Say hello to my little friend . . .
I haven’t updated in a while . . . we’ve been pretty busy with this little guy!
My fiance and I recently welcomed Zander into the world, so I have been going easy auditions as we take our time to get him settled in.
C’mon . .. is that a cute baby or what? haha
Animation narration . . .
“Bigger and Better Things” is a short film by Daniel Cooper and is currently making it’s rounds on the festival circuit. I was lucky enough to be chosen to narrate the film’s animated intro scene. I love Daniel’s cartoon animation style!
Hello, hello! Just had dental surgery yesterday, so I figure now is a good time to make a quick blog post.
Mic Positioning
I think this is something a lot of amateur and hobbyist voice actors overlook at times. I know I did when I was first starting out. You can have a nice pro-grade mic, but if your vocals takes are full of peaked audio, plosives and mouth-to-mic distance issues, then you might as well be using a gamer headset to record (no offence to those VAs who use them).
I found a nice blog post at ProComm Voices called Microphone Technique for Voice Over Talent. It goes over basic mic positioning, how to get creative and how to avoid some common mic issues. Oh, and they mention how every mic has it’s own sweet spot. Very helpful info . . . especially if you use more than one mic. The position of my TLM 102’s sweet spot is very different than the position of my AA CM-87.
The Crack
I recently did a short bit of narration for an episode of Element Animation’s YouTube series, The Crack. This was a lot of fun and we’re already working together on a second project (different from The Crack). Anyway, here is The Crack: Psycho!
Eight Bit Strange is awesome and if you haven’t checked it, you REALLY should. At the moment Eight Bit Strange is a labour of love . . . but sadly, love don’t pay the bills.
The rapidly growing fanbase are demanding more and longer episodes, but in order to achieve this, Eight Bit’s creator is looking for some help. Check out the video below which includes a message from Greg and an awesome trailer for the season finale, The Final Bit.
[iframe http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gregkaperski/eight-bit-strange-final-bit-short-animated-film/widget/video.html 425 350]
Other news . . .
Check out the new Project Marionette website! Project Marionette is a 3 minute animated short created by a team of 3 Singaporean students for their Final Year Project at Nanyang Technological University, School of Art, Design & Media. The short will be released June 2011, but they have a slick looking trailer up. Can’t wait to see the finished project.
Adobe Audition CS 5.5 is now shipping. I’ve been using Audition since the Cool Edit Pro days and I’m really looking forward to trying this latest version. You can download a free trial at Adobe.com
Blog redo . . .
Alright, so I finally got around to updating the look of the site. I used a template I made myself with Artisteer template maker. Handy software if you’re not a web-design guru or happy with all the free Word Press template offerings on the web.
I’ll also be adding a wider range of demos to incorporate more of the voice over in addition to voice acting. You can see on the right there, I’ve added e-Learning and Telephony so far. Commercial and Narration demos will also be arriving shortly. Then it’s time to update the character demo! I’ve been looking forward to that.
I’ve also started using embedded Quicktime for playing the mp3 demos rather than the Flash player I used previously. This way, folks using an iPhone or iPad can now listen to demo files. Damn you, Steve Jobs.
New schtuff . . .
Things have been busy! I’m now an Eight Bit Strange “team member”! As a fan of this truly original and hilarious animated-short series, I am honoured to lend my voice to when needed. Check them out!
Finished up lines for the second episode of Darkin MD. I play Leslie. Leslie is a grotesque, living tumor. I LOVED it. Loud, obnoxious and he can SING! Haha . . . I’ll post some clips once the episode is out.
Also completed lines for a few iPhone games and some other very cool projects including Project Marionette (3D animation), Time (3D animation), Bigger & Better Things (film) and Alan Animator (2D animation).
More projects currently under way, but I’ll post more about them as they are completed. I’ve been really lucky to have been able to work on some excellent projects lately with some very talented folks.
Geek schtuff . . .
The past year, I have been narrowing down the gear that I really like and I think works best for me. Last year I raved about my modded CAD GXL3000 mic and recommended people pick one up and have it modded by Oktavamod.com.
I’ve since changed my mind. For less money, you can just buy an Advanced Audio CM-87 and have a mic that sounds much better (in my opinion). Don’t bother going to Oktavamod.
I had some surplus gear that I recently traded for a Neumann TLM 102. Yep, the baby Neumann! Should be here tomorrow. I’ll post an A-B comparison with the CM-87 in a few days.
Bonus . . .
A while back, I tried my hand at an old Apple Computer ad voice over script from 1997. The original was done by Richard Dreyfuss. Obviously, he is one hard act to follow, but I had fun. Here’s how it turned out.
Things have been busy since the last post. I wrapped up lines for a bunch of projects and have been working on a few new voice over demos to add to the site.
Speaking of the site, it will be going through a bit of a re-vamp as soon as the demos are finished. I’ve been looking at some other voice over/voice actor sites for some ideas, but a lot of them are … well . . . ugly as sin. Not that my own is anything to write home about, but I figured the long term pros would have nicer looking websites.
