I've played around a bit with doing a multitrack recording, just using a clicktrack on Audacity and an earbud to keep synced.
In the G bass thread viewtopic.php?f=13&t=30181 there is a nice example of four part playing with four separate videos all on the same screen.
What are the steps involved? Any quick tutorials around?
How is it done: video multitrack?
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timothy42b
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Finetales
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Re: How is it done: video multitrack?
Just doing an audio multitrack is pretty simple. As you mentioned, Audacity and a click track is enough. That's how I started after I graduated from recording that Telemann Canonic Study everybody plays onto an ancient handheld voice recorder so I could play back the response part with myself.
If you want to graduate to a proper DAW that you can use VST instruments and effects with (which I would 100% recommend once you're comfortable with the basics in Audacity), Cockos Reaper is my recommendation. It has an unlimited free trial, and the full license is only $60. Cakewalk by BandLab is completely free and very good, but Reaper has the better workflow for acoustic recording IMO. Plus Reaper is open source and infinitely customizable.
That's just for audio. When you start involving video it gets trickier. By far the easiest way is to record everything on your phone with the Acapella app, which does all the multicam work for you. Sadly, there is no equivalent software that I know of for proper multitrack recording on a computer, so you have to fight with video editing software that seems to only do multicam videos in protest. Da Vinci Resolve is probably the best and most popular free option, and it is very powerful. But it is also very unintuitive and a very tedious process to put a multicam together. I switched to HitFilm Express after using Resolve for a while, which runs better on my computer and isn't quite as tedious (but still really not great). I have to wonder if any of the expensive paid software (Sony Vegas, Final Cut Pro, Adobe Audition, etc.) are any easier. Someone really needs to make a powerful video editing software specifically designed for multicam videos, but I digress.
An important thing to note about video multitracks: it is MUCH easier and takes MUCH less time to record all your audio, and then do the video takes separately. Some people inevitably get hung up on it being "fake" and "not authentic" when this is brought up, but EVERYBODY does it this way. Even Jacob Collier does, and if anyone in the world could record all the takes perfectly the first time with video, it would be him. Multitracks take a LONG time to make, and trying to do the audio and video simultaneously makes it take way longer.
There are exceptions to this of course. During COVID lockdown I did a few of those remote recording collaborations for fun, and when you only have to record one part that isn't that hard you can absolutely do the audio and video simultaneously and punch whatever little things you need to. I've done this for recording all 4 trombone parts on big band charts as well. For small-scale things it can for sure be the way to go. And of course, any time you record an improvised solo for a video multitrack you should be filming it. But other than that, if you're doing larger complex arrangements it's much better to record nearly everything with audio and video done separately.
Other general tips: get an audio interface and a real mic, not a cheap USB podcast mic that plugs directly into your computer. Record in the dryest (least reverb) environment possible. Don't be afraid to punch and splice...anything you or the engineer would do in a studio session is fair game for your own multitrack projects. That said, please don't become one of those brass YouTubers that compress and pitch correct everything so much that it sounds like bad lifeless MIDI horns. There are a lot of those, sadly.
Finally, I wholeheartedly recommend doing multitracks to anybody who is interested. In my opinion it is the closest thing to a "shortcut" for practicing there is, because recording multiple parts will instantly expose absolutely every problem in your playing and it won't sound good until you play it in tune, in time, with a good sound, and with matching articulation and style. It's like a really focused, efficient practice session that also gives you something fun to listen to at the end of it. Plus it's really fun!
Anyway, this is all just my experience. I do multitrack videos for fun, but I have used those skills to do countless real sessions for people where I record all the horn parts on their songs. Recording against yourself is a skill you have to learn even if you are already a great player to begin with, and in my experience it's a very valuable one to have.
I know there are a few others on here with much more audio production knowledge than me, so I hope they'll chime in!
If you want to graduate to a proper DAW that you can use VST instruments and effects with (which I would 100% recommend once you're comfortable with the basics in Audacity), Cockos Reaper is my recommendation. It has an unlimited free trial, and the full license is only $60. Cakewalk by BandLab is completely free and very good, but Reaper has the better workflow for acoustic recording IMO. Plus Reaper is open source and infinitely customizable.
That's just for audio. When you start involving video it gets trickier. By far the easiest way is to record everything on your phone with the Acapella app, which does all the multicam work for you. Sadly, there is no equivalent software that I know of for proper multitrack recording on a computer, so you have to fight with video editing software that seems to only do multicam videos in protest. Da Vinci Resolve is probably the best and most popular free option, and it is very powerful. But it is also very unintuitive and a very tedious process to put a multicam together. I switched to HitFilm Express after using Resolve for a while, which runs better on my computer and isn't quite as tedious (but still really not great). I have to wonder if any of the expensive paid software (Sony Vegas, Final Cut Pro, Adobe Audition, etc.) are any easier. Someone really needs to make a powerful video editing software specifically designed for multicam videos, but I digress.
