I've always wanted to try it but avoided it because I thought it would be too hard
At 2/9/20 10:07 PM, drpacman wrote: I've always wanted to try it but avoided it because I thought it would be too hard
In some ways, easy, in others, very very hard. It also depends what you want to do -- voice act for a living? Voice act things for fun here and there?
No matter what, you really have nothing to lose (as long as you DON'T go out and buy expensive equipment, that is!) so why not just give it a try? :)
At 2/9/20 10:07 PM, drpacman wrote: I've always wanted to try it but avoided it because I thought it would be too hard
Maybe consider taking an intro workshop/class there are options online if there aren't any nearby you physically. But there's also a lot of free resources online about voice acting. Like any other skill voice acting requires time, practice, and patience to grow. Whether it's too hard or not is a personal judgement which you can only make after giving it a try, and is heavily reliant on what your goals for it are and whether you actually enjoy doing it.
Do you like reading? Maybe next time you're reading try doing some pages or a chapter out loud. Hear a radio or internet voice ad? Try saying the lines yourself.
Ditto what rebekahamberclark said, especially about the equipment, and even if you do decide you want to go for it and start investing in gear and sound treatment it can be done pretty affordably if you do your research.
At 2/9/20 10:07 PM, drpacman wrote: I've always wanted to try it but avoided it because I thought it would be too hard
Honestly just having a solid recording setup and being a half decent actor already easily puts you in like the Top 1% of online voice actors. Which is to say that in a sense, the bar for being a successful online voice actor is incredibly low, so if you have that baseline level of talent; it's not difficult at all. BUT considering so few people in the online voice acting community are capable of even just that little; clearly in a way it must be a pretty hard bar to cross. But in regards to crossing that bar, frankly, whilst I could list off a thousand things a voice actor needs to be able to do; at the end of the day it literally just comes down to can you foster a high capacity for empathy? Can you put yourself in the character's shoes and feel their feelings, act the way they'd act? Can you BECOME the character?
Because if you can do that, you're golden, and from that point it's just about getting better at it. Practicing a wide range of voices, personalities, emotions, and personal histories. That way you open a lot more doors in terms of what characters you are capable of truly becoming so that you can convincingly play them well enough to get cast as them over other potential candidates. However, don't take what I said as me saying someone needs a certain level of natural talent to become a voice actor, as I don't think that's true at all. I wouldn't even say achieving that baseline level of empathy is something one slowly works at over time. I really do believe that for most people it's just about getting yourself to a certain state of mind, and once you do that, click, you have it; time to go ahead and truly start voice acting.
If you're really interested, I'd recommend giving this a read (it's a bit long but well worth the time), although as the other two said there's no harm in giving it a shot: https://docs.google.com/document/d/14sfkpkuzkd4eIYVIeEAE_UoWPw8w_QKteUXLMX-XZwI/edit?usp=sharing
At 2/9/20 10:07 PM, drpacman wrote: I've always wanted to try it but avoided it because I thought it would be too hard
as long as you know someone willing to hire you. The critical problem is that there is an increase in VAs that have been on an all time high since 2008- 2020. Egoraptor used to been just a random VA for hire here on Newgrounds. Eventually he up the ladder. So was TomSka at one point.
If you enjoy making unique voices and are decent at it, that's all that matters. If you haven't started yet, it's too early too think about who will hire you. That's not the point! Have fun with it, offer to collaborate with other new animators. You will soon find out if it's something that is fulfilling for you (or not) and you can either continue on that path or try something else.
Don't avoid it because you might think it's difficult or competitive. DO it because you find it fun and interesting, and the rest will come eventually into place.
not that hard, just do funny voice or what ever the direction is
At 2/9/20 10:33 PM, rebekahamberclark wrote:At 2/9/20 10:07 PM, drpacman wrote: I've always wanted to try it but avoided it because I thought it would be too hardIn some ways, easy, in others, very very hard. It also depends what you want to do -- voice act for a living? Voice act things for fun here and there?
No matter what, you really have nothing to lose (as long as you DON'T go out and buy expensive equipment, that is!) so why not just give it a try? :)
I was going to buy a blue yeti or snowball microphone
At 12/12/20 06:39 AM, drpacman wrote:At 2/9/20 10:33 PM, rebekahamberclark wrote:I was going to buy a blue yeti or snowball microphoneAt 2/9/20 10:07 PM, drpacman wrote: I've always wanted to try it but avoided it because I thought it would be too hardIn some ways, easy, in others, very very hard. It also depends what you want to do -- voice act for a living? Voice act things for fun here and there?
No matter what, you really have nothing to lose (as long as you DON'T go out and buy expensive equipment, that is!) so why not just give it a try? :)
I think either of those should do just fine for you to get started on! :) I haven' used either myself, but I know plenty of oher voice actors who have. Break a leg!
At 2/9/20 10:07 PM, drpacman wrote: I've always wanted to try it but avoided it because I thought it would be too hard
It's not hard to voice act you just gotta to be a good reader
cpj
I kinda just dove headfirst, my first question was what's recommended, such as recording software and equipment, I don't have the equipment yet, which is a pity, but for software, Audacity is pretty good. For one, you're gonna realize how much you actually have to dedicate, oral hygiene and a great lung capacity evidently being somewhat of a requirement, another thing would actually be motivation, confidence and keeping yourself active, take me for example, I've only done so much, and the reason was a sudden decrease in motivation, coupled with a solid few months of inactivity, you just fade. I do plan to find more work here on NG, NG being my only source of finding gigs so far.
For now I honestly suggest finding a popular series, and find something quotable, take that qoute and simply play with your voice, don't care about the results because you'll hate almost every voice take you make, upload it, watch people gripe about the performance because "you didn't sound like the character your quoting" and all that bullshit. The more you do the more confidence you build. You start hating your recorded voice less and less, seek trusted friends or other supportive people in your life and have them listen to you, and for your sake, let them be honest
