For those who want to record audio AND video of their playing (to show the rest of us here at the Row how they are progressing with TMBG) I've decided to post this bit of information on howto do this.
Disclaimer : I will mention brands and products as examples. I mention them because that's what I use, this is not set in stone. Before you purchase anything try to get a trial version before you decide to pay.
For example, Cubase is said to be the most popular here in Europe while ProTools is most popular in the USA (there's also Logic but that's Mac only and I'm assuming most people here use a PC). But there are a LOT of other high quality D.A.W.'s out there (D.A.W. = Digital Audio Workstation) and they all have their pro's and cons.
So first, what do you need :
- PC or Mac
- An Interface (USB or Firewire)
- Webcam
- a D.A.W.
- Video Editing Software
- a Bass Guitar :-D
To record my video's I use the software that came with my Webcam (HD Pro C910). So no need to purchase anything extra. The software fits the need perfectly. The only problem is that these cams are made for chatting like Skype which makes them not good for recording a bass guitar (and the build-in "Right-sound" makes it even worse).
So I connect the audio-out from my DVD-Player to the input of my Interface and select the interface as the mic.
In the picture below you'll see and example (I'm making the screenshots on another system so I'm using slightly different hardware like a lower quality webcam and other interface but the process remains the same).
for some weird reason the preview of my video in in Black & White but the actual recording is in color. You'll notice that "Right-Sound" is off and Mic is set to "Balance In (Balance WDM Interface) since I'm using a Balance by Propellerheads as my Interface on this system (my video's are recorded with a Yamaha Steinberg CI2+)
When the video is ready the software will "compress" the video because HD files are pretty large, so you can grab a cup of coffee or practice some bass.
Next is bringing the video file into your DAW. The reason for this is that it's the easiest way to put the video and audio together later on.
Most D.A.W.'s support video files but I prefer Sonar X3 by Cakewalk.
Why Sonar you ask ? Here are a few reasons,
1. Price around €100 which is fare considered what you are getting (they don't have a limited track number like most entry-level D.A.W. for example).
2. DRM : Most D.A.W.'s come with some kind of "crippling" copy-protection. (Cubase needs a USB eLicenser that only works with their products, ProTools needs an iLok and most others also use a Dongle or Activation based on your computer hardware). When you loose or break a dongle or your PC crashes you are in bad luck since you will need to purchase a replacement dongle or send an email to allow you to activate a new computer.
Sonar X3 (and the Studio and Producer versions) only need a Serial and Registration code. You can use these as much as you need. The only rule is that you agree to only use the software on 1 PC at a time, but if you are recording on one computer you don't have time to use Sonar on a 2nd one at the same time).
There is also a D.A.W. called Reaper (reaper.fm) which has 2 license types personal and commercial. The software is exactly the same but they ask to register a commercial license if your revenue from the music you make with it is more than a certain amount per year. I don't know if Reaper supports video.
But I'm getting off-topic.
- Start a new project (empty) and add the video file
- Add an Audio Track and set it up (set your interface input to which the bass is connected)
- Arm the Bass track for recording.
- start recording.
- because you recorded the "Play-Along" track with your video file you can listen to that while recording your bass (just like when you practice with the loop-library).
- stop recording and when you are happy with the recording remove the video track and export the audio to a WAV file.
- Sonar can export to a Video file but when I tried it the video quality isn't that good so I'm doing it like this (if you don't want or needs HD video you can probably skip the next step and just export to a video (offcourse you don't remove the video)).
Below is an image of how it looks in Sonar (notice there is no audio recorded from the Bass since I cannot play and take screenshots at the same time :-D You'll also see that the video is recorded elsewhere)
Last thing to do is to combine audio and video and post online or share with your friends
I'm using Cyberlink PowerDirector 12 but again if you prefer something else please use whatever you want. For me this seems like the best solution.
- Start PowerDirector and import the video and audio files
- after importing the files put the video file in the first video track (the audio will be automatically placed in the audio track under the video).
- You can put the audio track you've recorded with you DAW in the next free audio track or as I did in my example add 1 audio track to the top and put the recorded audio there (both will work).
since we've recorded the audio in Sonar in sync with the video you shouldn't need to worry about timing and it makes the editing a lot faster. You can also record the audio without importing the video file but then you'll need to sync the audio and video in Power Director later which IMHO takes a lot longer.
- Make some adjustments if needed.
- trim the leading and end bits you don't need
- save export share.
last image is the files imported and put in place in Power Director.
Remember try to find trial versions of the software you intend to use and see if they do what you want and they are not too difficult to use. You can also search google for customer feedback on certain products.
You can also ask here or on other forums about user experiences with an interface or D.A.W. you intent to purchase before going to actually get one (there is a difference in quality).
And about user experience, the interface of Sonar X3 is made for very large screen resolutions (at least 1920x1080) My laptop (in my studio) has a lower resolution and it's hard to get everything you need to properly display on screen. Fortunately there is a free membership to Gobbler when you buy Sonar so you can sync projects between PC's so I record on my Laptop with the CI2+ interface and I edit on my desktop with the Balance interface.
Also most interfaces come with a D.A.W. (for example my CI2+ came with Cubase Artist 6 and my Balance came with Reason Essentials, both are IMHO not as good for this as Sonar X3. Cubase is a great D.A.W. for audio only and Reason is more a "Virtual Rack" but also good for audio recording).
Well I hope this is somewhat helpful
edit: here are links to the 3 screenshots in Full resolution :
http://www.patrickkox.com/HVR/HVR01.png
http://www.patrickkox.com/HVR/HVR02.png
http://www.patrickkox.com/HVR/HVR03.png
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