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Post by tyerules499 on Apr 13, 2015 3:17:47 GMT
Okay first of all sorry if this doesn't belong here but I thought you guys on this forum would be good to ask.
So back to the topic I'm considering trying to be a voice actor, (yay always need some of those) and I had a few questions.
1. How can I tell if I'd be any good?
2. What equipment would be needed?
3. Is it so time consuming that I'd have no free time or is the eight hours free time more than enough?
4. Any tips for an aspiring voice actor?
Sorry if this sounds silly and sorry for taking up forum room but I'd be glad for some help.
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Post by wotan on Apr 13, 2015 15:12:05 GMT
I reckon you'll need your own recording soft- and hardware. I think Emma would be best to answer.
The hardest thing you're going to face is the voice acting - there is one thing reading back to the microphone, another to act a voice, bringing life and feelings to it. This comes natural to a few people.
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Post by Emma on Apr 13, 2015 23:04:14 GMT
I'm not sure if I'm the best to reply to this - I'm just a layman, and people have been arguing since Vilja in Skyrim was released whether or not I'm any good at it. (For some reason, no-one complained with Vilja in Oblivion, although it was the same voice  ). 1. I don't know, really. It probably depends on the target-group. In a new game, the audience is more likely to be aiming for your throat if you do something wrong. In an older game, the most annoying crowd has probably already left for other games, and the remaining players will appreciate what you do. 2. There is a good software program called Audacity that you can use for recording. It's freeware, and it is really quite good. audacity.sourceforge.net/You'll also need a good microphone, and an environment suitable for voice recording. Myself, I built a noise-isolating "box" for the microphone that I nowadays speak into when I'm recording. The "box" is wooden, and isolated with foam rubber. I also built a pop-reducer that I have placed in front of the microphone. 3. Depends on how much of the work you are doing. Recording is one thing, editing and making lip-sync files is another. It does take time, though, as you'll probably not be satisfyed with your first tries. 4. My first suggestion is that you head over to TES Alliance, where a voice actors guild is hosted. tesalliance.org/forums/ There you can learn a lot more about all the various aspects of voice-acting, and it's also a place where people come to look for voice actors for their projects. My second suggestion, or recommendation, or whatever you would call it: You'll have to be persistant and available! If you offer to be a voice-actor and you then decide to quit, you are really ruining things for the mod authors that you are supposed to help. Just imagine that someone has made a large quest-mod with a main character using your voice. Then, when you have recorded 60 % of your material, you decide to stop voice-acting... The amoung of work that the mod author will have to do all over again might be what prevents him to ever complete the mod. So, being reliable is (IMO) and even more vital characteristic than being a good voice actor... My last suggestion: develop an elephant skin before you start! The Internet can be quite ghastly, and regardless how good you are, there will always be some [censored] that will have fun with bashing what you have put your heart and soul into. You'll have to keep in mind that they are just a bunch of [censored] who probably have no talent for anything but dumb bashing of others. |
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Post by tyerules499 on Apr 13, 2015 23:53:29 GMT
Alright thanks for the suggestions I'll have to save up for a mic but I do hope to do it. If I cant mod at all I might as well give back to the modding community this way lol.
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Post by jet4571 on Apr 16, 2015 6:45:14 GMT
My second suggestion, or recommendation, or whatever you would call it: You'll have to be persistant and available! If you offer to be a voice-actor and you then decide to quit, you are really ruining things for the mod authors that you are supposed to help. Just imagine that someone has made a large quest-mod with a main character using your voice. Then, when you have recorded 60 % of your material, you decide to stop voice-acting... The amoung of work that the mod author will have to do all over again might be what prevents him to ever complete the mod. So, being reliable is (IMO) and even more vital characteristic than being a good voice actor... Happened to me for an FNV mod all that was left was 2 important lines and a few fixes to some of the others and she quit. The amount of work to redo everything was just too much so I dropped the project. She did say a family member passed away with the last batch of files she sent me and 2 weeks later said she wouldn't continue so I wasn't mad at her but it did kill my motivation to finish it myself. So being there to finish the project is one of the most important things for a voice actor. You can replace a scripter, a modeler, or a Photoshop genius and complete already started projects but you cannot easily replace a voice so what was started will need to be restarted from scratch everytime. Another pop filter you can make is take a wire coat hanger and bend it into a circle about 5 inches across then shove it into a couple pairs of nylons so the nylons are stretched over it. Better than talking to a condom lol. You can make a full sound studio out of PVC pipe and blankets if where you will be recording has constant background noise like traffic or people in the house. Just 4 6 foot lengths of pipe, 8 4 foot lengths of pipe and 8 3 way corner connectors. No glue! you put them together to make a rectangle box and cover with blankets. When you are done recording put the blankets away and dismantle the frame. It will remove almost all outside noise. |
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Post by Sniffles on Apr 17, 2015 10:26:00 GMT
Just to mention. The perfect sound studio room as told to me by a man in the business.
