External Audio in Live Assist

[Scott Clements]

Hello,

I am new to Live Assist, using macbook pro and blackmagic UltraStudio HD minis as I/O devices. I also have a Focusrite scarlett 2i2 for audio I/O if needed.

I've got my 2 cameras in and out working fine. Record and playback all work fine.

So today, I tried to get external audio working. The BlackMagic UltraStudio has external audio inputs. I was able to get sound into that input and registering in the audio preferences in my macbook. I was able to adjust the volume of that sound in the BlackMagic Desktop Video Setup app. In another test, I was also able to get sound from the Scarlette i2i to register in the sound preference of my macbook. But in both tests, I was not able to get the sound to show in Live Assist.

In the Live Assist Audio Menu under Capture, I was able to select any one of the devices perfectly fine. I clicked "audio capture" and gave Live Assist permission to use the laptop microphone. In Audio/Output I made sure all 16 channels are active. On the "mixer" screen, all channels are selected and active. On the "setup" menu on the "record" tab, I have all audio channels active. I also tried making sure the capture devices were selected in my sound preferences of the computer. I could not see any audio register on the meters of the "mixer" tab, or the "output" or "waveform" tabs.

I have not been able to try embedded audio through SDI yet because I currently don't have access to an SDI camera.

As a side note, on my "setup"/"record" tab, I do not see the option to select a record location. I don't know if this indicates a wrong version or a flaw? I downloaded the software less than a week ago.

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thank you,

Scott

[Mazze Aderhold]

Hi Scott,

unfortunately, on macOS you cannot use the same audio device for capture, as you're using for playback.
This is due to the API that we currently use.
We are looking into changing this in a future update, but I have no ETA as to when this might happen.
It is on the list though.

As a workaround you can create an aggregate device (copy) in macOS and then use that as a different device for capturing:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202000

Note that the audio capture only needs to be enabled if you're recording through an external device.
If you're recording audio via SDI embedded, audio capture needs to be disabled.

For the recording location: This setting indeed is not there anymore.
We removed it for a number of reasons - but mainly you now only have one project folder to maintain.


Cheers!
Mazze




> Scott Clements <scott...@gmail.com> hat am 15.01.2023 23:13 CET geschrieben:

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[Scott Clements]

Thank you for the reply Mazze!

For my first step in this audio process, I would like to simply get the sound in from the Scarlett i2i without using output. Is there something I'm missing to be able to do this? I can't seem to get it to work. I will certainly have jobs where audio is not being fed to the camera.

Additional audio question: If I am able to get audio input via external, or if I have audio present on only the A Camera SDI signal, is there a way to assign that audio to go to the B camera as well? I foresee situations where audio is fed to the A camera but not B, and it would be nice to have the audio recorded on both in Live Assist.

Follow up scenario: I also could see a situation where audio is fed to A cam only, but A camera stands down and only B camera rolls. With an external audio feed, or audio on A camera SDI only, will there be a way to record sound with B camera in Live Assist? I guess that's basically the same question...

I'm also considering getting a device to take external audio and inject it into the SDI signal before inputting to my video I/O. That would solve my problem if audio is not feeding the camera. Something like this: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=Blackmagic%20Audio%20To%20Sdi&N=0&InitialSearch=yes&ap=Y&gclid=Cj0KCQiAiJSeBhCCARIsAHnAzT9cyyn9cgN9rGOgEpb3dGiYlp31cxwakQ_i0kRomzb7ljsui-9FxaQaApXxEALw_wcB

Thank you for any advice or help you can provide. This is my last piece I feel I need to tackle before I feel comfortable in the field with Live Assist.

Scott

[Mazze Aderhold]

Hi Scott,

so on the audio capture: If you set the Focusrite as the capture device, and set the audio output device to something different,
i.e. Macbook speakers, and then record a clip - does the recorded file then feature the audio (also being checked with a different player, maybe) or not?

For the other question:
If audio comes in from an external device (i.e. Focusrite) it is indeed recorded to all channels.
If audio comes in via SDI embedded, it is only recorded for that channel.

But what you say makes total sense - I'll add this to the list and discuss internally^^.


