Looking for some Vocalign tips...

guittarzzan · 13th November 2003

Hi, I'm making my first attempt at using vocalign and having some trouble. I tried doing the tutorial but there was some issues and it kept shutting down pro tools. I have the basics...I capture the guide track I want then capture the dub track and click align, process it and then send the new aligned track to an empty track etc.
My problem is that it's aligning the dub very unnaturally. When I click align and it displays the new energy profile, it looks quite similar to the guide, but it places it ahead in time from the guide. The result is that some of the vocal phrases come out sounding very rushed and unuseable. Visually, it looks fine, but just out of place in time. The dub track is not very far off as it is so it's not like I'm trying to fix a horrible dub.
I'm sure it's user error, but I'd love to hear some tips from those of you who've used Vocalign a lot and with good success.

Thanks,
Steve

C.Lambrechts · 13th November 2003

been a while since I used it. Don't like it as much anymore as I used to. But I do remember that sometimes a similar thing as you described would occur on longer selections at maximum compression. a less high setting would usually work fine.

also, make sure that the guide and dub tracks have the exact same selection times.

e-cue · 13th November 2003

Do you have the most current version? I know one of the other versions out there had problems.

planet red · 13th November 2003

yeah making sure they have the exact same selection times should fix it. I just got vocalign a month or two ago and the first 20 minutes of using it was hell. For me it works a lot better if you only select a small phrase at a time and make sure theres no breath at the beginning of one, and not on the other... which seems to screw it up.

Just play with it for a little while.

ixnys · 13th November 2003

Quote:

Originally posted by planet red
yeah making sure they have the exact same selection times should fix it. I just got vocalign a month or two ago and the first 20 minutes of using it was hell. For me it works a lot better if you only select a small phrase at a time and make sure theres no breath at the beginning of one, and not on the other... which seems to screw it up.

Just play with it for a little while.

That's the key. SMALL SMALL parts at a time. Ya know? Just try to go phrase by phrase. I usually have it on the number 3 setting which is normal.

guittarzzan · 14th November 2003

Thanks for the tips. I'll try the shorter parts thing. This may be a dumb question, but if I take a bunch of small parts and vocalign spits out the aligned parts to a different track, won't I end up having to do a ton of editing to put the parts back together? It seems like unless I make one end point the exact start point of the next section to align then the timing will be off from the song when all the pieces are put together. I could just be ********.

thx,
Steve

ixnys · 14th November 2003

I don't process the track and then send it to another. I apply the changes to the same track. Just create a duplicate playlist so you don't loose your original double. I don't have timing problems like you are talking about, but what you can do is go through the original track and make seperation points between where you are gonna be applying vocallign. At the same time you can use shift to apply the same seperation points to the vox double track (or just group the tracks). Now you can load the same selection lengths for both tracks. Later you can heal seperation points to lead vox track.

guittarzzan · 22nd November 2003

when you say use small bits of audio...how long are we talkin here?...3 seconds......10 seconds or what?

thanks

tadhg · 23rd September 2009

im a bit new to vocalign but i find that a few seconds are normally enough and even sometimes you will have to get in there are realign a word or two. best of look with it.

LAstudio · 24th September 2009

Also as stated, I recall an older version crashing ProTools if you keep opening and closing Vocalign. Just keep it open on the screen, go from one phrase to another (process maybe 5-10 seconds at a time), then when you're done, quit and restart ProTools. If you close Vocalign, do some other things, then come back to Vocalign later, it will crash when you Process.

13th November 2003	#1
guittarzzan Lives for gear Joined: Jan 2003 Location: Portland, Or Posts: 1,047 Thread Starter	Looking for some Vocalign tips... Hi, I'm making my first attempt at using vocalign and having some trouble. I tried doing the tutorial but there was some issues and it kept shutting down pro tools. I have the basics...I capture the guide track I want then capture the dub track and click align, process it and then send the new aligned track to an empty track etc. My problem is that it's aligning the dub very unnaturally. When I click align and it displays the new energy profile, it looks quite similar to the guide, but it places it ahead in time from the guide. The result is that some of the vocal phrases come out sounding very rushed and unuseable. Visually, it looks fine, but just out of place in time. The dub track is not very far off as it is so it's not like I'm trying to fix a horrible dub. I'm sure it's user error, but I'd love to hear some tips from those of you who've used Vocalign a lot and with good success. Thanks, Steve

13th November 2003	#2
C.Lambrechts Lives for gear Joined: May 2002 Location: Ans (Liege) Belgium Posts: 3,286	been a while since I used it. Don't like it as much anymore as I used to. But I do remember that sometimes a similar thing as you described would occur on longer selections at maximum compression. a less high setting would usually work fine. also, make sure that the guide and dub tracks have the exact same selection times. __________________ Chris Lambrechts

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13th November 2003	#3
e-cue Lives for gear Joined: Jun 2002 Location: Lost Angeles Posts: 4,069	Do you have the most current version? I know one of the other versions out there had problems.

13th November 2003	#4
planet red Lives for gear Joined: Jun 2002 Location: historic richmond va Posts: 764	yeah making sure they have the exact same selection times should fix it. I just got vocalign a month or two ago and the first 20 minutes of using it was hell. For me it works a lot better if you only select a small phrase at a time and make sure theres no breath at the beginning of one, and not on the other... which seems to screw it up. Just play with it for a little while.

14th November 2003	#6
guittarzzan Lives for gear Joined: Jan 2003 Location: Portland, Or Posts: 1,047 Thread Starter	Thanks for the tips. I'll try the shorter parts thing. This may be a dumb question, but if I take a bunch of small parts and vocalign spits out the aligned parts to a different track, won't I end up having to do a ton of editing to put the parts back together? It seems like unless I make one end point the exact start point of the next section to align then the timing will be off from the song when all the pieces are put together. I could just be ********. thx, Steve

14th November 2003	#7
ixnys Gear addict Joined: Jul 2003 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 324	I don't process the track and then send it to another. I apply the changes to the same track. Just create a duplicate playlist so you don't loose your original double. I don't have timing problems like you are talking about, but what you can do is go through the original track and make seperation points between where you are gonna be applying vocallign. At the same time you can use shift to apply the same seperation points to the vox double track (or just group the tracks). Now you can load the same selection lengths for both tracks. Later you can heal seperation points to lead vox track.

22nd November 2003	#8
guittarzzan Lives for gear Joined: Jan 2003 Location: Portland, Or Posts: 1,047 Thread Starter	when you say use small bits of audio...how long are we talkin here?...3 seconds......10 seconds or what? thanks

23rd September 2009	#9
tadhg Gear interested Joined: Sep 2009 Posts: 1	im a bit new to vocalign but i find that a few seconds are normally enough and even sometimes you will have to get in there are realign a word or two. best of look with it.

24th September 2009	#10
LAstudio Lives for gear Joined: Dec 2004 Location: L.A. Posts: 761	Also as stated, I recall an older version crashing ProTools if you keep opening and closing Vocalign. Just keep it open on the screen, go from one phrase to another (process maybe 5-10 seconds at a time), then when you're done, quit and restart ProTools. If you close Vocalign, do some other things, then come back to Vocalign later, it will crash when you Process.