One of the biggest challenges to Toaster/Flyer operators is making sure the quality of audio meets the same high standards of the video quality afforded by the Flyer. It's certainly no secret to Flyer users that audio support on the current system is somewhat lacking, but there are ways of working around these shortcomings.

While indispensable programs like Co-Pilot Audio from OzWare and ProMix from ProWave give you the capabilities of combining audio tracks, adding audio to animation/video clips, importing, exporting and converting multiple audio formats, these particular recommendations are geared toward actually loading audio files onto your hard drive.

Traditionally, audio has always been considered "second fiddle" by television and video people. With the advent of digital audio, however, even the dullest pair of "tin ears" can hear distortion and other unpleasant audio artifacts. Clients are starting to ask, "Why does my audio track sound so lifeless? Can you make the music sound better coming out of the TV speaker? Why does the narrator's voice 'sizzle' and 'pop'? How come there's so much 'room noise' in my audio track?" You get the idea.

Being the owner and operator of a recording studio for the past 20 years has given me insight into a lot of situations. I wasn't very pleased with the first release of the Flyer audio interface, but I knew I could make it work as I had an audio studio at my disposal. Other users weren't so lucky and NewTek soon updated the package to include a color-segmented LED bar, which is still the de facto standard. It doesn't actually do anything for the sound quality, but it does assist the operator in establishing relevant audio levels going into the drive.

So what can you do to increase your audio potential and quality without purchasing a recording studio? First you'll need a good dynamic microphone like a Shure SM-58 for voice-overs. Next, you'll need a small audio mixer. Mackie and Tascam make some excellent models in the $300 range which accept XLR (low impedance) microphone inputs and have line level outputs which will interface directly into the Flyer's audio inputs. Use good RCA connector cables, preferably with gold ends. Hook up a CD player or cassette deck into the other mixer inputs and you're all set.

Another important item for the Flyer is a compressor/limiter. This single piece of gear will make all the difference in the world in establishing a maximum audio level while maintaining a minimum distortion factor. The inherent weakness of the Flyer audio interface is the inability to allow the user to adjust gain parameters while digitizing an audio clip. Once you've started recording, you cannot change the volume one way or the other. A compressor/limiter, when properly adjusted, will automatically "turn up" the volume on quieter passages and "turn down" the louder ones. This is a perfect companion to the Flyer audio interface and will make for a much smoother audio track with no overloads or audio distortion. Just insert the unit's signal chain between the outputs of your mixer and the audio inputs of the Flyer and you're on the road to producing professional sounding audio tracks which will greatly enhance the total impact of your video project.

There's still more to better audio - like EQ, reverb, adding some effects, blending "live" audio sources with studio sources, synchronizing overdubbed audio to video, audio gating and "ducking" and the like. I'll cover some of those areas in future Tekniques columns.

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