Best,
Mazze


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[Scott Clements]

Thank you again for the response! Here's what I was able to determine:

I left my system settings on the mac to the built in mic input and built in speaker out. Within Live Assist audio/capture device I selected my Focusrite i2i and recorded. I did not hear anything or see any meters during recording. When played back from within Live Assist, I didn't hear any playback, but audio is present in the waveform screen (no other meters). If I go outside of Live Assist and playback the recorded file, I can hear the audio on the macbook speaker. So it is recording audio.

Other things I noticed which made troubleshooting more difficult: Once I captured my first recording to test, I changed the capture device to my built in mic and my system settings to have the output to the Focusrite. I tried a recording and there was no sound in the file. I switched back to the settings that had just worked for my first test and it didn't work anymore. I discovered that the only way to select a different audio capture device after recording is to close Live Assist and relaunch it. Once relaunched, I could use the new settings and get audio to record from the new selected device.

Now, I would love to figure out how to hear the sound, particularly when using replay. Does Live Assist play out of whatever audio output is set in system settings of the Mac? I could not get it to come from the laptop speakers. If I need to, I can try the aggregate device you mentioned earlier to use my Focusrite as audio input and output, but I would think it should work through the laptop speakers. I'm not sure my current video monitor has the ability to play embedded audio over SDI, so I can't totally confirm that sound is or isn't making embedded down the sdi output. I'm going to a friend's house to check this with his equipment today or tomorrow.

Thank you again for all your help!!!

Scott

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[Mazze Aderhold]

Hey Scott,

thanks for checking those things.
For playback, three things:

Live Assist should be independent from the macOS System Settings.
So when opening up the Audio panel inside Live Assist, there should also be an "Output" tab.
Open that and check whether the Macbook speakers are selected (or alternatively "SDI embedded" if you want to test that).

Next, make sure the speaker icon in the main menu bar (next to the play/pause button) is enabled.

And lastly, under macOS we do not do an automatic downmix.
So if (certainly) your speakers are stereo, and you recorded audio on channels 3 and 4 - they won't go out.
At the bottom of the audio panel, you have a very rudimentary router, where you can route channels 3 and 4
to outputs 1 and 2 - and this way get them out of the stereo speakers.
Note that you can route multiple channels to one output,
so in addition you can also route channels 5 and 6 to outputs 1 and 2, and so forth.

Let me know what gives!


Best,
Mazze



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[Scott Clements]

Thank you so much for all the help!!!! Here's where I am now:

I recorded some files yesterday from a friend's video assist rig and it had embedded audio. Thanks to your advice, I can now play those files through SDI out with embedded audio and they sound great at the SDI monitor and on my HDMI monitor.

When I switch to external audio, things get really strange. Here are the things I'm experiencing:

1. When the sound comes through live, either while recording or while in standby, there are super short, stilted silences breaking up the sound. Almost like it's just skipping samples or something. When played back, it sounds great with no hint of the stilted silence.

2. The recorded sound is about 4 or 5 seconds out of sync. The sound at the beginning of the video clip is from 4 or 5 seconds before I hit record. Also, the sound stops and goes silent about 2 seconds before the video clip ends. I can't tell if the offset is consistent, but it doesn't seem to be. The cut off at the end of the clip seems to be consistent.

These things both happen whether I'm using the built in microphone on my macbook, or my Focusrite, or the BlackMagic video I/O. The offset is less when using the computer mic, but still 3 or 4 seconds off.

I feel like I'm so close, but this problem seems bigger than just a simple missed click or a setting in a drop down. I appreciate all your help and I hope I can get this sorted. If not, I think I'll have to buy 2 audio to SDI embedders at like $200 each. I really don't wanna do that just to get external audio in for when sound is not feeding the camera.

Thank you again for all the help!!! You've helped me figure out a lot of stuff.

Scott

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[Mazze Aderhold]

Hi Scott,

thanks for doing those tests.
Wrt the delay - the audio capture tab in the audio panel has a delay parameter,
but I'd guess that is still set to 0.

For these issues, incl. the stuttering audio during recording, let's take this to support.
Please reproduce the issue and send us a logfile from that session to support and we'll take it from there^^.


Best,
Mazze



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[Scott Clements]

Thank you! I ran a short session this morning which easily replicated the problem perfectly. I emailed the log and a description to support.

Thank you again for the help.

Scott

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