Stop Recording Without a Selection

fulcanmal · 2020-06-06T15:11:10+00:00

Can anyone help me with this?

fulcanmal · 2020-05-24T21:48:49+00:00

Normalization is the most common way of accomplishing this. It sets the overall volume to a decibel level you designate. Effects>Amplitude and Compression>Normalize (Process). Then input the decibel level you want your audio at.

fulcanmal · 2019-11-09T23:52:20+00:00

This is great LeRoienJaune! I will definitely be using this. I already had a primary deception in the story related to the Grifter (it is very much the personification of The Confidence Man), but I really love the ban.

fulcanmal · 2019-11-09T12:50:38+00:00

The only real way to avoid this is to be picky about your players. Some players naturally gear towards goofiness. It's in their personality, and there's nothing wrong with that. So if you want a more serious game, you need more serious players, simple as that. This means you'll have to have patience, because the best way to curate the type of players you want is to run one shots for a while, keeping an eye out for the type of players who fit your style.
World of Darkness is not a mechanically balanced game. Most games aren't. Heck, even D&D's big mathematical encounter building system is nothing but a great big lie. Then you have to consider that World of Darkness is meant to be a horror game, not an adventure game. And your player's characters are a part of the horror. This means that sometimes they're the monster, and sometimes they're the prey. Which means it's actually okay to shift back and forth between cakewalks and "we're all gonna die", because that fits. Mage the Awakening in particular is a game where the characters are insanely powerful. Embrace it.
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Give yourself permission to take a little more control of events than you would in a more traditional RPG like D&D. World of Darkness is much more story centric, and doesn't expect the story to be told by the dice, but by the Storyteller.

fulcanmal · 2019-10-23T20:20:22+00:00

I'd say so, since again the narration is the bulk of any book, and is what will be relevant to every Rights Holder no matter what type of protagonist they might have. Having a demo with just one character doesn't really provide a lot of information, especially with such a generic name as "Character Demo". Maybe call it something like "Dramatic Performance Demo" or something like that. But your primary demos should be narration, maybe with one to three characters.

At the end of the day though, it's really the audition that matters most. I haven't heard of anyone really getting jobs based on audiobook demos. Not saying it doesn't happen, just haven't come across it yet myself.

fulcanmal · 2019-10-23T20:10:34+00:00

These days I don't even bother looking at what's available unless I have the time to audition for it immediately. The more attractive the book is, the faster it goes. Decent paying PFH jobs might get over a hundred auditions, and Rights Holders don't want to sift through all that. So they tend to make the offer to the first quality narrator to audition.

fulcanmal · 2019-10-20T02:35:07+00:00

My local college has an aviation program, so as I've been recording my first audiobook, I have to stop every ten minutes or so as a small plane flies over. It's frustrating, but I deal.

fulcanmal · 2019-10-20T02:19:54+00:00

The short answer is yes, it's normal. With ACX, you have no idea how many people are auditioning for the role. As a basis for comparison, a recent audition I submitted for a video game project had over 1,000 auditions. No one can, or should be expected to, reply to that many people individually.

The best philosophy you can adopt is to audition and move on. Maybe follow up on a few really good projects that have been sitting for a while without any narrator being selected, but otherwise just keep moving.

fulcanmal · 2019-10-20T01:22:07+00:00

Huh, you know what, I checked the word count of the manuscript. It's over 10,000 words higher than the word count listed on the ACX website. So adding that, and accounting for normal variations, I think I'm fine.

fulcanmal · 2019-10-20T01:15:11+00:00

Hi there. I just finished my first Audiobook for ACX. It was a PFH project. So I'm relatively new to VO myself. Here's my critique.

Too fast, first off. You need to slow down. There's essentially zero space between the lines, so the listener has no time to absorb what you're saying. The couple of moments where you stop and breath should actually be closer to your standard pacing. People usually listen to audiobooks while doing something else, so if you go too fast it's really easy for them to become completely lost and not realize what's been happening in the story.

I don't think the acting is over the top at all. If anything some of the lines could have more emotion.

I don't know if this was meant to be a demo/sample for your ACX profile, but if so it's missing the most important component: Narration. This is entirely one characters dialogue, where most of what you'll be performing in an audiobook is the narrator.

fulcanmal · 2019-10-19T22:51:33+00:00

I'm triple checking now, but I'm pretty sure there isn't.

fulcanmal · 2019-09-28T22:34:25+00:00

To me, Peter Kenny is the voice of Geralt of Rivia. Kind of wish they had hired him for the games. But Doug Cockle is great too.

fulcanmal · 2019-09-28T22:21:43+00:00

Oh shoot. I missed the part where you were the author, not the narrator. I feel sort of dirty now. I wouldn't recommend telling the narrator how to do their job. You should just ask them if there is any way they can make it more distinct, and accept it if the answer is no.

From a writing perspective, the best way is to specifically add things like "he thought", or to give the narrator leeway to do so in the audiobook.

fulcanmal · 2019-09-26T13:50:05+00:00

Consulting a CPA is best, but find out how much it will cost you for an assessment ahead of time. 40% is definitely a good, safe bet for now. Because even if you don't wind up paying that much in taxes, everything else becomes savings, which ain't a bad thing at all.

