[Voice Acting] Using your voice to bring characters, ads, games, and stories to life!

MNC Dover

Welcome to the Voice Acting thread!

Hey everyone! I'm creating this thread because I recently got into voice over work about three months ago and have been finding some success. I've been sharing my experience so far in a few threads and have been getting a lot of questions, so I thought I'd make a thread so we could all talk about voice over stuff. This can range from equipment, websites for work, portfolio critique, techniques for better voice acting, and everything in between.

Special note: Please don't link any of your exterior pages in the thread. If someone is interested in listening to your work or seeing how you set up your page, they should PM you for the details. We can share audio via sites like SoundCloud, but again, use discretion when posting your work.

Getting Started
You're going to need at least a microphone, pop filter, and recording software to start. There's a large variety of options and accessories out there, but you don't actually need to spend too much money to get going. A decent entry level mic will run you ~$100-$120 and a pop filter $10-$15. That's really about all you need to start recording. There are plenty of other things like stands, memory cards, external recording devices, and so forth, but they aren't needed right away. When you're ready to take the next step, you'll want to get an XLR mic, cables, and a soundproof room.

But again, start slow. I'm currently using a Blue Yeti USB mic with an Auphonix pop filter and I record at my computer when the house is quiet.

For software, I'd recommend Audacity. It's tried and true, fully featured, and completely free. There are lots of plug-ins and mods available to make editing and cleaning up your audio much better. Here's a link to the Audacity Wiki, which has a ton of great info and stuff. When you want to go bigger, you'll want to look into Adobe Premiere. It's what most of the professionals use and it has a lot of powerful features. I mean....I guess, since I've never used it myself.

Job Sites

So you've got your equipment and software ready, but now what? Well, you need to create a demo reel and get it on a job site. There are many different freelance job sites for voice over work out there, but the biggest ones are: Fiverr, Upwork, Freelancer, and ACX.

• Fiverr: As the name suggests, this is the place you go when you want something done on the cheap. Jobs start at $5 and can go higher with add-ons. One of the best aspects of the site is that you don't have to job hunt, the clients come to you. This is where I've had a huge majority of my success so far. I've done a variety of work ranging from ads, characters, games, narration, and ring announcers for a fake GLOW match? Yeah...there's some weird stuff out there. Fiverr takes 20% of your earnings, so $5 nets you $4. It sucks, but seems to be the standard on these sites.
• Upwork: This is the big freelance site. Lots of big jobs, for big pay. It's very competitive (and lucrative) to get work here. In fact, you actually can't just make an account and go. You have to request an account and hope they let you in. This is more traditional work with you applying to gigs that show up. They take 20% and you have to pay to apply. It kind of sucks in that regard.
• Freelancer: Kind of a smaller Upwork. Same concept, but you don't have to pay to apply to work and there's no screening process to get it. Sadly, I've had no jobs from here and have kind of given up on the site.
• ACX: This is the place you go if you want to record audiobooks for Audible. There is a lot of work here, but a lot of it is royalty share, meaning you only get paid if the book sells. Even if you don't get paid, doing a few royalty share jobs is a good way to get experience and confidence.
  
  I'd start by making an account of Fiverr. I can't link my profile here, but you can PM me or just search my name. One good thing to do is see what everyone else is doing as far as pricing and options and do the same. If you start with $50 for 100 words, you're not going to get any work, so start small. I'm still only charging $5 for 400 words, but charging $10 for commercial use (games, youtube videos, etc) of my voice. It really adds up.

And finally...

I'd like to end this thread by mentioning that I am by no means an expert in voice over work. Like many of you, I've always had a knack for it so I thought I'd give it a try. If there are other more successful people that want to chime in or give better advice for this OP, I'll gladly defer. I'd gladly comment and help out anyone who's interested, just know that I'm still learning myself.

I'll add more info to the OP later on when I have the time. And please feel free to share links and advice to be added.

MNC Dover

Well, nobody’s talking about this much, so I’ll assume there’s not a lot of fellow voice people here. That’s ok I guess. :biggrin:

In other news, I’m now doing voice work full time. Let’s see if I can make a living out of it. Wish me luck...or send people time.