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Voice Editing for Games

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2 comments, last by nsmadsen 8 years, 7 months ago

I really want to have voice acting for my game, but I'm not entirely sure if I'm able to afford paying for voice actors. I feel pretty confident about voice acting myself, but one person can't do voice overs for many characters. At least, that's what I initially thought, but then I had the idea of editing my voice on a program like audacity so that I can portray multiple characters. I don't know if it's possible, but I would like to hear everyone's opinion on the idea. If it IS possible, I would like to know the best method for accomplishing this.

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Is the goal to do it in real time through filters, or doing it in advance and using those assets normally?

The base components that make up your voice can only be altered so many times. I would say a single talented voice actor can do maybe 3-4 voices before it becomes very noticeable that a single person is doing all of the voices.

What CCH said is true. Even really talented, experienced actors can usually only pull off about 3-5 characters and then it starts to all sound the same. I would record yourself for 2-3 characters and then hire others to fill in the gaps and provide more variety.

You'd be surprised at the range of prices voice actors, especially young(er) ones, will be willing to accept. There's also websites where actors can bid on working for your project (voices123.com for example). If you're a student or have a college near you - check out local drama students that might have the ability to record themselves. Of course, the old saying "you get what you paid for" usually rings true. But with some careful research, you can find someone talented, who's just starting out and willing to work for less.

The other idea is to limit the amount of voice over in your game. Instead of having VO for an entire paragraph, maybe just the firt sentence and have the rest be text? Also you could consider having only critical characters have VO.

Nathan Madsen
Nate (AT) MadsenStudios (DOT) Com
Composer-Sound Designer
Madsen Studios
Austin, TX

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