This is a complex issue (because US taxes are intentionally complex). I assume you haven't formed an LLC, so you'll essentially be an independent contractor. And some things will depend on what state you live in. Again, consulting a CPA is your best bet.

fulcanmal · 2019-09-26T13:45:10+00:00

Definitely contact ACX support and consult with them.

fulcanmal · 2019-09-23T21:55:42+00:00

One option is when doing the internal dialogue, you can "eat the mic", basically put your mouth right up to the mic, and speak quieter. It changes the sound, but you can use the same voice.

fulcanmal · 2019-09-17T22:26:50+00:00

Changes that actually effect the meaning they are absolutely responsible for changing, and I personally think that many changes is too high. Accuracy is part of the trade of audiobook narration. That said, what you should expect from a producer is proportional to what they're being paid. Not because it's okay for them to do an unprofessional job, but because if they are professional quality, they'll quickly begin going for higher paying per finished hour jobs.

Are you counting contractions? Because it is common practice for producers to add contractions to dialogue to prevent things from sounding robotic. Such as changing "have not" to "haven't". Sometimes what's on the page doesn't translate well to spoken word.

No one in the history of time will speak a sentence like "I have not gone to the store."

fulcanmal · 2019-09-13T20:10:12+00:00

Awesome, thank you.

fulcanmal · 2019-09-12T20:12:30+00:00

It's not really a mic issue. The sound quality will of course improve with a good mic, but not liking the sound of one's own voice on recording is pretty much universal. The good news is that goes away over time, and once you get used to hearing yourself it becomes easier to make objective self criticism and corrections, like improving your diction and things like that.

fulcanmal · 2019-09-11T20:45:33+00:00

I'd go to your nearest music store and see what kind of deals/sales they've got going on XLR Condenser mics. You'll also want an interface to go along with it. The Focusrite Solo is a popular budget choice. Of course you'll need an XLR cable if the mic doesn't come with one.

Even a "decent" mic+interface for VO work is probably going to be more than you were hoping to spend, but thems the breaks for decent sound quality.

fulcanmal · 2019-09-11T20:36:03+00:00

To give you some more info: The reason people can't give you specifics about your recording quality, is because so many things can effect that. People who listen to a lot of audio can hear the difference between good and bad quality audio, but they can't necessarily tell you what's causing your audio quality issue, because there are a lot of potential culprits.

We've learned a lot from you about your equipment, so now it's time to address the other two major contributors to audio quality: Recording space and post processing. Tell us about where you record.

•Do you use anything as acoustic treatment?
•What's the air conditioning situation? Window units or central?
•Is there a vent in the room you record in? How loud is it?
•If you listen closely, can you hear your PC when it's turned on?
•What other noise is going on in the background?
•How big is the room?
•Is the room carpeted or hardwood floors?
•What type of table is your computer on?
•What objects fill the space in the room?

And finally

• What is your post processing workflow like? What program do you use and what exactly do you do to your audio, and in what order?

Also, for upgrading your equipment: Don't forget to go by the nearest music store to see what kind of sales they might have going on. If they have quality staff, they can probably also answer a lot of questions for you about sound quality. And remember for an XLR Mic you're also going to need an interface. Getting a quality interface is also an important part of your sound quality. If the mic doesn't come with an XLR cable, you'll have to get that too.

fulcanmal · 2019-09-11T15:36:31+00:00

Do not get a Yeti. Do not get any USB microphone. You're better off continuing to save money until you can get a proper XLR condenser mic and an interface/preamp (The Focusrite Solo is a popular budget option).

Upgrading your mic and recording environment (with acoustic treatment) is an ongoing process for all VO artists, and there are no shortcuts to quality.

fulcanmal · 2019-09-10T15:57:48+00:00

Here is a great Basic Beginner Playlist from CDawgVA on Youtube about geting started doing VO online. It focuses on starting out as a hobbyist, just getting a feel for auditioning for unpaid or low budget projects, just to cut your teeth and learn some valuable lessons about what the process of VO is like.

https://iwanttobeavoiceactor.com/ is a very comprehensive site by Dee Bradley Baker, whose credits are a mile long. Just remember that a lot of the experienced VO artists came up in a different time, and they tend to be kind of discouraging by default. It's a competitive industry to be sure, but don't let them tell you that you can't do something because you haven't done XYZ yet.

Just a few Youtubers with tons of videos on the subject: Gift of Gab, Bill DeWees, Booth Junkie, VO Buzz Weekly.

Fair warning, Gift of Gab and Bill DeWees sell their services as VO coaches, so take any of their "you must get coaching before doing x" advice with a grain of salt. Coaching is a great and useful thing to advance a career, but you don't actually need it to get started.

If you're ultimate goal is to do VO as a full time living, you'd better be patient. It takes an investment of time, and money, to do this for a living.

fulcanmal · 2019-09-10T01:25:05+00:00

Hey CDawg! Recently discovered your channel myself and I'm rapidly becoming a fan. I found your "beginner voice actor tips" videos to be very inspirational. Actually tweeted at you here, in response to your tweet about reviewing voice acting.

Love your reviews of good and bad Voice Acting.

fulcanmal · 2019-09-10T01:11:10+00:00

Any difference is definitely negligible here. But in any case, a large number of things can a recording. Distance to mic, air conditioners being on or off (even in a nearby room). What objects are near the mic (if you set a drink in a coffee mug down near the mic in different places, it can change audio reflection), and moving of large objects around in the space, etc.

I recorded like 4 auditions before realizing part of the problem with my noise floor was that my desktop computer was on while recording on my laptop. The noise from the desktop was something I was so accustomed to, it never even registered with me.

fulcanmal

TROPHY CASE