Adjusting the Automatic Time Matching
Using VocAlign 6 Standard » Adjusting the Automatic Time Matching
Control Panels
To adjust the automatic timing and pitch correction provided in Vocalign, a number of detailed controls are provided. To view these controls, click on the Match Timing, Match Pitch, or Other control panel buttons on the right side of the UI, indicated by the red arrow in the below image.
Match Timing
Max Difference
The Max Difference knob in the Match Timing section sets the size of the ‘window’ of allowable variation in timing between the Guide and Dub's detailed audio events, from 200ms to 0ms. In essence, the further clockwise you turn Max Difference, the tighter the alignment becomes, all the way to totally locked at the fully-clockwise ‘Tight’ end of the knob’s range.
Alignment Rule
The selection in this drop down menu determines the amount by which the internal editing system is permitted to time stretch and compress the Dub.
- Lowest/Low Flexibility: The editing algorithm is only allowed to make small adjustments to the Dub, so alignment will comparatively ‘loose’
- Normal Flexibility: This is the setting you should always try first, as it will be the most effective one in most cases.
- High Flexibility: The algorithm is allowed to stretch and compress the Dub much further than Normal Flexibility, resulting in comprehensive alignment at the possible expense of compromised sound quality – there’s only so far an audio signal can be stretched before it starts to degrade.
- Maximum Compression: The algorithm is allowed to compress the aligned audio as much as required to align it, but stretching is limited to the same amount as the Normal Flexibility setting. This setting should only be used when the timing of the Dub is way off – think of it as an extreme fix for use when all else fails.
- Maximum Expansion: The algorithm is allowed to stretch the aligned audio as much as required to align it, but compression is limited to the same amount as the Normal Flexibility setting. Like Maximum Compression, this is a setting you’ll only want to use in the most extreme cases.
- Normal Flexibility + Pitch: Intended for use with legato voicing, where the pitch of the Guide and Dub varies over time, but their energy doesn’t. The algorithm uses pitch changes as the basis for alignment.
The toggle for SmartAlign is also available here. For detailed information on SmartAlign, click here.
For typical operation, you should leave SmartAlign enabled. If you find that something is working in an unexpected way, try disabling SmartAlign and using the non-SmartAlign workflow for your DAW, as outlined in the Quick Start guides at the end of this manual.
Maximum Shift
Mainly used for use with ‘Dubs with Gaps" and SmartAlign OFF, the Maximum Shift parameter sets the maximum amount of time ( from 10-150ms) that the editing algorithm is allowed to move any given point in the Dub from its original position. This is helpful for preventing audio that starts at the end of a gap in the signal from being erroneously matched to the gapless Guide and thereby moved too far forward.
High Resolution Editing
Upsamples the audio to 384kHz for the internal editing process, preventing certain rarely encountered artifacts at the expense of additional processing time. This is mainly helpful in editing more "pure" tonal signals such as high female voices, flutes, bell sounds and so on.
Other
Pitch Ranges
Set these two self-explanatory fields to the most appropriate option for your Guide and Dub source material to optimise the editing algorithm.
- Normal: The default ‘general purpose’ setting, for spoken word, vocals in non-extreme registers and the majority of instruments.
- High Pitched Vocal: Sung vocals in ‘higher-than-average’ registers.
- Low Pitched Vocal: Sung vocals in ‘lower-than-average’ registers.
- High Pitched Instrument: High-frequency-dominant instruments such as violin, flute, lead guitar, lead synth, etc.
- Bass Instrument: Low-end instruments such as electric and acoustic bass, cello, bass synth, etc.