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Table of Contents

1. Specifications

iDub (Mac)

Participant Limitation per Session
Engineer: 1
Voice Talent: 7
Guest: 2

Transmitted Audio
Codec: LC-AAC
Sample Rate: 48,000 Hz
Number of Channels: Mono
Bitrate:
64 Kbps (Voice Talent → Engineer, Guests)
18 Kbps (Engineer → Voice Talents, Guests)
18 Kbps (Guest → Engineer, Voice Talents)

Recording Output
Container: wav
Format: s32
Codec: pcm_24le (PCM signed 24-bit little-endian)
Sample Rate: 48,000 Hz
Number of Channels: Mono
Bit Depth: 24

Supported Devices for Mac Version
Supported on all Mac Desktops & Laptops
Tested on macOS 10.12.x and later
Tested on Pro Tools 2020.9.1, 2018.7.0 and 2018.12.0

2. Account Setup

To add users in iDub Cloud, a user with Admin role must invite them.

Input the email address of the new user and click Send Invitation.

💡	Only users with the Admin role can manage other users in the Users page.

The invited user must click Set Password in their invitation email and create a password for their account.

3. Session Setup

3.1 Accessing iDub Cloud

To create a session for iDub Cloud. Open iDub Cloud (https://idubcloud.com/login) on your web browser.

3.2 Creating a session

After signing in, you should be directed to the Sessions page. Click on the New button to start creating a session.

Input the session details.

Click the Upload button to select and upload the video for the session. Then click Create.

The zerotime in the Zerotime field will be applied to the iDub session.

💡	You can not make changes to the zero time from iDub session.

3.3 Participants

Assign by inputting users’ email addresses in the appropriate role fields. The users will receive an invitation to the session via email.

💡	A single session allows a maximum of 10 participants: one (1) engineer, seven (7) voice talents, and two (2) guests.

You cannot input duplicate emails in a single session.

4. App Installation

Follow the instructions in iDub Mac Installation Manual to install iDub.

5. Audio MIDI Setup

5.1 Enabling iDub virtual devices

In order to use the virtual devices installed by iDub, these devices must be enabled from ‘Audio MIDI Setup’.

Open the Finder and navigate to Applications > Utilities.

Open Audio MIDI Setup.

From the left side-panel, select Pro Tools Aggregate I/O to view the list of devices available to connect with Pro Tools. Click on the check box under Use to enable them. Enabled devices will be moved to the top of the list.

💡	If any changes are made while Pro Tools is running, Pro Tools will prompt to be restarted.

Click on the Drift Correction checkbox and enable it for all virtual devices.

5.2 Enabling IAC driver

IAC Driver must be enabled on Pro Tools for synchronization with iDub using MTC.

On Audio MIDI Setup, click on Window > Show MIDI Studio.

Double click on IAC Driver to open the IAC Driver Properties window.

Click on the Device is Online checkbox to switch it on and close the window.

6. Pro Tools Configuration

6.1 Creating a session

Open Pro Tools and create a project.

6.2 Playback engine

On Pro Tools navigate to Setup > Playback Engine. Make sure that Pro Tools Aggregate I/O is selected as your playback engine.

💡	If there is no level in ‘iDub PLAYBACK’, check your playback engine.

6.3 I/O setup

In order to start using the virtual devices enabled from Audio MIDI Setup section, they must be configured first.

From Pro Tools, click on Setup > I/O to open the I/O Setup window.

Switch to the Input tab and click on Default button to reset the paths to their default value. Repeat for the Output tab.

Open the Finder and navigate to Applications > Utilities.

Open Audio MIDI Setup. Take note of all the channel numbers under In column for virtual devices being used in Pro Tools.

On Pro Tools, click on the Input tab and rename each path to match the names of virtual devices. Map the channels according to the channel numbers that you noted down from the Audio MIDI Setup.

Select and delete any unused path.

Open Audio MIDI Setup. Take note of all the channel numbers under Out column for virtual devices being used in Pro Tools.

On Pro Tools, click on the Output tab and rename each path to match the names of virtual devices. Map the channels according to the channel numbers that you noted down from the Audio MIDI Setup.

Select and delete any unused path.

6.4 Track setup

Close the I/O Setup window and click on Track > New.

