Tools Every Dialogue Editor Should Have In 2024 | Production Expert (2024)

iZotope RX

Trusted by the top audio pros around the world, iZotope RX has been built on years of extensive research in advanced digital signal processing and machine learning.

Some of you know me as ‘Mr RX It’, from when I produced a series of videos showing how to use iZotope RX 2 to treat a range of problem audio examples. Fast forward, and iZotope has added some amazing features to RX, especially with the machine learning based tools that opened up a range of possibilities that weren’t available before.

RX 6 brought cutting-edge technologies for post-production, like lav mic de-rustle, dialogue isolation, and intermittent low-end wind rumble removal. It also introduces creative approaches to age-old music recording problems like microphone bleed, sibilance, mouth clicks, and breaths.

With RX 7, iZotope added Dialogue Contour to change the intonation, a dedicated dialogue De-reverb module, multi-channel support up to 7.1.2, Repair Assistant, which uses AI to analyse the audio and offers options for you to consider and Music Rebalance, which uses source separation, identifying vocals, bass, percussion, and other instruments, enabling you to be able you to change the mix after the event.

iZotope RX 8 added Spectral Recovery, which restores lost frequencies above 4 kHz, turning bandwidth-limited audio into clearer and more articulate recordings, and a dedicated Guitar De-noise module, which, although refined for removing hums and buzzes from guitar tracks, is also great for any hum and buzzes you might have on any type of audio. RX 8 Advanced brought a Wow and Flutter module to correct pitch variations and fluctuations associated with tape, vinyl and optical transfers.

In iZotope RX 9, the dynamic mode in the De-hum module was a stand-out addition, which I found wasn’t just excellent at dealing with hums and buzzes but also great for dealing with PA feedback. For me, iZotope RX10 brought welcome improvements to Spectral Recovery, Dynamic De-hum and Dialog Isolate modules.

Back in the days of RX 2 to RX 8, iZotope was the king in the audio restoration sector, bringing raft after raft of ground-breaking features. All of this has given me a huge respect for the team at iZotope and enabled me to make a living helping people improve their audio. But it has to be said that everything is not rosy in the iZotope garden.

In recent years, two things have happened. First, iZotope has had to contend with a growing number of competitors, often small agile developers now taking up the audio restoration mantle and leaving iZotope behind in both product development and the quality of the results. Second, both RX 9 and RX 10 iZotope were disappointing in their new features, giving the appearance that iZotope has taken their eye off the ball. Maybe the upcoming RX 11 will go some way to restoring iZotope to the top slot.

iZotope RX Pricing

• RX Elements - $99

• RX 10 Standard - $399

• RX 10 Advanced - $1199

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Acon Digital Acoustica

On of the advantages of iZotope RX is that it is a very comprehensive set of tools in one package. One of the few competitors in this area offering a wide range of tools is Acoustica from Acon Digital.

Acoustica is suitable for audio editing, post production, mastering and restoration. Acoustica comes in two versions: Standard and Premium Edition. In my opinion, the Premium Edition provides the best value, due to the huge collection of included plugins. These can be used within Acoustica itself, or in your preferred DAW. Acoustica Premium edition includes a spectral editor, loudness meter, spectrum analyser and speech recognition tools. It provides multi-channel support up to Dolby Atmos 7.1.2., it is priced at £159.90 and includes the following plugins:

• Extract: Dialogue - A dialogue noise reduction tool based on deep learning.

• Verberate 2 - A natural sounding reverb plug-in.

• Equalize 2 - A parametric EQ with an intuitive user interface and some unique features.

• Restoration Suite 2 - This is actually a suite of four plug-ins for audio restoration. They are: DeNoise 2, DeHum 2, DeClick 2 and DeClip 2.

• Mastering Suite - A collection of mastering tools consisting of Equalise 2, Dynamics, Multiband Dynamics, Limit and Dither.

The plugins and bundles listed above can all be purchased separately, but the value offered by their inclusion in Acoustica Premium Edition, coupled with the fact that you essentially get all of this plus a spectral editor too, makes it a no brainer. Oh yes, and there’s also a suite of dialogue specific noise reduction tools, in addition to the aforementioned Extract: Dialogue. The other dialogue restoration tools are:

• DeWind: Dialogue - As its name suggests, this tool reduces wind noise in dialogue recordings.

• DeEss: Dialogue - An effective tool for reducing sibilance in dialogue recordings

• DePlosive: Dialogue - Attenuates low-frequency noise, pops and plosives caused by recording dialogue without a pop filter or windshield.

• DeRustle: Dialogue - Reduces clothing rustle and microphone bump noise from lavalier recordings.

• DeBuzz: Dialogue - This plug-in targets buzz and hum noises and eliminates them from dialogue recordings.

• DeBird - Recordings made outside can suffer from a variety of background noises, but when the problem is bird noise, this is the tool for the job.

• Finally, there’s a tool called Remix, which can split a complete mix up into 5 stems of vocals, piano, bass, drums and others.

