altering a voice

[dchip]

I want to do a voice-over in a small video I am working on. I want the voice to have a echoing, reverberating sound that will be indicative of the subject on the screen thinking about something. Anybody know of a quick way to do this. I can only make simple wav files right now but perhaps there is some inexpensive (free would be good too) utility that can alter the file and get me the sound I am looking for. Thanks.

[fluggo99]

Inexpensive / free (for the trial, anyways) = GoldWave, at <a href="http://www.goldwave.com/">goldwave.com</a>. Trial version is fully unlocked.

[dchip]

Thanks Fluggo. I'll take a look.

[Frank Marshall]

If you have SBLive, the Environmental Audio applet lets you mess around with different effects on your voice...

[dchip]

Thanks, just the same, Frank, but Environmental audio and that whole SBLive software suite is now doing the environmental thing down at the landfill. Did you actually get some use out of all that stuff that came with your SBLive? I had nothing but problems with it, including the drivers and the annoying popdown menu that insisted on taking over my desktop at inopportune moments. I still use the card but I run it with the basic WDM drivers. I think even it will have to go whenever I finally get my DV setup up and running. I wasted money on SBLive, but, again, Thanks for the suggestion.

[Dr Mordrid]

At least you only have one mistake. I bought three of those d**n things. All are now sitting in my equipment closet because of their bus-HAWGing nature.

Dr. Mordrid

[dchip]

I have my old SB16 Value waiting to be redeployed in the near future.

Doc, was that you who posted in the last couple of months that you have a friend who owns a Canon Elura Mini DV and is happy with it? If so, I wonder if he/she ever mentioned any concerns about the audio capture by the built-in mic. Been shopping some DVCams today and several people on deja.com said they loved the Elura picture but audio was sub-par.

[SteveR]

The easiest, quickest and most inexpensive (though perhaps not the prettiest) echo would come from Windows Sound Recorder.

[Dr Mordrid]

dchip:

If the audio is sub-par on the Elura neither my friend nor I have noticed it.

One thing that might make a difference is that he rarely uses the internal mic. He uses an external mic, often with an FM link, by way of the DU200 docking unit. This also has a connector for headphones so you can monitor the audio during recording.

Also the Elura comes set up for 12 bit audio. You have to set it to 16 bit in the setup menu. My friends cam is set up for 16 bit.

One other tip when using the internal mic would be to turn on the Wind Screen function in the setup menu. This is an automatic noise reduction feature. It doesn't work with external mics though.

Dr. Mordrid


[This message has been edited by Dr Mordrid (edited 02 July 2000).]

[dchip]

Doc, Thanks for the facts. I'll bet those other users never set theirs for 16 bit. That would explain it quite well. I'm searching for some info on the docking unit for other mic choices. I'm seeing the Elura itself now e-tail priced in the $1100 range. Wouldn't want to add much more than a couple hundred for the docking unit and directional mic.

Supposedly, for a cam or its size and price this Elura is the real deal. Great picture and image stabilization that truly works. Excellent low light recording too. After all these months of searching, worrying and complaining I think I might make it my first DVCam.

[Dr Mordrid]

IMHO optical image stabilization like the Elura uses is the way to go over digital.

With digital I.S. you have to use a fraction the CCD so there is room for the frame to pan around. With optical it uses more of the CCD percentage wise and the lens does the following.

As far as the price of the DU200 goes, I believe Dennis paid about $60-70 USD for his. I've seen UK adds for about £30-35. Not too bad.

If you want to read an interesting Elura review this one was written by a pro who carried one into Bosnia (!);

http://dirckhalstead.org/issue9909/cameracorner.htm

This is what sold Dennis....

If you guys want to read an excellent photojournalism & videojournalism page this is a good place to start;

http://dirckhalstead.org/contents.html

particularly the Platypus Papers. Are you a Platypus?

BTW: Dirck Halstead is the senior White House photographer for TIME Magazine....

Dr. Mordrid



[This message has been edited by Dr Mordrid (edited 02 July 2000).]

[dchip]

Nope, not a Platypus, but I can concurrently, drive, talk on the phone and eat a sandwich (actually an unsafe practice that I need to quit). Doc, Thanks for the good Elura link. Your DV acumen and abiility to gather quick new facts is nothing short of amazing. I really appreciate it.

Do think I'm about sold on Elura. It is rather disappointing that Canon doesn't have anything that will let me go to 3 CCD's without going to the relative bulk and price of the GL-1. I would think they would have something on the order of the Sony TRV900. On the other hand (Platypus-like), Canon may have a point, as Sony may have tried to pack too much into TRV900's small package. I did read something about it having some problems handling tapes gently.

[Frank Marshall]

Hi dchip,

>Did you actually get some use out of all >that stuff that came with your SBLive?
I clowned around with the voice effects, it was fun and I thought of it straight away when I read your post. But you're right, most of it is useless. My wife had a brief friendship with Prody but that died off quickly as well.

>I had nothing but problems with it, >including the drivers and the annoying >popdown menu that insisted on taking over >my desktop at inopportune moments.
I've had no problems at all and I set the popdown menu to disappear all together as I kept bumping into it too

I dunno, I never thought the SBLive was a brilliant card or anything, I just thought at worst the recordings might be a bit dirty if you were really fussy. I bought it 'cause it was cheap (I have the Value version) and as part of my tenuous leap from the Apple-platform into PC-dom; stability was uppermost in my mind because of the horror stories I heard about PCs (hence also the Matrox G200 video solution - figured it had to be more stable than running a separate video card). Every review I read claimed that Sound Blaster was the king of compatibility in audio. It wasn't until a few days ago when I read some of the posts here touching SBLive that my complacency with the sound card has been shaken. Kinda wish I'd bought the ISA Gold SB now

Frank.

[dchip]

You were lucky Frank. It seemed to come down to when and where you bought it (lifo, fifo inventory management luck).. I did spend some time on SB forum trying to solve my problem and it seemed to me that Creative had released the product in increments making fixes with each new revision. It was not just drivers, thats for sure. There were hardware issues too. Doc and I must have gotten ours from the bad lot. That seems to be how it goes nowadays when you buy hardware or software.