Hi folks,
I have a client who wants to do some VO work for a video project. This is not ADR, but rather just narration for a documentary. I've done voice work before, but not this kind (video narration) so I have some questions for the video guys:

Do these kinds of situations generally involve a video track that acts as a "cue" track? That is, a video that the narrator watches (and potentially listens to) while adding his narration? If yes, when prepping for these kinds of gigs, do you generally get the video from the client in advance and then add the time it takes to get it into Sonar  on to your hourly fee? Is there a term for that video cue track....aside from "cue track"? 

Do I put a 2 pop at the top of the narration track generally?

What information do I need in advance from the client?

Any sort of general stuff or guidelines I need to know for this stuff?

Thanks
Dean

It routine to work the other way around.

You get a great read of the script... one that has good pacing and accent... something that would sound great with your eyes closed.

Then you cut pictures to it.


best regards,
mike

basically what mike said. I typically cut to the narration and/or music when applicable. Usually for a project like that, the content of the narration is a known quantity going into the edit. Even when I have had to record additional narration after the fact the segments are usually so short I can just do a quick VO based on the known time requirements without setting up anything similar to an ADR workflow. Having them come in after the fact and narrate to a video is tedious and harder to coach them through IMHO. It forces the talent to adapt to the video and possibly stray from their narration style.

Thanks folks, I appreciate the input.

What information do you typically get from the client prior to the session? Anything specific?

Dean

A script.

If there is an aspect of casting...then you might be asked to help locate a performer with a voice that suits the project.

Typically the video editor is anxious to retain control over the flow of the story telling and just wants some good voice tracks that time out as the writer promised.

best regards,
mike

You just use common sense.  you might ask them the target market so you get an idea of pacing.  Do they want you to read with a smile, or slow and deliberate, or dark and foreboding.  those questions usually answer themselves once you know the purpose.

The most important info from a client is $$$.

Seems the VOs in my town make more than anyone else on a project, so do a good job and become rich and famous.   Congrats.
 
a 2 pop is only necessary if you sync to picture,  but as Mike has said it is usually the other way around.
 
I use to have the talent read thru stopping and starting with multiple takes... and I'd edit a good version.  Next I'd have the Vo talent just read it thru doing quick pickups on mistakes and save that as a safety.  I'd send both versions  to the editor.  Just incase we missed a swallowed or mispronouced word. 

As another example... it is common for a video's producer or editor to listen to the "read" over a phone line... live... during the recording session.

They can ask for inflections and such from the talent and leave the engineer to do the tech stuff.


There are many remote VO services and editors all over the country seek out the voices they feel will serve their story while meeting a budget.


best regards,
mike

In all the cases of recording narrations for videos I have been involved with the picture was not involved. Often there is no picture edit at this point anyway. It is about the script mainly. It is usually good for the director to be present while the read is being done. They are more experienced than you at ensuring they do it the right way etc..Sometimes they send me the script before hand. I often send it on to the voice over person before they get there. That can help a lot. Also print it out as well and do it in a larger font so they can see it easily. You will get a feel for the obvious blocks in the voice over. Often the script is written that way as well.

Consider the voice over in blocks and treat them as such. The voice over person should start each block well, rise up and come back down pitch wise by the end of the block.

Video editors also have the option of cutting or splitting the voice over up and moving them around on the vision timeline. This is what tends to happen in real world situations. They may use several blocks as they are but that will only happen if that is working well timing wise with the vision. 

The most important thing you have to do is get a great vocal voice over sound. Get them reasonably close to the mic. Use a pop filter to eliminate pops. Make sure you edit the voice nicely afterwards by removing unwanted sounds, lowering breaths (but not necessarily removing them) and ensuring all phrases are roughly the same level all the way through. Make sure you end up with quiet in between voice over phrases etc. You want very little room tone behind the voice over so if the video editor does cut them up you wont hear it. (A downward expander setup the right way can be invaluable for this)

VU meters are excellent for vocal recording. That is what they were originally invented for in the first place.  

A larger format high quality condenser microphone is a good choice. (sorry but an SM58 wont cut it!)  Check your HPF settings on the mic if they are available. Deep subsonic material can creep in if you are not careful. I usually set the Mic to 75 Hz HPF. (be careful here as it is possible to take bass out of a deep male read if you are over enthusiastic with the HPF) You can record without a HPF but you may need to run a steep slope HPF set at 50 Hz or so over the whole voice over after the recording for the final bounce.    

You don't have to do much processing either although some tasteful EQ and slight compression can help in the final delivery. Don't add any reverb or time based effects, people won't appreciate it.

The times where the vision was involved was for either ADR or doing voice overs to animations but that is another story.

It may be important to do this at a 48K sample rate as this is often the standard that is used in TV production. 16 Bit is adequate for voice overs as well.   

To add to what Jeff said, I tend to also record my VO's in blocks. If you have an A/V script with appropriate blocks setup this is easier, but if not, I still break the Vo into chunks and name them accordingly so that it is easy to drop into my edit without having to do too much searching.

Hi folks,
Thanks for the information. Just to clarify - I'm the engineer for this VO project, not the talent. The director will be in the room with us. 

Jeff Evans - I'll probably use the same gear I've used in the past for this kind of work...so I'll start off with an 87 going to a Great River pre, into a TLA-100 for just a bit of compression and then into an Aurora 16. If anything sounds funny I'll try some other mics and such.

Jimbo - no 2 pop cause no sync is required - thanks!

Thanks for the advice about blocks. Do you guys use clapper-type take announcements at the start of every take (that is, either the engineer or the talent says something like "Garden hose commercial, take 432")?




Dean