Voice in Game...

Very nice voice you have there Ember. Sounds great to me! I heard very minimal background noise.

You should turn pro and do children's audio books

 

I hear a couple issues with it that you can easily fix to make it better. I'll PM you in a bit so it doesn't seem like I'm nitpicking in public.

For everyone: Another thing to keep in mind is that in game VO, you don't record with ambiance or music playing over the vocal. The obvious reason for this is that effects are usually added within the game rather than to the VO themselves. This means they aren't limited to where or how they use it. Example would be if you strip the sound files from Dragon Age: Origins, you'll notice that the player banter is dead. Nothing but the vocal of the character. However when they are bantering in places like Orzammar, they add a delay/echo effect to it in order to make it seem like they are indeed in caves. Adding music limits the vocal further and in many cases, makes it simply unusable because the context may change, they may want to use it in a different way, it doesn't present the mood they are looking for, etc.

 

Firstly, thank you everyone for your lovely compliments on my voice acting!

I'd like to hear a sample of your own VO work, Mystic. And I'm not sure why you felt the need to explain that VO's aren't recorded "with ambiance or music playing over the vocal" because that goes without saying... I'm sure anyone and everyone on this thread getting into voice recording knows that a voice over must contain nothing but the voice. Did you listen to my raw voice samples? You'll hear that I did not record with any sounds going on other than my own voice. The music was added for the final video. And by the way, I am waiting for your PM!

 

Ember Isolte did a voice over for Poets' Circle's about page today. You can find it at http://poetscircle.net/about and I'll leave her to answer questions as to how she was able to produce in such high quality!

I'm going to repeat the experiment tonight with two of my short stories.

 

With music in background in game i don't see the probs., we have all used voice of one type , raid call , vent. ect. that has tons of different voices, just makes every thing a little better.

 

There won't always be music in the background. Hence, the problem. Plus, it goes back to what I was originally saying about the differences in room reflections. This is also not taking into consideration the microphones people would use and how the sound would differ between them, the plugins used to enhance the sounds, etc. There are many many things to consider and I'm really only scratching the surface.

 

That was mainly for the people who keep recommending adding music to a voice track such as the person I replied to last.

 

Can never go wrong with an m-audio m-box, with a good condenser microphone.

 

You can't really go wrong with the top 5 or so USB microphones either. They eliminate electronic noise and with long enough cords can get away from the fan of your laptop or computer.

 

Did some experimenting last night, similar setup to what Ember was doing. Sample of the result: https://soundcloud.com/poetscircle/enemies-of-bards-quote-samples though I did put music to the full story, there are silent parts, and zero noise. Editing out some breaths and such didn't take long. Audacity is quite simple.

Here is the full short story: Take a listen, you will enjoy! https://soundcloud.com/poetscircle/the-assassination

 

Except that it sounds like you're talking inside a tube. That could be a plugin or it might be whatever you used to kill reflections in the room. Flat/hard surfaces are the worst for that.

 

Awesome work Holt. I think the sound is great myself. Maybe a bit more volume...but I didn't hear any 'tube' effects...could be your hearing mystic

 

Hi Mystic.

I'm curious as to what hardware you would recommend that will not cost an arm and a leg. Anything mid-range ?

What mic do you recommend?

I use an Onkyo receiver with a pair of Alessendro MS1 headphones and hear minimal artifacts/static/snow/back ground noise on Embers well done track.

Which is strange because the Onkyo receiver does have a tendency to amplify imperfections.

Holt ill check yours out when I get home.

 

I just ordered the Yeti USB mic from Holt's advice. It was only $99 on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002VA464S/ref=pe_385040_30332200_pe_309540_26725410_item

 

I personally don't use USB mics for a few reasons:
1. USB only uses 16bit resolution which can hinder the dynamic range.
2. You'll be using your computers sound card rather than an audio interface which causes latency when monitoring.
3. They have lower quality built in preamps which means a higher noise floor.

That being said, will they work? Sure. Lots of people use them. Just good to know what you're buying into when you do. Knowledge is never a bad thing unless you're a spy who has been captured by the enemy.

For speaking, I personally really like my Studio Projects C1. It's actually the cheapest condenser I have but it has one of the nicest tones for speaking comparable to a higher end Neumann which is one of the reasons I bought it. I think I paid around $200 for my first gen C1. There is a newer model out which has a nicer look to it and they tweaked the high end response a little but nothing major. I'm going to be buying a Sennheiser MKH 416 mic this year at some point specifically for VO work though.

The downside to using an XLR condenser is you need an audio interface with phantom power. Interfaces can be very pricey depending on your needs and quality so you'll likely want to go USB. Blue is the popular company at the moment for those.

 

Here is a short story I wrote and narrated. I have been learning Audacity and it's pretty easy.



http://soundcloud.com/lord-baldrith/

Edit: I had to redo the link...It wasn't working...

 

Here is the written text of the story:

The Band of Bards
How the gloom was tended by the will of the fallen angels.
Every bit of ash in the campfire had been blown away by the wicked winds heckling through the trees.
The fall of the crackling oaken branches was subdued by the angry raindrops pouring down upon the dreary shattered clearing.

The place where the tent had been so neatly sited was now just a memory in the passage of time.
The darkened passaged leading to the serrated mountain was all that remained of a place once full of laughing and singing mere hours before.
The small band of bards had quickly retreated from the massive droplets of water which suddenly poured on their faces like wave of cold water from a turbulent sea.

Unfortunately, the wind beaten path leading them to the mountain was also littered with broken branches, jagged rocks and pieces of broken glass from their own supplies.
The wind made it nearly impossible to tread quickly to the asylum of the mountain.
Some had fallen into the mud from disorientation of the water and wind on their faces.
The stronger of the bards was unable to see properly to grasp the hands of distraught others, and instead stumbled into the broken path themselves.
Shrieking with pain the members of the band were further terrorized by loud bursts of thunder overhead, thrashing sounds echoed in their heads from the painfully shrill cracking of the massive gale.

Suddenly, the wind became calm, and the road became clear.
The band of bards struggled to stand on their feet.
They staggered painfully to the jagged mountain.
The darkness seemed less perilous, and for the first time since the goblets of wine had been torn from their hands, they felt a sense of hope.
They all struggled towards the opening, with heavy steps and bloodied limbs, then entered into a narrow opening within the massive mountainside.

The interior of the opening was dank.
The only light was dimly lit from the half moon glowing faintly through the thick clouds in the sky.
All of their belongings had been lost and broken, and the only pursuit they could hope for was a freezing night mashed together in this small damp cave.
With no blankets or fire, they huddled together and chatted tearfully.

One of the bards pulled a small harmonica from his pocket and played softly.
The dank air lightened, and the band of bards slowly drifted to sleep.

 

I love your story Baldrith. Your voice sounds terrific very pleasing to the ears. Thank you for sharing. I do think we should have at least some voice in the game. Greetings or NPC comments would be nice and make the game really special. Voice over where possible is a wonderful thought in my opinion.

 

He really does have a perfect voice! All the technical side takes is experimentation and practice, learning how to capture the perfection of the voice in a digital form that will sound great for the game. Baldrith and Ember are working on this and I agree, some voice, even if in a limited scope would really liven things up.

 

Thanks so much for the kind words Majoria and Holt! I would be honored to narrate, or voice anything in the game if it is needed.