Anyway, here is a sneak peek at how the site should look like soon (I hope).
http://www.scottstoked.com/test/
I’ll do a big project update once the new site is up and running . . . and talk about some gear stuff as well!
Recently finished some narration work for a videographer who produced a web video for Modus Modulars.
A while ago I joined www.animationforum.net. My intent was to make some connections with a few independent animators in hopes they may need a voice actor now and then. Joining the site exposed me to some remarkably talented folks . . . . a few whom I have been lucky enough to work with and have become fans of. Greg Kaperski is one of them.
Greg is the head honcho of Animation Forum and also the creator of 8 Bit Strange (see previous post) and recently did a little Q & A session with me over email for the website. I’m terrible at interviews, but if you’re interested, you can read it here:
http://www.animationforum.net/interview-with-our-very-own-scott-stoked/
Recently recorded a few lines for the latest 8 Bit Strange episode. Like I said in my previous post, I’m a HUGE fan of the series and it has been a tremendous hit with gamers at GameTrailers.com.
I’m the voice of the interrogator and the scene and vocal effect are set to mimic a scene from the game Black Ops.
What a great opportunity to be part of such a awesome project!
Ack! Ok, I have been way too slack on updating the blorg lately. I think I’m going to try doing this in a podcast format from now on which may make updating a little easier.
Projects have been coming in steadily and I really consider myself lucky to be able to work with so many talented folks.
I’m currently working on a lead character’s voice for an “old west” style stop motion animation and narrating a poem for a student film from Chicago. And I have a few more lines to do for a Stargate 2 video game mod. Fun stuff and I’ll post vid clips once they’re ready.
Just finished recording some lines for the HILARIOUS animated web series, 8 Bit Stange. If you’re a video game fan, you have to check these out. Seriously, the art, the timing and the humour are all spot on. I’m a huge fan of the series and feel pretty damn lucky to be able to contribute to it.
I also finished lines for two characters in the Eve of October web series. Chief Gunter and the Tupal Diplomat were both voiced by me. The producer/animator puts a lot of work into this series and it shows!
The student animation, Project U92 has finally been released! Great work by these Malaysian students from The One Academy of Communication and Design. I voice the role of Denver (the hero guy).
Dragon Age 2
I think it’s safe to mention now, but before Christmas, I travelled to Edmonton (Canada) and recorded lines for BioWare to use in their upcoming game, Dragon Age 2. I can’t say anything about my characters just yet, but the experience was awesome.
When I first started really trying out this voice acting stuff as a hobby a year ago, my goal was to eventually get one or two lines in a retail video game. No way did I think it would ever be one as big as this. If I had to quit voice acting tomorrow, at least this goal has been accomplished.
Well, I think that’s it for now. I’ll try a podcast format next time and see how that works haha
Happy Halloween! Ok, it has been way too long since I’ve updated on here. Been keeping busy with various projects and the usual real life stuff.
So I’m totally digging my modified CAD GXL3000 microphone and I’ve been using it exclusively since the beginning of September (www.oktavamod.com).
When I originally bought the CAD, I thought it wasn’t too bad. Decent bang for the buck ($120 CAD) since it included a -10db pad, three polar patterns and a bass roll off. I was fairly happy with it at first, but then I started really hearing the “tinny” sound people often mention when discussing budget, Chinese made condensers. It really showed up on my very “medium” sounding and somewhat sibby voice. It wasn’t long before I began researching for an affordable replacement.
Sometimes I hate the internet when researching products. Expert reviews verses user reviews, so many different opinions, brand bashing, etc. Everyone says something different. One minute I think I have made a decision and then the next, I read someone saying, “I would never use Microphone A because . . . blah blah blah.” Back to square one.
I know it’s best to try a mic out at the shop, but the closest shop to me is over 2hrs away. Researching online and eventually purchasing online is how I have to shop for these things.
Anyway, for a while I had convinced myself I needed the Shure SM7B. It’s a dynamic mic and I figured it would be suitable for VA stuff and the punk rock yelling I like to do sometimes. A much beefier sound than the CAD. But at $400, it was a bit more than I wanted to spend.
Then I read about the KEL HM-2D condenser. It was supposed to sound a lot like a SM7B, but with the flexibility of a condenser. I read lots of good stuff about it and liked the samples I heard, so I ordered one and was happy.
But then I started reading about mic mods and eventually noticed Oktavamod being mentioned over and over again for their ability to take a cheap condenser and make it sound like $3000 microphone. Nothing but great reviews. Hmm, my CAD was on their list of mics that could be modified.
I had to wait a month before they could work on my CAD, but it was worth it. Here’s a sample of the modified CAD GXL3000 and my KEL HM-2D. I think you need some decent speakers or headphones to really hear the difference between the two mids.
Gotta run for now, but I’ll post again soon with a project update list.