Sample Library
The Sample Library holds example recordings to explore VoceVista with: for example a baritone singing intervals and vowels, the aria Celeste Aida sung by two tenors, a soprano note with pronounced vibrato, vocal fry, and sung scales recorded with an electroglottograph (EGG). Open it with .
The samples are not installed with the program. The library lists all of them, and a sample is downloaded the first time you open it. After that it opens from your computer.
The List
The samples are grouped by type, under headings in italics. Titles, descriptions and tags appear in the program’s language where the library has a translation, and in English otherwise.
- Name
-
The file name of the sample, which is also what its tab shows once it is open. Point at it to see the sample’s title.
- Status
-
Empty for a sample that has not been downloaded yet. Downloaded: the copy on your computer is the library’s original. Changed: the copy has changed since it was downloaded, usually because you saved your work into it (see Restoring the Original).
- Description
-
What the sample contains and what it is good for.
The line below the list shows how many samples are listed or, for the selected sample, its file type, length and download size.
Types and Tags
Two rows of buttons above the list filter it. The first has a button for each type of sample the library currently contains:
- Audio
-
Audio recordings.
- Video
-
Video clips, some with audio tracks.
- EGG
-
Recordings with an electroglottograph (EGG) channel, most with an audio channel too.
- Profiles
-
Settings profiles that match the setup a tutorial uses. Opening one sets up the display the way the tutorial shows it. A profile that comes with a sample of its own downloads and opens that sample as well.
- Resonance in Singing
-
The recordings behind the figures of the book Resonance in Singing.
- Generated
-
Generated on this computer, with no download (see Clock Drift Reference Video).
The first letter of a file name tells the type: A for Audio, V for Video, E
for EGG, P for Profiles, R for Resonance in Singing. So
E01_baritone_intervals_egg.flac is an EGG recording.
The second row has a button for each tag the samples carry: voice types such as Soprano, Tenor and Baritone, and topics such as Vibrato, Vowels or Registers. The tags come with the library, so new ones appear as it grows.
-
A row with no button checked does not filter.
-
Several checked types list the samples of all of them.
-
Each checked tag narrows the list: Soprano and Scale list the soprano scales.
-
The tag row offers the tags of the checked types. A tag that would leave the list empty is unavailable.
Opening a Sample
- Open
-
Opens the selected sample and closes the library. Double-clicking the sample does the same. A sample that is not on your computer yet is downloaded first, and Cancel in the progress window stops the download. A sample that is on your computer already opens as it is, including any changes you saved into it.
- Restore Original
-
Available for a sample whose status is Changed: puts the library’s version back (see Restoring the Original).
- Close
-
Closes the library without opening anything.
Restoring the Original
You can work with a sample like with any other recording and save your markers or edits into it. The library keeps your version: its status becomes Changed, and Open opens it as you left it.
To get the library’s version back, select the sample and click Restore Original. Your changed copy goes to the Recycle Bin (the Trash on macOS), so nothing is lost by a mistaken click, and the original is downloaded again. Close the sample first if it is open: the library does not replace a file that is in use, and says so. If you cancel the download, the sample is downloaded the next time you open it.
Where Samples Are Kept
Downloaded samples are kept in a folder of VoceVista’s application data. In VoceVista Pro that is:
-
Windows:
%APPDATA%\Sygyt Software\VoceVista Pro\Sample Files -
macOS:
~/Library/Application Support/Sygyt Software/VoceVista Pro/Sample_Files
In the other editions, the name of the edition takes the place of VoceVista Pro. Samples stay there until you delete them. A deleted sample is downloaded again the next time you open it.
Without an Internet Connection
The library does not go online when you open it: the list of samples comes with VoceVista, and a newer list, once published, is fetched in the background as the program starts. So the library always lists its samples, and the samples you have downloaded before open without a connection.
A sample that has not been downloaded yet needs a connection. If its download does not complete, nothing is opened and the library stays open. Every download is checked against the library’s record of the sample. If the check fails, a message says the sample could not be downloaded, and Retry tries again.
Clock Drift Reference Video
In VoceVista Video and VoceVista Pro, the Generated group of the library has the entry Clock drift reference video…. Select it and click Open to open the Generate Clock Drift Reference dialog.
The reference is a recording for measuring clock drift between devices that record the same event. Each second has its own audio pitch, and the clock face shows the exact frame. Play it back and record it with all the devices you want to compare at once: each recording then shows by its own content which second and which frame of the reference it captured.
- Duration
-
The length in minutes: pick a value or type one. Fractions are allowed.
- Video
-
Uncheck to generate only the click track. Set Resolution, and a Frame Rate that matches the camera you measure. The dial has one tick per frame. As Codec, H.264 plays everywhere, while H.265 files are about half the size but need the HEVC extensions on Windows.
- Audio
-
Uncheck for a silent clip. The click track is saved as a 48 kHz float mono .wav file, with a lossless copy in the clip.
- Starts at
-
Where frame 0, or the second-0 marker, starts. A still card or silence fills the time before it. The A/V offset is the audio start minus the video start.
- Folder
-
Where the files are saved. Video File and Audio File show their names. The names include the settings, so files made with different settings do not replace each other.
- Estimate
-
Rough estimates of the frame count, file size and generation time.
Click Generate to make the files. When that is estimated to take longer than a quarter of an hour, you are asked to confirm first, because it cannot be paused. Cancel in the progress window takes you back to the dialog. When the files are ready, the library closes and VoceVista opens the clip, or the click track if you unchecked Video.