Acon Digital Pricing

• Acoustica Standard Edition $59.90

• Acoustica Premium Edition $199.90

• Acoustica Post Production Suite $299.90

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Todd-AO Absentia DX

The underlying aim of this plugin is to analyse production dialog recordings and then remove obvious hums, wireless rings, and ticks while maintaining the integrity of the human voice. However, the latest iteration of Absentia DX sees a change to a subscription model and an extension to the features. It’s no longer a one-trick pony.

Standalone Or Plugin - You Choose

The new V3 plug-in includes all the tools from the Standalone app and a local library that makes processing 3x faster. The Hotkeys shortcuts will speed up editing. You can use the Standalone Application to Batch Process the complete sound dailies folder or use the Pro Tools plug-in when editing or mixing to make deeper processing to some clips.

Absentia DX contains eight different tools…

• Broadband Reducer can now process deeper than before with a lower noise peak model.

• Hum Remover automatically removes hum from recordings. The Hum Remover Smooth setting is designed to be safe for all dialog.

• Air Tone Generator enables you to replace dialogue with room tone while maintaining production moves with three presets to leave Air Tone, or Air Tone + PFX.

• Doppler Remover enables you to remove hums or whistles that vary in pitch.

• Cicadas Reducer reduces cicadas in the background, leaving the dialog untouched.

• Birds Reducer reduces bird chirps in the background, leaving the dialog untouched.

• Phase Synchronizer enables you to cut Boom and Lavalier together and avoid phase cancellation issues.

• Sonogram Player lets you view the Spectrum of a poly-wav file and play it channel by channel.

There are two other features which aren’t in the audio restoration workflow but are a great help to dialog editors…

• Transcribe converts dialogue recordings into text, whether it's production sound, ADR, loop group sessions, voice-overs, or any voice recording. Search for alternative lines or specific words and expressions in a user-friendly spreadsheet or directly within your sound database app.

• ALTS Finder enables users to navigate through your transcribed dialogue, listen and compare different takes, preview lines with 3-second handles and then spot the selected takes directly into Pro Tools.

• Assembly Fix Sync automatically corrects the offset between AAF clips and their corresponding expanded channels in Pro Tools. It nudges the clips, so no new media is generated.

• Copy Unique IDTood-AO have added a checkbox to copy the original Unique ID / SMPTE ID

Discover the power of Transcribe and Alts Finder in this tutorial from Todd-AO. Learn how to streamline your workflow by extracting dialogue, spotting alternatives, and enhancing your editing process. From handling ADR to finding specific sounds, explore the full potential of this tool. Uncover time-saving tips and make the most of Transcribe and Alts Finder. This tutorial covers every aspect, providing valuable insights for both beginners and experienced users.

• 00:36 Transcribe settings

• 03:18 Transcribe on Intel machines

• 05:12 Transcribing all channels vs single channel

• 07:37 Spotting options

• 10:53 Transcribe for ADR & Loop Group

• 12:31 Transcribe for PFX

Absentia DX Pricing

There are two options, both subscription models…

• Server is for users who don't need to carry the license with them regularly. The license is activated on your machine, but you can request to move it. Absentia DX Server costs $120 for the first year and then $40 for subsequent years as long as you renew it before the license expires.

• iLok is for users who work on different facilities and need to carry the license around, so the license is activated on a 2nd Generation Pace iLok2 or later. Absentia DX iLok costs $150 for the first year and then $50 for subsequent years as long as you renew it before the license expires.

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In April 2023, we announced that Supertone had released a beta version of GOYO Voice Separator. GOYO is an AI-powered plugin that offers the user the ability to decrease or increase noise, reverb, and ambience using three simple knobs.

At the end of August 2023, Supertone announced their plans to officially release Supertone Clear, as their official product, replacing GOYO. The upgraded plug-in has been designed to retain Goyo’s simplicity and powerful algorithm, together with additional features like enhanced CPU performance and offline workflow.

Supertone Clear is a de-noise & de-reverb audio plug-in that is has been designed to be a breeze to use. It has three simple knobs to control the voice, ambience, and voice reverb.

• Process in Real-time - Clear’s real-time processing capability has been designed to make it easy to achieve clean speech in any environment and hear the end result quickly.

• De-Noise & De-Reverb, and even De-Voice - Whether you want to get rid of unwanted noise or excessive reverb or even remove dialogue to create clean ambiences, you can do it all with this plugin.

• No uploading to the cloud - Supertone has stressed in their communications that Supertone Clear works completely offline, with the only exception being when you need to activate and deactivate the plug-in.

