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- Jul 29, 2008
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You probably don't remember (ya whippersnappers), but the Hive has been host to some crazy-awexome Voice-Acting Contests in the past. But it's been 5 years since the last one!
Thing is, Voice Acting has always been an overwhelmingly under-represented part of the Wc3 modding community, and it's quite a shame, what with vast repositories of custom models, icons, textures, spells, etc... Thing is, one of the things I like best about these Contests is the extremely low barrier-to-entry.
Literally, if you have a phone, you can record some half-decent lines and put something forward. Audacity (popular & reasonably-powerful audio-editing software) is free, and you basically don't have to do any real modding (i.e. opening up the World Editor), even! "Come one, come all", f'srs. : )
And if that wasn't enough, consider that, due to the relative simplicity of the task (write some lines, record some voice, do some audio work, BAM), these kind of Contests can be both short(er) & more frequent(er). So let's rectify that 5-year discrepancy posthaste.
~~
We could sit & have week's worth of Polls, but I've already drafted up a quick version I think will fit the bill; thing is, there's not actually that many things to do with Voice Acting aside from "racial responses", "campaign lines", and the perennial favorite, "unit sound-sets". Personally, with over 11,000 models in the Resource section, I say "sound-sets" is an untapped gold-mine of awexomeness.
Voice-Acting Contest #3
THEME
You probably don't remember (ya whippersnappers), but the Hive has been host to some crazy-awexome Voice-Acting Contests in the past. But it's been 5 years since the last one! Let's rectify that posthaste.
We're bringing back a classic; an olde, simple goodie. You are to choose a custom model & create a complete Sound-set for that given character. Pick your favorite, draft up some lines, break out that microphone and ham it up; this Contest is something nearly everyone can do! In the end, whoever brings the most personality & creativity to the task will walk away the Vocal Victor!
Contest Rules:
Judging Criteria:
Criteria
1) write some lines
(writing good? fits the character? fits the mood? creative?)
2) (voice) act some lines
(voice-acting good? fits the character? fits the mood? creative?)
3) record some voice acted lines
(recording good? decent quality (meh)? good use of effects?)
4) bonus points
(extra lines, extra awexome)
OR
1) Fits the Character
(lines & voicing)
2) Fits the Mood
(lines & voicing)
3) Creative
(lines & voicing)
4) Recording Quality
(decent at least? good use of effects?)
5) Bonus Points
(extra lines? extra awexome?)
Audacity Users:
For those who will use this, then you will need an encoder called "Lame_enc.dll" to encode your audio to an MP3 format.
Simply unzip it somewhere on your computer and when you click "Export to MP3" under the Audacity "file" menu, simply select the file.
Some Resources:
For those who need some help:
Everything in red is stuff that needs hammering out & finalizing. Thanks for reading & considering!
Thing is, Voice Acting has always been an overwhelmingly under-represented part of the Wc3 modding community, and it's quite a shame, what with vast repositories of custom models, icons, textures, spells, etc... Thing is, one of the things I like best about these Contests is the extremely low barrier-to-entry.
Literally, if you have a phone, you can record some half-decent lines and put something forward. Audacity (popular & reasonably-powerful audio-editing software) is free, and you basically don't have to do any real modding (i.e. opening up the World Editor), even! "Come one, come all", f'srs. : )
And if that wasn't enough, consider that, due to the relative simplicity of the task (write some lines, record some voice, do some audio work, BAM), these kind of Contests can be both short(er) & more frequent(er). So let's rectify that 5-year discrepancy posthaste.
~~
We could sit & have week's worth of Polls, but I've already drafted up a quick version I think will fit the bill; thing is, there's not actually that many things to do with Voice Acting aside from "racial responses", "campaign lines", and the perennial favorite, "unit sound-sets". Personally, with over 11,000 models in the Resource section, I say "sound-sets" is an untapped gold-mine of awexomeness.
Voice-Acting Contest #3
THEME
You probably don't remember (ya whippersnappers), but the Hive has been host to some crazy-awexome Voice-Acting Contests in the past. But it's been 5 years since the last one! Let's rectify that posthaste.
We're bringing back a classic; an olde, simple goodie. You are to choose a custom model & create a complete Sound-set for that given character. Pick your favorite, draft up some lines, break out that microphone and ham it up; this Contest is something nearly everyone can do! In the end, whoever brings the most personality & creativity to the task will walk away the Vocal Victor!
Contest Rules:
- Contestants must make an original sound-set for a custom unit model.
- A Sound-Set is defined as being comprised of (at minimum):
[*]1 Ready
[*]3-5 What
[*]3-5 Yes
[*]3-5 Yes Attack
[*]2-5 Pissed
[*]1 Death
- A Sound-Set is defined as being comprised of (at minimum):
- Everybody is allowed and encouraged to enter, as long as they follow the rules.
