Recording Information and Help
Remote voice acting is a tricky thing. With different equipment and different environments (not to mention different levels of technical expertise), the results can sometimes be unpredictable. This page is intended to help remote voice actors with both the technical aspects and performance aspects of this difficult task.
What do I need in order to record my voice role(s)?
Here's a summary of what you need:
A computer (PC or Mac).
A high-speed Internet connection for getting the recordings to us. Low-speed will take too long to be practical, especially if re-takes will be required. In addition, we will sometimes require that you join others in an on-line voice conference, and broadband is required for that to work effectively.
A decent quality microphone. These are actually pretty cheap and common these days for computers. You can get a stand-alone mic or one on a headset.
Digital recording software. Windows PCs come with a piece of sotware called "Sound Recorder" which will do the trick quite well. However, you may want to look at more sohpisticated tools, such as the shareware tool called GoldWave Digital Audio Editor, which can be found here. A free recording tool that many have had success with is called Audacity.
How do I record?
First of all, recording should take place in a quiet room with little to no echo. A typical room in your home or office will do just fine, unless it has an unusual amount of echo when you speak. Be sure to turn off any fans or other noise generating equipment before you record your take. And try to keep the microphone away from the computer, as its fans can add a background "hiss" that will lower the quality of your recording.
Recordings to be sent in should be in the following format: PCM 44Khz (or 48KHz) 16 bit Stereo. If you are unable to record or transmit this format, then the highest quality you can (such as 128Kbps or better stereo MP3 files) should work. Try something and we'll see if it works for the production.
If you are using a Mac, then setting up the recording process is left up to you at this time, since we are not Mac experts. If you do use a Mac and would like to contribute to this tutorial, then please let us know.
If you are using a Windows PC, then the first thing you need to do when sitting down to record is to make sure that your microphone is selected as the recording device for the computer. To do this, open your Control Panel and go to the "Sounds and Audio Devices" control. From there, select the "Audio" tab and click the "Volume" button under the "Sound recording" area. You should see a window like the one below. Be sure that the microphone option is selected and set the recording level to about 1/3 the way up (as seen below).
The next step when you use a Windows PC is to load your recording software. If you are using Microsoft's Sound Recorder, then you can find it in the START menu under "Accessories" and then "Entertainment." Launch Sound Recorder and then make sure to set the recording quality to the desired 44Khz 16 bit stereo by selecting "File | Properties" from the menu. You will see a "Convert Now" button. Click it. In the window that opens, select "CD Quality" in the "Name" drop down (as seen in the image below):
When you're ready to record, click the red record button and give your performance. Click the black stop button when you're done. You can use the play button to hear your performance. If you think it's crap, then select "File | New" from the menu to start over. Once you have a performance that you can live with, then click "File | Save" from the menu and store the recording to a new file.
Any tips on how to get a better performance?
Here are some tips to help with your performance (and your recording):
Be sure the room where you perform is quiet and free of background noise. Turn off fans, blowers, televisions, radios, and any additional computers or equipment you do not need to record.
Don't try to record too much at once. If you can record just a few lines per take, then do it. Break up the recording as much as you need to be comfortable with your performance (we can piece it together later).
If some words or phrases just aren't working well for you (too awkward, don't feel right, whatever), then please feel free to ad-lib a bit and use words or phrases or pacing that works better for you. As long as you don't change the intent of the lines or any important information in them, you'll be fine, and we'll get a better performance, which is the goal.
If you want to record a few takes on a given set of lines or a scene, then please feel free to do so and send them all to us. We'll decide which works best.
What takes do I send?
Send us whatever takes you've recorded that you feel might work for the production. Don't worry about editing the recordings if there are mess-ups, additional voices, or re-takes. We'll be able to edit out what we need here. If you've taken multiple approaches to a reading, then send them all to us, and we'll be able to pick which takes (or parts from multiple takes) work best in the context of the production.
How do I send my recording(s)?
First of all, the smaller you can make the files without losing quality, the better. If you can trim silence from the start and end, please do it. If you can use a tool such as WinZIP to compress the file(s), then that's great too.
You have a few option when you're ready to transfer your file(s) to us: