Voice Acting in mods

[ub3rman123]

Yeah, I'd feel bad if I had to turn down someone's hard work because the inflection wasn't right..

[LotM]

Again I don't know much about .lip files, but I can assure that there are several standards that a good voice actor from these sites would uphold (myself included).

 

The problem is that when having a mod that might have fifty or hundred voiced lines this is not fun anymore. The technical issues and work pipe lines is not smooth to handle this amount and the needed efforts for details to get it work nice.

 

-You set a deadline, they'll do their best to get it done by then. If the project is large, and providing you give auditioners fair warning of the size of commitment required, they WILL carry through. If they don't want to be cast in a project in which they must provide hundreds of lines, they won't audition. And people do audition for long projects.

 

 

I just throw up some bullet points needed for a successful voiced mod:

 

There is only one vanilla TES CS .exe that still handle the possibility to create .LIP files at all.

The voiced file must be in a specific format to at all be .LIPified. Converting is needed before translation.

Still a process of .LIP creation might fail if the recording or the voice actor is not clear enough for the tool to make use of it. I have read threads were people have needed to make a voice over to get the .LIP creation process to work.

Currently this is all MANUAL work. Now this was for the technical part and there are loads detail works to be done in CS to create just this part.

 

-Voice actors generally know how to edit audio, and because they know that their chances of being cast in more professional projects is slim with bad quality sound, many of them have expensive and high quality microphones. Most are versed in noise removal and normalizing functions (even dynamic range compression in some cases), meaning that they can successfully amplify audio tracks to a level that any noise-recognition program will pick up, and without any annoying static or quality reduction. They know how to speak with clear diction and crisp consonants without producing annoying pops or hisses. If I am understanding you correctly, this means that the .lip file conversion won't have a large chance of failure. They can also export audio to a number of different formats, whether it be .wav, .mp3, or whatever else. You get to call that shot.

 

The other part is how to practically let your voice actor know the mood and set and archetype and emotions in the voiced act to be believable? A moder have the lines that is supposed to be voice lined, but he need to transfer a .txt file with what and how he needs the actor to actually voice the lines (emotional descriptions).

 

-Of course you'll probably need to send your voice actors a script, but they know how to work with directors. A good voice actor will generally provide you with three or more takes of each line, so if one take doesn't work, there's a chance that another might. Even if there are no satisfactory takes, a common practice is for a director to request redos of their voice actors. You can ask them to try a line again with a different direction. This is entirely normal and expected of a picky director, and there shouldn't be any problem if you receive a line with improper inflection. It's not a one-shot deal. If you cast someone, they are basically working for you. You can make requests, edit their recordings, and do whatever you want as long as you provide proper credit. Additionally, some are willing to work over skype, so if you really need to speak with a voice actor, or even sit in on a recording session, you can.

 

I throwed out a FO3 mod to automate the TES CS .LIP file creation and this was a test to see the interest into this business at all. The second stage would have been to make a tool kit to let the voice actor to have a work file and tool with emotions details and so on to ease the work process to just let him/her make the voice acting as easy as possible.

I just like voiced encounters in OB or FO3 as anyone else but this is NOT easy accomplished! And that's why so few have it. However I like to create tool chains to ease this problem, just tell me what is needed to ease this obstacle.

 

-I'm not sure exactly what you're saying here. Usually what a director does is write a script. That way the voice actor understands the situation and should naturally be able to protray the correct emotion.

 

Yeah, I'd feel bad if I had to turn down someone's hard work because the inflection wasn't right..

 

Again, they'll provide multiple takes, and you can ask for redos. They're used to it.

 

All you really have to do to ensure quality is make these demands clear in your audition thread. Putting things like "You must be willing to make a long-term commitment and record a very large amount of lines", and "You need to provide at least X takes, submit in X audio format, etc." will ensure that you get what you want.

