Voice Over Video Sunday

Now I’ve never been a huge fan of Family Guy. The humor and stories just never seemed that fine tuned enough for me. I still laugh at some of the moments that I catch but I wouldn’t call myself an avid watcher.

With all that being said Seth McFarlane does have a great range in his voices from Quagmire’s squeakiness to Peter’s back-of-the-throat nasalness. It’s also fun to see all the actors in a booth together playing off of each other for their scenes. It does give a sense of realism to them.

Finally, how times can you act out the phrase “Oh my God” differently?

With such lackluster average scores how could developer Reality Pump even think to make a sequel to 2007’s worst voice acted game of the year, Two Worlds? Seemingly redemption.

Two Worlds: The Temptation

Even the developers’ themselves realize that Two Worlds not only suffered from the overt problems, like regular lock-ups, mind-numbingly buggy and terrible voice acting;

“We did all the scripting and voice over recording ourselves for the original Two Worlds, which I’m proud we accomplished but the end results show that it’s not exactly our forte.”

But, underlying internal issues also hampered the game;

“The main lesson we learned is to be more realistic with our goals. With the original idea, we were all so excited to be working on an RPG, that we tried to fit in every idea we had, even the ones that came late in the process.”

Two Worlds: The Temptation hopes to help the series and the developer regain face with gamers and the industry, and what is one of the glaring errors they will first correct? Reality Pump is going to hire professional voice actors for the sequel.

“As for the voiceovers, we’re hiring a very high profile recording studio to hire the actors and lay the tracks. We’ll reveal who these teams are soon enough, but suffice to say that the games they’ve done in the past are very well known.”

Ooh, a mysterious high profile recording studio. The suspense is maddening. It is great to hear them admit their mistakes and to try and fix them which has ultimately made me want to play The Temptation that much more. Also, to be honest, the atrocious voice acting in Two Worlds kind of makes me want to play that game as well.

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Read the full interview with Two Worlds: The Temptation developer Reality Pump HERE.

You could be an Igor

The 2008 New York Comic-Con has finally wrapped-up and it definitely was a blast. I had previously mentioned the VO contest to be in the next Spider-Man game that was being held at the Activision booth. The line was long, people were excited and I can’t wait to hear who won the gig. But, that wasn’t the only voice over contest that came out of the Con.

September 19th, 2008 brings the release of the new animated movie Igor starring John Cusack and Steve Buscemi. Igor is the story of an evil scientist’s trusted sidekick who aspires to be mad scientist of his own one day. Igor then takes it upon himself and enters into the Evil Scientist Fair and that’s where hilarity is sure to ensue.

As a fun promotion for the movie The Weinstein Company - producers of the movie - are running a contest for a voice over role as one of Igor’s pals in the film. By heading over to www.BeAnIgor.com you can sign up to win a chance to be in the fim. Currently details on the contest are limited (i.e., non-existent) but as soon as they become available VoiceOverture will be sure to post them. So sign up and have fun with it!

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Igor is directed by Tony Leondis and written by Chris McKenna. It also stars Eddie Izzard, John Clease, Molly Shannon, Jay Leno, Arsenio Hall and James Lipton.

With Frank Welker’s extensive resume in the voice over industry why would I choose a clip of him making monkey noises? Well, if you don’t know the answer to that then you never seen the genius of Frank Welker in action. I leave these seven simple words for you to think about, “Curious George as a record player scratching.”

So many plug-ins to choose from, so little time.

Digidesign’s Pro Tools audio software can be an overwhelming - or just downright scary - piece to any DAWs (no, not Butler). All first time users usually go cross-eyed immediately when thinking about all that can be accomplished with it. As it is such a high-end and in-demand tool to the voice actor’s trade it can be real difficult to find any help without taking a class or buying a book.

So, the Pro Tools beginner that is in need of help has come to the right place. We’ve collected five resources that will help them get off on the right foot (or left track?) in the audio recording and editing world.

Beginner’s Walkthrough

A Beginner’s Guide to Pro Tools - transom.org

This is a great guide and recommended for anyone who is brand new to Pro Tools. The guide provides simple walkthroughs of starting a new session all the way to editing and mixing. The big, bright, close-up pictures of what they are actually talking about in the program make it a must for the first resource on this list.

Mixing In Pro Tools - A Beginner’s Guide - About.com

Once you’ve got everything set up you’re going to want to learn how to mix your tracks and make them all sound pretty. This is a somewhat extensive article but well worth the read.

Tips

Pro Tools Tips - Sound on Sound

SOS Magazine has provided the internet public with a “bumper crop” (their words not mine as bumper should only be used to describe tiny cars) of quick tips. The section most recommended from this article would have to be “Maintenance”. What would you do when Pro Tools starts acting wonky on you?

Pro Tools Tutorials on Recording & Mixing - About.com

For collections of anything you should turn to About.com. There collection of tutorials and tips on Pro Tools editing is unmatched by any other site.

Community

Pro Tools Users Forum - ProToolsUser.org

Where would you go if these resources mentioned above don’t answer your queries? You go to a forum! The Pro Tools Users Forum has a great collection of everything for everyone on Pro Tools. And if they don’t have an answer, just ask and ye shall receive.

Do you know of any sites that offer help, tips or walkthroughs on using Pro Tools? Please post you favorite links in the comment section below.

With Grand Theft Auto IV being released on April 29th it stands to be the largest game in the series with help from its extensive music and audio tracks. With that in mind I thought it would be fun to take a look at some past GTA voice over recording sessions.

This video takes us all the way back to the turn of the century when recording for GTA Vice City began. Vice City is known for its enormous cast of big name actors providing voices for the game and developer RockStar just happen to have a camera rolling as they recorded their characters. Please keep in mind that this was an M Rated game and the language may not be suitable for everyone.

The weekend of April 18th through the 20th brings the NY Comic-Con to the mean streets of Gotham City. That is if you want to call the streets around the Jacob Javits Center mean. The annual comic book convention brings together the triumvirate of geek culture with comic, movie and video games coming together in booth and panel form for the paying public.

If you happen to be going to the convention or just in the New York area and have some time and money to blow you may want to head over to the Activision booth (booth number 1048) as they have an interesting contest lined-up for their next Spider-Man game. For the three days they are there at the Javits Center they will be recording grunts, screams and your best irritated cabbie voice acting for the newest Marvel comic video game.

This may not be the most exciting proposition for the experienced professional voice over artist, but if you know someone who’s been thinking about getting into the industry this may be a fun starting point for them.

Video Game Highlights - NY Comic-Con