VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[bransom]

If you want to be depressed and/or laugh out loud, read some of the e-learning boards on Linked-In. It's eye-opening to see how many people think text-to-speech or "I bought a mic and did it myself" is good enough.

It'll make you glad you never have to sit through their crappy training.
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Bob Ransom
"I really need a pithy quote here."

[Mike Harrison]

[CC Heim]

[whalewtchr]

Totally agree on keeping the standard of excellence high. Nothing drives me nuts more than a poorly recorded audio file. I edit quite a few audiobooks for others and when you're up against two week deadlines, you need to determine what truly interrupts the flow and what doesn't. I've been told I am too detailed and have learned what matters and what doesn't. The quality starts with the narrator getting it right at the mic level which requires fewer edits in post.

Biggest culprits. Mouth noises, pacing and hacking breaths with entry level or mid level narrators, they just have not refined their delivery and technique quite yet and the editor inherits the mess in post. Usually I will identify an issue early on and notify the narrator to try and correct. This is a real time killer for me as I do not use batch processing. I will go in and deal with each glitch individually with a spectral editor, you learn to get quick with it.

Interestingly, I am still amazed at the number of folks who have poor noise floors or bouncing waves even with whisper booths.
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jonahcummings

[Mike Harrison]

[Frank F]

[torikamal]

Staying competitive is always a tricky thing. Especially when it can come down to money vs. ethics.

Although it might feel very businessy, one thing you might try with your friend is to have editing packages. Say in this package, I'll remove breaths, in this package, I'll just remove very noticeable breaths, here's the pristine package, etc.

That way you're not compromising your ethics--you're just going with what your client wants. For example, if you were to get some windows installed in your house, a window company would offer you a bunch of different options, all ranging in quality, choice, price and aesthetics. You'd select what works best for you at the time. Maybe you can't afford, or don't need the tip-top at the time, but you go with something decent.

I know trying to segment skills into packages is difficult because it's definitely a grey area, and you always want to do your best. However, I also feel like there's a difference between art and craft. If you were editing for an awesome movie or audiobook, I could totally understand not wanting to compromise your ethics, or artistic vision, but in situations where it is more craft, I think it's at least worth considering a packaged approach.

Anyhow, just some ideas.

[sounddguy]

The biggest threat is all the editing going overseas. One company that produces international training that I record a talent for now sends all their edit work to India for $15 / hour. All they want from me is the "good" take.

(And India can edit that overnight and have it back the next morning
in the US).

[Frank F]

Although the article in the following link is geared toward "music" (such as it is), the premise of the article applies not only to this conversation but to the field of VO work altogether:

http://news.yahoo.com/pop-music-sounds-same-nowadays-171714762.html

I have commented many times about making the choice to send producers files which are clean and uncompressed or otherwise processed thus allowing the producer to create his or her own feel for the resulting audio. Sending compressed or otherwise altered files results in the mundane sound which is heard on so many I-this or I-that devices.

Be different and send clients audio files which have the right to breathe.

Frank F
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Be thankful for the bad things in life. They opened your eyes to the good things you weren't paying attention to before. email: thevoice@usa.com

[Bruce]

Amen brother. The only time I do the processing mojo on my audio is when I know I'm the final person to touch it before it goes on the air, or if I know my client doesn't do their own treatment before they attach it to the video, and in those cases I've usually asked if they'd like it done before hand.

B
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VO-BB Member #31 Enlisted June, 2005

I'm not a Zoo, but over the years I've played one on radio/TV. .

[Frank F]

Thank you Bruce for re-affirming my belief in the professional VO -- YOU!

Well said.

Frank F
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Be thankful for the bad things in life. They opened your eyes to the good things you weren't paying attention to before. email: thevoice@usa.com

[Mike Harrison]

And I echo each of Bruce's words, too.

The "unfiddled-with" voice is much more pleasant to listen to. And (hopefully without opening a new can of worms) it's why I also leave 98% of breaths in narration alone: because, without processing, they sound perfectly fine. Makes editing go faster, and everyone's happy.

(I use no EQ, and only a teeny bit of limiting.)
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Mike
Male Voice Over Talent
I have taken leave of my sensors.

[jordanreynolds]

I also agree with everyone here - quality is important!

I may be flying 1000 MPH when editing but I don't sacrifice quality.

Production quality is also important too. I've had a number of gigs where I provide clean, professional, raw audio to the client and they end up butchering the quality on their final product. I'm pretty sure they just opened up their DAW software, opened a multiband compressor, and selected the Voiceover preset. In the end it doesn't entirely matter, I still got paid . But I also ask every client if they want raw audio or lightly processed using my audio engineering skills.

Hell, one client even downloaded the 96kbps mp3 from my V123.com audition, used it in their final video, and emailed me post-video release asking for invoice. The priority of quality really varies from client to client. But again, we're still getting paid for it in the end .
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http://jordanreynolds.com