Voice-Over/Unit Sound Set Request

[Tzalksar]

Hello, I would like to recruit someone to do a soundset for @Heinvers model, the Justicar.

However, I want someone who sounds close to the Captain you get in the RoC Human campaign. I like his voice ;P

 

[Gottfried]

Hi, I can ask help for you.

 

[Elf_Lord]

Hey, @Tzalksar! I might be able to help you out here! I do voice work and the like, and I'm more than willing to give the Justicar a shot if you send me what you need recorded! You can find examples of my work here. I'm moving today, so I probably wouldn't be able to get to it late tonight at the earliest, but if that's fine with you, I'm here! Just let me know!

 

[Tzalksar]

Sure @Elf_Lord, I'd appreciate it. Actually, if you could do like three different versions for the same model that would be good, that way I can choose which i like best.

 

[Elf_Lord]

Yeah, sure! I just got done with a twelve hour drive, so I'm not sure I'm going to be up for it tonight, but I will have samples for you in the next couple of days. Are there any lines in particular you want for me to do?

 

[Tzalksar]

Not really, just try to make it sound Darkelven. So kinda dark, and smooth voice for the most part.

I'd try to say some gibberish-ness that kinda sounds Darkelven.

Maybe like... Illin nak kalor reh (I just made that up)... maybe it'll be like spell casting/yes sound?

 

[Elf_Lord]

Okay, as the title says, this is more of a proof of concept than anything else. I've written a basic dialogue set (minus the pisseds) and tried to integrate the Captain voice with the darker tone you're looking for in a Dark Elf, and this is about what came out. I'm running on maybe four hours of sleep at the moment and I'm recording outside so I don't disturb my roommates (so if you hear birds, that's why), so this is definitely not final quality. Mostly I just want your opinion so I know if you want me to take this more towards the Captain or more towards a sinister Dark Elf-y voice or whatever. I'm open to whatever criticisms you have; you're the boss here. Just let me know and I will get back to you with a little more high quality version sometime in the next few days when I can actually claim a room to record in.

 

[Tzalksar]

Sounds good. Definitely looking for something a bit smoother... it sounded a bit too scratchy for some of the lines, but like the "I will snuff you out" and "Oblivion" lines as is.

The character I have the model playing is a necromancer (not a traditional one though), basically he doesn't like actually raising the dead, he specializes in necrotic spells upon living and corpses (makes corpses deteriorate faster, makes skin turn black and dead, harnesses power off of corpses and other living beings.)

Suggestions:
-faint godly echo in voice
-just a touch lighter pitch (like 1 pitch higher)
-smoother voice sounds for non-pissy lines.

Other than that, just a higher quality sound file. I look forward to what ya got and come up with.

Perhaps, I might ask you to do more voices, if my project is given good reviews, and maybe ask ya to join me with my Patreon work, doing voicework, joining me on projects, etc.

 

[Elf_Lord]

I will certainly be willing to help however I can! I make no guarantees about my schedule, though. And like I said, I will record somewhere where I don't need to do as much noise removal (which causes quality loss) as soon as I have the opportunity.

Corruption sort of Necromancer helps a lot, actually. I will adjust accordingly. Echo is easy to do, and I will be able to do a much smoother take now that I know what you're looking for (I spent too much effort trying to match the cadence of the Captain's voice, which is not really all that smooth). I'll post again when I have something viable!

 

[Tzalksar]

Thanks!

So here are some line suggestions (but you're free to do what you wish):
In fact, if it isn't too much of an issue, could you do this set, and whatever you came up with?


What: I am here, as I will it
What2: You require me?
Yes: As it shall be
Yes2: The corpses await
Attack: I will snuff you out
Attack2: Oblivion awaits you.
Pissed: Leave me be.
Pissed2: WHAT DO YOU WANT?
Pissed3: Don't try me, mortal.
PissedFinal: That's it.... you're mine!

 

[Elf_Lord]

I can certainly do that! I'll add that to my rotation!