- No teamwork; solo entries only (NOTE: This does not mean you cannot voice a "squad" model (in fact, that'd be pretty unique); you just have to do each of the voices yourself)
- No submission may violate the Hive Workshop Rules.
- Contestants may use any tools and software that they legitimately own.
[*]Any submission must follow a Work In Progress (WiP), before it is published and labelled as the final piece. - Sound effects are allowed, but the majority of the entry must be spoken word.
- Submissions must be MP3 format. Please use a bitrate of at least 128Kbps.
- Yes we know sound-sets are normally in .WAV format, but for the sake of bandwidth these must be MP3.
- Include a short recording of yourself stating your username, the name of the model, and that this is your submission for the Voice-Acting Contest #4.
- Example: "Hi, this is [USERNAME], and this is my entry for the Hive's [FOURTH] Voice-Acting Contest; the [MODEL NAME]."
- [*]This audio file is required to prevent against rips and such, so it should sound just like the rest of your entry. Entries without this audio file will be disqualified, so DON'T FORGET!
- Also include a simple text file with your recorded lines written down (this should already exist as part of your planning & recording, just include it)
- When the entry is complete, submit a Zipped file containing all your voice recordings to the Pastebin with the prefix [VAC4] and send me a private message with a link to the submission thread.
Judging Criteria:
- If more than 3 teams enter, the contest will enter into a public poll where users can distribute two points among the contestants. A person can put 1 point towards two different teams or put 2 points towards any one team; it is the user's choice.
- The teams with the highest ranks (Up to 5 teams, depending on how many entries) will move on to be judged by a team of judges.
- [[If Modified Borda Count Method Can Be Used]]
- In the poll, users will have to rank the heroes from best to worst, ignoring any of the entries that they want to.
- Clear instructions on how to vote will be posted the day the poll opens.
- The votes will then be processed using the (Modified) Borda Count Method.
- The teams with the highest ranks (Up to 5 teams, depending on how many entries) will move on to be judged by a team of judges.
- [[If Schulze Method Can Be Used]]
- In the poll, users will have to rank the heroes from best to worst, ignoring any of the entries that they want to.
- Clear instructions on how to vote will be posted the day the poll opens.
- The votes will then be processed using the Schulze Method.
- The teams with the highest ranks (Up to 5 teams, depending on how many entries) will move on to be judged by a team of judges.
- Judges will grade the final (up to) 5 heroes out of ## points, giving weight to the following:
Criteria
1) write some lines
(writing good? fits the character? fits the mood? creative?)
2) (voice) act some lines
(voice-acting good? fits the character? fits the mood? creative?)
3) record some voice acted lines
(recording good? decent quality (meh)? good use of effects?)
4) bonus points
(extra lines, extra awexome)
OR
1) Fits the Character
(lines & voicing)
2) Fits the Mood
(lines & voicing)
3) Creative
(lines & voicing)
4) Recording Quality
(decent at least? good use of effects?)
5) Bonus Points
(extra lines? extra awexome?)
Theme: | How well the skills, aesthetics & design fit together in a thematic manner such that they feel like they belong on the given hero (i.e. frost mage with frost spells, warrior with martial abilities, etc). A cohesive Theme complemented by well-fitting & polished aesthetics will be graded well; poorly-considered or lacking Thematic elements will result in a poor score. | 15 |
Role: | How well the skills of the hero work together to achieve the tactical synergy & gameplay style the hero has (i.e. ranged assault, tank, support caster, etc). Comprehensive, well-though-out Roles which complement a cohesive playstyle will be graded well; ill-considered, insufficient or over-compensating Roles will lose points. | 15 |
Balance: | Includes how well the hero's Theme, & Role fit into the melee environment in terms of balance, theme, style, complicatedness, and so forth. Overpowered or Underpowered Heroes will result in a poor score; properly balanced elements will mean a good score. | 10 |
Creativity: | How original the design of the hero is in terms of creative ideas, clever implementations, or new concepts. Innovation and creativity will be rewarded; re-use of existing spells and such, or extensive un-originality will result in a poor score. | 10 |
Total points:
| 50 |
- Judge1
- Judge2
- More?
- 75 % of the winner shall be determined by the contest's appointed judge(s).
- 25 % of the winner shall be determined by the results of a public poll.
|
|
Audacity Users:
For those who will use this, then you will need an encoder called "Lame_enc.dll" to encode your audio to an MP3 format.
Simply unzip it somewhere on your computer and when you click "Export to MP3" under the Audacity "file" menu, simply select the file.
Some Resources:
For those who need some help:
- How to Voice Act from our very own Kwaliti
- I Want To Be A Voice Actor by the peerless & effervescent Dee Bradley Baker
Everything in red is stuff that needs hammering out & finalizing. Thanks for reading & considering!