Supertone Pricing

• Clear $99

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Accentize dxRevive Pro

dxRevive is a new speech restoration plugin from Accentize, released in September 2023. Utilising groundbreaking AI technology, dxRevive aims to transcend the boundaries of conventional noise removal, working to restore clarity and tone to audio recordings in ways previously unimagined.

dxRevive presents itself as a versatile plugin dedicated to enriching the quality of various dialogue recordings. Unlike many other restoration plugins, dxRevive doesn't merely filter the signal. It goes beyond identifying and reintegrating missing frequency components, yielding studio-like recordings from diverse source materials. Its capabilities span:

• Noise removal

• Reverb elimination

• Restoration of absent frequencies

• Elimination of Codec Artifacts (e.g., from Skype or Zoom recordings)

• Recovery of clipped audio

• Seamless replacement of missing samples to address audio dropouts

• Application of spectral corrections

dxRevive is available in two versions: Standard and Pro.

• The standard version of dxRevive provides a very simple interface which displays a scrolling audio waveform. The original audio is indicated with an outline, and the processed audio is represented with a filled-in waveform.

• dxRevive Pro introduces additional features, namely the option to split the audio into as many as four frequency bands, each with its own threshold control, so you can adjust the amount of processing per band. This is particularly useful when the noise is most prominent in a certain frequency range, and you want to process it more heavily than other parts of the spectrum.

Paul Maunder tested dxRevive and dxRevive Pro. Check it out in his article and video Accentize dxRevive Tested - Perhaps The Only Dialogue Cleaner You'll Need.

Accentize Pricing

• dxRevive $99

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• dxRevive Pro $299

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Hush Pro

Ian Sampson, the developer of the AI audio cleaner app Hush, has announced the release of Hush Pro. This AudioSuite plugin removes ambient noise and room reflections from recorded speech.

Powered by machine learning and optimized for Apple Silicon, Hush Pro is said to clean up dialogue quickly and transparently, with minimal artifacts and unrivalled clarity.

Hush Features

• Mute all the noise - Hush filters out broadband sounds like ventilation, appliances, traffic, and wind. Restore audio from imperfect environments and produce studio-quality recordings wherever you are.

• Make every room anechoic - Reduce room reflections and comb filtering — from untreated condos to massive auditoriums. Crank up the dial to absorb every trace of reverb, or mix in some dry signal for a more natural sound.

• Dechirp. Debark. Dehonk - Most noise reduction algorithms struggle to remove transient sounds like chirping birds, barking dogs, or honking horns. Hush eliminates them with surgical precision, saving you hours of manual editing.

• Own it for life - Neural networks with this much power usually require a server and hefty usage or subscription fees. Instead, Hush runs entirely on your Mac. Your data stays private, and the app is yours forever.

Developed with audio post-production in mind, Hush Pro integrates into Pro Tools and offers two distinct modes, or sub-plugins, which leverage the same robust engine while catering to different workflows. They are…

• Hush Mix: This mode provides users with a mixer-style user interface, enabling them to rebalance dialogue, noise, and reverb in real time. Editors can preview the results on the fly, ensuring a seamless and efficient audio editing process.

• Hush Split: For those seeking finer control and non-destructive editing options, Hush Split renders dialogue, noise, and reverb as separate clips. This mode empowers audio professionals to make precise adjustments to each element independently.

Under the hood, Hush Pro uses a new, more powerful AI model, which capitalises on the enhanced GPU performance of Apple's M-series Pro, Max, and Ultra chips.

Production Expert · Hush Audio Test Files

Hush Pricing

• Hush $89

• Hush Pro $249

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iZotope Dialogue Match

In 2019, iZotope launched Dialogue Match, an AAX AudioSuite plugin that automatically learns and matches the sonic character of dialogue recordings. This was the first product to combine iZotope and Exponential Audio technology, combining iZotope’s machine learning with the reverb technology developed by Michael Carnes.

Imagine the scenario, you have a dialogue track, which is made up of some boom mic tracks, some lav mic tracks for scenes where the boom couldn’t get close enough in and some clean ADR tracks recorded in the studio because the location sound wasn’t usable. You would probably end up creating fill tracks of clean ambience, either by stitching together bits of clean ambience or using Ambience Match from iZotope RX. Then using EQ to match the sound for the lav or ADR tracks to the boom mic, whether that is manually with an EQ plugin or using an EQ matching plugin like SEQ-S from Nugen Audio or the EQ Match module in iZotope RX. Finally, using a reverb plugin to try and manually match the reverb to the sound of the location, or if you are very lucky, use a convolution reverb and an impulse response acquired for you by the location sound recordist.

Dialogue Match from iZotope uses machine learning to do each of these 3 stages automatically. Once Dialogue Match has captured the reference track, usually the boom mic, and the lav or ADR track the plugin’s machine learning can calculate appropriate EQ match, reverb and ambience extraction and then present these in 3 separate sections in the plugin, one each for EQ, Reverb and Ambience to enable you to fine tweak them, before using the AudioSuite plugin to render a processed version back onto a track.

• The EQ Module uses the EQ matching technology from iZotope's Ozone 9 to quickly learn and match the tonal and spectral characteristics of dialogue.

• The Reverb Module uses brand-new reverb matching technology, powered by iZotope machine learning, to capture spatial reflections from one recording and accurately apply them to another using Exponential Audio's clean, realistic reverb engine.