[Piranha91]

I don't really have anything constructive to add, but I swear I was just thinking to myself this morning, "The internet is huge. There must be a voice acting community somewhere that would be willing to work with modders to get their names on a project or just for fun. I wonder why that hasn't been utilized...". I hope it does catch on; lack of voice acting drives me nuts as well. It was fine in Pokemon for gameboy. In a game as polished and advanced as Oblivion, seeing a character talk without a voice is just... jarring.

[Deleted1848331User]

You need the first version of the CS to generate lip files. The new CS lip generator is broken... epic fail on Bethesda's part there. I don't have the first version because I feel it a waste of time having to open that after saving my mod, close the original, open the old one, make the lip, then close that and reopen and reload the mod. A pain to do so. But I'd defintely consider it for my The Duelists 2 mod. Time to get some people to voice insults.... heheheh...

[ElricOfGrans]

I am not sure more common is necessarily a good thing. While there are some great mods with excellent voice acting that enhances the experience, most of the mods I have used with voice acting... well... lets just say I wish they had not bothered. Some were atrocious. New characters are challenging enough, but, as already mentioned, adding dialogue to existing NPCs is an even larger challenge. You either need someone incredibly talented, or it is probably going to be worse than leaving it silent. A great ideal, but in this modern world where so few people can accept simple criticism is is unlikely to make a positive difference.

[LotM]

I am not sure more common is necessarily a good thing. While there are some great mods with excellent voice acting that enhances the experience, most of the mods I have used with voice acting... well... lets just say I wish they had not bothered. Some were atrocious. New characters are challenging enough, but, as already mentioned, adding dialogue to existing NPCs is an even larger challenge. You either need someone incredibly talented, or it is probably going to be worse than leaving it silent. A great ideal, but in this modern world where so few people can accept simple criticism is is unlikely to make a positive difference.

 

 

I understand your fear. There's nothing worse than ear-rape quality recordings of actors who don't commit to anything that even resembles emotion. I'm probably more picky than 90% of people in that regard, being a voice actor myself. However, that's exactly what I've been trying to reassure you all about. In fact one of my reasons for posting here is so that less people that want to put voice acting in their mods will try to do it themselves with rock band microphones...

 

1. You have to option to pick which voice actors you want through an audition process. If a god-awful actor sends you audition, you're in no way obligated to cast or even acknowledge him.

2. There's a pretty large pool of talent on both of these sites.

3. Most (the ones you'll want to cast) have quality recording software and microphones. They also have experience with cleaning up audio so you don't have to do it yourself.

 

If you have doubts about quality, then you really ought to just try it the next time you have the need for voice actors. If you don't like the results you get, you're not obligated to cast anyone. You have nothing to lose and quite a lot to gain if it pans out. If you like you can listen to some demo reels. They give you a good idea of a voice actor's voice range and acting capabilities. I could perhaps post mine if there's any interest.

[Deleted1848331User]

What someone needs to do is re-voice act the Lost Spires... I can't even play the damn thing. Its so horrible it hurts my ears... no offense to the voice actors. I give them a 7/10 for trying to voice act though.

[ub3rman123]

I love that one miner's voice, though.

[TodaY]

It's not getting voice actors that is the problem, there are plenty available here if you need them, male and female, and most are good.

 

Reason 1 why many modders don't do voiced dialogue is because of the difficulty of making .lip files. I haven't tried it myself yet, so I really can't say.

 

Reason 2 is that after you voice a character, you cannot give him another line or change a previous one without going through the hussle of finding your previous voice actor, having it unvoiced, or having it in a completely different voice, making updates and changes very difficult. (Imagine, finding a bug and needing to change a line 6 months after release. Yeh, go and try to find that voice actor again)

 

Why I understand that you do not mean to troll, still I want to say that you should be gratefull with what you have, projects like Kragenir's take ages without voice acting and you can simply use it for free.

[David Brasher]

The problem is not with finding voice actors. There are lots and lots of voice actors all over the place.

 

The problem is with the broken CS and other technical difficulties. In order to do the tricks to bypass the broken software, modders have to to be really talented and dedicated and have lots of time on their hands.

 

But I am really looking forward to playing the voice-acted mods that LotM is getting ready to create.