A small room. 10 foot by 15 is about perfect. Now build floor to ceiling shelves covering all walls and windows. Now fill all the shelves with upright old magazines packed in tight, their spines to the walls. You could pay a kings ransom in gold and jewels and not find a better sound deadening material.
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Post by jet4571 on Apr 17, 2015 10:35:14 GMT
meh use army surplus egg crate foam sheets stapled to the walls randomly. If the bufugly foam covers everything you are good to go.
Ultimute? 3 inch thick lead sheets, 4 sheets thick walls with egg crate foam on the inside. 300 decibel siren an inch from the outside wont penetrate. Cost? ungodly amount and unneeded like the magazine version.
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Post by Bard Skye on Jul 16, 2015 21:39:49 GMT
My last suggestion: develop an elephant skin before you start! The Internet can be quite ghastly, and regardless how good you are, there will always be some [censored] that will have fun with bashing what you have put your heart and soul into. You'll have to keep in mind that they are just a bunch of [censored] who probably have no talent for anything but dumb bashing of others. How true. I can't help but laugh at the "language authorities" that put down your "phoney" Swedish accent.  |
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Post by Bard Skye on Jul 16, 2015 21:44:03 GMT
Happened to me for an FNV mod all that was left was 2 important lines and a few fixes to some of the others and she quit. The amount of work to redo everything was just too much so I dropped the project. She did say a family member passed away with the last batch of files she sent me and 2 weeks later said she wouldn't continue so I wasn't mad at her but it did kill my motivation to finish it myself. So being there to finish the project is one of the most important things for a voice actor. You can replace a scripter, a modeler, or a Photoshop genius and complete already started projects but you cannot easily replace a voice so what was started will need to be restarted from scratch everytime. Another pop filter you can make is take a wire coat hanger and bend it into a circle about 5 inches across then shove it into a couple pairs of nylons so the nylons are stretched over it. Better than talking to a condom lol. You can make a full sound studio out of PVC pipe and blankets if where you will be recording has constant background noise like traffic or people in the house. Just 4 6 foot lengths of pipe, 8 4 foot lengths of pipe and 8 3 way corner connectors. No glue! you put them together to make a rectangle box and cover with blankets. When you are done recording put the blankets away and dismantle the frame. It will remove almost all outside noise. I've turned an extra bedroom into a studio to record music. It could be a bit more dead, but not too bad. Have to get a lock for the door, through. My wife loves to walk in in a middle of a recording to "see what I'm doing". |
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Post by Bard Skye on Jul 16, 2015 21:46:40 GMT
meh use army surplus egg crate foam sheets stapled to the walls randomly. If the bufugly foam covers everything you are good to go. Ultimute? 3 inch thick lead sheets, 4 sheets thick walls with egg crate foam on the inside. 300 decibel siren an inch from the outside wont penetrate. Cost? ungodly amount and unneeded like the magazine version. But you're all set in case of a nuclear holocaust! Sorry.... Couldn't resist.... |
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Post by Sniffles on Jul 16, 2015 23:19:30 GMT
Just to explain about the shelves of magazines. The pages of the closed magazines facing inward towards the sound space are echo killers. As sound deadening as the most advanced space age material. So they eliminate outside sound while at the same time remove all reflected sound. Shelves as described on on wheels, portable, can be used to separate microphones too.
I visited an audiophiles listening room. Think $50,000 of amplifiers and speakers. Several 6 foot tall walls on wheels in addition to all the exterior walls done magazine. It was weird. People needed to be more or less facing each other to talk to each other. Someone just a few feet away on the other side of a portable wall could barely be heard speaking in a normal voice.
No, I'm wrong:
" Sixteen Snell speakers worth about $50,000. 4 Audio Research pre amps, 12 AR amplifiers. Over $100 thou easily"
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