Voice alteration for animated characters

[heyvern]

My brother is really into the grassroots DIY music thing. He records his stuff on a good mic in his basement on his Mac and puts it all together with Garage Band.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default ... tent=music

He says there is a ton of negative feelings in the independent music industry about programs like Melodyne because it can make anyone "sound good". They feel it is "cheating".

Hmm.... I guess those same people should stop mixing tracks on computers... that's cheating too. Cheat shmeat... if they fix the voice too much those people could never play live. If it's a studio band then it only has to sound good.

If I ever have some spare cash, I would buy Melodyne. I think it could be very good at helping with the dialog process. Plus synthesized voices are getting so darn good these days, it won't be long till you don't need voice actors for small low budget productions.

-vern

[slowtiger]

synthesized voices are getting so darn good these days, it won't be long till you don't need voice actors for small low budget productions.

I strongly disagree. Even if I do my crappiest funny voice myself it will be a much better result than anything a software could create. If you do other characters than a 1980 robot on valium, synthesised voices are the wrong choice.

Even an untrained ear is able to recognise artificially rised or lowered voices. Asides from chipmunks and smurfs there's not much need for that.

[jahnocli]

Well, that settles it. I'm going to make a cartoon of a 1980's robot victimising a chipmunk.

[mkelley]

ST, while I agree with you that synthesized voices will never replace good voice talent, you'd be surprised what Melodyne can do.

I've used it for a year or two and it is truly impossible to hear any artificiality in a voice even altered quite a bit. I can understand why some musicians are against it (because it can make even me sound like an expert singer). Now, I wouldn't use it in a production to make me sound appreciably different -- my timbre is pretty unique -- but it can definitely pitch correct to an amazing degree.

The problem is not pitch or timbre (which CAN be altered successfully so that you can never know) but just the acting itself. A good voice actor is so much better than most "normal" folks that you can't duplicate it. Now, if you are that good having these voice altering programs can indeed replace having a whole lot of folks to help you, but the more actors you have the better chance you'll have at different inflections and moods (in our voice acting we always try and use 5-6 folks at a minimum).

[chucky]

'Animated pictures will never replace actors' sound familiar?
I think the question posted was a how not a why or even a should I. If someone needs a robot or a chipmunk voice why should we question that, we don't know the context of the intended sound.
I think plugins that change the quality and timbre of the human input are probably what is normally called and it may need be quite subtle.

It would be pretty funny if Godzilla or cloverfield was some dude going RAAAR down a toilet roll, yay lets 'keep it real ' and just do that!:lol:


It would be good to know some specifics though, to help out with the exact desired result. We could even post, audio examples.

[Darramouss]

I agree that synthesized voices aren't as good as the real deal, (yet), but with the right software my view is that unless I'm going to create animation's next magnum opus then synthesized voices can really fill a need.

Most software I've found is more geared at altering the sound of instruments, bar Melodyne. Melodyne is a great looking program but seems to be designed more to rectify a voice than anything else.

Currently I use MorphVox Pro on PC but want something on Mac. MorphVox Pro is pretty cool but the output quality sometimes needs a bit of clean up.