I promise I will get a new draft to you in the next few days. I just don't want to kick my roommates out to record, so I need to wait for them to leave on their own.

EDIT: Never mind, they just left. Here's a rough draft. Critiques, as always, are welcome. There are some lines I know I did not do particularly well, so I will be rerecording this (yet again), but I want your opinion on the general tone of the voice as well as the effect I've added.

 

[Tzalksar]

Sounds good. Again the "Oblivion awaits" bit is really good as is.

Most critques for this I'd say is a little faster pace to most of the lines. The Pissed lines I asked for also sound really good as is.
A little too creepy then I was aiming for. Also, nice reference to the Dreadlord's Darkness call line ;P

The next draft:
-faster pace ( some are good as is, like oblivion, corpses, silence, dont' try me, and you're mine are good)
-even fainter echo ( it's too thick and drawn-out ), but still go for a god-like tone (he's much older than he looks, and is essentially immortal due to necrotic binding)
-lines to drop (this is to narrow it down to what really fits well together in my mind):
-the weird language thing I suggested (illin nak...)
-"in-su-fell..." and "si-der-es" - some of the language bits seem a little weird and don't really fit to the rest of the dialogue (sound-wise)
-how quaint
-what do you want - kinda doesn't fit now that I hear it
-as much as I like the reference to the Darkness call, either edit it or drop it, it is kinda weird sounding (just in general, kinda makes no sense)
-keep up the good work!

So yeah, from what I can tell this is really good stuff. I like alot of what you're giving me here. And again, I might ask you to do more voices, depending. So I look forward to what you can provide me if I could pay you, I would.

Also, I'd do some of the voice-acting myself but I've listened to my recorded voice and holy shit I sound pompous and an asshole (in other words, my voice sucks).

 

[Elf_Lord]

The Darkness thing was an old joke I had written ages ago that I'd never gotten the chance to use. I won't actually put that in the final draft unless you really want me to.

I will go ahead and drop all the weird language-y things; that was just an experiment, since you suggested the Illin thing. My goal is to have five lines of each type (What, Yes, Attack, Pissed, etc.), so if I drop below I'll just tack on a few new ones. Making the echo less pronounced is a simple fix, as is pacing. And pompous isn't always a bad thing for a character. You just have to choose when it's appropriate. It works well for knights and paladins and such (or at least it has in my experience).

Will post a new draft soon!

EDIT: Here we are! I tried my hand at a new type of echo that hopefully is less overwhelming as an echo but still lends a sense of gravitas. Version 2 is a lot more similar to Version 1 in character (except that I sped up some lines and tried to be less straight-up creepy), while Version 3 was a quick attempt at a more noble/impetuous character.

 

[Tzalksar]

well, I liked a couple of the language things actually, some of them fit, and kinda sounded cool. It's just the ones that I mentioned that I don't care for.

 

[apsyll]

I like the last one at most but all are well done
some suggestion frome my side:
the echo sounds for me a bit too long
also the echo overpowers the sharp consonants so maybe duck them a bit down befor you add the effect
maybe try to speak more from your upper chest and not that much fom the throat
sometimes the t and s are realy sharp on the end even for an elf
for me it sounds like you holding your breath or you pressing your words out(I hope you understand what I say) try to speak as natural as you can and when you can't take a break drink something lie on your couch or bed and relax again.
keep on the good work and have fun!

 

[Tzalksar]

Now that I listen to the newer two, I actually prefer the first rough draft much more. I'd be happy if you did the original draft, with a little faster pace on all except what I suggested to keep. the newer versions to me sound a bit too deviant from what Im going for, sorry. If you can get a cleaner copy of the original draft with the pace fixes, I'll be good.

Then, as soon as I get it uploaded, I'll let you have a copy of a map with the soundset attached

 

[Elf_Lord]

Thanks for the feedback! I'm sorry my new drafts weren't up to par. I brilliantly did not keep the first version without the echo once I started the new versions, so I'll have to redo it, but the voice I did for the first draft comes the most naturally to me so it shouldn't be a problem.