Create input tracks for each voice talent with the prefix VT{Number}_ included in all the track names. The {Number} must match the sequential order of the voice talents in iDub.

💡	The prefix is used by iDub’s ‘Fetch’ feature to replace the audio transmitted into Pro Tools with a back up.

Create an output track named “iDub Playback”. This will be used to play recorded clips to guests and voice talents. You can see details here.

Select the appropriate virtual devices as input for each of the voice talents’ tracks (either L or R). Select the output device that is being used by the system for all of the outputs.

For the track that will be used to send playback data back to voice talents’ iDub, select no input for the input and select the iDub PLAYBACK for output.

6.5 Adding iDub ReWire Device

To reduce the latency during recording, you can use the iDub ReWire Device plugin that was installed with your iDub.

First, add a track to use the iDub ReWire Device plugin with.

Select no input and no output for the added track’s I/O.

Click on one of the fields for ‘Inserts A-E’ to open up a context menu and select plug-in > Instrument. Look for the iDub ReWire Device (mono) plug-in and select it.

💡	If the ‘Inserts A-E’ fields are not displayed, enable it from column settings

6.6 Enabling MTC

To synchronize Pro Tools with iDub, MTC must be enabled.

On Pro Tools, click on Setup > Peripherals.

On the Synchronization tab, click on the dropdown field for MTC Generator Port and select IAC Driver.

💡	If IAC Driver is not displayed, Please make sure that IAC Driver is enabled.

Right-click on an empty space in the menu bar to open the context menu. Enable Synchronization by clicking on the checkbox.

Click on the MTC button that appears to enable it.

6.7 Zero time setup

Import the video that will be used for the session. Be sure that you are using the same video for this project in the session and in Pro Tools. The Session Start time in Pro Tools should be identical to the zerotime set in the session.

💡	To check your setting refer to the article on how to select a video.

If the zero time set in Pro Tools does not match the zero time set in session, playback will not start.

7. Using iDub

7.1 Sign in

Open iDub Cloud on your web browser.

Enter your credentials and sign in.

7.2 Security reminder

Read and consent to the security agreement by clicking Continue.

7.3 Sessions

Once you are signed in, Sessions will be displayed listing all the sessions you are assigned to.

7.4 Video Processing

You cannot enter a session if the video processing has not been completed.

When you access a session for the first time, iDub will generate a unique watermark for your video. Once your watermark has been created, you will be able to open the session.

7.5 Basic settings

Click on a session to open it.

Every time you enter a session, iDub will prompt you to choose a path to the audio files directory being used by the running Pro Tools session. This directory will be used by iDub to store recorded clips for the ‘Fetch’ feature. Please select the folder labeled Audio Files.

💡	You can not add audio files directly in the folder.

In order to synchronize playback with voice talent’s devices, iDub needs to connect with the iDub ReWire Device plugin. Click on the Connect Pro Tools button to establish connection with the device.

Once connected, playback controls will become available.

To keep the playback in sync, occasional buffering will occur. During buffering, playback will be disabled.

💡	A spinner will appear next to the name of VT to see who is buffering.

7.6 Latency

For each of the participants on the participant list, a latency indicator is displayed under the participant’s name. Using this indicator you can check the quality of each user’s connection.

7.7 Connecting to participant’s microphones

For each voice talent that enters the session, a background application will connect with each of the virtual devices set up for voice talents. You can see all the joined participants’ virtual devices set up in the Menu Bar of your Mac.

To test the microphone levels, turn on the Input Monitoring buttons and check on the level meters for each track on Pro Tools.

Remember to check the voice talents’ input and audio settings before recording.

7.8 Talkback

There are two ways to talk to the participants on iDub. The button on the left is used to toggle voice communication through a private channel for the engineer and the guests. The talkback button on the right is used to speak to all participants.

💡	There are 2 ways to enable talkback—by clicking on the button to toggle it on or by holding it down.

💡	Either the Record or Input Monitoring button must be toggled on in Pro Tools to use the talkback on the right.

If a participant enables talkback and speaks through one of the channels, the indicator below the talkback button will be lit to show which channel they are speaking through. You can check who is the speaker by checking the indicator next to their name in the participants list.

To speak only to a specific individual, click and hold the PTT button located on the right side of their name.

You can set the shortcuts for talkback controls in the Keyboard Shortcuts from the Settings panel.

