How you run a recording session can be the difference between getting what you want with little studio time versus not getting what you want and it taking all day or leading to another session to get what you missed.

Essential Ingredients for a Successful VO Session

The Right Team

• Experienced Voice Director
• Professional Voice Talent
• Decision Makers in the Room or on the Line

The Right Assets

• Artwork
• Gameplay footage
• Robust script

The Right Attitude

• Be open
• Be flexible
• Be present
• Be collaborative with your creative partner, the actor!

Start the session casually, connect with the talent and introduce them to the world you are creating and the characters you have for them to perform. Share the character’s story arc and discuss the type of voice work needed (e.g., narration, dialogue, fight efforts, etc.). Work with the actor to try out any ideas if you’re not exactly sure of what you want.

Collaborate! Think of having hired a hunk of clay to sculpt, rather than an immovable block of wood. An actor’s job is to not only take direction, but come up with ideas and offer you a menu of choices! Make use of your actor’s versatility and creativity!

A picture is worth a thousand words! Provide visual art and examples of game reference animation. This can be extremely helpful in getting a character that fits with your project.

Managing vocal stress:

It is the goal of a voice actor to get you everything you need quickly as well as provide ideas, choices in the read. This may not be possible if the voice is blown out by placing the most physically punishing voice work at the beginning of the session. Work with the the actor in gauging stress and maybe placing the most vocally punishing work towards the end of the session or at least spacing it out. Remember: The voice is a muscle and there is only so much in the vocal “gas tank.” Managing vocal stress is to everyone’s benefit!

Getting a “safety take” vs. “moving on” with a good take. Especially with more vocally punishing work, don’t record more takes than you need after you have what you want, otherwise you will diminish the actor’s ability to deliver the vocal goods you need.

More Than You Thought You’d Get

Your work with an actor is best seen as a collaboration. Their job is to provide you not just with what’s on the page or what is asked, but to also provide new ideas, unexpected angles and even insight. Be open to this and you may find your results better than you had ever hoped!

Quicker than you’d thought, better than you’d hoped: Use a voice director!

A voice director can be invaluable to getting what you want and saving studio time!  This is someone who takes the role of “actor interface” freeing you up to focus on creative decision making, choosing takes, and guiding the session. Actors like walking into a voice session run by a good voice director, as things tend to run more efficiently and more quickly for all. There is typically less “fishing around” for what works with a voice director synthesizing input from both game creator and performer. Someone who “speaks actor” but who also understands the specifics of what is required by the show creators and can quickly translate adjustments to performance save studio time and often gets superior performance from the actors.

Try not to endlessly chase a delivery and fixate on only one “right” read. The more takes, probably the less effective the read is getting.