voice over, mic, software
 

Hi all. I've got a question. How can I create a voice over and shoot it straight to say final cut pro, to be edited? And what's the cheapest way? Should I be purchasing a special mic and a specific sound/voice over program? Any suggestions will be appreciated.

recording VO
 

Michelle,

How high of quality do you need this VO to be? What's the final destination -- broadcast TV, cinema, Web, DVD? Recording high-quality audio is an art of its own and requires first and foremost a good condenser microphone, preamp/computer audio interface (Firewire or USB), and a quiet, acoustically neutral recording environment. If, however, your project is a quick video for club, office, church, or personal, plug a $10 dynamic mic w/mini plug into your sound card's Mic In jack, and you'll be okay no matter what recording program you use.

I'm not a FCP user, but my NLE, MediaStudio Pro, lets me record audio straight to the timeline wherever the time marker is, which came in handy for a "scratch" VO track I recorded for a client's TV commercial.

Are you using a Mac?

I've always hired a Coles mic for voice over. It's one of those old sports commentating mics with a bit you stick your mouth over so you're at the correct distance. I think they cost about £12 a day.

Don't know anything about FCP so I don't know if it will directly record a track from an external source but if it doesn't, there's a freeware program called Audacity that's available for the download in both Mac and Windows versions and does an excellent job. Record your tracks with it and then import them into FCP. http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Thanks all. I'll check out your suggestions. I'm using a OSX 10.4.2. I have audio tracks in FCP and I have a mic. I guess I'm wondering where to plug it in. Is a 'sound card' something already installed on the mac?