• The Ambience Module harnesses the Ambience Match technology from iZotope RX and analyzes the spectral noise profile of a recording, identifies and then re-creates room tone so speeding up the matching of dialogue from location recordings, acquired with boom and lavalier mics as well as studio acquired ADR tracks.

Another application is for foreign language dubbing where the new dialogue is recorded in a different language, usually in a studio. Like ADR, you then need to be able to process the studio-recorded dialogue so that it sounds like the original recording and matches the location the viewer can see. With Dialogue Match you are able to use the original dialogue tracks as a reference and then impose the profile onto the replacement language recordings and get them to match the original locations.

In this video demo, I take Dialogue Match from iZotope for a spin and show what it can do by automatically learning and matching the sonic character of dialogue recordings.

iZotope Pricing

• Dialogue Match $599

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Accentize Chameleon

Applying ambience to ADR or studio-captured sources to match location sound has traditionally been a matter of using the right tool in the right way.

Bringing audio together from different sources and blending them all seamlessly will be a situation that most dialogue editors will be familiar with, and increasingly, this is also a scenario that anyone working in a collaborative workflow can find themselves in. entity.

Of all the anomalies the mixer or editor is presented with, perhaps the most common is inconsistent levels of ambience in the recorded audio, with ambient location audio and replacement studio dialogue needing to blend perfectly. While modern reverbs give us all the realism and control we need, the problem for those with tight deadlines or less experience is knowing where to start. Step forward, A.I.

Chameleon from Accentize brings us a reverb that can actually imitate other reverbs. This is very good news for anyone who needs to superimpose the ambience from one recording onto another. Users only need to learn a reverb profile with one instance on the ambient track and then use that profile in a second instance on the dry track.

Accentize describes Chameleon as…

“an intelligent audio plugin which uses artificial neural networks to estimate and model the exact reverb content of any source recording. You can build a reverb profile in seconds and easily apply it to dry studio recordings.”

Features include:

• Create unlimited different unique reverbs with a single click.

• Automatic parameterisation of dry/wet-mixing, stereo-width and pre-delay.

• The ideal tool for realistic ADR and Foley matching.

• Useful for creative sound design or music production.

• Extract the natural room-impulse-response of any recording and export it as a wav-file.

Accentize Pricing

• Chameleon $259

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As a dialogue editor, it is our job to make actors’ performances the best they can sound. This often means using an array of tools to clean up clicks and pops and smooth out the edits between takes. There are typically some lines in every project that just cannot be used. The next option is to dig through all the other takes recorded on set to find alternate takes to fix problematic lines. If alts can’t be found, actors can be called into a studio to re-record their lines in a process known as ADR. By far one of the bigger challenges as a dialogue editor is matching ADR or alt takes to production. SyncroArts offers a range of products that help dialogue editors match these replacement lines to production.

Vocalign Ultra is Synchro Arts’ most advanced version of Vocalign to date. It allows dialogue to very quickly and easily be matched in both timing and, if required, pitch. Vocalign Ultra operates as a plug-in within your DAW. This means that if speed is of the essence and you want great time alignment of dialogue lines, Vocalign Ultra is a good choice. It has a simple interface and can be switched to a more advanced view if required. This provides a few more options for both timing and pitch matching. For dialogue or voiceover, the Match Pitch function is a handy option when you need to match the intonation of one recording to another.

There are also a few new controls that have already come in really handy when matching ADR and alt takes:

• Tightness Control lets you really dial in just HOW much you want to match your alt to the original. While the goal is to have perfect lip-sync, sometimes the result sounds overly processed or unnatural. The tightness Control seems to let you find a happy medium.

• Sometimes your available alt takes or ADR from a session just don’t work. Not because they don’t match lip-sync, but because the inflexion is off. The actor’s voice went up in pitch instead of down. One approach to these situations has been to use iZotope’s Dialogue Contour to manually draw in the inflexion you are looking for. With VocALign Ultra, you can now match the inflexion using the Pitch Control at the same time I am adjusting the timing.

• Formant Shift has also been another helpful tool when an actor delivered the alt in a different register and changing the pitch just doesn't sound right. This could also be helpful for changing the character of an actor’s voice, perhaps for creature voices or a young actor with a changing voice when they come in for ADR six months down the road.

Synchro Arts Pricing

• VocAlign Project 5 $149

• VocAlign Ultra $399

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Synchro Arts Revoice Pro

Revoice Pro operates as a standalone application. Audio is sent to it from your DAW, processed within Revoice Pro and sent back to your DAW. Most DAWs, with the exception of Pro Tools, now offer ARA2 functionality. When using Revoice Pro in conjunction with Logic Pro, Nuendo, Reaper or others which support the Audio Random Access extension, any adjustments you make in Revoice Pro find their way back into your DAW instantaneously.

