Voice Animation

PaPa

PaPa

Major Contributor
I didn't see a thread in here for actors who get involved with voice work so I decided to start one up.

Last weekend I had the opportunity to do something I have been wanting to do for quite some time now, and that is getting the ball rolling to get some voice work out there, amongst all the auditions and other stuff.

I took a voice workshop with this woman named Dawn Ford, who is a very active voice actress in Montreal, which was a two day seminar that allowed us to pass around a script developing some voices, techniques, preparation as well as common issues and questions that can arise from those who've never before done any type of voice work, be it ADR, Dubbing, original voices, or video games (big thing in Montreal with ubisoft and EA)

On the second day, we had the chance of recording a little one minute demo, which I have to say, for my first crack at it, I don't think it came out too badly. I'm sure with some experience, I could piece something a little more substantial together, but she advised us that a one minute demo is more than enough, and anything longer is generally stopped by the casting agent and director anyhow.

What are your guy's experience when it comes to doing voice work? I would love to hear from both actors and animators alike. Have you found some tools that help you which you care to share? What is your work method like and what have your experiences taught you?

I for one now know not to eat any dairy close to recording time, as it really gunks up the throat.

Also, if you have a demo, please post it. It's always great to be inspired by what other artists are doing!

right click - save as.

www.tassweb.com/papa/voicedemo.mp3
 
hey Papa

i have done a little voice work myself. tons of commercial voices but a little anime too. i enjoyed it a great deal. doing it can be easy or tricky depending on their process. if the animation is done after the voice work, there is not too much the voice talent have to worry about other than developing a character.

however...try doing a voice for an animation made in Japan that is fixed and now you have to fit the translation with the mouth movement! THAT is tricky in itself. try to bend words and stretch them or add an extra word if the allow you. it can get very tense because very often the translation may have the same meaning but take half or twice as long as it did when the actors in Japan did their voice. so you have a fixed mouth motion you have to work with.

that is what all the voice actors had to do on the Animego version of Rupan 3 the Fuma Conspiracy. I don't have footage to share on here but if you ever see it, I was Mime Fujiko in that version.
 
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Hi Papa,

There are plenty of voice over forums and blog sites that can answer most of your questions:

www.vo-bb.com

www.voice-overs.com/forum

www.bobsouer.com/blog

The Boblog has a ton of listing for talent and/or blogs.

The first thing you should know is VO is acting. So, start taking acting classes. Improv classes are phenomenal workouts. The second and most important thing to remember is to be patient. It can take years to become a working talent.

Take care and best of luck.

Dan
 
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dnachtrab

glad you chimed in because though i have done some work...better they get info from a person like you who has done plenty of it!! seems you have some great info and links to offer them too...

michele
 
I've been asked to do some voice over for an animation that will be done later. It's about five lines of dialogue that take place outside. I'm thinking of taking a taperecorder and doing the voice over outside, to add a bit of the ambience of feet running, etc.

Should I do it outside or inside and add the sound effects?

I accepted to do it for under $1000. I've never done this so I didn't know what to charge.
 
I would ask the client first on how they would want to proceed with the recording. You might be surprised by their answer.
 
Yes, but how and where did they want you to record? Are they under the impression you have a professional studio? Before you do anything you should clarify this with the client.
 
Well, the animation is going to be done after the dialogue has been recorded and sent to them. They asked me for a few different readings so they can choose the one they like best.

Since there is need of running and excitement, I thought I'd do it outdoors with a portable recorder. Then come to my Mac G5 and transfer the sound into Soundtrack Pro and fix it up. And finally I will export an aiff and mp3s. I will send them everything via the web.

If they want studio, they ain't getting it, because the budget is under $1,000 for everything. Studio alone is going to cost thousands.
 
Then you should make sure the client understands what you mean to do.

Also, a start-up studio is not that expensive. A closet with a a lot of clothes, a nice USB mic (around $200) and it already sounds like you have a computer and recording software. This is not, by any means, a pro studio. However, for lower budget clients, this should be adequate. There are probably a thousand articles written on this subject and more detailed then this. Visit a few of those links I posted earlier.

Best of luck.
 
So i managed to book a national Canadian Commercial as a voice over which is recording tomorrow. My agent and i are psyched about it cause it has a chance of running a few years. But i just got struck with a cold.

Anyone have any suggestions to shake this thing? I don't want to go into recording all congested!

So far i've been taking Cold FX, Ecconecia, Tea, Vitamin C and gargling salt water, anyone else?
 
Nothing worse than having to use your voice and having a cold. I started out in this biz in radio as an on air personality. When I had a cold it definately changed my voice. Decongestants and hot tea helped some. From on air it was easy to get VO and narration jobs along with dubbing for film and annimation. I paid for school and invested in broadcast properties when I was a kid still as an undergraduate. (Of course I spent 7 years as an undergraduate because I was having too much fun!)
I got into other aspects of the biz and am getting more VO work lately as a sideline.
Keep at it. It's lots of fun.
 
Papa

if you still have that cold here is what a lot of singers do to clear the throat and sinus...

Steam for sinus (or get a neti-pot to drain them). Then for the voice...tea with honey and a little whiskey. no milk or dairy the day of recording. the whiskey counters some of the natural sugar in the honey but not so much the honey can't kill off some bacteria.

salt water gargle is too harsh right now. and don't clear your throat...that scratches it more.

and matt was right on the sleep...it always helps me.
 
Thanks for the tips guys, the recording went really great and the clients were very happy!!!
 
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