TIGSource Forums

Hey, all.

I had a funny idea.  What if there was a little group on TIGSource consisting of people who are interested in doing vocals for free indie games?  I'm personally interested in small 'jobs' for the time being, and I think I'm not alone.  (I've got pro recording equipment and am after practice work!)

Certain developers (like bento_smile or Jonas Kyratzes) who are making narrative-style games might then be able to draw from this pool in order to get character vocals.  Then we have nice talkie games--profit!  Even non-narrative games often have use for smaller bits of voice acting, like foley screams and grunts.

Would anyone here be interested in joining or drawing on such a talent pool?

I wouldn't mind. I recently got a nice mic. It sounds like it could be handy.

i suppose i could use a productive outlet for my ability to make gross noises. i'm tentatively in.

Sounds like fun. I'd be interested. ;D

Don't have any professional equipment though (just a USB Logitech mic w/out a pop shield).

I'm thinking we could set up a little site or forum somewhere and link to our own pages in our signatures or some such.  Or, we could do everything on TIGForums and I could keep a list of members (and links to portfolio topics with reels) here.


I'm thinking the general system of operations will be:

-Client solicits voice actor for help

-free vocals for free games

-free help on no-budget commercial games, trailers etc (at actor's discretion)

-possible paid work on funded commercial games (or unpaid, if actor is willing)


For the time being it makes most sense just to operate on TIGS, so if and when anyone gets a demo reel put together and up in a portfolio topic, post a link here.

I don't think anyone should worry too much about experience or equipment quality.  They definitely make a difference, but we've all got to start someplace.

Sorry for the bump, but this concept intrigues me.  And I have a good working mic, so why not?  I would love to be a part of this.

I'm not really a voice actor but I am interested on how this thing will go. It would really help the indie community. :D

It would be so awesome if we could get a working library of voices for the TIGSource public to utilize in their games, even just for basic grunts and shouts.

Only issue is when a dev needs female voices... TIGS is sadly lacking in the estrogen department.

Yeah, I've done some voice work since my last post in here and I'm definitely up for some more.

Well I suppose I could offer my voice, but I can't imagine it'd be all that useful.  I've done a few TV commercials (just voice), so I guess somebody liked it... wouldn't say I'm a pro though.  :lol:

Me and my myriad of silly, badly done accents wish to join this guild.
Don't really have a good mic, though.

And Aquin... what haven't you done?

This really is a wonderfull idea!
I dont have a good mic either but I plan on getting one later, so I'll join this.
Maybe someone could find use for an authentic scandinavian accent.
Oh! And I used to growl in a metal band years ago so i can make some really brutal demon/troll recordings
:handmetalL: >:D :handmetalR:

@Renton, well... I dunno.  I haven't been to South America yet, but maybe in a few years.  I kinda wanna hike that machu pichu trail. 

Besides, the voice work isn't really that weird.  I used to do a lot of theatre (both musical and otherwise) and my best friend works in advertising.  So I just help him out every now and then.

However, I'm not the greatest at accents... I think I'd come off a bit cheezy and there are some accents I just cannot do for the life of me.  I swear, I don't know how that girl on youtube blows through like a two dozen accents in five minutes.  :o

I vote Yes. I would definitely take advantage of such a thing.

I've done free voice acting for noncommercial indie games in the past, and would enjoy the chance to do it again in the future. Count me in for this!

Hey! I have a (slightly southern) American accent and an expensive microphone! I can do this!

For anyone who wants a serious semi-professional setup for low cost (about $150 for everything) try mine:

----------------------

This mike (http://www.amazon.com/MXL-990-Condenser-Microphone-Shockmount/dp/B0002GIRP2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1295236456&sr=8-1) ($50-60) is one of the cheapest condensers that can be bought and is surprisingly good.  Comes with case and shock mount.

This interface (http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Microphones-Icicle-Converter-Preamp/dp/B001EW5YQS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=musical-instruments&qid=1295236538&sr=1-1) ($30-40) will hook it up to your machine through USB.  Portable and low noise, and from a well-regarded manufacturer who'll happily replace defective devices.  If you're looking at others, make sure they have "phantom power" for the condenser.

An XLR cable like this (http://www.amazon.com/GLS-Audio-Cable-Patch-Cords/dp/B003JJQMD8/ref=sr_1_3?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1295236695&sr=1-3) (25ft for $13, longer is better because your computer makes noise) -- DO NOT plug the icicle directly into your mike.