If you need some more advanced pitch controls above those offered by Vocalign Ultra, Revoice Pro is a good option as it provides a comprehensive pitch editor. This type of pitch editing is common in music production where vocals need to be tuned but perhaps a little less commonly used in post-production. Nevertheless, it lets you get creative with sound design and is a great choice for pitch manipulation of speech. Additionally, any areas within the recording which are un-pitched will be highlighted in light blue. This allows you to ignore parts such as breaths, esses and harsh consonants which perhaps you may not want to tune. Un-pitched areas can be adjusted in level independently of the pitched sections of dialogue. This can be useful for de-essing.

Although Version 4.3 introduced an ARA version of the Revoice Pro link plug-in for Logic Pro users, providing instantaneous transfers back and forth between Logic Pro 10.6.2 or higher, they haven’t abandoned Pro Tools users by providing a new set of AudioSuite plugins.

The APT processes, used to align the timing and pitch of multiple vocal tracks, now has SmartAlign. When this is enabled, it can align audio with significant gaps in the guide or dub audio. This new feature enables you to align longer performances, which previously had to be broken down into small segments.

The plug-in has two modes of operation. The first is a Quick mode which uses a temporary Revoice Pro session and can only contain one APT or Doubler process at a time. The second uses Link mode, which uses a Revoice Pro session to be saved and reloaded to keep adjustments and edits for future use.

In this video, I focus on the Quick mode, replacing the audio from some footage shot on an iPhone using the internal mic, with a separately recorded ADR recording, which opens his demo video…

As a veteran of Revoice Pro, as it has developed over the years, in my book, from v4.3, Synchro Arts has finally provided the workflow it should always have had.

Synchro Arts has been able to nail the workflow with an AudioSuite plugin that drives Revoice Pro in the background. There is no need to switch back and forth between Pro Tools and Revoice Pro. You can stay in Pro Tools, select your audio and Revoice Pro preset, process the audio in Revoice Pro, and drop it onto the timeline all without leaving Pro Tools.

Not only has Smart Align and the Quick APT AudioSuite plugin enabled this really simple yet powerful workflow, Synchro Arts has also been able to resolve the challenges of how to handle gaps. Before V4.3, you had to make sure there weren’t any unexpected gaps, or it was unable to work out what to do. Now with Smart Align, it handles the gaps perfectly.

Synchro Arts Pricing

• Revoice Pro $599

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Sound Radix Auto Align Post

Auto-Align Post is an AAX AudioSuite plug-in for Avid Pro Tools, designed to automatically correct the delay and comb-filter phase issues occurring when mixing a recording of multiple moving microphones, such as in the case of a shoot set-up using a boom microphone in addition to actor’s lavalier microphone or multiple on-set microphones.

Until Auto Align Post was released, phase/time aligning multiple moving microphones was a tedious, time-consuming job that often required several ear-twisting days to complete. Not anymore.

Sound Radix built on their proprietary technology in the Auto-Align plug-in, to develop an algorithm that makes phase/time correction of a moving multi-microphone recording of an entire film a matter of a few clicks and a short coffee break.

As someone who mixes audio for self-shooters, I often get the sync audio as 2 tracks, the camera mic and a personal lav mic on the talent. My workflow has been to go through the clips and select which one sounds better because I couldn’t use them both because of varying timing differences between them.

To give Auto-Align Post a good workout, I created some test content in a church, which gave me a reverberant sound field to see how Auto-Align Post would handle less than ideal source material. I used a static shotgun mic representing the camera mic and a personal lav mic on myself, as the talent, recreating the typical workflows I have to deal with.

With Auto-Align Post from Sound Radix, because it can fix the timing differences dynamically throughout a clip, I can now use them both together, and in the video above I show how.

in our podcast on all things dialog, Chris Roberts summed up perfectly what Auto Align Post means to a dialog editor…

“We used to do a lot of that kind of phase align by eye but only where we needed to do it, but you can’t phase align everything by eye and ear or we'd be here at Christmas, it's a non-starter, but that little brilliant, Auto-Align Post is fantastic.”

Sound Radix Pricing

• Auto Align Post $399

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Kraken Dialogue Editor’s Toolkit

Kraken Dialogue Editors Toolkit is an application, which has been developed over several years by sound editor Marc Specter. Essentially, it performs two core functions: assembling production sound files from an EDL to create field recorder guide tracks in Pro Tools, from which the multitrack location recordings can be expanded (conforming); and searching for alternate takes for spotting into a Protools session. But once immersed in the app, Kraken offers so much more to Dialogue Editors.

Here is a list of some of the key features…

• Audio Library tools for playback, search, and spotting of production sound and other recordings.

• Transcription and searching of production audio to locate audio files based on their spoken content.

• Export to PTX for immediate session assembly in seconds.

• Precise Sync Tightening: Align waveforms for synchronization fixes when timecode matching falls short.

• Live DAW Syncing enables rapid access to alternate takes and other valuable material.

• Visualize and edit EDL/PTX files in a timeline format to facilitate visualization and issue detection.

• Floating metadata panel displays enriched metadata, delivering a virtual sound report directly from the location.

• Transparent video overlay with customizable fields for creating a ‘virtual burn-in.’

