Remote Voiceover and ADR Workflow During The Covid-19 Pandemic – A Guide for Producer

To keep us all safe and prevent the spread of Covid-19 Brown Bear is following the latest government advice and adapted the way sessions are carried out.

Fortunately, our voiceover & ADR booth is completely separate from the studio control room allowing the talent to have no physical contact with the engineer. Upon arrival they will be directed into the booth maintaining social distancing throughout. All communication from then on will be done through the headphones and microphone. At the end of the session we will see the talent out, again maintaining social distancing throughout. Our facilities are located in the centre of Brighton and there are a number of car parks located close by.

Prior to and after every session we sanitise the booth with 70% isopropyl alcohol cleaner. This includes cleaning the microphones, popshield, headphones, stands, surfaces, door handles, water bottles, glasses and anything else that may have had contact. There will also be hand sanitiser available.

The production team monitoring and directing the talent are now exclusively dialling in remotely, usually from their home. This can be an audio only dial in or with video, following is a guide to how this works.

For voiceover artists, actors and agencies we want to assure you that we have taken all the necessary steps to ensure the safety of everyone involved and will continue to update our working practices based on government guidelines.

A Guide to Remote Monitoring for Sessions

Requirements

Google Chrome web browser version 58 or above-please close all other tabs within the browser to save your CPU
A microphone – this can be the built in one found on most laptops or an external one
Playback device – this can be either headphones or speaker although we recommend using headphones.
A stable internet connection (preferably wired) capable of 10mbps upload and download.

Audio Only Monitoring

For audio only monitoring, we use Source Connect Now, a fully secure, broadcast quality, web based, streaming service. We send a password-protected link which upon clicking will take you to the Source Connect Now portal. You will be required to enter your name, password and choose your audio sound quality; this should default to the settings we have programmed but if not we advise 256kbps when working in mono and 512kbps for stereo. Once connected you will need to select your audio input (your microphone) and output device (speakers or headphone port). Google Chrome may ask you for access to your audio device and microphone, which you will need to allow. Once connected you will have comms with the talent, engineer and anyone else dialled in.

We recommend enabling the push to talk function during the session that can be done by clicking on ‘push to talk’ below ‘recorder’. When enabled you can either press and hold the shift key or click the ‘open’ button when you want to talk. This ensures you are only heard when you want to be and the talent won’t hear any background noise during takes.

Audio & Video Monitoring

When audio and picture are required we use a platform called Evercast. This works in a similar way to Source-Connect Now in that it is a secure web based streaming service but it also allows us to share our video screen with you so you can watch the picture in real time. It supports resolutions up to 1080p and stereo audio at 320kbps. We can also send you a camera feed from the booth so you can see the talent.

To join the session we’ll send you link to our virtual viewing room. The first time you use Evercast you will need to create a password. For future sessions you will then use the email address the invite was sent to and password you’ve set up to access the viewing room. You will then be taken to a pre room where Google Chrome may ask you to “Allow” your webcam and microphone, click allow for both. From there you will need:

Once connected you will have comms with the engineer, talent and anyone else dialled in. During the session we recommend muting yourself when you are not speaking by clicking the microphone icon, it will be red when muted.

Along the bottom you can choose what you want to view full screen by clicking on the thumbnail i.e: the studio camera, another participant or the picture we are working too.

As mentioned in the requirements for both platforms, all participants will need a stable broadband internet connection. To check your internet speed click here. The quality of a connection is dependent on all the participants having enough bandwidth to maintain the quality. Prior to a session we would strongly recommend a test call to ensure everything works as expected for all participant.

Linking to Another Studio

We are also able to lock our Pro Tools system with another studio using Source Connect Pro, allowing us to record broadcast quality audio down the line, in timecode accurate sync. This method is usually used when connecting with other facilities as it requires the necessary Source Connect software. If you’d like to use this method to connect please get in contact.

Following the session we can either edit and mix your recording to provide you with a broadcast ready voiceover or deliver the RAW WAV’s as an AAF, OMF or Pro Tools session.

For enquires and bookings please call (01273) 201122 or email bookings@brownbearaudio.co.uk

Remote Voiceover and ADR Workflow During The Covid-19 Pandemic – A Guide for Producer

A Guide to Remote Monitoring for Sessions

Requirements

Audio Only Monitoring

Audio & Video Monitoring

Linking to Another Studio

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Remote Voiceover and ADR Workflow During The Covid-19 Pandemic – A Guide for Producer

A Guide to Remote Monitoring for Sessions

Requirements

Audio Only Monitoring

Audio & Video Monitoring

Linking to Another Studio

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