@apsyll I'm not entirely satisfied with the echo either. I'm really trying to give myself some magical-sounding resonance, and the type of echo I'm using does that really well, but it also lasts a lot longer than it should. Once I have a full draft that Tzalksar is satisfied with, I'll do some more focused editing on the echo to make it less lengthy, because I do recognize that as an issue. I had noticed the consonants thing as well (specifically with 's'), but I didn't quite know what to do with that, so thanks for your suggestion. Some of the stuff with 't' (and by extension 'd' and any other hard endings) I feel like I have to hit really hard to make sure they're audible with the echo; once I get the echo a little more refined, that should hopefully no longer be necessary. As for my voice (the throat thing, etc.), I find that my natural voice is just not powerful enough for an immortal dark elf. I feel that I sound too blah (the third one is closest to my natural voice). But I appreciate the criticisms! It's good for me to find where I can improve.

EDIT: Take four! Here you go! I tried a voice effect that still adds a sort of resonance without causing extra length from excessive echo; you'll have to let me know what you think!

 

[Tzalksar]

PERFECTO!

I'll keep you updated in case I need more voices done, and I'll even record something quick here, if I can, so you can check it out (mind you I have no way to add effects, clear noise, etc.)

 

[apsyll]

The 4# is the best
quick feedback:
- pop shield (realy important) if you use one try to assemble it correct if not maybe build one use a pantyhose and a wire hang or a thin t-shirt something like this works.
- give you more power in your voice at the moment you sound to far.
- give more volume to your voice maybe try to yawn many times befor you record not direct befor you record, some minutes earlier and try to breath many time from your belly sit in a comfy chair when you record could als help...
- speak faster(shorten the time between the words) your charakter is not on the stage and has to impress many other, he is just speaking with you and that could be more natural and fluid you could also add a bit arrogance if you like.
-I like the effect more maybe add your voice piched down with a sinus wawa under your normal voice and give it a bit time between just some millisec.
-for the end consonants I would edit them in this case more seperated just give them a new line and add your effects to them because the hard hit sounds odd for me.
keep on good work and have fun!
ps: remember breaks are important too

 

[Tzalksar]

@apsyll all due respect but I like it where it is, and since I am going to be using it as a soundset, it's my choice whether to scrap or use this as is... but otherwise, as overall critiques, carry on.

 

[Elf_Lord]

@Tzalksar Glad I could be of service! If you need anything else, let me know!

@apsyll I realize the popping is a problem, but I'm not sure I have anything thin enough to shield it without muffling it (I was thinking about this yesterday). I also happen to be recording in a dorm room (it's the only even remotely quiet place to record) so "comfy chairs" are not a thing, and I typically can only record in fifteen minute intervals before someone comes barging into the room to do something noisy. I realize that I'm speaking a little slowly and perhaps with overdone diction, but some of that is the character and some of that is what I feel is necessary to come across as crisp on an audio recording for an older video game. All the player has is the recording to recognize the emotion of a character or scene, since the models certainly don't portray that, so typically I find that dancing right at the edge of overdoing it is the best way to get it all across in a game like WarCraft III. I appreciate the advice, though.

 

[apsyll]

@Tzalksar It wasn't mean offensiv I hope it doesnt come out this way if yes I'm sorry sure its up to you when you like it, it's perfect because it is done for you.
What I have written was just some general suggestions for improvement maybe the next time to keep in mind because it could help to add more "quality" to the recording generel.

@Elf_Lord Maybe you could invest a little bit of money in the pop shield if you want to go further with the voice acting i would suggest this at one of the first items because it helps a lot. You don't have to buy the fancyest one get this you could and like to afford in the end it is just a plastic ring with a bit of cloth inside
I can understand your thoght about the chractersation and how it looks it fit to the idea of the requester
so maybe just take the idea to think about in what environment and to what and or how many does my character speak and how would I speak in this situation as a general suggestion to keep in mind.
else I wish you the best for your acting and hope you keep on the good work and have fun!
ps: Don't forget breaks are an importent part of working because this is the hardest point for me xD