• Export Picture and Scene Cut Tracks.

• Compare and merge multiple EDLs with visual aids to pinpoint potential workflow challenges.

Beginning an assembly is a simple matter of dragging the folder containing the production sound files into the Media panel. Kraken then scans the metadata and waveforms, storing the waveform data in hidden folders alongside the sound files, while the metadata is loaded into memory on each application startup.

It has quickly become an essential tool for many Dialogue Editors. The macOS application works in step with Pro Tools, offering enhancements to workflows and solutions to problems that Dialogue Editors encounter regularly.

Expert dialog editor, Chris Roberts shows what Kraken Dialogue Editor’s Toolkit can do, and why this monster has become such a powerful ally…..

Chris Roberts concluded his article by saying…

Kraken is effectively a continuously evolving project. In the relatively short time, it has been available to the wider post community, there have been a significant number of improvements and features added, often in direct response to users’ suggestions and requests.

Marc Specter’s engagement with and support of Kraken users is second to none, which obviously aids and informs his development of the toolset. Currently, a macOS only application, a Windows version is in the pipeline.

Marc is always improving the match algorithms, stating that there are also interesting possibilities in other areas including further assembly/conform workflow aids, AAF cleaning and filtering and Pro Tools file diagnosis. Marc is also considering Tools to aid ADR editors with the next big feature in development being a ‘Sync Fix’ function to tighten the sync of assemblies.

Addressing further, deeper issues that can confront and confound those of us dabbling in the dark art of Dialogue Editing is indeed exciting. I would suggest that Kraken’s main success so far has been to reveal solutions that make what could so often be a frustrating, time-sucking and laborious process quicker, easier and (dare I state it ) more enjoyable…..and not a killer rabbit in sight.

Kraken Pricing

• Dialogue Editors Toolkit Basic £400

• Dialogue Editors Toolkit Advanced £870

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The Cargo Cult Matchbox

Matchbox Feature Summary

• Compare based on... almost anything- If you have any kind of handover from picture editorial, then you have enough. Matchbox can work with AAFs, EDLs, XML, change notes, as well as the actual reference video files and the guide audio. Just dump it all into Matchbox and ask it to matchup anything it can find. You can search the dialog guide audio, video tracks, audio tracks, the reference movie file, or any combination in between.

• Audible and Visible Diffing- Matchbox will hunt to find matches for all the footage in the new reel, then looks for any little differences within all those areas of matched footage. You can then step through each purple Diff object, looking and listening to each difference, so that you can identify if it is relevant to you.

• Human-friendly summaries- Matchbox has been designed to automate the reconform process, but for the people in the team, you first need to know what the damage is, in plain terms, and in a format, you can understand at a glance. Matchbox will summarise the changes, even bundling up the relevant information into an email you can share with the whole post team.

• Powerful Marker system- Every time you compare two reels, Matchbox will create a set of automatically generated markers, which describe the cut changes in plain terms. If you find other changes such as new VFX elements, you can drop extra markers of your own, to remind yourself or let others in the crew know where to look. You can even send these markers to Pro Tools, Media Composer or include them in the Summary Email which matchbox generates for you.

• Tailor reconforms to each dept - Dialog and Music editors no longer need to follow picture changes, and then disregarding dozens of unnecessary changes afterwards. Matchbox lets you base its comparisons on Audio or Video, and even allows you to isolate certain audio tracks from the AAF to use. The compositor might use just the reference video file, or the VFX editor might isolate just the upper Video tracks from the AAF. You can even get your hands dirty and manually edit the matches list - simplifying or healing over changes that you just don't care about.

• Ditch reliance on pix dept. change notes - A carefully handcrafted, accurate change note for every cut update is what you deserve - but we know the likelihood of getting that are… and you're definitely not going to get a note for r3v10 to r3v16 at 2 am on Sunday morning. With an AAF accompanying every picture handover you'll always be able to find the changes between any two versions, without making a call to the picture dept. You'll get it when you need it and you'll know it's right for your dept.

The Cargo Cult Pricing

• Matchbox $669

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Sounds In Sync Ediload

Sounds in Sync was founded by veteran dialogue editor Mark Franken, whose credits include blockbuster giants like The Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers and Return of The King, District 9 and Mad Max: Fury Road. This is not some software giant but a working dialogue editor who somehow found the time to build tools from the ground up to fulfil the specific needs of his fellow sound editors.

EdiLoad from Sounds In Sync is an application that allows sound editors and mixers to perform various crucial and time-saving tasks. From re-conforming (re-cutting) a Pro Tools session when picture changes occur to conforming (assembling) location WAV files in Pro Tools, EdiLoad can streamline the workflow of any film or television sound post production.

At its heart, EdiLoad contains powerful functions that can manipulate edit lists through its filter, batch modification and cleaning controls. With its ability to import and export Pro Tools sessions, new workflows can be created to automate repetitive tasks or enable new processes on custom productions.

