Creating a professional voice over project on your own can be achieved using computer programs and tools. This will allow you to save on the cost of hiring a videographer or a production team. You just need to hire talents and have a script and you are all set to record.
Preparation is vital to produce a professional quality voice over piece. In particular, you initially need to setup the room in which you’ll record in. Here are some useful tips to do just that.
1. Check all your equipment. Booking the voice over talent for the project and then wasting several hours testing equipment will cost you. Jay Rose, the author of the book “Producing Great Sound for Digital Video” suggests that you make sure you get the right kind of equipment and test it well before production day. Even testing it a few hours before production time can reduce unforeseen delays.
2. Check if the room produces echoes. The only way to do this is to seal the room by shutting all the doors and windows and record some samples. Again, test all of your equipments to determine and lessen echoes.
3. Consider using background music. In a professional voice over, there should not be any noise between the narrator and the listener. You want to create an audio space that sounds as if the narrator is having a face-to-face conversation with the audience. If you have a lot of ‘white noise’, consider adding background music.
4. Look for the perfect spot to record in the room. There are no concrete guidelines when it comes to finding the best position for your mic and other equipments. This can only be done through trial and error by adjusting the position of your microphone. Find the best spot but just make sure your recordings don’t sound unnatural in anyway.
5. Don’t worry about outside traffic or small rumbles. Even simple things like fluorescent lighting or distant traffic outside the window can effect the sound quality of your voice over recording. However, most mics do not pick up these sounds. If you do feel like the script is being affected by these outside sounds, consider adding a high-pass filter to the microphone for a crisper recording.
6. Switch off fans and blowers. Fans on computers, air-cons and other blower devices can affect the air atmosphere of your recording room as they produce turbulence. This is more evident in a small room than a large one. The solution to this is to switch of these equipment while doing a recording. You can turn them on in between segments.
Also monitor always the recording session in real-time using your headphones. Utilize playback functions in a separate room to ensure that all is in order. Doing this will allow you to solve problems real-time and spare you doing retakes.