Sonar 8.5 Producer: Create a Tutorial Within Sonar

[Annabelle]

I know this might sound strange, but I want to make a tutorial of how to create a custom airport announcement utilizing Speakerphone within Sonar. However, I want to create the tutorial in a way that I can record my voice describing what's happening in one template, then make the Speakerphone tracks in another template. I want to be able to have both projects open and switch between them while recording. Is this possible without making my machine go haywire?

[reginaldStjohn]

It sounds like to me what you want to do is very much like what  youtubers or pod casters do. There are some on this forum that do a lot of this, I am not one.

I would search for youtube or podcasting software.

[AndyB01]

OBS Studio is free and might be worth a look:

https://obsproject.com/

[John Vere]

Yes I use OBS studio for screen capture. The ticket for me was to purchase an audio interface with Loopback capabilities. This way I can have Cakewalk, OBS and Win Amp all open as well If I wanted to I could speak live into my mike. Then I bought a Movie editor I could figure out without to much trouble. Movie Studio Platinum 17 which I paid only $30 for a few years ago. I use Win Amp because it stops after each track finishes. 

I set OBS audio input to Motu loopback Mix. it will record everything played on my computers sound system,  and in ASIO mode too. 

To set the levels of each source you need to do that from within the software playing the sound. 

It took a bit to sort out a smooth system but here is what works for me. 

I write out a script and I pre record my narration in Cakewalk as 16 to 30 separate tracks.  Nothing is over 30 seconds long.  

I export these as 48 mHz at 24 bit wave files and drop them into Win Amp.  Using 48 mHz is the ticket if you do any video work. Keep your whole system there if you can. 

I open OBS on my second monitor and  then a Cakewalk project as my movie set in the main monitor. Try to remember to use F11 to go full screen. 

I use Cakewalks master volume to balance between my narration and any demonstration music or sounds coming from Cakewalk. 

OBS can have multiple screens as well as screens with in screens. So If you had 2 programs open side by side you could easily set that up as 2 areas and  switch between them using a scene change.  You can even get fancy and use transitions. 

Once I have captured the screen shots of Cakewalk with the narration I transfer the captured video into Movie Maker.  

Because movie maker can have multiple video and audio tracks you can do all sorts of stuff with both audio and video as well as text and still pictures. The video I did today I mutes the audio from the screen capture and just used the original audio as the sound track so that it's first generation. 

 If I had made sounds from Cakewalk I would then use the Capture audio track for those parts. Or you can cheat and just capture the sounds from Cakewalk as little clips and plunk them on the time line and mix them in.   Then I plunked in a instrumental version of a song I was working on to use as a backdrop. Movie maker is like having a multi track DAW complete with using 3rd party VST effects if you like but there's no Midi.  It's based on Sound forge. Everything is intuitive if your used to music software. 

Anyway not sure if this helps but with the right tools pretty near anything is possible. 

Edited February 18, 2023 by John Vere

[Annabelle]

On 2/16/2023 at 12:55 PM, AndyB01 said:

OBS Studio is free and might be worth a look:

https://obsproject.com/

Is it screenreader accessible?

[Annabelle]

4 hours ago, John Vere said:

Yes I use OBS studio for screen capture. The ticket for me was to purchase an audio interface with Loopback capabilities. This way I can have Cakewalk, OBS and Win Amp all open as well If I wanted to I could speak live into my mike. Then I bought a Movie editor I could figure out without to much trouble. Movie Studio Platinum 17 which I paid only $30 for a few years ago. I use Win Amp because it stops after each track finishes. 

I set OBS audio input to Motu loopback Mix. it will record everything played on my computers sound system,  and in ASIO mode too. 

To set the levels of each source you need to do that from within the software playing the sound. 

It took a bit to sort out a smooth system but here is what works for me. 

I write out a script and I pre record my narration in Cakewalk as 16 to 30 separate tracks.  Nothing is over 30 seconds long.  

I export these as 48 mHz at 24 bit wave files and drop them into Win Amp.  Using 48 mHz is the ticket if you do any video work. Keep your whole system there if you can. 

I open OBS on my second monitor and  then a Cakewalk project as my movie set in the main monitor. Try to remember to use F11 to go full screen. 

I use Cakewalks master volume to balance between my narration and any demonstration music or sounds coming from Cakewalk. 

OBS can have multiple screens as well as screens with in screens. So If you had 2 programs open side by side you could easily set that up as 2 areas and  switch between them using a scene change.  You can even get fancy and use transitions. 

Once I have captured the screen shots of Cakewalk with the narration I transfer the captured video into Movie Maker.  

Because movie maker can have multiple video and audio tracks you can do all sorts of stuff with both audio and video as well as text and still pictures. The video I did today I mutes the audio from the screen capture and just used the original audio as the sound track so that it's first generation. 