What EdiLoad does is give you the ability to feed it an EDL, AAF, XML or even a Pro Tools Session with whatever your picture editor is able to supply. From there, EdiLoad will “clean” the list of any duplicate files and reduce your timeline to the minimum number of tracks possible. From here, you can then point EdiLoad to your folder of raw production sound rolls supplied from the set. With the hit of a button, EdiLoad will then find all the matching takes. Sometimes, it may find multiple or no matches for some clips. Some projects are easier than others when it comes to making these matches, but when things aren’t matching right away, you can dig into Mark’s tutorials or user guide to unlock more advanced workflows to make the match.

Once you have whittled down your list of unmatched clips to just things that will not have a match from production (bars and tone, temp ADR or other adds from the picture editor), you can create either a Pro Tools Session or an AAF that is ready to drop into your session or hand off to your dialogue editor to get to work. Assembling a dialogue reel can take up to two hours if done manually. With EdiLoad, that can easily be cut down to somewhere in the neighbourhood of 5-20 minutes. With this kind of time savings, it is easy to justify the expense after just a few uses.

The last way many editors use EdiLoad is to keep up with picture changes. Picture lock is not a reality on most productions. When an editor delivers a new version, you have to re-conform your work. EdiLoad gives you the option to compare an old and new list (derived from an EDL, AAF or XML) and use the comparison to automate the process of updating your session to the latest cut.

If you assemble dialogue as part of your workflow, EdiLoad is a must. To learn more about the software, be sure to check out this great series of video tutorials Mark has created:

Sounds In Sync Pricing

• EdiLoad $645

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Other Tools

I am going to close this article by including two tools that don’t really fit any of the categories I have listed so far.

SoundFlow

In 2017 SoundFlow started as an app for creating extra shortcuts for Pro Tools. Christian launched it as a product with 103 shortcuts for Pro Tools. A year later, they had turned SoundFlow into a platform with the release of SoundFlow 2, in which you could build your own scripts and develop your own workflows. Commands could be triggered from the keyboard, external hardware devices, MIDI controllers, touch surfaces or be integrated into existing scripting.

SoundFlow 3 enabled regular users to be able to build their own automated macros and workflows in DAWs like Pro Tools as well as iZotope RX, Soundminer, in fact, any macOS application. This version also added deep integration with the Stream Deck, which is a 15 button hardware device with LCD screens behind every button, enabling users to be able to design their own dynamic ‘Decks’ inside SoundFlow that react to what you are doing, as well as providing access to all of SoundFlow’s integrations. You can read much more about SoundFlow in our comprehensive article.

Soundflow 4 enabled users to design their own cross-platform touch surfaces and have them instantly work across both macOS, iOS and Android. the introduction of SoundFlow Surfaces enabled a wide range of new workflows. SoundFlow scripts and macros could be triggered by inputs like virtual faders and XY pads and skinned buttons. Users were able to use the new Surfaces designer with an easy to use drag’n’drop editor.

SoundFlow worked hard to improve on other solutions like Lemur or TouchOSC by removing the need for manual configuration. The objective was to enable the user so that once you have designed a surface on your Mac, it will instantly sync to all your connected devices, iOS or Android, with no need for complicated setup, or manually routing MIDI or OSC.

SoundFlow takes care of all communication to and from all your connected devices automatically. SoundFlow tells us that you can use as many iOS and Android devices as you wish.

In addition, since surfaces travel with your SoundFlow Cloud Account, this means you can have access to all your surfaces, like any other SoundFlow setting, from any computer in the world once you log in to your SoundFlow account.

In 2022, SoundFlow 5 was released. The newest version, targeted Pro Tools users and saught to address the principal barrier facing new users - Getting SoundFlow set up. Previous versions of SoundFlow were installed as a blank canvas and required the user to set it up before any work could be done. It was like a powerful synthesizer which shipped without any presets.

SoundFlow 5 In Numbers

• SoundFlow 5's official Pro Tools integration comes with 1752 pre-built macros, scripts & presets, up from ~500 in SoundFlow 4.
  80% of all macros now have beautifully designed icons assigned – and the rest are coming soon.

• SoundFlow 5 has all this content organized in 86 pre-designed decks, of these 30+ ready to use on a 5x3 Stream Deck.

• Thanks to the new onboarding workflow, you can sign up for SoundFlow 5, install it and integrate it with Pro Tools and Stream Deck in less than 10 minutes.

• As part of the new platform, SoundFlow will now be able to deliver new features and bug fixes to its Pro Tools integration independently of SoundFlow platform builds and releases. With this, they can roll out bug fixes and features to the Pro Tools integration on a daily or weekly basis, instead of the multiple months they had between releases before.

• SoundFlow 5 has more than 40 new features and countless bug fixes and improvements.

In this extended video demonstration with Christian Scheuer from SoundFlow we look at the new features and what they mean for new users.

Intro

• 0.30 - What is SoundFlow?

• 2.26 - Why is this relevant to the Production Expert audience?

