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Post by Justus on Nov 14, 2004 3:35:49 GMT -5
I'm lazy, so I simply lifted the same post I've been posting in other forums. This is a fan dub for Ys 4: the Dawn of Ys that I'm directing and recording in tandem with Nightwolve's translation of the text. Please, no flaming about dubs and how much they suck. We already know. The fact remains, it's better than leaving the Japanese untranslated, and subtitles would be impossible to hack in. After working on this dub intermittently for the past couple of months, I've come to the conclusion that I'll probably never get finished with it if I don't accept at least a few internet auditions. I'm not happy about it, mind you, but I've decided to relax about it a little bit....but ONLY a very very little bit! You see, I still have a fairly lengthy list of guidelines that must be followed if you'd like to be part of this. Basically, it's a list that almost anyone can accomplish (if you have the right kind of voice, anyways), as long as you are not lazy. Admittedly, it's easier if you have some money you can spend. As before, I will definately record anyone willing to travel to my studio in the Oklahoma City area. However, I have a list of guidelines you can use if you can't come to Oklahoma, but still want to participate. www.justusjohnston.com/ys4/internetauditions.htmlIf one of these guidelines is a particular problem and I can't get enough volunteers, I may be convinced to relax about some of them. By all means, please utilize this thread to discuss. For now, I'm not too worried about who's playing who. If I get multiple auditions for the same character, I will be actually very very happy! That being said, I've already more-or-less chosen the following roles: Karna, Guruda (played by me, actually), and Eldeel. I've also worked with other people on parts for Dogi, Arem, and Gadis, but I'm still waiting to be really WOW'd by those people, so feel free to try to wow me in their stead. If you get through all of that, and are STILL interested, then please, drop me an e-mail at jj@justusjohnston.com, preferably with an attached audition of some kind, but barring that, at least contact information for AIM or something.
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Post by Justus on Nov 15, 2004 12:38:15 GMT -5
Well, for bad guys, we're still in need of a good General Leo. Your voice would have to be somewhat gritty to do that part, as it's an older character.
I have to admit though, the badguys have been fairly popular. I've already got a set of voices for Arem. I myself am playing Guruda, and I've got someone already interested in playing Eldeel. You can't do demonlord Darm, since he's in the CD-DA (unless you want to qualify to record CD-DA). We do still need a female to play Bami, but...I don't suppose you happen to be female, do you?
I had someone lined up to play Gadis, but when he showed up, he simply could not get into character, and we struggled for several hours without any fruits for our labors...so I'll say that the part of Gadis is still open.
So, you might look over those two parts in the castlist, and in the script. If you're still interested in one, contact me via e-mail or AIM, and I'll see about getting you AVIs of the scenes they are in.
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Post by ParanoiaDragon on Nov 15, 2004 21:21:28 GMT -5
I did a bunch of voice tests for a Transformers dub, I was suppose to play one of the Arielbots, but, I haven't heard anything since. I could send you all my tests in mp3 format if you like. They do range quite a bit, but maybe there's something there or something similar there you're looking for, cuz I'm not bad at VA'ing, & it would be a great honor to VA in Ys 4!
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Post by Justus on Nov 15, 2004 23:22:01 GMT -5
I'll put it this way. I never thought I'd get anyone remotely approaching professional for this. If you've done work in voice talent before, you're quite a bit ahead of the other people I've worked with. So far, we've kind of taken the attitude of taking normal people and MAKING actors out of them. You have or have access to a decent mic, etc. I trust?
Anyways, yeah..go ahead and send me those samples (my e-mail is jj@justusjohnston.com).
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Post by Justus on Nov 16, 2004 3:52:05 GMT -5
Entire vocal scriptand anyone who doesn't want any spoilers can feel free to simply not click on the above link Check your PM anyways, because I'm sending you links to AVIs with all his scenes (I'm trying to keep those links as private as possible to save on my poor poor bandwidth) I'm kind of surprised. No takers for the part of "narrator"?