This pop filter (http://www.amazon.com/Nady-MPF-6-6-Inch-Microphone-Filter/dp/B0002CZW0Y/ref=sr_1_3?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1295236836&sr=1-3) ($15) is cheap and good.  These are essential and keep Ps, Bs and other 'plosive' sounds from creating windy noises in the recording.  Don't let your cat claw it up.

A sturdy boom stand (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dmi&field-keywords=boom+stand&x=0&y=0) ($10-$25?) is really worth the money.  Bought mine from a store a month after everything else and am really happy with it.

You can make a sound room for yourself by finding a narrow closet and covering the walls with pillows, blankets, tapestry, or some other muffly cloth.  Room echo and ambient noise are really bad for recordings.  Apparently memory foam mattress pads work extremely well, though they're pricy; I get along fine with some down comforters or (while at school) the soundproofed practice rooms in the music building.

-------------------


Anyway.  Should we make an honest-injun site for this thing?  TIGVA or something?  The newgrounds community has a spinoff site for similar purposes.

I'm pretty happy with my Blue Yeti USB mic right now.  The sound quality's wonderful, and I just think I need a pop filter, and I'm good to go.

I'm not exactly sure, but I believe that the longer the cable is the higher the resistance is inside the wire. The higher the resistance, the signals sent deteriorate over time. As soon as it reaches its destination, the signal is all worn out resulting in a low audio quality.

This idea sounds like a lot of fun, as well as interesting possibilities for games! Sucks I don't have an expensive microphone, but I'd like to at least try with a bad mic (or borrowing a good one from someone).

I'd be interested in donating some line readings, as long as it wasn't for some huge and sprawling indie version of fallout III. I performed on an audiobook recently for simon& schuster, & I have a good digital audio recorder.

I love this idea, because I would like to include voices in my games, and my own voice is... not very likable.
What Mr. Sandoval said is an unfortunate and significant problem, though. My solo project is currently in the very early stages, and it may never fully emerge, but if it does, I will need several female voice actors.

Anyway, if my idea for the compo gets off the ground, I'll probably be asking you folks for help!

I use a fifteen-foot cable.  It's a convenient length, and I'd stress the importance of being able to get away from your computer.  Even quiet laptops have surprising effects on recordings.

I had the guidance of an audio engineer friend while looking for most of this stuff.

On cable length:

It's a matter of the weakest link in the chain. The quality of a recording is bottlenecked by the worst piece of equipment you have or the room's acoustics or the performance itself.

While a shorter cable does indeed mean less analogue signal degradation, this won't matter one bit if you're using a sub-par microphone, or a dodgy soundcard with poor quality analogue to digital conversion, or if you're in a terrible sounding room (Cellulose's advice on this is good stuff). And no-one is going to notice any of these issues if the performance itself isn't up to scratch ;)

To sum it up, only worry about the length/quality of your cables if everything else is awesome first.

And yeah, computer hum/noise in the background is more noticeable than signal degradation in an audio cable. In the studio's I do the occasional work in, most of the cables are 6 meters in length (so that's just under 20 feet).

I wanna join, I can do all kinds of crazy cool cartoon voices <4
(No really, not trolling. I talk in all kinds of different voices during the day because I get bored and like to inflect in all the different voice's mannerisms. I also don't have multiple personality disorder :o)

So I'm starting to wonder if we should piggyback this on TIGS or have a sister site elsewhere like Newgrounds does.  I could host one easily.  But is that overkill?

Thoughts?  :/

EDIT: ooh, I've got a sexy domain name lined up too...

My trouble is that I don't have a room with good acoustics.. have everything else sorted out, but everything sounds vaguely echo-ey because of nasty audio bouncing off all the walls..  :(

I really need to find something to absorb some of that sound..

I'm a little concerned that the acronym for this is TIGVAG, but otherwise it's a nice idea. I have a couple of "meh" microphones (better than headset mics but by no means fancy), and can do English accents and hilariously bad accents from some other countries. I'd be happy to contribute if people need a Brit voice (I have no idea if it's a particularly pleasant voice - to me it sounds like nails down a blackboard, but I think that's true of everyone who hears their voice played back from a recording). Mostly I might be interested as a customer. If this thing is going to fly, we need demo reels.