Demo / overview of new features - SoundFlow 5

• 5.35 - Overview of the new Official Pro Tools integration with 1700 macros and 30+ decks.

• 6.08 - New onboarding workflow that lets users set up SoundFlow completely in less than 10 minutes with no need for manual setup or any particular knowledge.

• 10.00 - Demonstration of using SoundFlow 5 In Pro Tools

• 11.16 - New Store. Improved navigation and access to 350+ packages with macros, decks and scripts made by the community.

Going into more detail

• 14.40 - How can you easily build your own Deck to customize SoundFlow to your workflow?

• 20.28 - How do you add a missing feature? For example Is there a way to get the Color Palette on a Deck?

• 24.40 - Set up an AudioSuite plugin like RX De-plosive to run from a single button click?

Round Up

• 33.07 - How do the demo and subscription work?

• 34.30 - Where can I learn more?
  SoundFlow community and forum with 6,000+ threads and 40,000+ posts where our users help educate each other on how to build, automate and improve workflows. and the Soundflow YouTube channel

• 36.20 - Thanks and goodbye

SoundFlow Pricing

• Cloud Avid Edition - Free to Pro Tools users with a current subscription or perpetual upgrade plan.

• Cloud Indie subscription $4.99 per month

• Cloud Pro subscription $9.99 per month

• Cloud Business subscription $249 per year per seat.

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Sound Particles

Sound Particles is an immersive 3D CGI-like standalone application for film, TV, VR and game audio production. Introduced in 2015, Sound Particles offers unique workflows, increasing creativity and reducing the time needed to create and record complex sounds in virtual 3D environments.

For many years now, we have experienced what CGI has done for film production, enabling scenes to be created that were either too costly or just impossible to create. Even though sci-fi is an obvious candidate for CGI, enabling the creative team to bring the imaginary worlds to life, CGI has also found its way into all kinds of film genres to create backgrounds etc.

What if we could do this with audio? What if we could create an army from a handful of sound files. With Sound Particles, you can do just this.

Just as CGI can create huge visual scenes that would not be possible or not cost-effective. However, with Sound Particles we can do these kinds of tricks with audio.

Now you might be wondering why we have included Sound Particles in this list of tools for a dialog editor. In a Dialog Editing podcast recorded in 2021, Damian Kearns made Sound Particles his find of the week saying…

“I recently discovered Sound Particles 2, even though it has been out for a while now, which amongst other things does have the ability to thicken out a dialogue Wala and turn it into a wall of sound. So I've been using that, this past week and absolutely loving it just thickening up dialogue bits for backgrounds and stuff like that.”

We found that it is best to start with some simple setups, to get a handle on how Sound Particles works, like a flypast with one sound source, then build on that with an emitter setup with multiple sound sources flying past the microphone, as we demo in our exclusive Sound Particles Demo and Tour Video below. Try this in surround or better still Atmos, if you can, it sounds spectacular.

Then once you have got a handle on the simple setups, you can expand and get into the big soundscapes like a battle scene...

That said, all the presets introduced in v2.1 make it so much easier to get started and the latest batch of tutorials from Sound Particles have also made it much easier to follow and understand. Together with the presets they make getting started with Sound Particles slot easier to get to grips with.

I had a lot of fun creating some soundscapes, like a flock of alarm clocks leaving their cave. What is very clever and helpful, is that whilst you in a design and tracking mode, you can use a stereo mic configuration as the ‘camera’ and then when you are really you can simply change the mic to 5.1, 7.1 or Dolby Atmos and just re-render immersive audio tracks.

One thing to be aware of is that even though Sound Particles has a powerful range of audio modifiers to be able to modify and provide variety when producing soundscapes with lots of objects, you will still need to make sure that you have a good collection of appropriate sound effects to get started.

It would be really good if independent sound effects producers would create libraries designed for use with Sound Particles, with collections of similar sounds that you can then import into Sound Particles to create your soundscapes.

In conclusion, why hasn’t anyone thought of this before? It seems so obvious but maybe that is the genius behind Sound Particles that they have been able to create the audio equivalent of CGI.

Sound Particles Pricing

• Indie subscription $19.90 per month

• Indie subscription $16.90 per month (1 year commitment)

• Indie Perpetual license $399

• Pro subscription $59.90 per month

• Pro subscription $49.90 per month (1 year commitment)

• Pro Perpetual license $999

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EQ, Compression and Reverb?

You might also be wondering why we haven’t included any EQ, compressor or reverb plugins. There are two reasons for this…

1. We tend not to do that much EQ, compression and reverb especially as dialog editors. these are things that we leave to the re-recording mixer. The only reverb tools I have included are those we might use as part of the dialog matching process.

2. Because post-production sessions often move from place to place, we tend to use the stock plugins for maximum compatibility and transportability.

In Conclusion

There you have it—my suggestions for tools and plugins that Dialogue Editors should have, as well as some suggestions for other useful tools to consider.

What do you use? How does it help you? Please add to the conversation with your suggestions and how they help you when editing dialog.