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Post by FM-77AV on Nov 16, 2004 5:08:30 GMT -5
This is an interesting project. I have even heard some of someone's speech. I'm not sure which part it was though.
Anyway, I'd like to try someone out as well, but could you post a list of every character needed, as well as some info about those characters, (like you said, someone sounded like and old man, etc). It'll be easier to find fitting roles if you do that. I don't really know who's who, so it can be tricky.
Anyway, you said you needed a female va, well, if Joanne sees this thread, she might be interested.
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Post by LordDarm on Nov 16, 2004 8:08:18 GMT -5
This sounds pretty cool....... I would try ....I just wouldnt know where to begin......the final result of my voice would probably sound like a voice out of Ys 3 ....lol
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Post by CrazyJo82 on Nov 16, 2004 12:38:50 GMT -5
I dont want to burst any bubbles but there IS a translation of DoY in progess and probably near completion too...
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Post by Justus on Nov 16, 2004 14:42:33 GMT -5
I dont want to burst any bubbles but there IS a translation of DoY in progess and probably near completion too... Indeed there is. Nightwolve's translation. and that's precisely the translation that this dub is going to be part of! ...well, OK, actually the dub is completely separate from the text translation (different patches), but it's part of the same effort. Yes, I'm actually working with the folks at R.I.G.G. on this. It isn't something I just decided to take onto my own shoulders. Yeah, we'd definately have to see. That's why I'm calling them "auditions". I'd definately prefer something that is better than Ys 3. Something more along the lines of Ys 1&2. Well, if you read the guidelines page I linked at the top, you'll see I have only two goals for this project: - It sounds professionally recorded - The voiceacting sounds natural, and not-stupid Not a profound set of guidelines in my opinion. I could have SWORN that I put links to both the script AND the cast list in the guidelines page...Oh well. Cast listThe names with an asterisk appear in the CD-DA, so the guidelines for recording those characters are far more stringent, since sound quality is a far greater matter for those parts. Well, just in case: ScriptInternet auditioning guidelinesAnyways, I'll take auditions on practically any part at all, and if you're better than what we already have, then cool...but so you know, parts that have already been chosen by other people (so you know which ones you'd have competition on) include: Dogi, Guruda, Gadis, Eldeel, Arem, Karna, and Ramess the Sage. By the way, here's some of the progress we've already made, just from the people I've used here in Oklahoma: Audio demo, featuring voices of Karna, Arem, Guruda, and Ramess the Sage (see if you can guess which one is my voice) short video of the game playing with the dub....no lip-synching yet
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Post by ParanoiaDragon on Nov 17, 2004 0:03:55 GMT -5
Man, after listening to those, I feel like I have no chance. Either way, I don't know which mic I used when I recorded these, I actually auditioned for 2 seperate Transformer dubs. I email them to you asap.
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Post by dracula on Nov 17, 2004 3:54:01 GMT -5
I am an actor, i can mail you my demo tape(i think i would be great for the part of the narrator)
but the only thing is that I leave for hawaii in a few hours and will not be back until Nov 26th. If you already cast the part by then i will understand, but please at least consider this.
if you think you will still be auditioning next week, i send me a PM with your addy and i will send you a copy of my demo tape.
I definitely recommend using professional voice actors.
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Post by Justus on Nov 17, 2004 4:11:12 GMT -5
You kidding? I would absolutely LOVE to use professional voice actors! The only problem is that professional voice actors generally come with a professional price tag. I'm not saying that's a bad thing at all. I myself am a professional studio violinist, and I often get paid (sometimes quite well) for what I do. Believe me, I wish I HAD a budget to offer. Well, if you understand that there's no money for doing this, and are still interested, then feel free to send a demo my way. Feel free to drag your professional friends along too if they are similarly uninhibited about working for free, particularly if you have any female professional friends...though if you'd prefer to save on post time and cost, allow me to suggest e-mailing me an MP3 as a viable alternative. I mean, unless you just really artfully used tape saturation to it's utmost, and really wanted me to hear it that way Well, I'll send you a private message so that it's sitting there when you get back. Hope you enjoy...er..enjoyed your trip! I'm sure we'll have plenty left to do. I haven't run into anyone interested in playing Lefance yet, for instance, and he's a not unsignificant part. Oh, and ParanoiaDragon...I got your e-mail, but when I tried to reply, it spat my mail back at me saying "access denied". Look for a private message soon.