To assign a shortcut, click on the field and press the combination of keys.

When you hover a mouse over the i button, a description about how to use the talkback shortcut will appear.

7.9 Recording Mode (Solo/Group)

iDub has two different recording modes: solo and group. In solo recording mode, voice talents are not able to hear each other talk. In group recording mode, voice talents are allowed to hear each other speak, so that the performance can be coordinated accordingly. You are able to switch between the two modes by enabling and disabling the switch for group recording.

You cannot switch the recording mode during playback and recording.

7.10 Pre-roll settings

You can set the duration for the pre-roll countdown timer from the Settings panel. iDub will display a countdown whenever recording begins according to the selection.

7.11 Volume adjustment

The engineer can control the levels for microphone and video playback for each participant. On the bottom of the main interface, you can see a list of participants along with volume controls for each of the members.

When a voice talent is muted, a mute indicator will appear next their name.

7.12 Recording

Click on the Record button on Pro Tools and Play button on iDub to start recording.

💡	Latency reduction will only work if you start recording using the play button on iDub.

To stop the recording, click on the Stop button on iDub.

You can set the shortcut for start playback and stop playback in the Keyboard Shortcuts from the Settings panel.

You can check on the status of the recording by clicking on the Fetch menu icon. Fetch Audio list will be displayed with a list of recorded clips. Recording status will be displayed next to the audio file being recorded. Once the recording is completed, the Fetch icon will be displayed.

7.13 Recording playback

To play back the recorded clip to yourself, Input Monitor for the track with the recorded clip must be toggled off.

To play back the recorded clip to the talents and guests, copy the recorded clip over to the iDub PLAYBACK track and click on the Play button.

When playing back recorded audio from ProTools, the slider for the iDub PLAYBACK in the Mix window can be used to adjust the volume.

If you have guests in your session and you want to share your screen with them, you can use the share screen icon.

Choose a window to share and click Share to start sharing a screen.

7.15 Fetch

If the audio clip recorded on Pro Tools is corrupted, you can retrieve the original audio from the voice talent’s device using the Fetch feature.

💡	FFmpeg will imprint timecodes into recorded audio files for the Fetch feature.

To use the Fetch feature, open the Fetch Audio list by clicking on the Fetch menu icon.

You can browse through the audio files using the search filter and sort.

You can either click on the Fetch icon next to each audio or select multiple audios and click on the Fetch button on the top of the audio list.

iDub will upload the audio from voice talent’s device to the cloud and download it to your machine. The status on the right of the audio files will display the progress as follows:

Uploading – Indicates that audio file is being uploaded to the cloud.

Downloading – Indicates that audio file is being downloaded to your machine.

Done – Indicates that audio file has been fetched successfully.

💡	Fetch feature is unavailable during recording.

Once iDub fetches the audio file, you can import it into Pro Tools from Files > Import > Audio. The fetched audios will be located in the “iDub Fetch Files” folder, which is created in the path you select in iDub.

In Audio Import Options Select New Track for Destination and Spot for Location in Audio Import Options.

Start field will be automatically filled in. Once you click OK, the fetched file will be imported to a new track.

You can permanently delete all recording data by using the Remove All option.

7.16 Session expiration

When a session is created, the session’s expiration date will be displayed.

After expiry, the session will become inaccessible and all backup files will be deleted automatically. If you need to fetch the audio clips, it must be done before the expiry.

💡	Expiration date will be highlighted in red 5 days before the expiry.

For sessions that have less than 5 days before expiry, a reminder will be displayed indicating the number of days left when the session is opened.

7.17 Session timeout

If you are inactive for more than 30 minutes, a message will show up. To stay signed in, click continue. Otherwise, you will be signed out.

7.18 Changes to MIDI setup

If changes are made to MIDI setup, the session needs to be reopened to apply the changes. If there are any participants in the session, they will be removed automatically.

7.19 Sign out

To sign out, click on the Sign out.

7.20 Troubleshooting

If there are any issues using the software, you can click on More details to view the debugging information. When requesting for technical assistance these information should be provided.

Change Log

App Version	Date	Details	Updated by
1.50.17	2022-08-03	Documentation Renewal	Zack Han
1.51.27	2023-01-16	Added reminder to check VT I/O before recording in section 7.7	Zack Han