Waves Vocal Rider for post

[Vytis]

Has anybody tried the Waves Vocal Rider for post applications?

With increasingly insane deadlines in the post world, this could be a life saver when working on quick documentaries and TV spots. But I am wondering, in comparison with the Wave Rider, can this one also be used to duck the music track by a voice over? I mean, not just write the voice automation, but also write (inverted) automation on the music/productionfx track? I couldn't find this anywhere in the documentation. I'm on PC/Nuendo so unfortunately Wave Rider is not an option.

Any other thoughts?

Thanks.

[Jorn Lavoll]

im struggling to get the sidechain towork at all, also in Nuendo.

[BIGBANGBUZZ]

Originally Posted by Vytis

Has anybody tried the Waves Vocal Rider for post applications?

With increasingly insane deadlines in the post world, this could be a life saver when working on quick documentaries and TV spots. But I am wondering, in comparison with the Wave Rider, can this one also be used to duck the music track by a voice over? I mean, not just write the voice automation, but also write (inverted) automation on the music/productionfx track? I couldn't find this anywhere in the documentation. I'm on PC/Nuendo so unfortunately Wave Rider is not an option.

Any other thoughts?

Thanks.

I used it for a month, It does work but It saved me no time.
Wave Rider is also saved me no time.
It's honestly quicker writing your own automation.

[eastwestaudio]

I would be interested in a side by side comparison from someone who's used both.

I have not used the waves version, but I do own the wave rider plug. I can't say I've quite figured out the best way to use it and all the setting parameters. That said, I did use it recently on an anime series I've been mixing and it did help with a particularly dynamic actor. Basically I used it as a starting point. It didn't take me long to run thru her lines and have the plug write automation - but then while going thru and mixing the show, I did need to make adjustments.

-greg-

[Mischdepp]

I use the plug-in for doing rough dialog stems for an animation series.
The schedule is very dense and the dialogue quality is often very poor - levels from speaker burst to somewhere near inaudible...
The result is - how shall I put it? - let me say OK.
It is a time saver because it takes care of the basic level adjustments but it does not do the mix on it's own.

But I have to admit that I am still trying find the perfect settings for my application...and I simply haven't found the time to go into detail yet.

It works and for me it saves enough time to be worth the money.

I'm looking forward to use it for other things e.g. original dialogue/voiceover level in documentaries.

[bizzle]

I've played with both for TV post, the Waves VocalRider was slightly better, but neither were good enough to save me any time. I had to redo the automation because the plugin cannot detect unwanted noise vs. good dialog and just makes all the wrong level decisions. I thought it could get ballpark levels that I could refine, but that was not the case. Maybe its useful for music production.

&e

[Jorn Lavoll]

i use it, but the voices i put it on are animation dubbing voices. So they are recorded in a very controlled environment

but i always go through and do a quick pass of "manual" adjustments at first.

Then what seems to work with vocalrider (so far at least) is to crank up the sensitivity and put it on fast. I also limit the amount of volume adjustement it is allowed to do quit a bit. 3-4 db maybe. Then the next step is to get the "target level" right, the slider at the very top. So when that is set properly, vocalrider starts doing "correct" things like adding a little boost as the actors drop in energy at the end of sentences etc.

unfortunately side chaining vocalrider doesnt work in nuendo

[Jorn Lavoll]

but i also want to add that my overall impression of this plug is that it is designed primarily for voices that are singing, and not talking normally

[PureData]

I use Wave Rider in post production. If you have clean recorded dialog channels its very useful.

[Dodgedis]

I've used it for a few of my shows but I found it very unreliable when jumping between noise floors that vary greatly. I had to remix everything I used it for. For reality television audio I'd say it won't help you much. If however your audio is clean and I think more than anything, consistent, it will save you some time.

I have no experience using it for music levels but I've used a gate for that purpose.

T. Floyd

[nathand]

Originally Posted by Dodgedis

If however your audio is clean and I think more than anything, consistent, it will save you some time.

If the audio is already clean and consistent...lay it back.

[Dodgedis]

Originally Posted by nathand

If the audio is already clean and consistent...lay it back.

LOL, that's a good point. Not to mention you would've wasted your money on a plug-in that you didn't need.

[philper]

Originally Posted by nathand

If the audio is already clean and consistent...lay it back.

Good point. This app is closely following Berger's Law: it works best when you need it the least.

Philip Perkins

[The Bazza]

Hi,

I bought this and must say it's not what I thought it would be but I'm still pleased. It does work quite well adjusting the VO to your target level. It's not designed to duck your MX and FX tracks. You could route both stems to an aux and side chain that into the vocal rider. The big appeal of the vocal rider for me is the fact that it's not compressing. For a quick level I've actually found that the Waves MV360 compressor works well too. The MV360 applies both downwards and upwards compression to restrict the dynamic range of your audio. Obviously you need to have clean audio for the upwards compression to work, otherwise you'll be boosting your noise too. I had to generate a rough mix for a client who gave me a new VO the night I was due to deliver the rough mix. The MV360 allowed me to restrict the dynamics of the new VO and place it exactly where I wanted it to be in no time. I wouldn't mix like this normally but when it needs to be instant I found this to be an an excellent tool.

: I use it in musicproduction, it´s not as good as I thought. Can´t save you from writing vocal levels yourself. It´s not a timesaver. Bloody expensive for that.(TDM)

[Dallas Taylor]

If I have a show with very inconsistent levels from region to region (any Doc or Reality show), I'll set up Wave Rider & let it run during lunch.

When I come back, I use the Wave Rider data as a mix *starting* point. I never use Wave Rider's data on final mixes. It's waaaay to jittery for my taste. I always re-write automation data with my fingers on the faders.

I'm not sure about Vocal Rider.

[macaholic]

I'd like to echo Dallas' comments... Wave Rider (not Waves Vocal Rider) does the rough first pass on particularly "needy" dialogue brilliantly while I grab my morning coffee, and NOT as a final polish.

It will not replace a good mixer, just help do some of the mundane heavy lifting...Mundoz even states that on his site.

It isn't a "silver bullet" by any means, just another aid to help us get through increasingly tight deadlines.

I have emailed him a couple times with questions and he is ALWAYS quick to get back to me... something I dare say you won't find with Waves.