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Post by dracula on Nov 17, 2004 4:48:19 GMT -5
In los angeles it is easy to find excellent actors to work for no money. We just need to practice our craft.
There are only a few problems as I see it:
Logistics:
If you are in oaklahoma and the actors are in los angeles, well you would not be there to give them feedback to tell them what you want regarding inflection, volume(crescendo or whispers or whatnot), diction.
That was my first impression was that "its too bad you are in oaklahoma and not Los angeles."
The other potential pitfalls are: the student actors at ucla are not allowed to be in productions outside of the program there, they are supposed to concentrate on the work in student theater(of course they are not used to getting paid, so they would be some of the most interested)
the others actors I know, well I am not sure if they will go for the process you are suggesting: you want us to send you audio files over the internet? That just seems a bit unprofessional(i do understand you are not getting paid for this). I am not sure how much interest there would be when they find out you are in oaklahoma
I am interested, simply because i have considered getting involved in voice overs(in video games or short films or independent films or whatnot). and this would be good practice.
If you email me a flier with your contact information and posted something along the lines of
WANTED: VOICE ACTORS(or voice talent or whatever) and you explained a little about the project and left your email, i would print it up and post it in a few areas where i know the other community theater actors(like me) and student actors will be looking.
Getting quality people to work for free wont be a problem, but i fear that some of the actors will find out you are far away and would view your approach to the sending the voice samples over the internet as unprofessional.
Idealy you should get the actors in whatever voice lab or studio you have(even if all it consists of is 1 mic and 1 headset and a recorder) so you would be there.
I would suggest trying to tap into the local community theater community in oaklahoma: call your local community theaters and ask if you could post a flyer at their community theater to try to get local actors to get interested.
I can talk to you more about this(to go over the specifics and details and whatnot) when i get back from hawaii next week(i return the 26th, the day after thanksgiving)
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Post by Justus on Nov 21, 2004 4:26:18 GMT -5
Well....don't take this the wrong way, but...I'm not sure that we WANT it to be TOO professional.
This dub is most definately a fan work, and, especially since it ISN'T for money, it should definately be fun to make, which I think it can be while still adhering to a high quality standard. It'll turn out better than that awful Tales of Phantasia dub, I can promise that. I AM in Oklahoma though, and very few of the people who would be interested in this live around here, so it will have to be done mostly via the internet, and that's just a fact. I'm just not sure what else to do about that. I can't afford to take a road trip to California, especially right now.
A few points:
- Yes, you're definately right that it's more difficult without a director there. Basically, people I'm doing this with over the internet will have to kind of be their OWN director with a little guidance from myself and Deuce (our script writer) - About posting ads...I'm not sure I'd want to go that far. Believe it or not, I'm far more interested in using people who are fans of Ys and would give their all simply out of love for the games than people with an extensive professional background. I can't imagine that I'd get too many people who are genuine Ys fans from posting ads at a college, to be honest. I'll get far more from posting ads on message boards on the internet, such as this one! Besides, I've actually gotten some surprisingly quality work already just from people who were no more than Ys fans. In fact, in expanding to internet auditions, I think I'm already getting fairly close to the number of people I wanted to bring into this project, so there shouldn't be a need for large scale advertising. - As far as exchanging files on the 'net being unprofessional - Well...are you saying it's more professional to get tapes in the mail? This is already fairly unprofessional as it is, so instead, I am focusing on practicality. If you send me tapes in the mail, then it will already have the hiss inherent in tapes. Furthermore, the target sound is digital audio (from a CD, after all), so the sound will lose any benefit (such as analog warmth), since it has to be digitized