Advice for Editing Faster + Strange

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TheIntern356
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Post by TheIntern356 »

Hello there Librivox Users.

I started doing this audiobook stuff back in the summer and have been enjoying it quite well.

I was wondering if you guys had any tips for faster editing? Editing always seems to take a lot longer than expected.

Also, can someone inform me what exactly these sound artifacts are? Is it my mouth? How do I get rid of these easily? Editing takes longer since I have to manually cut many of these lines out.

Example of artifact: https://imgur.com/a/9SBrvAe
InTheDesert
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Post by InTheDesert »

The artifact you've got there is probably mouth click. While it is slow to process data, this plugin does a great job removing it automatically.

For faster editing, have you explored Audacity macros? While you're editing, always think, "Can I automate this task using a macro?" Macros can do everything from generating noise profiles automatically for noise reduction to doing all the processing to make a recording comply with Librivox's standards (volume, silence at start and end etc.).

A macro I find very powerful and fast for editing is a "Find Clipping" to mark all your mistakes when you clapped/clicked, start at the back of the track and then use the following macro mapped to a hotkey. You would select the portion of the track you want to delete then run this macro:
Image
It will delete the selected audio cleanly as well as the label then jump backwards to the previous label and start playing the audio. It can make editing very fast.
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TriciaG
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Post by TriciaG »

Some people like to use the "punch and roll" method of recording and editing. Essentially, you're editing out the bad parts as you record.

We had a demonstration as part of a Zoom meeting. Here's a link to the video of the meeting, at about the time the Punch & Roll demonstration starts.
https://youtu.be/r_r9ZZQh8zQ?t=795
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mightyfelix
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Post by mightyfelix »

I use punch and roll. It cuts your editing time down to almost zero. The link Tricia posted above is a demonstration of how it works using Reaper. I've made another demonstration of how to do it in Audacity: https://youtu.be/K1_Gti3lHaM
audiomike
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Post by audiomike »

I downloaded one of your recordings (Early Cave Men - chapter 07). This must have been a long editing session since there's a lot you had to get rid of one piece at a time. It's pretty over processed to begin with. You are also cutting off the ends of words with your edits. For example, listen to that file at 1:35. You say the line, "that their mothers knew how to make", but you cut off the "ake" at the end in order to get rid of the artifact left over from processing. And there are a lot of other strange noises in there as well. Would it be possible for you to upload a file that is completely raw, unedited and unprocessed in any way? And could you list the equipment you use, specifically, the microphone? It would be much easier to tell what's going on with that information.
sjmarky
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Post by sjmarky »

I also punch-and-roll record using Reaper. It takes some practice, but once you get used to working that way it easily cuts total editing time in half.

The artifact you highlight does look like a mouth noise. In fact, I used to get something very similar to that that turned out to be caused by a dental problem. I can't tell from your screen shot if it is even audible - some things appear in a wave form that are not.
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TheIntern356
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Post by TheIntern356 »

Thank you for all the advice. I'll be sure to employ these for use in future recordings
TheIntern356
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Post by TheIntern356 »

audiomike wrote: December 24th, 2020, 1:24 pm I downloaded one of your recordings (Early Cave Men - chapter 07). This must have been a long editing session since there's a lot you had to get rid of one piece at a time. It's pretty over processed to begin with. You are also cutting off the ends of words with your edits. For example, listen to that file at 1:35. You say the line, "that their mothers knew how to make", but you cut off the "ake" at the end in order to get rid of the artifact left over from processing. And there are a lot of other strange noises in there as well. Would it be possible for you to upload a file that is completely raw, unedited and unprocessed in any way? And could you list the equipment you use, specifically, the microphone? It would be much easier to tell what's going on with that information.
https://librivox.org/uploads/kitty/TheInternrandomaudio.mp3 -raw file

Microphone - https://www.amazon.com/Microphone-TONOR-Podcasting-Compatible-TC-777/dp/B07WLWN2ZT (I am using a sock cover on the mic compared to the product image)
audiomike
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Post by audiomike »

There's really not much wrong with the test recording. As for mouth clicks, there are only a few, and they're in the middle of your voice, not in the gaps. This is quite normal and generally not noticeable. Mouth clicks don't usually appear in the gaps between speech unless you're running out of air and have to pop your mouth open quickly to take a breath. If that's the problem, you can find quite a few videos on YouTube about breathing for voice over that cover the issue.
Back to the test file. I only had to apply a minimal amount of noise reduction, get rid of the mouse clicks at the end, and normalize to -4 dB to get a perfectly usable recording.
I think the sample I listened to before was just over processed and full of strange artifacts as a result. It's usually caused by heavy compression and/or excessive noise reduction settings. If you're using Audacity, as a general rule, put the last two settings in the noise reduction dialog to 3 and 0, and don't use a noise reduction amount any higher than you absolutely have to.
As far as your mic, it shouldn't be a problem. Others use that mic without any issues and it's very popular since it's decent enough for the price.
Hope this helps.
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Post by ChrisGreaves »

mightyfelix wrote: December 24th, 2020, 1:06 pm I use punch and roll. It cuts your editing time down to almost zero.
Hi mightyfelix. I may be mis-understanding the concept. But from what I have read about punch-and-roll, it seems to be just editing-in-place, or editing-on-the-fly.
That is P&R might save time in that we don't have to locate the editing places at a different time - they are right there because we know soon as we have sneezed that we need to edit that out; as well the text is staring us in the face.

Could it be said that P&R just hides the largest part of the editing time in the recording time?
Thanks
Chris
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sjmarky
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Post by sjmarky »

ChrisGreaves wrote: January 20th, 2022, 9:34 am
mightyfelix wrote: December 24th, 2020, 1:06 pm I use punch and roll. It cuts your editing time down to almost zero.
Hi mightyfelix. I may be mis-understanding the concept. But from what I have read about punch-and-roll, it seems to be just editing-in-place, or editing-on-the-fly.
That is P&R might save time in that we don't have to locate the editing places at a different time - they are right there because we know soon as we have sneezed that we need to edit that out; as well the text is staring us in the face.

Could it be said that P&R just hides the largest part of the editing time in the recording time?
Thanks
Chris
P&R adds little to your booth time, since you still have to repeat errors. It only requires a couple of keystrokes to execute a punch edit. Really no more than folks who use clickers and whatnot to mark edits. P&R does cut the post-recording time way down, since you don’t have to listen to the entire raw recording plus errors in order to edit.
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ChrisGreaves
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Post by ChrisGreaves »

sjmarky wrote: January 20th, 2022, 10:39 amP&R does cut the post-recording time way down, since you don’t have to listen to the entire raw recording plus errors in order to edit.
Ah. Thank you. That makes sense. If it turns out that in a 3-minute recording of a page I end up having only one error, then, because I managed that error at the time I made it, i really don't have to listen to the other 2m50s at all.

I do not have a great deal of data, but since I began tracking my time in detail on the two latest "Bach" tracks, I have spent 35% and 19% of my time proofing and editing the raw files; other tasks are preparation, recording, merging, and uploading-posting.
I should add too that I have no feedback on the quality of my tracks as yet (which doesn't concern me), but by doing several readings just for practice, i am more at ease with Schweitzer's syntax and Newman's translation style. I suspect that on a project with many sections, one can make more errors early on, and fewer errors as work progresses.
Cheers
Chris.
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