VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[Leslie Humble]

Having come from the world that many of you have.......the Radio DJ/News/Production/Talk Show Host for over 30 years, and having seen it erode to a pitiful and dessicated version of the beautiful thing it was, I feel some fear over this technology. After giving your life to what you think will sustain you over the years, and seeing Radio turn into a house of whores, bean counters, and far right wing opportunists, one must feel sad. What destroyed this storied playground? I mean along with Clear Channel and the hideous telecom act. It was technology that gave the rulers the means to fulfill one of their greatest desires. The sales and upper heirarchy always considered DJ's and Voice people a evil neccessity. Voice Tracking, Internet, and a willingness to destroy the goose that laid the golden egg......their entertainers, for short term gain, completed the unholy and coveteous desire.

Now can we just dismiss as " they just can't do what we do....they can't emote, they can't give an inspired read!!!" as safety? The technology will improve. It could well be we are seeing the "Golden Age" of voiceover.
PLEASE convince me it's not true. I don't want to go through this again. I keep some comfort in the thought that at least they can't write the great ad, the great novel, the great narration with computers. At least I think I will outlive that. I hope.
_________________
There are rules to the Universe. Learn them and prosper. www.HumbleVoiceover.com

[ConnieTerwilliger]

Hands clapping here in CA.
_________________
Playing for a living...
www.voiceover-talent.com
YouTube Channel: http://youtube.com/connieterwilliger

[Bailey]

I love happy ending$.

_________________
"Bailey"
a.k.a. Jim Sutton
Retired... Every day is Saturday, except Sunday.
VO-BB Member #00044 .gif" alt="W00T" border="0" />
AOVA Graduate 02/2004 ;
"Be a Voice, not an Echo."

[Lee Gordon]

I remember the hoopla in the 1970s that surrounded the introduction of such great technological advances as polyester double-knit slacks and corfam shoes, following hot on the heels of miracle products like Tang. Not to mention the bold predictions that some day we would be able to receive our entire daily nutritional requirement simply by ingesting a pill. But in less than a decade we decided that real cotton or wool trousers and genuine leather shoes looked and felt better than ones made of miracle plastics.

And while some people do enjoy quaffing the artificial breakfast beverage the astronauts drink, if you don't have to conserve room in your space craft, you might as well drink orange juice that comes from oranges. And while it may be possible to obtain your recommended daily allowance of protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals from a tablet or capsule, where the hell's the enjoyment in that?

I suspect the same thing will happen with computer generated voices. They will enjoy a little surge in popularity as a "because we can" fad and will then be relegated to things like GPS devices and talking elevator or subway cars where their use makes sense but will be otherwise largely abandoned because real humans just sound more -- well, human.
_________________
Lee Gordon, O.A.V.
Voice President of the United States
www.leegordonproductions.com
Twitter: @LeeGordonVoice

[Dayo]

Nice one!
_________________
Colin Day - UK Voiceover
www.thurstonday.co.uk

[forefront]

There can be many reasons why they have poor conversion and these should be looked at too. Someone highly skilled in that area should be happy to take a quick look and offer suggestions

In any case, suggest they run an A/B test to prove which works best for their business. Run TTS against your voice for a given metric (sales?) and prove it. Make sure you run the A/B test/s long enough to get a valid result; software such as Google Website Optimizer or Visual Website Optimizer will show when you've a statistically valid result (normally you'd want the "winner" to win 95% of the time).

They may not need to spend money on a skilled VO but they don't really know unless they continually try to improve their conversion rate by testing.

It can be very tough trying to argue one point over another but simple to run tests to prove it.
_________________
====
David Cross
A spinner of stories, a teller of tales.
Evocative. Provocative. Smart.
www.VoiceOve.rs
david@davidcrossvo.com
Office: +1-503-232-8852

[Jen Gosnell]

I only just cracked open this thread. CC, you did exactly the right thing! So glad to see it's been rewarded with the proper response.
_________________
jen@jengosnell.com
https://www.jengosnell.com
Skype: jen.gosnell
971.258.2448