This is going to be a long post. I appreciate your indulging me by reading it and offering suggestions at the end. As Ive mentioned over the past week, Im making a website for my voice acting service. Putting together a FAQ page now. Heres what Ive got thus far. Can you guys think of anything that I havent covered? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q: What is the sound quality of your recordings? A: I make sure that all my equipment is set to awesome. In practical terms, I use a professional quality studio condenser microphone hooked up to a dedicated USB audio interface. The frequency response isnt as good as what youd get if you invested $10,000 into a professional recording studio... but that kind of investment is overkill if youre doing voice acting. I get 24-bit resolution at sample rates up to 96kHz. The signal to noise ratio is outstanding ( >100dB ), due in part to the fact that Im using a high quality microphone and 48V phantom power. The microphone is really what makes the difference between an amateur and a professional sounding recording. I can, of course, save the file in pretty much any format or bitrate that you desire. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q: What does your studio look like? A: Its a converted corner of my basement. Its below ground level, so I dont have to deal with outside noise in the background. Its pretty cluttered (Im an artist... dont expect me to be tidy). But the clutter actually helps by acting as a sort of sound treatment. No, really, it does. Ive got a nice collection of books taking up the entire wall behind me, which also helps deaden any unwanted noise. I have put up some minor sound treatments on the walls (quilts and egg cartons). It was pretty quiet down here before, though. So I dont know if they even help... but it makes it feel more like a studio -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q: Does a bear shit in the woods? A: Not my area of expertise. I work in audio. I suppose you could ask me what it would sound like if a bear shat in the woods? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q: How would you like things like scripts formatted? Is there anything to look out for when writing scripts? A: As long as its written clearly and legibly in a common document format, Im pretty good at interpreting your meaning. If I have any questions, Ill contact you. Having said that, there are some basic suggestions that make my job easier and help me provide a better service to you. 1> Include a cover page with the document that describes each character, how you envision them looking and sounding, a little bit of backstory into them and anything else that you think might help me get into character. 2> Include a pronunciation guide for any particularly tricky or unusual words. This is especially important with character names and any words that are unique to your universe. I can look up the pronunciation of archaeopteryx online, if I have to... but its impossible for me to predict how you want me to pronounce a character named Thanapotasouma. A pronunciation guide doesnt have to be anything fancy or complex. You can just include something as simple as saying, Thanapotasouma - Rhymes with MAN uh POT a sue mah. Again, if I have any questions, Ill let you know. Additionally, Im more than happy to help work with you on the script. This can be particularly helpful if English isnt your first language and you want the language to sound more natural. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q: What DOES a bear shitting in the woods sound like? A: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q: Do you equalize your recordings yourself, apply effects, or expect the buyer to do that? A: I can do post production myself (equalization, compression, etc), or let the client do it themselves if they prefer. Sometimes a client will have their own in house audio guy that they prefer to have do all the fine tuning. Im flexible. Whatever works best for you. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q: What range of characters are your strongest? What are your weakest? What accents can you do well? A: I tend to be typecast doing action hero stuff a lot, so Id say that was my strongest type of character. Ive also done secret agents, demons, old timey radio announcers... listen to the demo reel to get an idea of my range. As far as my weaknesses? I HAVE NO WEAKNESSES!!!! I kid, of course. My singing voice isnt that great. It sounds more like drunken karaoke than it does singing. I also cant seem to wrap my tongue around rolling the letter R like you find in the Spanish language. There are other minor little things that I could nitpick on. But thats why Im bringing other voice actors on board with me. If theres something I cant handle, Im sure to find someone who can. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q: Ok I want to hire you, but how do I do that? Do you do meet ups? Skype? How about Payment? What are my options to pay? A: Theres a link on the front page of the site that details how to hire me. If you live in Eastern Washington State, Id love to meet up with you personally. Most of my work is contracted online. Just send me an email with the details of your project, and we can go from there. I also plan to have a private section on the website... something of a messageboard to discuss details of your project with a work order open for each client. Regarding payment, I accept payment through paypal. Though Im also working on setting up alternate payment methods, if you dont like using their service. A lot of these details are dependent upon getting the website fully operational. Ill keep this section of the FAQ updated as things change and more features are added. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q: Will you do my project for free? A: I have free content that Ive posted here, as well as other places around the internet. But if you want me to record a specific script, youll have to pay. I try to keep my prices affordable... but I have to pay the rent somehow. The exception to this is if you are working on a mod for Serious Sam. Im always happy to support the Serious Sam mod community in any way I can. Drop me a line, detailing your project and what you want from me. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q: Is your last name really Dick? A: Yes. John J Dick is the name I was born with. Go ahead and get the jokes out of your system. Ive been hearing them since grade school. I try to be good natured about it... but hearing the same jokes over and over again your entire life does tend to get boring. However clever you think you are, I can almost guarantee you that Ive heard it before. Can we get back to talking about voice acting now? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q: Wait... you mentioned Serious Sam? I LOVE that game. Youre telling me that you are the voice actor who played Sam? A: Yep. And, before you even ask; No, I wont do Serious Sam in your game unless your project is a mod for an existing Serious Sam game, or is authorized by Croteam to use the Serious Sam IP. I can still do a bad assed action hero in a similar style to Sam. But I dont have the authority to authorize you to use someone elses intellectual property, not even for a cameo appearance. If you really really really really want Sam to cameo in your game, feel free to reach out to Croteam about it and get their permission.
Posted on: Sat, 19 Oct 2013 11:44:23 +0000
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