My OperaHow To Become A Voice-Over Artist With Your PC
Friday, June 29, 2012 2:58:14 PM
****************************************
Tip of the Day
****************************************
On Windows 7, you can press the Windows Key and a number key to
activate an application on your taskbar. For example, WinKey+2 is
equivalent to clicking the second taskbar icon -- it will switch to
the application or launch it if it isn't running.
****************************************
How To Become A Voice-Over Artist With Your PC
****************************************
Read On Our Website:
http://goo.gl/Yx6Bh
by Christian Cawley
If you've ever wanted to lend your voice to an advert, one of those
telephony menus that are used when you call your utilities provider
or perhaps appear in a video game, the best way of doing this is to
become a voice-over artist.
This isn't a job that just anyone can do, but if you feel that you
have the required qualities - a good voice, the ability to intone
and pronounce words correctly - then you will be in with a good
chance.
Thanks to the Internet, voice artistry is one of those roles that
have taken on a whole new shape, with many thousands of voices now
available for use in games, on websites, as voice-overs in
corporate videos and much more.
You can start your voice-over career on a very low budget, too!
Tools You Will Need
Getting started as a voice actor isn't difficult. In fact, it is
fiendishly easy. If you have a script or a passage of text for you
to record as your showreel or demo ready, (of course reading
ability and a modicum of talent is a pre-requisite) all you need to
begin is a microphone and a recording application.
If you have a quiet computer, a cheap $5 microphone is enough to
get started (although a superior device in the $50 and upwards
range will be needed for real polish and professional gigs). In
addition to this you should have some audio recording and editing
software installed on your computer.
Windows users can take advantage of the excellent Audacity, a free,
feature-packed tool that no user should be without.
Practice and Exercise
There are various ways in which you can prepare for becoming a
voiceover artist. Before you start to get worried about the
intricacies of compiling a showreel you should spend some time
researching material for inclusion as well as exercising your voice.
One idea is to read books aloud, perhaps children's books with bold
characters that you can easily get a handle on, creating voices
that match their personalities. Another is to find an instruction
manual or blog post and read this out, working on your ability to
sound natural and convincing about your knowledge of the subject
matter.
If you're interested in providing voices and dialogue in other
accents you should record people using these dialects, working hard
to perfect these colloquial speech patterns.
The secret to practice and exercise is to basically keep at it,
finding material that you enjoy performing that can be used to
highlight your talents.
Compiling Your Showreel
When it comes to compiling your showreel, it's time to get techy.
You should have collected the equipment as described above, and set
up your studio with the microphone in front of you and the
recording software running.
Elsewhere on MakeUseOf you will find a guide to using Audacity.
This is ideal for teaching you how to record your dialogue and for
compiling the showreel. Make sure you have plenty of material
recorded.
A good approach is to spend some time away from the finished
recordings so that you can review your voice artistry and decide
which lines would be most suitable in your showreel. This will be
uploaded to a website later on, so it is important that you make
the right choices.
You can enhance your showreel with some additional audio, perhaps
topping and tailing with some free and royalty-free music. If you
plan on including entire scenes in your showreel, topping and
tailing with some free and royalty-free sound effects is useful.
However, don't continue the music or sound effects throughout the
clip - your potential client wants to hear your voice!
You can find royalty free music and sound effects from the
following links:
www.freesound.org - registration is required to download sound FX,
but you can preview the audio first.
www.soungle.com - a search engine of sound effects.
www.soundjay.com - a nice collection of audio effects and music
that can be previewed within the site.
Once your showreel is produced, it is time to find some websites to
showcase your abilities!
Some Websites Will Promote Your Talents...
While you might already have an agent, there is no harm to getting
your demo showreel online to attract attention. The worst that can
happen is that you have to pass interested parties to an agent for
negotiation.
If you don't have an agent - don't worry! These websites do all of
the hard work.
Excite, Intrigue and Work Hard!
Let's get one thing clear - you'll need to work hard to get your
voice noticed and used. But don't think that the talent listed on
sites like Voice123 is there to get in your way.
New voices are like new faces - they excite and intrigue. As long
as your vocals provide the missing element to a producer's
advertising campaign, computer application or corporate
presentation, then with the steps shown to create a demo showreel
you could find yourself entering an exciting new career!
Read On Our Website:
http://goo.gl/Yx6Bh
****************************************
The Latest Articles:
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[Giveaway]
Read: http://goo.gl/HXgYf
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Read: http://goo.gl/MJT95
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Read: http://goo.gl/FLjoW
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Read: http://goo.gl/jUQYd
Read More Articles: http://makeuseof.com
- MakeUseOf.com
If you have any suggestions on how we can improve this newsletter or make MakeUseOf.com a better place, please let us know.
MakeUseOf Limited
105 Collingwood Road
Colchester, C03 9BB
Essex / UK
To unsubscribe or change subscriber options visit:
http://www.aweber.com/z/r/?7CzszKxstKwMHCwcDMzMtEa0jCwcrCxMDAw=
Tip of the Day
****************************************
On Windows 7, you can press the Windows Key and a number key to
activate an application on your taskbar. For example, WinKey+2 is
equivalent to clicking the second taskbar icon -- it will switch to
the application or launch it if it isn't running.
