How does the voice over studio work in 2024?

How does the voice over studio work?

  Nostairway Creative is a leading voice over studio in London. With 20 years experience in providing broadcasters and film makers with pristine quality overs for their content, we’ve learnt a thing or two about the discipline and would like to share it with you.  You may be curious as to how a voice over studio works exactly, here’s a few pointers.

A voice-over studio

is a controlled environment where professional voice actors and artists record audio for various purposes, such as commercials, video games, animations, audiobooks, and more. Here’s an overview of how a voice-over studio typically works:

Pre-Production:

Script and Character Preparation: Before recording begins, voice actors receive scripts or character descriptions to familiarize themselves with the content and characters they will be voicing. This includes understanding the tone, style, and context of the project.

Booking Studio Time:

Studios schedule recording sessions based on the availability of voice actors, directors, engineers, and other necessary personnel.

Recording Equipment:

Microphones:

High-quality microphones are used to capture the actor’s voice. Different microphones may be used for different purposes, such as dynamic microphones for narration and condenser microphones for character voices.

Headphones:

Actors wear headphones to hear the director’s instructions and any playback of previously recorded lines or reference material.

Microphone Stands and Pop Filters:

These are used to stabilize the microphone and reduce popping sounds caused by plosive consonants.

Control Room

Recording Engineers:

Skilled sound engineers operate the recording equipment from a control room. They monitor and adjust recording levels, playback, and ensure the quality of the audio.

Direction and Performance:

Voice Director:

A director is present to guide the voice actor’s performance. They provide feedback, suggest changes, and ensure that the performance aligns with the project’s requirements.

Multiple Takes:

Actors may record multiple takes of a line or scene to capture different emotional nuances or delivery styles. It isn’t uncommon for our voice over studio to record 30 or 40 takes of a certain line.

Playback and Monitoring:

Real-Time Playback:

Voice actors can hear their previous recordings or reference material through their headphones, allowing them to sync their performance with existing content.

Visual Cues:

In some cases, actors may have visual cues like storyboards or animation to synchronize their lines with on-screen action.

Editing and Post-Production

After recording, the raw audio is edited to remove mistakes, improve timing, and enhance the overall quality. Special effects, music, and sound effects are also added during this phase.

We wrote an article surrounding the role of the Audio Editor which proved very popular. There is an industry adage – Good in, Good out – which basically means don’t assume you can fix things in the edit. However, the quality of your voice over studio output very much depends on the skills of your editor, not to mention the speed of your output too.

The edited audio is then mixed to ensure a balanced sound and is synchronized with the visual content if necessary.

Final Product:

The final voice-over audio is delivered to the client or integrated into the project, such as a video game, animation, or commercial.

Quality Control:

Quality control checks are performed to ensure that the voice-over matches the project’s requirements and technical specifications.

Delivery:

The completed voice-over is delivered to the client in the desired format, which may include various file types for different platforms or media.

Voice-over studios vary in size and capabilities, with some studios offering more advanced equipment and post-production services than others. The key is to create a controlled and professional environment where voice actors can deliver their best performances, and the resulting audio meets the project’s needs and quality standards. Here’s an interesting article written by our director about the Vocal Booth.

Remember, we love talking about the voice over booth and any other aspect of the production studio, so drop us a line HERE with any questions.