GETTING STARTED

This publication is entirely dedicated to providing information about the field of voice overs, also referred as voice acting. We´ll talk about what a voice over is, what it´s like to be in the studio doing a voice over, and changes in the type of voice that´s most desirable. We´ll also help you better understand your own voice and where you might best fit into today´s voice over field. You´ll learn how technology is dramatically changing our field and how to use these changes to your advantage. And we´ll highlight areas of growth and provide some helpful steps to get you started.

AVOID A BREAK IN

The phrase “break in” is used so often relating to our field that it approaches ridiculous. There are people who “wish they could break in”, motivated folks who are “planning to break in”, and of course, voice overs educators who will teach you “the secrets of breaking in”. 

The trouble with the phrase “break in” is that it implies that an individual will somehow get lucky, be randomly discovered, or perhaps cleverly sneak their way into our field without anyone noticing.

Building success begins by understanding the field you are interested in, developing the job knowledge and skills expected of any professional in that field, and creating an effective method to repeatedly position yourself for success. The good news is, making a plan for success is a much easier and infinitely more tangible means to achieving a goal than hoping to somehow break in!

MORE THAN A GREAT VOICE AND DEMO

Like many other professions, voice acting is a business where money changes hands for work performed by a skilled professional. Another common mistake individuals interested in voice acting make is to develop a demo prior to acquiring professional skill. Regardless of your individual voice quality, the ability to consistently perform as a professional will have a significant impact on your continued success in this field. Working with direction, proper microphone technique, vocal preparation, and copy interpretation are just a few areas of responsibility for you as a voice actor.

As is true in virtually any field, it is the ability to do the job in a manner consistent with professional expectations that will provide the best avenue to long-term success and repeat work relationships.

HOME RECORDING HEAVEN?

1- Home recording is not for everyone!

Though advances in technology have made home recording easier, delivering consistent, high-quality professional audio is still not easy. Home recording candidates should be very comfortable with a computer and with basic stereo-type wiring and troubleshooting. Remember, as a home-based voice actor, you are not just responsible for the voice performance; you are also responsible for all of the technical components of recording and editing your audio. And you´ll have to get it to the client in the right format, on time.

2- Home recording is not an easy way to get work

Today, home recording has become a viable means for voice actors to become a complete service provider to their clients, develop additional skill, and seek work through various voice over web marketplaces. High-quality web services like Voices.com offer voice actors the opportunity to create an online profile with voice samples. When a client posts a voice over job through this service, voice actors with voices that fit the client´s needs are automatically alerted about the job. In most cases, the prospective client will require you to submit a recorded audition, typically consisting of some of the text for that specific job.

Firstly, competition for job postings can be staggering, with hundreds of voice actors auditioning for the same offers. Because of this, building significant success through web-based services will typically require an enormous commitment to auditioning. The sooner you respond to a job posting, the more likely you are to get a listen.

WHAT IS A VOICE OVER?

Answering this question seems like a pretty obvious starting place. After all, it´s a lot easier to determine whether or not something is appealing to you if you understand what it is.

From a literal standpoint, a voice over is a recording of someone reading or working from memorized material without an accompanying visual image of that person. 

COMMERCIAL VOICE OVER

Regardless of what a commercial is for, there are three categories, or levels of commercial voice work.

Local commercials are developed to be played in a single area. Examples would be commercials for local businesses or services that does not have locations outside of the area they are advertising in.

Regional commercials are designed to be played in areas where that advertiser offers their services. Examples could be a car dealer with multiple locations, or a service provider that caters to a particular region, like the southeast.

National commercials are created for companies and organizations that offer their services and products nationwide and beyond.

NARRATIVE VOICE OVER

Though there are certainly many sub-categories when it comes to voice over, we will use the term narrative to describe any voice over that does not directly sell or promote a product, organization, or service.

AUDIO BOOKS

Most audio books will rely on a single voice actor to provide all of the narration and characters in that book. The narrator might use anything from subtle voice or speech pattern changes to various dialects to differentiate the characters. Non-fiction books tend to use fewer voices, while fiction books tend to need more creativity as more and more characters are involved. However, many “characters” can be created through subtle changes in the pitch, tone, speed, rhythm, and volume of your voice, rather than having to perform traditional character voices like you might hear in animation.

EDUCATION AND TRAINING

One of the most common ways that voice overs are used in the business world is for training. Projects can range from a seminar on accounting software or a tutorial on how to use a copy machine to a training video on customer service or a presentation for a board meeting. Other typical voice over opportunities in the business world include computer-based training, website narration, and company policy training. 

Educational materials also comprise a significant portion of the field. With the growth in popularity of audio books, an increasing amount of educational material is available in audio form. 

TELEVISION

Documentaries, historical material, biographical content, and travel programming are another form of narrative voice over. The amount of voice-over-driven television material produced each year is staggering. While a small portion of this voice over work will go to big-name stars, the vast majority goes to independent voice actors.

GAMING

Role playing video games began to utilize full casts and scripts, and voice overs became an integral part of these games. Games like “Final Fantasy VII” were early leaders in this genre. The large cast of characters and enormous number of scene variations brought the use of VO in gaming to a new level, requiring tens of thousands of lines of voice over for a single game

Beyond regular dialogue, voice overs for video games often require vocal sound effects like grunts, screams, yells and various non-verbal styles of emoting. Some voice actors will spend an entire session in the booth doing nothing but yelling, screaming and pretending to get hit, shot or punched.

ANIMATION

Animation is another area that requires an incredible amount of voice over work every year. Regardless of whether it´s traditional 2D hand drawn animation, motion comics, or a CGI-animated project, the need for voice over is the same.

In almost all cases, voice overs are recorded before any animation work begins. This is mostly done so that the animators can match the characters´ mouth movements to the actual words being spoken.

Animation voice overs are often a fairly simple process. The voice actors read off of a complete script, and for the most part, ad-libbing is kept to a minimum.

The average animated half-hour show can take anywhere from 1-4 hours per episode for a voice actor to record. Also, not all of the cast will necessarily be recorded together. Most shows tend to record their voice actors one at a time, with occasional exceptions where an entire cast is brought in to read as an ensemble.