Regia

Audio

The idea: outputs, tracks, elements

  • An output is a group of speakers: house, stage, monitors, headphones. You create outputs in the Audio workspace.
  • Each audio track on the timeline sends to an output and has volume, pan, mute and solo in the mixer.
  • Each Sound element plays a file on a track. If needed, it can pick a different output from its track's.

Outputs belong to the show; the audio interface each output uses is chosen by each computer. So the same show works at the venue with a 16-channel interface and at home with the laptop speakers.

The Sound element

A sound's inspector holds:

Sound

  • File: which file plays. Below it you read length, channels, perceived loudness (LUFS) and whether Regia converted it.
  • Volume in dB. The Even loudness button brings the file to −16 LUFS, so sounds from different sources play at the same level.
  • Pan, from left to right.
  • Output: the track's, or another one.

Playback

  • In point and Out point: play only part of the file. You can also drag the element's edges on the timeline.
  • Loops: 1 = once, ∞ = until stopped. With more loops you get Loop start and Loop end, to repeat only a section (for example the bed under a dialogue of unpredictable length).
  • Devamp on GO: on the next GO the sound stops repeating and plays to its end. You can also do it with the D key, with the Leave loop (devamp) action or from the phone.
  • Speed, from 0.25× to 4×, with Keep pitch to leave the note unchanged.

Effects

  • Three-band EQ (low, mid, high), ±18 dB.
  • Low cut and High cut, in Hz.
  • Reverb (mix and size) and Delay (mix, time, feedback).
  • Compressor (threshold and ratio) to tame recorded voices.

Duck other tracks: while this sound plays, the other audio tracks drop by the dB you choose and come back at the end. Perfect for announcements and voice-overs.

Spatial audio (only on outputs with more than two channels): drag the dot in the pad and the sound moves between the output's speakers, according to where they are in the room.

Volume over time: volume points along the element, for a swell or a dip under a line (see The inspector).

Tip: to lower the music while the actors speak and bring it back afterwards, use a Fade to level action in a later cue: the music drops to −20 dB over 3 seconds without stopping.

Live microphone or line in

The Microphone or line in element brings sound coming into your audio interface into the show: the announcement mic, a live voice-over, an instrument. In the inspector pick the Input (names appear after you allow the microphone), Volume, Pan and Output. It fades in when its cue starts and stays open until another element on the track replaces it or you stop it. It goes through the track, so the mixer's volume, mute and solo apply.

Warning: the browser adds a few milliseconds of delay. For the actors' main voices use the house mixer; Regia's input is fine for announcements, effects and offstage voices.

Audio outputs

In the Audio workspace, on the left, you find the outputs. + adds one. For each:

  • Name: house, stage, monitors, headphones.
  • Interface: the computer's own or an external one. With Regia Pro you can use several interfaces at once, one per output.
  • Channels: mono, stereo, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 24 or 32.
  • Interface channels: which physical outputs each channel uses. A stereo output can use channels 7 and 8 of a 16-channel interface.
  • Volume of the whole output.
  • Delay, in milliseconds, to align speakers far from the stage.
  • Three-band EQ for the output, to correct the room.
  • Limiter: keeps the sound from going over 0 dB and distorting.
  • On: switch an output off without touching the rest.
  • Speaker test (pink noise): pink noise on one channel at a time, to check each speaker works and is the right one. Stop ends it.
  • Use for headphone pre-listening: picks the output where you audition files before using them (see below).
  • Speaker plan (with more than two channels): place each speaker as it stands in the room; spatial audio uses these positions.

Warning: the browser hides audio interface names until you allow microphone access. Press Show names and accept: Regia records nothing.

If a chosen interface is not connected, sound goes to the computer's own and the pre-show check tells you. Press Refresh interfaces after plugging in a new one.

The track mixer

On the right of the Audio workspace is the mixer: for each track volume, pan, output, mute and solo, with level meters. At the bottom you see each output's levels. The same levels, small, are always visible on the right of the transport bar.

Pre-listening on headphones

In the Media library, hover a sound and press the headphones: the file plays on the output chosen for pre-listening (if you have not chosen one, on the computer's own audio). A second click stops it. Use it to find the right effect during rehearsals without the audience hearing it.

More speakers, more channels

With a multichannel interface you can:

  • create one output per group of speakers (house left and right, stage, delays, subs) and send each track where it belongs;
  • create an 8-channel output, draw the speaker plan and move sounds around the room with spatial audio;
  • send one output to headphones for pre-listening and one to the actors' monitors.

Audio timecode

An audio output can also send LTC timecode to other devices (the Timecode element), and an audio input can receive it. See Commands and Connections.