BFG Alternative Workflow In SS64?

[Dave Labrecque]

Hey Dave,

Please remind us of how you use BFG and on what types of projects.

Thanks.

For me it's just the thing when I want to read many slides-worth of VO onto a track in the MT, then slice and dice. In SS32 I'd use BFG to then define each slide's specific bit of the timeline, then output all the files at once using the Build Mix to FX Modules feature. There are a bunch more features, though. It increments each new entry according to your defined base file name. You can change channel count and bit depth on a per-entry basis. And more.

How do you handle multiple-output-file projects, Ian?

You can read the full poop here: https://www.jms-audioware.com/bfg.htm

SFE does much of the same stuff in SS64.

Steve B. uses it differently, I imagine. Maybe he'll chime in with his specific application. IIRC JMS created BFG because he'd have SAW session with a bunch of audio to create instrument samples, but then if he went back to tweak or change anything, it was a PITA to do all those individual renders again. With BFG he could re-output them all (or a subset thereof) at once.

I had come up with a work-around using Sound Forge, and it wasn't horrible, but it wasn't as slick as BFG. And now, SFE.

[Ian Alexander]

I can't remember who suggested it here on the Forum, but this is how I cut narration into multiple files.

Record everything in one file on Track 1.

Edit the track, with first audio at about 0:00.5 and leave 1.75 - 2.0 seconds between the segments that will become the final files.

Add compression and EQ to taste.

Mix the track down to Track 2.

Mark Track 2 to cover from about 0.5 second before first audio and 1.5 seconds after last audio.

Remove silence on Track 2, using settings on the gate to leave 0.25 second of silence at the beginning of each segment and 1.0 second of silence at the end. This seems to make slide transition timing feel just about right.

Rename the regions on Track 2 to match the script. If the filenames increment by 1, you can get pretty close with the SS Rename Regions function. If they are named Welcome, Introduction, etc., you can get a pretty good rhythm going with Tab, Tab, click, U to rename each region individually.

Highlight all the appropriate regions in the Regions View, using click, scroll, shift-click.

Export Regions to Soundfiles.

If needed, ReName4All is handy for changing spaces to underscores and eliminating extra leading zeroes, etc.

Typically, create a Zip file of the audio files for a one-step download for the client, upload to their folder on the website, and email them a link.

Upsides:

Never have to mark B and E for individual segments (until revisions happen).

SS is as fast as your processor to mix, eliminate silence, and create the output files.

Filenames on Track 2 make it easy to find the right spot for revisions on Track 1.

Downside:

The mix to Track 2 adds a file to the folder (but these days, storage is free)

[Dave Labrecque]

Thanks for posting that, Ian. Questions:

1) How does SAW's gate know to discriminate between silence between slides and silence within slides?
2) How are you getting SAW's gate to open 0.25 seconds before a triggering event?

Why not try out SFE? I'd be interested to hear you compare/contrast it against your method.

[Ian Alexander]

Sorry for the delay - was out of town.

I should have been more clear. I'm not using the gate itself. The gate settings are used to tell the Remove Silence function what to do. Recall that there are spaces of about 2 seconds between audio segments on Track 1 and it gets Mixed Down to Track 2. I set the Gate Threshold on Track 2 to one step above -inf, I think it's -79.75dB, and it distinguishes perfectly between the noise floor of my recording chain and the parts of Track 2 that have no regions above them in the "source" track - Track 1. But the Gate button is NOT pressed.

Then, from the Help File:

Remove Silence From Track (Or Marked Area) - Automatic

This option will strip silent sections of audio from solid tracks of data, immediately splitting and removing the silent regions. This option also respond to selected tracks and will perform the operation on all selected tracks at once. You may also mark an area on the MultiTrack to limit the range of the operation. These options use default settings for the Attack, Release and Threshold settings applied to the algorithm. These may be set and saved with the preferences. If you activate the Gate on any track, you may override the settings for that track by adjusting the Gate settings.

The Attack uses a positive value to set the length of the silence (.250) included at the head of each new region being created. The Release sets the length of the silence (1.0) included at the end of each new region. And the Threshold sets the level defined as "silence" (anything below -79.75dB.)

Then I right click in the Track 2 label area and choose Remove Silence Automatic.

My default Preferences file in SS has all of this set up before I even begin recording.

When using BFG or SFE, do you have to mark the B and E of every intended output file?

Using my method (which, again, was suggested by another SS user, but I can't find the thread or I'd give credit), I only have to mark the entire track from .5 second before the audio begins on Track 1 to 1.5 seconds after the last audio ends before mixing to Track 2. This makes the resulting region on Track 2 long enough to allow Remove Silence to include the 0.25 second head on the first region and the 1 second tail on the last region.

I have downloaded SFE and will give it a try.

Thanks.