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# Record a Voiceover in Lightworks Without Losing Your Place
- URL: https://lightworksguide.net/editing/lightworks-record-voiceover/
- Published: 2026-10-30T09:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-06T12:33:37.000Z
- Author: Lucas Bennett
- Tags: editing

To record a voiceover in Lightworks, open the intended sequence with audio tracks, select the audio track that should receive the take, and open **Voice Over** from the timeline toolbar. Choose your microphone in **Device**, check the input meter and **Level (dB)**, then place the playhead at the recording start. Click **Record**, speak when the status says **Recording**, and click **End** to stop. These are the controls in the [LWKS recording workflow](https://lwks.com/lightworks-knowledge-base/recording-and-voiceover); match the labels and shortcut assignments to your installed build.

I'd start with one short line and listen back before recording a long passage, because that single check answers three questions: whether Lightworks captured the intended microphone, whether the take landed on the intended track, and whether the first word arrives at the right picture.

## Choose the sequence, track and start point

Open the sequence you mean to narrate, rather than leaving another edit active. The Voice Over panel needs an open sequence containing audio tracks. Use the timeline toolbar's voiceover button; **Alt+V** is the [documented keyboard alternative](https://lwks.com/lightworks-knowledge-base/recording-and-voiceover) when your keyboard mapping assigns it to that command.

Select the audio track that should receive the recording and confirm its name in the panel's **Track** field. Put the playhead where the take should begin. These choices set different things: **Track** is the destination, while the playhead sets the record point. My default is a dedicated narration track. LWKS recommends [keeping narration on its own audio track](https://lwks.com/lightworks-knowledge-base/recording-and-voiceover) so you can balance it independently of dialogue or music.

Before recording into an established edit, preserve a restorable version and inspect the material around the start point. Choose a destination you intend to edit. [Lock protects a track from editing](https://lwks.com/lightworks-knowledge-base/sequences-and-timelines); keep that protection deliberate. Do not assume the recording command will unlock a track or safely replace existing material.

![Choose the microphone in Device, the narration destination in Track and the recording start with the sequence playhead.](https://lightworksguide.net/content/images/2026/10/lightworks-record-voiceover-body1-redo-v3.webp)

Device selects the recording input. Track selects the destination, while the playhead sets where the take begins.

## Choose the microphone and set input level

In **Device**, select the microphone or connected input you want to record. Device names depend on your computer and hardware, so identify the actual input rather than expecting a particular name from a tutorial. A microphone must be enabled at the operating-system level; if it is missing from the list, the official guide directs you to [system sound settings and microphone privacy permissions](https://lwks.com/lightworks-knowledge-base/recording-and-voiceover).

Speak at the volume you intend to use for the take and watch the input meter. Adjust **Level (dB)** so the signal is clearly present without hitting the top of the scale. LWKS also names the operating-system or audio-interface input level as a place to check for a quiet or distorted recording. Use the [input meter to guide level adjustments](https://lwks.com/lightworks-knowledge-base/recording-and-voiceover), then listen to a short take; one gain number cannot suit every microphone and voice.

Keep capture and playback separate. **Device** in Voice Over selects what supplies the recording. **Audio output device** in application settings selects [where playback is heard](https://lwks.com/lightworks-knowledge-base/application-preferences). Changing the output device helps you hear a take, but it doesn't select the recording microphone.

## Hear the cue without recording the speakers

When the existing sequence serves as a timing cue, I'd monitor on headphones. The [voiceover monitoring advice](https://lwks.com/lightworks-knowledge-base/recording-and-voiceover) is to keep speaker playback from entering the microphone. Listen at a sensible level and check the short take for unwanted playback as well as your voice.

![Sequence playback travels through the Audio output device to headphones, while the microphone feeds the Voice Over Device input onto a narration track, and the loudspeaker path into the microphone is blocked.](https://lightworksguide.net/content/images/2026/11/lightworks-voiceover-headphones-cue-separate-input.webp)

Use headphones for the cue so speaker playback does not enter the microphone. Recording input and playback output are separate choices.

If other tracks distract you, use their playback mute controls. In the current timeline, clicking a track name such as **A1** changes [its editing target state](https://lwks.com/lightworks-knowledge-base/sequences-and-timelines); it is not the same action as muting it. The timeline's **Monitor** mute and solo controls [stay in step with the Audio Mixer](https://lwks.com/lightworks-knowledge-base/the-audio-mixer). Note the existing mute and solo states before changing them, then restore the intended states when you judge the take in the full sequence.