An important thing to note about video multitracks: it is MUCH easier and takes MUCH less time to record all your audio, and then do the video takes separately. Some people inevitably get hung up on it being "fake" and "not authentic" when this is brought up, but EVERYBODY does it this way. Even Jacob Collier does, and if anyone in the world could record all the takes perfectly the first time with video, it would be him. Multitracks take a LONG time to make, and trying to do the audio and video simultaneously makes it take way longer.
There are exceptions to this of course. During COVID lockdown I did a few of those remote recording collaborations for fun, and when you only have to record one part that isn't that hard you can absolutely do the audio and video simultaneously and punch whatever little things you need to. I've done this for recording all 4 trombone parts on big band charts as well. For small-scale things it can for sure be the way to go. And of course, any time you record an improvised solo for a video multitrack you should be filming it. But other than that, if you're doing larger complex arrangements it's much better to record nearly everything with audio and video done separately.
Other general tips: get an audio interface and a real mic, not a cheap USB podcast mic that plugs directly into your computer. Record in the dryest (least reverb) environment possible. Don't be afraid to punch and splice...anything you or the engineer would do in a studio session is fair game for your own multitrack projects. That said, please don't become one of those brass YouTubers that compress and pitch correct everything so much that it sounds like bad lifeless MIDI horns. There are a lot of those, sadly.
Finally, I wholeheartedly recommend doing multitracks to anybody who is interested. In my opinion it is the closest thing to a "shortcut" for practicing there is, because recording multiple parts will instantly expose absolutely every problem in your playing and it won't sound good until you play it in tune, in time, with a good sound, and with matching articulation and style. It's like a really focused, efficient practice session that also gives you something fun to listen to at the end of it. Plus it's really fun!
Anyway, this is all just my experience. I do multitrack videos for fun, but I have used those skills to do countless real sessions for people where I record all the horn parts on their songs. Recording against yourself is a skill you have to learn even if you are already a great player to begin with, and in my experience it's a very valuable one to have.
I know there are a few others on here with much more audio production knowledge than me, so I hope they'll chime in!
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sacfxdx
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Re: How is it done: video multitrack?
Lots of online videos for Reaper too. If you like it please get a license so they stay in business. The free trial is unlimited but it is not FREE software as some have indicated. It is cheap for all that it does.
Steve
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hyperbolica
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Re: How is it done: video multitrack?
In my other life, I do some video editing. Camtasia will allow you to bring in multiple audio and video recordings together or separately, and arrange the videos on the screen. It's better to do detailed audio editing separately in Audacity, and just use Camtasia to arrange the big bits. Camtasia has some cost associated with it, but it's easy to use, and the new version is a big improvement over the older stuff.
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Finetales
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Re: How is it done: video multitrack?
Yes, the unlimited free trial is nice so that you can see if you like it without worrying about your 30 days being up, but you should definitely buy it if you stick with it. I personally bought it as $60 is not a lot and I chose it over all the $300 DAWs.
Does Camtasia allow you to snap multiple videos to a grid? My biggest issue with all the editing software I've tried is that I have to manually place and resize every video "by hand" (or by typing coordinates) so they line up and there isn't an easy way to make consistent borders between them (so I don't even bother).hyperbolica wrote: ↑Fri Feb 17, 2023 11:08 am Camtasia will allow you to bring in multiple audio and video recordings together or separately, and arrange the videos on the screen.
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hyperbolica
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Re: How is it done: video multitrack?
It doesn't have a grid per se, but it does snap key points of one video window to keypoints of other videos and the main window.Finetales wrote: ↑Fri Feb 17, 2023 11:29 amDoes Camtasia allow you to snap multiple videos to a grid? My biggest issue with all the editing software I've tried is that I have to manually place and resize every video "by hand" (or by typing coordinates) so they line up and there isn't an easy way to make consistent borders between them (so I don't even bother).hyperbolica wrote: ↑Fri Feb 17, 2023 11:08 am Camtasia will allow you to bring in multiple audio and video recordings together or separately, and arrange the videos on the screen.
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izMadman
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Re: How is it done: video multitrack?
Movavi is a great tool for dealing with video multitracking. It's pretty straightforward. For instance, you can Add Files to pull in the video clips you want. They'll show up in the Media Bin and then drag 'em to the Timeline. Adjusting clip order and adding some transitional effects can make the end result smoother. For detailed instructions on that, you can click here.