 If I had made sounds from Cakewalk I would then use the Capture audio track for those parts. Or you can cheat and just capture the sounds from Cakewalk as little clips and plunk them on the time line and mix them in.   Then I plunked in a instrumental version of a song I was working on to use as a backdrop. Movie maker is like having a multi track DAW complete with using 3rd party VST effects if you like but there's no Midi.  It's based on Sound forge. Everything is intuitive if your used to music software. 

Anyway not sure if this helps but with the right tools pretty near anything is possible. 

The tutorial I plan to make is a detailed description of how I would use Audioease Speakerphone to make scenarios like telephone conversations, music in a restaurant, airport announcements, music on a record player, police radio chatter, and the like.

[John Vere]

OK that's more or less a typical screen capture type video. Really all you need is OBS studio and a mike. 

The fastest way if you are a good narrator and can keep focused is to do it live. In other words you talk as you demonstrate how to use the software.  The majority of You Tubes seem to be like this.  Some people are good at it but most are not. The ones who take the extra time will then edit out the stuff that was not needed and that is why you see those glitches.  You can edit out the mistakes and pauses in the Video editor.  But for me, that was resulting in a bad quality production. 

I am ADHD and my mind wanders as I talk and then I realize I missed a step or left  important info out.  Way to much editing was needed.  

Then I came up with the idea of writing a script and pre recording the Narration. I then play the narration and follow along in Cakewalk.  This works perfect for me as I can take my time, speak clearly, explore options, double check for accuracy and proof read the script and see if it makes any sense. Re shooting a scene is easy. 

 Scripts sometimes take me a couple of weeks to write as I do my planning and research. I need to keep each script to no more than 3 pages. If it gets too long I go back and delete stuff. This keeps the topic focused and to the point. It also allows me to record my voice under optimum conditions so I can make sure I'm speaking clearly as well as edit out noises. Cakewalk is perfect for this. I actually made a tutorial on the topic. 

It was a great new hobby during Covid lockdown. The upside was I learned way more about not only Cakewalk, but Movie Maker and OBS studio too. The downside was I distracted me from making music. I'm  just finishing a run of new tutorials and will now put it aside for a few months and get back to music. Cakewalk is a blast now because I actually know what I'm doing. I even watch my own videos sometimes and go.. I forgot about that feature.  

Really where your at would be to download and install OSB studio and learn how it works. There are lots of tutorials and links to documents and a user forum in the help menu. I found it a steep learning curve in the first week but then it smoothed right out. It's very high quality well thought out software. There are bug fixes at least once a month. 

 

[Annabelle]

2 hours ago, John Vere said:

OK that's more or less a typical screen capture type video. Really all you need is OBS studio and a mike. 

The fastest way if you are a good narrator and can keep focused is to do it live. In other words you talk as you demonstrate how to use the software.  The majority of You Tubes seem to be like this.  Some people are good at it but most are not. The ones who take the extra time will then edit out the stuff that was not needed and that is why you see those glitches.  You can edit out the mistakes and pauses in the Video editor.  But for me, that was resulting in a bad quality production. 

I am ADHD and my mind wanders as I talk and then I realize I missed a step or left  important info out.  Way to much editing was needed.  

Then I came up with the idea of writing a script and pre recording the Narration. I then play the narration and follow along in Cakewalk.  This works perfect for me as I can take my time, speak clearly, explore options, double check for accuracy and proof read the script and see if it makes any sense. Re shooting a scene is easy. 

 Scripts sometimes take me a couple of weeks to write as I do my planning and research. I need to keep each script to no more than 3 pages. If it gets too long I go back and delete stuff. This keeps the topic focused and to the point. It also allows me to record my voice under optimum conditions so I can make sure I'm speaking clearly as well as edit out noises. Cakewalk is perfect for this. I actually made a tutorial on the topic. 

It was a great new hobby during Covid lockdown. The upside was I learned way more about not only Cakewalk, but Movie Maker and OBS studio too. The downside was I distracted me from making music. I'm  just finishing a run of new tutorials and will now put it aside for a few months and get back to music. Cakewalk is a blast now because I actually know what I'm doing. I even watch my own videos sometimes and go.. I forgot about that feature.  

Really where your at would be to download and install OSB studio and learn how it works. There are lots of tutorials and links to documents and a user forum in the help menu. I found it a steep learning curve in the first week but then it smoothed right out. It's very high quality well thought out software. There are bug fixes at least once a month. 

 

Since the machine that I have Sonar on uses Windows 7, is there a version of OBS that is compatible with Windows 7 64 Bit? And, I wonder, would I be able to make the narration in OBS, then at the same time, use Speakerphone within Sonar?

[John Vere]

Not sure about OBS running on W7. Don’t see why not. I run Cakewalks latest release on  W7 on my live rig. Take you 5 minutes to find out. 
As I said if your audio interface has Loopback any audio heard from your monitors is captured buy OBS.  
 