****************************************
How To Become A Voice-Over Artist With Your PC
****************************************
Read On Our Website:
http://goo.gl/Yx6Bh
by Christian Cawley
If you've ever wanted to lend your voice to an advert, one of those
telephony menus that are used when you call your utilities provider
or perhaps appear in a video game, the best way of doing this is to
become a voice-over artist.
This isn't a job that just anyone can do, but if you feel that you
have the required qualities - a good voice, the ability to intone
and pronounce words correctly - then you will be in with a good
chance.
Thanks to the Internet, voice artistry is one of those roles that
have taken on a whole new shape, with many thousands of voices now
available for use in games, on websites, as voice-overs in
corporate videos and much more.
You can start your voice-over career on a very low budget, too!
Tools You Will Need
Getting started as a voice actor isn't difficult. In fact, it is
fiendishly easy. If you have a script or a passage of text for you
to record as your showreel or demo ready, (of course reading
ability and a modicum of talent is a pre-requisite) all you need to
begin is a microphone and a recording application.
If you have a quiet computer, a cheap $5 microphone is enough to
get started (although a superior device in the $50 and upwards
range will be needed for real polish and professional gigs). In
addition to this you should have some audio recording and editing
software installed on your computer.
Windows users can take advantage of the excellent Audacity, a free,
feature-packed tool that no user should be without.
Practice and Exercise
There are various ways in which you can prepare for becoming a
voiceover artist. Before you start to get worried about the
intricacies of compiling a showreel you should spend some time
researching material for inclusion as well as exercising your voice.
One idea is to read books aloud, perhaps children's books with bold
characters that you can easily get a handle on, creating voices
that match their personalities. Another is to find an instruction
manual or blog post and read this out, working on your ability to
sound natural and convincing about your knowledge of the subject
matter.
If you're interested in providing voices and dialogue in other
accents you should record people using these dialects, working hard
to perfect these colloquial speech patterns.
The secret to practice and exercise is to basically keep at it,
finding material that you enjoy performing that can be used to
highlight your talents.
Compiling Your Showreel
When it comes to compiling your showreel, it's time to get techy.
You should have collected the equipment as described above, and set
up your studio with the microphone in front of you and the
recording software running.
Elsewhere on MakeUseOf you will find a guide to using Audacity.
This is ideal for teaching you how to record your dialogue and for
compiling the showreel. Make sure you have plenty of material
recorded.
A good approach is to spend some time away from the finished
recordings so that you can review your voice artistry and decide
which lines would be most suitable in your showreel. This will be
uploaded to a website later on, so it is important that you make
the right choices.
You can enhance your showreel with some additional audio, perhaps
topping and tailing with some free and royalty-free music. If you
plan on including entire scenes in your showreel, topping and
tailing with some free and royalty-free sound effects is useful.
However, don't continue the music or sound effects throughout the
clip - your potential client wants to hear your voice!
You can find royalty free music and sound effects from the
following links:
www.freesound.org - registration is required to download sound FX,
but you can preview the audio first.
www.soungle.com - a search engine of sound effects.
www.soundjay.com - a nice collection of audio effects and music
that can be previewed within the site.
Once your showreel is produced, it is time to find some websites to
showcase your abilities!
Some Websites Will Promote Your Talents...
While you might already have an agent, there is no harm to getting
your demo showreel online to attract attention. The worst that can
happen is that you have to pass interested parties to an agent for
negotiation.
If you don't have an agent - don't worry! These websites do all of
the hard work.
Excite, Intrigue and Work Hard!
Let's get one thing clear - you'll need to work hard to get your
voice noticed and used. But don't think that the talent listed on
sites like Voice123 is there to get in your way.
New voices are like new faces - they excite and intrigue. As long
as your vocals provide the missing element to a producer's
advertising campaign, computer application or corporate
presentation, then with the steps shown to create a demo showreel
you could find yourself entering an exciting new career!
Read On Our Website:
http://goo.gl/Yx6Bh
****************************************
The Latest Articles:
****************************************
1) Swift To-Do List 7: The Only Task Management App You'll Need
[Giveaway]
Read: http://goo.gl/HXgYf
2) Find The Best: A Smart Comparison Engine For Just About Anything
Read: http://goo.gl/MJT95
3) Learn A Language And Translate For Practice With Duolingo (Now
Open To All!)
Read: http://goo.gl/I5ElW
4) Game Over Isn't An Option: These Games Never End
Read: http://goo.gl/WDQft
5) 13 Widgets That Make an Awesome Real-Time Data Display
Read: http://goo.gl/FLjoW
6) 5 Fan-Built Alternatives To Famous Video Games [MUO Gaming]
Read: http://goo.gl/jUQYd
Read More Articles: http://makeuseof.com
- MakeUseOf.com
If you have any suggestions on how we can improve this newsletter or make MakeUseOf.com a better place, please let us know.
MakeUseOf Limited
105 Collingwood Road
Colchester, C03 9BB
Essex / UK
To unsubscribe or change subscriber options visit:
http://www.aweber.com/z/r/?7CzszKxstKwMHCwcDMzMtEa0jCwcrCxMDAw=