DEMO REEL POSTINGS: ACTIVATE!

If I post some voice stuff, I expect some kind-of instant feedback!

do it

do it for honor

for glory

are there no girls in this

TIGS is one big cockmeat sandwich.  :shrug2:

It would be fun to try this. The links to the resources equipment is helpful but I'm broke right now. I need that sort of stuff anyway for the future. VO is fun. My sneezes sound like link's attacks VO! Too bad that's probably not useful!

Yeah, mine is a condenser microphone, though it does have a cardioid pattern. 

Anyhow, I don't have a problem with noise;  I can get the room positively silent.  It's just that I end up with a hint of echo bouncing from the mostly-bare walls.

Why not build some sort of thick curtain on a frame that can surround your workstation?

You guys need to find some:

1) Girls

2) Old People

3) Kids

I think it's not going to be a problem finding young dudes willing to do all sorts of embarrassing characterizations, but there's nothing worse than hearing a young guy do a fake old person or a fake kid voice. You need to find someone with kids to rent out, or someone with a really bored older aunt/uncle on disability.

This is always of high importance to me; it bugs me to no end when people use adult voice actors for child characters. Sometimes it's convincing and it works really well, but even then it irritates me just knowing it wasn't a real kid!

I hear this works really well.  Better solution than going with an inferior dynamic microphone anyway.

Again, try to pad the inside of a closet or something.  Unless you're in a dorm room like me, in which case you're sorta screwed.  (I use another place on campus)


Female members would be incredibly useful; we could look into finding some from outside of TIGS.  I know a community that might have a few takers to that end.

I think I can pull older male voices off pretty well, for whatever that's worth.  I'm still practicing, though.

I just listened to my old stuff; OH THE HUMANITYYYY  :'(
(oh the huge manatee)




Lock a talking toucan in a recording booth = comedy. (https://sites.google.com/site/toucangames/voice-acting-sucks/ToucanAndRecordingBooth.flac?attredirects=0&d=1)
(This isn't my old stuff in-case you are wondering...) >_>>>>

I'm willing to do voices for free if you buy me the equipment! :P

I'd also love to do some voice over work! I have all my own fancy gear and 14 years of theatre under my belt.

Haha awesome idea,
Righto about the kids, gals and older people!

still waiting for my feedback on my outtake :)

Lol wow makes me want to make a flash animation out of it Tucan, but I'm to lazy to do that xD

Trevor-  Fun premise, and your audio quality is good.  Try being more emphatic with your character's speech.  I detected a little bit of... mousiness?  Self-consciousness?  It put me off a bit.  Don't hold back, even when you're alone in a room making silly voices.

...So I'm going to go ahead and put up a little forum-thing.  Someplace to put up practice reels (for feedback) and demo reels, and to post want-ads for vocalists.  We can also share expertise on equipment, editing, and recording on a budget.  :)

To this end I went ahead and registered tigvoice.com.  Expect it up in a few days to a week.

(Again, I'm basing this on Newgrounds' voice actor satellite community.)

You shoulda heard before I learned to kinda inflect >_> monotone!

Also, this is one of the single best purchases I have ever made. Fantastic, inexpensive surround sound recorder. The mic on this sounds so good that I use it for everything. You can record in 2 or four channel, with automatic mixdown to a single stereo track or two surround stereo tracks.

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/H2/?gclid=CJOG87Pz2qYCFY9l7AoddmYg3A

Except that most kids are terrible voice actors. If even grown-ups often have trouble expressing emotions while reading from a script, imagine how difficult it is for kids. Making it sound realistic necessitates not using an actual kid.


VAA (http://voiceactingalliance.com/) definitely has female voice actors; there might be some willing to put names on the list for game related stuff.

I know this thread has been dead awhile, I thought I would mention that I'm also available for voice work on indy games. Working on AlterVerse and a few other games right now, but definitely open to more work.

Samples on my site: www.TheVoicesInMyHead.com/demos

You can contact me directly from that site as well.

Woo, sign me up!  Most of my samples are narration.  Until I get a new mic and a pop filter I can't really go for emphatic characters.  Still, feel free to check me out!

Available for all kinds of work, samples, requests.

http://www.youtube.com/user/jc5124

Cheers! x