change saves an immense amount of time

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43 BREATH REDUCTION Use AMPLIFY plugin, located in effects Attenuate (reduce) in 3 db increments Grab audio from end of last word right up to the beginning of next, not just breath! Use your ears to best judge the final effect

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46 ATTENUATE IN 3 DB INCREMENTS

47 MASTERING

48 WHAT IS MASTERING Finalizing audio with level adjustments Processing of audio with plugins to achieve targeted volume requirements Saving audio in correct formats Naming audio files to requested standards

49 NORMAL MASTERING PROCESS Import WAVs and check levels EQ > Compress > Limit > Noise Reduction > DeEss Finalize and Limit audio to specified RMS and Peak levels Name files Export files in formats needed Upload or distribute

50 PEAK, RMS, LIMITERS, EQ S???? When entering the mastering phase of audio production, people are often confronted with terms and standards they don t understand. Peak level is the level at which the highest (loudest) peak hits, in volume. RMS or Root Mean Square, describes a level given to the audio as an average over time. RMS is used to gauge the average volume of an entire track or body. RMS is also used to balance many chapters into the same audio average space even if some are more or less dynamic. RMS won t change the level of dynamics in the audio, it simply finds the average in decibels and then adjusts the audio to the threshold you set. EQ, or equalization is a processor used to boost or cut (or shape) the frequencies of your audio. Things like bass boost, treble enhance, noise reduce, etc. Think of general tone controls. Limiters are used to compress audio dynamics with respect to a hard ceiling which audio cannot pass. Limiters, good ones at least, reduce peaks of audio in a musical way, meaning they reduce dynamic range without artifacts of over-modulation.

51 BATCH PROCESSING Batch processing is used to process audio through a string of plugins Saves time Consistently delivers results Less fuss than 1 by 1 processing Saves files in specified formats

52 SETUP BATCH PROCESSING EQ (90 Hz low cut, sometimes called High Pass) 1st Limiter pass (-5.5 db both thresh&ceiling. Used to catch peaks before raising levels) 2nd Limiter pass (-6.5 db both thresh&ceiling. Used to further catch peaks RMS Normalize (Use RMS processor, set level to -24 db) 3rd Limiter pass (-3.5 db both thresh&ceiling) 4th Limiter pass (-5.5 db both thresh&ceiling) 5th Limiter pass (-7.0 db both thresh&ceiling) Save files in requested formats

53 BEFORE MASTERING

54 BATCH PROCESSING WINDOW

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56 ADD GRAPHIC EQ

57 EQ LOW CUT (HIGH PASS)

58 LOUDMAX PLUGIN (CHOOSE MONO IF YOU HAVE IT)

59 1ST LIMITER PASS (5.5 DB)

60 2ND LIMITER PASS (6.5 DB)

61 RMS NORMALIZE PASS (RMS & -24 DB)

62 3RD LIMITER PASS (-3.5 DB)

63 4TH LIMITER PASS (-5.5 DB)

64 5TH LIMITER PASS (-7.0 DB)

65 PEAK NORMALIZE (-3 DB)

66 SAVE WAV FILE

67 SAVE 192 KBPS

68 SAVE BATCH - CALL AUDIOBOOK MASTERING

69 BATCH PROCESSING Batch process all audio when finished recording and editing Be patient when batch processing, it ll take a while Your batch will master -and- create final WAV and MP3 files for you Drag your final files to their respective folders in your template Should edits need to be made, re-record and remaster then replace current files Upload final MP3 files when finished

70 AFTER MASTERING

71 FILE INFO (ANALYZE)

72 IPAD INTEGRATION

73 WHY THE IPAD Great reading device, clear screen, no page turn sounds Recording device with no CPU fan noise (this is a big deal) Portable and easy to use Twisted Wave app for ipad, similar interface, logical layout Ability to transfer larger files to Mac using sync with itunes

74 SUGGESTED READING APPS THE SCRIPT (PDF) TO YOUR IPAD Apple ibooks app (Free) Amazon Kindle app (Free) Rehearsal app (for marking up PDF s - $20) iannotate app (for marking up PDF s - $10)

75 TWISTED WAVE FOR IPAD

76 MONO 44,100 HZ NEW DOC

77 EXPORT AUDIO AS WAV, NAME AND SEND TO ITUNES

78 CONNECT IPAD, CHOOSE APPS TWISTED WAVE APP, SAVE TO...

79 GO FORTH AND NARRATE!!!!

80 ACX REQUIREMENTS Audio peaks levels no higher than -3 db Audio RMS levels between -18 db & -23 db Files are recorded in 44,100 Hz sample rate / 16 bit audio bit depth Audio exhibits.5 / 2.5 / 3.5 seconds room tone breaks for head/chapter head to body/end of file respectively Files saved in MP3 format at 192 kbps Chapters, introduction, epilogue, prologue and opening/closing credits all separate files Retail sample should be 1-5 minutes long and be compelling sell. Files over 170MB need to be broke into two sections at logical point in narration Professional noise floor is between -50 db and -60 db