What Software should I use for Post Production?

I'm sure if you're considering mixing your radio drama you've already began wondering what is the best software to use? I am going to point you in the free/cheap direction.

When I first started I used the free program called Audacity.
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/



Audacity is relatively simplistic and is a good place to start if you're just beginning. Plus it's free. But sooner or later you're going to want some more power at your disposal...
In any case it's probably a good idea just to have audacity around for the simpler tasks.

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When you want to get some more power but still want to save money I recommend the program Reaper.
http://www.reaper.fm/

They have two license types

$150: full commercial license. (I would suspect Paeter would need this type of license)
$40: discounted license.

It also comes with an evaluation license... there is no end to the evaluation period but $40 is extremely reasonable...

In any case the program is VERY powerful, has about every feature you could need, and is well suited to post production of audio drama.

The programs default menu's are very confusing. Therefore before you begin to dig in I suggest that you download this alternate menu system.
http://stash.reaper.fm/theme/579/ReaMenus%20...the%20better%20menu%20set.

I also recommend you download this theme.
http://stash.reaper.fm/theme/738/RADO-V4.ReaperThemeZip

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Incase you're wondering... I believe Paeter is using CakeWalk's Sonar... maybe he can fill in some more details about it.

Hackmodford wrote:
In case you're wondering... I believe Paeter is using CakeWalk's Sonar... maybe he can fill in some more details about it.

Yep! I use the Producer Edition of Sonar, which I'm very happy with. But to be honest, I'm about the last person to talk about audio software with, despite the fact that I'm running an audio production company nearly full time. I'm not tech savvy, and so my experience learning (and continuing to learn) Sonar is likely very different from what most will experience. But I'm happy to answer any specific questions about it that I can!

Happy mixing!

Paeter wrote:

Hackmodford wrote:
In case you're wondering... I believe Paeter is using CakeWalk's Sonar... maybe he can fill in some more details about it.

Yep! I use the Producer Edition of Sonar, which I'm very happy with. But to be honest, I'm about the last person to talk about audio software with, despite the fact that I'm running an audio production company nearly full time. I'm not tech savvy, and so my experience learning (and continuing to learn) Sonar is likely very different from what most will experience. But I'm happy to answer any specific questions about it that I can!

Happy mixing!

Nice! I use Adobe Audition. You may not have heard of that one but it's a good program. Maybe not the cheapest out there, I don't know. I've been using it since version 1.0 and have found it easy to use and very powerful. It actually does more than I can do with it.

jagjenterprise wrote:
It actually does more than I can do with it.

Jeez, I know the feeling. Sonar comes with two textbooks on how to use it.(Yikes!)

I've heard good things about audition!

Paeter wrote:

jagjenterprise wrote:
It actually does more than I can do with it.

Jeez, I know the feeling. Sonar comes with two textbooks on how to use it.(Yikes!)

I've heard good things about audition!

It's a great program. Fortunately for me, the manual is electronic. But the first version I got had only one book. I never really read it, I just played with the software only reading when I had to. =D

jagjenterprise wrote:

Paeter wrote:

jagjenterprise wrote:
It actually does more than I can do with it.

Jeez, I know the feeling. Sonar comes with two textbooks on how to use it.(Yikes!)

I've heard good things about audition!

It's a great program. Fortunately for me, the manual is electronic. But the first version I got had only one book. I never really read it, I just played with the software only reading when I had to. =D

Ditto on that. Although I keep meaning to give myself a "training course" one of these days and read through both massive tomes. We'll see...

I use GarageBand for my podcast. It's super easy to use, but I'm looking at creating long form audio drama and wondering if I should try using Audacity (what some other audio drama producers I've heard use) or something else.

Are these software programs recommended here easy to learn? I think GarageBand can do it, but I'm wondering what I might be looking at that require more powerful audio software? I'm not an expert . . . but I need to fake being an expert.

BenAvery wrote:I use GarageBand for my podcast. It's super easy to use, but I'm looking at creating long form audio drama and wondering if I should try using Audacity (what some other audio drama producers I've heard use) or something else.

Can you load Garageband onto a PC? I've been using it on a Mac (it came with the computer), but now the computer is having issues. I downloaded Audacity onto my PC but I could not figure it out... I'm going to give it another shot, but it seems a lot less user-freindly than Garageband.

I've got Audacity on my laptop for when I need to do "away from office" simple edits of special features, etc. I don't use it near as much as Sonar, but I've used it enough now to say that I can see how lots of folks use it for mixing audio drama. It doesn't seem to have all the tools I need to really polish something the way I like to, but you may find that it fits your needs just fine.

I'd almost recommend starting with Audacity or Garage Band, because they're free (Garage Band if you already have a mac, anyway) and will give you a chance to figure out what features you need that it may or may not have. Then, if you need to upgrade, you should just be able to export your audacity/garage band tracks and drop them into whatever new program you buy without having to start anything over again.

I do videos ("POS TOS" on YouTube) and I just use the basic MovieMaker program that came with Windows XP. It's surprising what a little creativity can do to fill in technical gaps.

DNArington wrote:Can you load Garageband onto a PC?

Nope. Apple-only.