Users tell me they do this. Why? What's the gain?
Recording both at the same time synchronizes the two.

I'll bet the answer is simple, but I can't guess. Please help me with this one.


"Less clicks good, more clicks bad."

Um, what users tell you this?

Honestly, the audio tracks in iClone are just for timing purposes.  No serious animator really cares, as they will be adding them later in post production.  

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Alienware Aurora R12, Win 10, i9-119000KF, 3.5GHz CPU, 128GB RAM, RTX 3090 (24GB), Samsung 960 Pro 4TB M-2 SSD, TB+ Disk space
Mike "ex-genius" Kelley

Yes. They are most useful for timing purposes. After the recording, Acculips can be used on the audio to improve the lipsync. It works well. I believe that is the intent of the software.
The only disadvantage to it is that, because iClone embeds the audio track in a proprietary file format, and because iClone has no audio editing tools of its own, it is not possible to edit the audio track -- say for example to remove background hiss, to alter the pitch, to add echo, or other reasons.

Assembling two different files, rather than using the obvious timing advantage of using the audio recorded in Motion Live, and the need to remove background noise that may have been added in the recording environment, seems, on the surface to be unnecessary.
It is not mentioned in the manual.
It is not referred to in any YT tutorial that I have found.
I never ASSume that I know, if I have not asked. I ask the question *WHY* out of respect for the people here who have mentioned it.
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EDIT:
This is a very interesting post --
https://forum.reallusion.com/287837/I-record-my-voice-in-facial-animation-where-does-iClone-store-the-audio-file
It seems that editing the original audio can be done after all.
I tried it, it works.




"Less clicks good, more clicks bad."

You can only edit the original audio file by exporting it. But that does not change the actual audio embedded in the project.

Because I export as image sequences for convenience and quality reasons, I always treat the audio as separate component. I never rely on rendering in iClone for the final video.

Advanced audio processing within iClone would open a huge can of worms because as soon as that is introduced people will want to be able add there favorite plugins and who knows what else.

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Yes, iClone is complex enough without adding audio editing.
I've seen people in DAZ render an image sequence for reliability reasons. Right now my own renders are <30 seconds, but I'm keeping the image sequence in mind.
A post-editor could slip an edited sound track in there, either using video or an image sequence. At the moment I'm hoping to generate a clean audio file to start with, and minimize my need for editing in the first place. My mic is picking up a bunch of studio noise, fans mostly, and I wish to avoid building a dedicated sound booth. I can filter it out, but the result sounds robotic. What I'm thinking of is, put a copy of iClone on a laptop, and record Motion Live on it in another part of the house after 10 PM, when the AC is off. The sound booth is not out of the question, though.
For now, I've found that if I turn the mic volume up high, then turn the render audio volume down when I output, the noise level is less noticeable. Not professional, but it will do for the moment.
Have you built a sound booth?


"Less clicks good, more clicks bad."