## Record on cue and stop the take

For a line that starts against a particular shot, optional **Preroll (secs)** gives you a run-up. Lightworks [backs up and plays into the record point](https://lwks.com/lightworks-knowledge-base/recording-and-voiceover) you chose with the playhead. Set enough run-up to recognise the cue; preroll does not replace choosing the recording start.

1. Confirm the intended sequence, destination **Track** and input **Device**. Check the meter again.
2. Place the playhead at the record point and set optional **Preroll (secs)**.
3. Click **Record**. Wait through **Initialising** and, when using preroll, **Prerolling**.
4. Start speaking when [the status says **Recording**](https://lwks.com/lightworks-knowledge-base/recording-and-voiceover).
5. Click **End** when the line is finished. Look for the recording on the selected audio track.

![Initialising and optional Prerolling precede the record point; speak during Recording and stop with End.](https://lightworksguide.net/content/images/2026/10/lightworks-record-voiceover-body3-redo-v1.webp)

Wait through Initialising and optional Prerolling. Begin the line when the status says Recording, then choose End to stop.

Where practical, I'd record a line or paragraph at a time. [Short takes](https://lwks.com/lightworks-knowledge-base/recording-and-voiceover) keep a delivery mistake from forcing you to repeat an entire narration. Before another take, deliberately choose its start point and destination again instead of continuing from an uncertain position.

## Check the take against the picture

Play from before the start through the end of the new take. Listen for the first syllable, intelligible speech, unwanted sound and the final word. Watch the picture as you listen: a clip being visible on the expected track does not tell you whether its delivery fits the shot.

You can [trim and position the recorded line like other audio clips](https://lwks.com/lightworks-knowledge-base/recording-and-voiceover). Keep a usable take while deciding whether a small edit will solve the problem or whether the delivery needs another recording. Restore the intended mute and solo states, then listen with the sequence's other sound and judge whether the narration is understandable in that mix. Before delivery, review the exported file as a separate final step.

## Fix the specific recording problem

### Microphone missing or no input

Confirm the selected **Device**, then check that the operating system recognises and enables that input and permits microphone access. Watch whether the panel's meter responds when you speak. LWKS lists [device choice and system sound settings](https://lwks.com/lightworks-knowledge-base/recording-and-voiceover) as the first checks for no input or a silent recording. If sequence playback is also silent, follow the separate [Lightworks no-audio checks](https://lightworksguide.net/fix/no-audio/) to examine the playback path.

### “Please select the track”

The [select-track prompt](https://lwks.com/lightworks-knowledge-base/recording-and-voiceover) means no destination audio track is selected. Select one in the intended sequence and confirm **Track** in the Voice Over panel. Changing the microphone or playback output won't select the missing destination track.

### Recording too quiet or distorted

For [a quiet or distorted recording](https://lwks.com/lightworks-knowledge-base/recording-and-voiceover), check the input meter and adjust the panel's **Level (dB)**, or the input level at the operating system or interface. Make another short take and listen. Turning up sequence playback alone doesn't show whether the microphone recorded a clean signal.

### Echo or feedback

If sequence sound is playing through speakers during capture, [switch to headphones](https://lwks.com/lightworks-knowledge-base/recording-and-voiceover) and check the result. If the unwanted sound remains, inspect the actual signal path rather than assuming every echo has the same cause.

### Take lands slightly late

Check the audio device and buffer settings first. The LWKS guide suggests [nudging the clip when a small offset remains](https://lwks.com/lightworks-knowledge-base/recording-and-voiceover). Listen against the picture after that adjustment. A small timing offset is different from a take that has changed speed or is badly distorted.

### Record stays disabled or capture has the wrong speed

After checking the open audio sequence, destination, input and OS access, collect the Lightworks build, operating system, input-device name, relevant device-format settings and the panel status for support. State whether the problem is a disabled button, silence, a small offset or malformed audio. Those symptoms need different investigations. Do not try to hide half-speed capture by moving the clip, and skip arbitrary gain, sample-rate or update changes made in the hope of a repair: the support report is the next step.