VOICE ACTING TIPS - For Prospective and Veteran Voice Actors

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*

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to clean your sound files

This can help

For noise removal, be sure to select

what you want to be removed - not



Example:

Uncleaned

Cleaned



Old Link



Pronunciation guide *

Really important. This can help

get rid of a lot of common

pronunciation issues. You'd be

surprised at how big a difference

good diction and pronunciation

can make.

You can ignore the notes on some

of the Elven names, since the author

notes the proper pronunciation, not

the common one. The Dwemer note

is important though.

Use method acting here. If you're a

beggar, you might not use the proper

pronunciation of Bosmer, or even the

common one. If you're a scholar, you

might use the uber-proper pronunciation.



Working with Audio File Tip - Saving Time and Organization *

Gives tips on how to organize your files well and minimize

retakes. Also helps modders if you give them nice, organized

files.



I Want to be a VA

Amazing resource. So much information from a professional VA. Some is geared towards professional VAs but most is applicable everywhere. He also has some great resources.



Techniques - Techniques I've learned and decided to share

This thread lists some great tips on how to improve your

recording quality. If you have your own tips to share that

aren't already listed on this thread, you should definitely

add them.



Workshop 01: Introduction to Audacity

Gives a nice introduction to Audacity, as well

as a few good tips on using it. Includes the settings

you should have for both Oblivion and Skyrim while

making an Audacity project. (If you don't have the

correct settings set, you won't be able to import your

recording to Skyrim.)



Workshop 02: Working with Audacity

Gives a good walkthrough on using

Audacity, some good techniques and

tips. A good start for new Audacity



users to familiarize themselves. If

you are new, you should read

Workshop 01 first. your voice, but the static noise.Really important. This can helpget rid of a lot of commonpronunciation issues. You'd besurprised at how big a differencegood diction and pronunciationcan make.Gives tips on how to organize your files well and minimizeretakes. Also helps modders if you give them nice, organizedfiles.Amazing resource. So much information from a professional VA. Some is geared towards professional VAs but most is applicable everywhere. He also has some great resources.This thread lists some great tips on how to improve yourrecording quality. If you have your own tips to share thataren't already listed on this thread, you should definitelyadd them.Gives a nice introduction to Audacity, as wellas a few good tips on using it. Includes the settingsyou should have for both Oblivion and Skyrim whilemaking an Audacity project.Gives a good walkthrough on usingAudacity, some good techniques andtips. A good start for new Audacityusers to familiarize themselves. Ifyou are new, you should readWorkshop 01 first.

Equalization can make some of your

voice files sound a whole lot better. This

is a great video tutorial on how to use

equalization properly.



Hathor's Voice Acting Guide for Beginners

Not strictly related to Skyrim or video games,

but it does provide some good tips and tricks

for preparation and voice acting.



Possible Advice for better voice acting

A few more tips on how to voice act

better.

A few of the tips are already included in

the Techniques thread.



Need Voice Actors for Your Mod - Skyrim Blog

Aside from talking about getting voice actors

for your mod, this post does include some

useful information on delivering higher quality

voice acting.



OLD HUB - Skywind Development Voice Acting

Has a bunch of useful recording tips on

compression, conversion, and homemade pop

filters.

Scroll down to Recording Tips and Tricks to

find the tips and tricks. Not strictly related to Skyrim or video games,but it does provide some good tips and tricksfor preparation and voice acting.A few more tips on how to voice actbetter.Aside from talking about getting voice actorsfor your mod, this post does include someuseful information on delivering higher qualityvoice acting.Has a bunch of useful recording tips oncompression, conversion, and homemade popfilters.find the tips and tricks.

The other day I was reading through some old tutorials for Oblivion about voice acting, when I realized that most of them still apply to Skyrim. While the ones regarding the creation of .lip files, or getting the files into the CS (Oblivion's mod creation tool) are obviously no longer applicable, I've compiled a list of the "Workshops" for Oblivion that still work for Skyrim, as well as a bunch of other resources. Provided is a link for each, as well as a short description. If they are marked with a red asterisk, then I consider them very important resources for all voice actors that you should read no matter what - and probably more than once. If they're marked with a blue asterisk, you should probably read them. The list is ordered from most useful (top) to least useful (bottom). However, all of them are at least somewhat useful, or I wouldn't post them here. If you think a certain post is more useful than the other and that the order is wrong, then tell me and I'll see if I agree. If I do, I'll change it. So here's the list:This article/tutorial talks about what makes recordings bad,and how to fix some of the problems. It also notes a goodselection of mics to buy, and some tips on acting.Written by the same author as the Workshop 04, this onegoes into more detail about how to act and improve yourvoice acting to be more convincing.You need to read this. It teaches youhowwith Audacity.turn your recording quality from crapto decent quality, or from good qualityto fantastic quality. Read it.If you've got some more threads to share that I should add to the list, post the link below and I'll take a look at them. I'm also writing a Comprehensive Guide to Voice Acting - From Start to Finish on my website right now, and I'll share it with you as soon as I'm done.

Edited by Matthiaswagg, 11 January 2015 - 04:03 AM.