How takes work
- A line's first take becomes its current take.
- Generate another take makes a new one and shows it next to the current one. Play both.
- Keep current or Keep new decides between them. The other is discarded.
- Save line locks the kept take in, along with the text, the voice and the clip that made it. A saved line never changes unless you press Edit on it.
If you change a line's text or voice after generating, abcVoiceover says so ("The text has changed since this take was made") and won't let you save until you generate again, so a saved line's audio always says what its text says.
What to listen for, in order
- The words. Every word there, none extra, each pronounced right. Read along with the text.
- The meaning. Is the stress on the right word? "I didn't say she took it" means something different depending on which word lands.
- The delivery. Right emotion, right energy, right pace for the moment.
- The ending. A clean finish, without trailing sounds or an odd rise.
- The sound. No clicks, warbles or sudden changes in tone.
- The fit. Play the lines before and after. A good take on its own can still sound wrong in sequence.
Re-take or rewrite?
Takes vary, so a second or third attempt often fixes a line. But if three takes go wrong in the same way, the problem is usually the text, not luck:
- The same word wrong every time: respell it. See fixing mispronunciations.
- The stress always lands wrong: rephrase so the key word comes last.
- A pause always appears in the wrong place: change the punctuation, or split the line.
- The emotion is never right: the voice's sample or style may be the issue. See adding emotion.
Working fast
- Press Ctrl+Enter in a line to generate it without reaching for the mouse.
- Queue every new line at once with Generate all new lines, then review in one pass. See generating a whole script.
- Save good lines immediately. The progress bar at the top of the script shows how many are saved, so you can see what's left.
- Don't chase perfection on a line nobody will notice. Spend your re-takes on openings, emotional beats and punchlines.
Reviewing with others
Share the project with a director, client or co-writer. With view access they can listen to every take and download, and anyone who can see the project can leave notes in its comments: "line 12, more surprise", "line 30, mispronounced". With edit access they can generate and keep takes themselves. Agree up front who presses Save line on the final takes. See collaborating on a project.