Moho Forum

Hi Guys.. I'm new to the forum and Im not sure if I'm posting this in the right place, but just tell me if it should be moved. Anyway, I am having trouble finding info online regarding editing your voice overs to sound professional like they would on an animated tv series. Any suggestions? I have all the software I need I'm just not very good with audio and voice as I spend most of my time animating and illustrating. Again, any help would be greatly appreciated. I use audacity, audition and I can get any other software I may need for this.

Hi,
You have all the tools you need. You just have to start practicing. Trying out different accents are a good start. I sometimes record my voice slow and low then speed it up. Here are some of my voices I did a few years ago:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SefDw3nchxw


Cheers
D.K

Thanks DK! Also I was wondering if anyone knows of any filters to play around with to get the desired effects and make it sound professional. I'm trying to avoid it sounding choppy and having a lot of foreign noises. Any filter ideas? Thanks again guys.

I always use, Noise Reduction (Audacity has a great filter), Normalize then add some slight compression...(be careful not to overdo the compression). If you are mixing for radio always graphic the top end so it cuts.

Cheers
D.K

You could try Fiverr. Only five bucks a pop, and there are some very talented and professional people there. Not free, but it's the next best thing.

when you say "Voice Over" do you mean "off screen narration" or character dialogue? IMO the speaking techniques are very different.

The voice recording techniques can be different if you want to include ambient noise in the dialogue (although again, IMO, it's usually better not to try that, but to add foley later). Then you need to think about environmental characteristics (room reverberation etc) .. the sound of speech in a tunnel / cathedral / room / curtained chamber differ..

all that said: if you don't have a studio - IMO, as a "starter" approach: find somewhere quiet with plenty of curtains or other non-echo surfaces; get a good mike and a recorder that will handle the voice range (say 80-12kHz to cover harmonics - purists might say 30-20Khz but IMO that's overkill -- and telephone engineers will say 300-4Khz! <bleagh>) ; and speak over it (not into it) from about 20-30 cm. Then add the reverb to the voice tracks as necessary (using software) and the foley in a compositor.

Thanks so much for the replies. @hayasidist, I'm trying to do more regular character dialogue. Thank you btw for the valuable info. What exactly is foley? Is that whats used to remove any unwanted noise and just leave the voice itself. That's my end goal is to make it sound as professional as possible. I have a great mic but not great sound proofing, but I think I have enough with my box and panels to make it work.

@DK thanks so much those filters actually work really well in audacity. Cheers.

foley is where you add ambient noises in post-production.. so for example: a door closing; a car driving off; footsteps etc .. usually done this way rather than trying to record them during dialogue recording. these sounds could be synthesised (digitally) [technically / strictly not foley] or simulated (live recorded in the sound studio and often not of the actual action) -- such as a cork twisted on a surface to make a "creaking" noise, gravel in a bag... take a look at: http://www.sound-ideas.com/what-is-foley.html

simondraws wrote:I have a great mic

Which mic? If it's a large-diaphragm condenser-type, you're very definitely going to want to speak into the mic, that's how they're designed to work. If your mouth isn't aimed at the diaphragm, you'll get some undesirable effects, especially if it's a little too high and pointed more at your nose.

With a good mic and preamp, there shouldn't be much need for noise reduction, the key is to record the signal as loudly as possible without clipping. And excellent place to set the microphone to get a great "dead" sound is in a closet. Surrounded by all those hanging clothes will really remove any unwanted room echoes.

Best of luck!

Thanks guys so much for the replies. @Danimal i have an audio-technica at4040 cardioid condenser mic. Definitely not professional so i shouldn't say "great" but its pretty good i think. My main issue i think is my room. Its literally just my home office so I'm getting some of that faint white noise type of effect in the background when i record my voice. The noise removal helps but I'm not good enough with audio to know how well I'm doing editing my voice. You guys have been a huge help though. Anybody use adobe audition?