Plan for John Seguin
by John Seguin · 12/09/2005 (9:05 am) · 8 comments
Hello everyone,
I've decided to break this article down into four parts so as not to have any one of them become too long for the reader. I hope that you find the information contained in these articles both useful and thought-provoking. As always, I encourage you to add comments and questions regarding the material within.
Part I: Why Voice Over?
Although music can be very memorable in a game, voice over (VO) can also have a great impact on the gamer's experience. Whether its something short:
Red warrior needs more mana!
(Gauntlet Legends)
or much longer, such as an entire memorable cut scene:
(Resident Evil 4)
In my mind, these are really the two major types of VO. There is the kind that is short (like in gauntlet) that is almost more of a sound effect -- it is triggered by the player's action and acts as an aid to prevent them from doing something incredibly stupid or to praise them for doing something right. The other type is integral to the storyline of the game, such as the RE4 cut scenes, with character narration, etc, but really is much more controlled by you, the game designer as to when such dialog is played. Why is this so critical?
Placement makes perfect
Think about this -- have you ever played a game that had a bunch of voice over that kept interrupting itself? Not very professional, was it? If you have TOO much VO as a "sound effect" this can happen very easily. If you are going for this effect, keep the dialog very short to help prevent against this. Also, there is some post processing (presented in part IV) that can help this kind of dialog sit nicely above the action in the audio spectrum.
If you are doing something that the sectond type -- where it advances the story -- you have much more leeway in the dialog you want to use, especially its length. Since it will probably not be interrupted, feel free to write more.
Who's the writer on this thing??
We've all seen the sitcom cast that has incredible talent, but it is obvious that the writers need to find a new line of work. Before you begin recording, make sure the writing you have planned is good. Read it to friends. Read it the way that you would like it performed, including any inflection, accent, emotion. You may not be a great actor, but hopefully those that you show it to can see through that to the POTENTIAL of what it could be.
Ready to go!
Okay, you have some placements picked out and a script ready to roll! Now what?
I'll give you a quick outline of the rest of this series:
Part II: The Tools -- I'll describe some of the minimum technology and acoustical considerations you should buy, rent or steal (I mean, borrow) from a friend.
Part III: The Talent -- Where do you GET these people? How do you give them appropriate direction?
Part IV: Editing and Post Production -- Now take your raw recordings and massage them into something that fits your game perfectly.
Stay Tuned!
John Seguin
jseguin@seguinsound.com
Composer/Sound Desginer
www.seguinsound.com
I've decided to break this article down into four parts so as not to have any one of them become too long for the reader. I hope that you find the information contained in these articles both useful and thought-provoking. As always, I encourage you to add comments and questions regarding the material within.
Part I: Why Voice Over?
Although music can be very memorable in a game, voice over (VO) can also have a great impact on the gamer's experience. Whether its something short:
Red warrior needs more mana!(Gauntlet Legends)
or much longer, such as an entire memorable cut scene:
(Resident Evil 4)In my mind, these are really the two major types of VO. There is the kind that is short (like in gauntlet) that is almost more of a sound effect -- it is triggered by the player's action and acts as an aid to prevent them from doing something incredibly stupid or to praise them for doing something right. The other type is integral to the storyline of the game, such as the RE4 cut scenes, with character narration, etc, but really is much more controlled by you, the game designer as to when such dialog is played. Why is this so critical?
Placement makes perfect
Think about this -- have you ever played a game that had a bunch of voice over that kept interrupting itself? Not very professional, was it? If you have TOO much VO as a "sound effect" this can happen very easily. If you are going for this effect, keep the dialog very short to help prevent against this. Also, there is some post processing (presented in part IV) that can help this kind of dialog sit nicely above the action in the audio spectrum.
If you are doing something that the sectond type -- where it advances the story -- you have much more leeway in the dialog you want to use, especially its length. Since it will probably not be interrupted, feel free to write more.
Who's the writer on this thing??
We've all seen the sitcom cast that has incredible talent, but it is obvious that the writers need to find a new line of work. Before you begin recording, make sure the writing you have planned is good. Read it to friends. Read it the way that you would like it performed, including any inflection, accent, emotion. You may not be a great actor, but hopefully those that you show it to can see through that to the POTENTIAL of what it could be.
Ready to go!
Okay, you have some placements picked out and a script ready to roll! Now what?
I'll give you a quick outline of the rest of this series:
Part II: The Tools -- I'll describe some of the minimum technology and acoustical considerations you should buy, rent or steal (I mean, borrow) from a friend.
Part III: The Talent -- Where do you GET these people? How do you give them appropriate direction?
Part IV: Editing and Post Production -- Now take your raw recordings and massage them into something that fits your game perfectly.
Stay Tuned!
John Seguin
jseguin@seguinsound.com
Composer/Sound Desginer
www.seguinsound.com
About the author
#2
12/09/2005 (10:45 am)
I really enjoy these articles. I think you should definitely make resources out of them.
#3
I totally agree -- this drives me crazy as well. This sub-topic is planned to be discussed in a bit of detail in part IV of my series. I'm glad other folks are noticing this problem!
12/09/2005 (11:12 am)
@Thomas:I totally agree -- this drives me crazy as well. This sub-topic is planned to be discussed in a bit of detail in part IV of my series. I'm glad other folks are noticing this problem!
#4
12/09/2005 (11:13 am)
@Rubes: Yes, I probably should. I'll try and compile my "working with a composer" series into one soon... Thanks for the kind words! 
#5
12/09/2005 (11:17 am)
My fav is Resident Evil, first few minutes. "I hope that's not Chris' blood." Absolutely awful.
#6
"Player 1 is about to blow!"
12/09/2005 (2:17 pm)
The best voice work ever: Rock 'N Roll Racing for the SNES. "Player 1 is about to blow!"
#7
Just curious, would this be better as a resource or on TDN?
12/10/2005 (10:03 am)
I'm interested in adventure type games that have a lot of story to them, but since I don't want the story to get in the way of the game, VO is a critical consideration. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series. Thanks!Just curious, would this be better as a resource or on TDN?
#8
http://www.garagegames.com/index.php?sec=mg&mod=resource&page=category&qid=76
The more logical place would be under "sound and music". However, I was looking at those "resources" which are more like "hire me -- I'm a *resource*". That's all good, but not the intention of these articles. :)
12/10/2005 (10:38 am)
@Kim: Yes, I will be repackaging these as well as a "beginner's guide" in AUDIOhttp://www.garagegames.com/index.php?sec=mg&mod=resource&page=category&qid=76
The more logical place would be under "sound and music". However, I was looking at those "resources" which are more like "hire me -- I'm a *resource*". That's all good, but not the intention of these articles. :)
Torque 3D Owner Thomas Shaw
One of my biggest gripes (and it happens even in BIG bidget titles, suprisingly) is when there is important voice over that is drowned out by the music or sound effects.
Lately i have been playing Prince of Persia Sands of Time, and I have a hard time hearing his comments because of the spacial audio.. Depending on how close the camera is to the character, the audio will be less or higher volume. Since the camera is usually somewhat far from the characters, the VO is usually the least loudest part of the audio track.