Before I had the Loopback feature I had to use a small mixer and on board audio WASAPI shared mode which sucks with demonstrating Cakewalk properly. 

[Annabelle]

1 hour ago, John Vere said:

Not sure about OBS running on W7. Don’t see why not. I run Cakewalks latest release on  W7 on my live rig. Take you 5 minutes to find out. 
As I said if your audio interface has Loopback any audio heard from your monitors is captured buy OBS.  
 

Before I had the Loopback feature I had to use a small mixer and on board audio WASAPI shared mode which sucks with demonstrating Cakewalk properly. 

My audio interface, a Focusrite Scarlet 18I20, does indeed have a Loopback feature. On which program would I incorporate it? OBS Studio or Sonar?

[John Vere]

OBS will record all the audio happening from all sources if you choose Loopback mix as it’s audio input. 

In my case I’m running Win Amp to play my narrative which OBS grabs directly from the Loopback. Then I use Cakewalks  master buss to balance Cakewalks output of  what I'm demonstrating   with my pre recorded narrative from Win Amp. 

As I said, you can also do this live instead . Recording a mike live doesn't require a loopback feature but then you won't hear Cakewalk. 

Your question made me think for a minute and you actually could set up an audio channel in Cakewalk and use Loopback mix as the input. In my case then Win Amp would be mixed in with any audio coming from Cakewalk if the input echo was on for that track. This actually has potential use as then I would set up a sub bus for the narration. 

I've done some shoots where I had my Narration in a couple of tracks in Cakewalk and I just play them directly from there. 

If you plan on narration with a live mike you could set up an audio channel in Sonar and that would be also mixed into Sonars output if you turned on input echo. But seems easier just to go directly to OBS mixer.    

All of your audio interfaces inputs will be available in OBS audio settings. 
I remember it took a while for me to figure this out and there were 3 audio inputs at one point which caused an echo. I now only use one input the Motu Loopback mix. 

You think in terms of you are “shooting “ a movie live. 

Also, are you refering to speaker phone the plug in by Audio ease ?  

 

Edited February 19, 2023 by John Vere

[Annabelle]

5 hours ago, John Vere said:

OBS will record all the audio happening from all sources if you choose Loopback mix as it’s audio input. 

In my case I’m running Win Amp to play my narrative which OBS grabs directly from the Loopback. Then I use Cakewalks  master buss to balance Cakewalks output of  what I'm demonstrating   with my pre recorded narrative from Win Amp. 

As I said, you can also do this live instead . Recording a mike live doesn't require a loopback feature but then you won't hear Cakewalk. 

Your question made me think for a minute and you actually could set up an audio channel in Cakewalk and use Loopback mix as the input. In my case then Win Amp would be mixed in with any audio coming from Cakewalk if the input echo was on for that track. This actually has potential use as then I would set up a sub bus for the narration. 

I've done some shoots where I had my Narration in a couple of tracks in Cakewalk and I just play them directly from there. 

If you plan on narration with a live mike you could set up an audio channel in Sonar and that would be also mixed into Sonars output if you turned on input echo. But seems easier just to go directly to OBS mixer.    

All of your audio interfaces inputs will be available in OBS audio settings. 
I remember it took a while for me to figure this out and there were 3 audio inputs at one point which caused an echo. I now only use one input the Motu Loopback mix. 

You think in terms of you are “shooting “ a movie live. 

Also, are you refering to speaker phone the plug in by Audio ease ?  

 

Yes, that's the plugin I'm thinking of. Speakerphone from Audio Ease. I want to demonstrate how someone sight challenged like me would use it in different scenarios.

[John Vere]

I see they want $475 Can.  for this plug in> ? From what I see it seems to be just a bunch of EQ pre sets to emulate funky audio systems. Did you buy it yet? I've never paid anything like that for a plug in. I think $50 has been my top dollar. Other than Melodyne I guess @ $100.  It's odd how plug in's are marketed. Like they often offer 90% off sale prices? Does that mean the full price was a total rip off?   

Edited February 20, 2023 by John Vere

[Annabelle]

1 hour ago, John Vere said:

I see they want $475 Can.  for this plug in> ? From what I see it seems to be just a bunch of EQ pre sets to emulate funky audio systems. Did you buy it yet? I've never paid anything like that for a plug in. I think $50 has been my top dollar. Other than Melodyne I guess @ $100.  It's odd how plug in's are marketed. Like they often offer 90% off sale prices? Does that mean the full price was a total rip off?   

I bought a permanent license for Speakerphone in November last year, for $450 from Sweetwater. I'm excited to start experimenting with it again, as when I first tried it in September of 2020, I fell in love with the possibilities! Maybe if you send me an email, I can share with you some of the scenarios I'm putting together.