After many test runs with various voiceover artists in the last couple of months, we have finally successfully recorded our
first session using ipDTL.
However, our test runs and first proper session have
thrown up some issues with delay, the technical set up in the remote studios and our mixer's inability to send clean feed.
Here is a summary of the relevant points from our Studio Engineer James which may affect your recording studio. (We have omitted the issues which only affect our studio set up.)
1.)
Our first problem is that we do not
know how sophisticated our voiceover artist’s setup is. Please insist that they use
Google Chrome, check that they are connected to https://www.ipdtl.com/vo/ (not the ‘free’
version of the url) and that they type in the user id and password (insist
that they do not copy details it as extra spaces can be added – this confuses
the server). Their routing may be problematic, for example: some voiceover artists
will have more than one sound card!
2.)
We have noted that some users can
hear us but we can’t hear them. To ensure that we’re definitely picking up
audio through the ipDTL channel, click on the ‘devices’ tab on the ipDTL page and
play the test tone – it should come through loud and clear, if we can hear the
tone then the problem is at the voiceover artist’s end.
4.)
If you’re having problems hearing
the voiceover artist get them to click on the video camera icon at the right of the
url bar next to the star icon, this should provide a dropdown box which allows
them to change the microphone settings.
5.) We may need to ask the voiceover artist to mute what we send to them. This way we can monitor on speakers and the client can
hear at the same time – we can’t stop the voiceover artist mid paragraph though as
they can’t hear us
6.) The voiceover artist must use Google Chrome and ideally send us audio at 128kpbs if their internet connection supports that speed
We also send these handy tips to our voiceovers:
Are we having trouble
hearing you? Google Chrome needs
to use your default soundcard. Therefore you need to make your microphone’s
soundcard the default soundcard. Click on the video camera
icon at the right of the url bar next to the star icon, this should provide a
dropdown box which allows you to change your microphone settings.
Are you having trouble
hearing us? You will need to make
sure that the soundcard that enabled you to hear previous clients in your
headphones ( on the phone, ISDN or Skype for example) to hear our microphone
through ipDTL.
Good luck!
