Is Your Recording Software Driving Your Workflow? Tuesday VO Tech Tip

For many years, successful creative production software simply had to work semi-reliably or fail in consistent ways. We generally had to adapt our workflow to the idiosyncrasies of the software. Between comically low amounts of working RAM and somewhat sloth-like processing speeds of our computers, users had to shoulder the tasks of understanding a myriad of quirky settings simply to get results. That certainly has improved. But even in this day and age, creative users often must work in a way that feels cumbersome and distracting.

I’ll admit to an aesthetic bias toward simple stuff that does precisely what I need it to do. After all, computers have gotten much smarter over the years. Should we have to handle the heavy lifting any more?

We often adopt a certain software approach without asking “why?” Diving in can result in being mired in the mechanics of operation, or the memorization of arcane steps, rather than asking if there’s a better option to support our specific needs. Running our own studio is already a challenge. We regularly swap hats between being the IT department, audio engineer, session director, as well as the talent behind the microphone.

While I personally prefer certain recording software platforms, I also realize that any one of them may not work as well for every project. Software tends to have a particular design focus for solving specific workflow challenges. There are many times when it pays to be able to reach for a more focused tool. There really is only one question: Does the software do what you need in a way that makes sense without wasting time or effort?

That’s actually a fairly broad and complex question. On one hand, I can’t think of a piece of software that couldn’t be slightly improved (I’m still hoping that Thomas will make Twisted Wave Clip Lists “saveable”…). On the other hand, when something like GarageBand lacks the ability to output a true mono audio file, that just adds extra steps to every workflow. While we may elect to put up with certain inefficiencies to gain other features, more often we just put up with them because it feels like more of a hassle to learn another option. (Of course, it’s often not as painful a process as you might think).

It might help to ask
“What are the tasks I need to achieve in my voiceover studio?”

Here are a few suggestions to get you started:

Record accurately and consistently
While much of this will be related to our recording space and setup, having a usable input meter remains key. Strong waveform detail also lets us easily distinguish issues in our audio, or identify certain types of unwanted artifacts.

Edit easily and make corrections efficiently
Every recording software has a slightly unique approach, but the ability to “insert” edit to put a correction exactly where you need, or utilize punch-in (punch and roll) recording for audiobook narration are “must-haves”. Otherwise, we waste too much time on the mechanics of this oft repeated task.

Process audio files to deliver to client spec
If your project has certain Loudness or Peak specifications, how quickly can you determine those values?

Automate repetitive tasks whenever possible
I never want to be at my desk waiting for a process to finish just so I can start the next thing. Being consistent in our recording quality should enable us to use similar processing on our deliverable files. Processing Stacks, Macros, or Effects Racks allow us to create a chain of Effects which can be implemented with one step.

Wrangle the files and deliver them to our clients
This may mean applying processing Stacks to a set of discrete files using a Batch Processor, or quickly splitting correctly named individual files out of a master track.

Manage project data so that it does not overwhelm us or our computer
Basic file and folder organization structures help here, of course. But how many “extra” unnecessary files are taking up real estate on your computer’s hard drive?

Are there any other tasks your recording software needs to solve?
Let me know in the comments below, or fee free to reach out directly.

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