anyways. Besides that, the quality will degrade from having to go through an additional A/D converter. It makes far more sense to send a digital audio file via the 'net. Now...for auditions and demos and such, MP3 is fine. For the final product, we won't be using a lossy compression like MP3. Instead, I have a lossless compression I use called APE, which retains 100% of the original signal. Yeah, the files are kind of large, but not as big as WAVs. If you'd prefer to try to keep things more professional, feel free to send me a CD in the mail. However, as APE is a lossless compression, it will sound absolutely the same, so you would be getting absolutely no benefit from a sheer practical point of view. But hey, if you want to spend money to ship me a CD, be my guest. - Finally, I actually HAVE gotten a fair number of local actors to do work for me at my studio (which I assure you is quite a bit nicer than "1 mic and 1 headset and a recorder"). As a matter of fact, the equipment I'm using is this:
* Pro Tools LE via Digi 001 interface * AKG 414 microphone * Wireless headsets for monitoring * Mackie 2408 control surface * Facilities at my offices at Nightfall productions, which includes isolation booths
...not that any of that means squat to internet auditioners, but more than half of the lines are being done locally after all. I've opened up for internet auditions largely because I feel that if I don't, I will still be working on this thing as late as March! And...I don't want that. Actually, I'd REALLY like to be done by January if at all possible.
Now, I'm not saying any of this to deter you whatsoever, even though it might seem like it. I would absolutely love to have someone who knows what they are about...ESPECIALLY for the narrator. And not to bring too many non-Ys fans into it, but if you happen to know some talented actresses you can go in on it with, that would be REALLY cool.
*sigh* In a perfect world, believe me...if I were rich, I would LOVE to just fly out to California, rent studio space, fly out our scripter, and personally direct a cabal of real actors who get real paychecks for doing so. I really would like nothing better...
Well, maybe we can re-do this if I ever DO get rich, or if someone decides to sponser such a pipe dream (yeah right).
In the meantime, my two goals for this project remain: - To produce something that sounds clean and professionally mixed and mastered - To employ voice talent that sounds not-stupid. Not profound, just not-stupid. That's ALL I'm asking for..and I do realize that it's a lot, when I listen to typical dub jobs.
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Post by Justus on Dec 22, 2004 17:04:47 GMT -5
Principal recording is now about halfway complete. Practically all of the major roles have now been filled, and overall, it's coming out better than I expected. I've managed to get some really professional guys for this! I'm beginning to think I may just fulfill my goal of creating an English dub that, for once, sounds not-stupid. Heh. Don't get me wrong. By no means will it be profound, but I AM starting to believe that it will be not-stupid... In other BIG news, I've managed to get *drumroll* a repeat actor from the English version of Ys 1&2!! None other than Mr. Alan Oppenheimer himself shall be reprising his role as Demon Lord Darm for this fandub project! As they say though, the proof is in the pudding. See for yourself: www.justusjohnston.com/temp/ys4_darm_e.avi...OK, in all seriousness, no, Alan Oppenheimer did not actually waltz into my studio to record lines. I ripped these lines right out of Ys 1&2 (the "I am pure evil" speech), and mixed them in using studio magic. Mr. Oppenheimer probably doesn't know about this fandub, and probably shouldn't know about it...at least, not until it is finished at any rate. Seriously, do you guys think this is a good idea, or do you think I ought to just get someone else to record the Darm lines? I just thought it would be cool to re-use the lines from Ys 1&2, for a nice dose of nostalgia, and of course to propagate that incredible sense of immediate continuity that I've always loved about the PCE version of Ys 4 in particular.
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Post by ParanoiaDragon on Dec 22, 2004 20:48:15 GMT -5
That's amazing, like I've said before, as far as I know, as long as you're not making money, there shouldn't be any issue with it. If you we're selling it, then uh, yeah, there could be a problem!
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Post by ParanoiaDragon on Mar 4, 2005 22:31:35 GMT -5
Tim might still be open. You should PM Justus. But, you need a really nice mic......though, maybe all the parts with Tim are sampled, rather then redbook, so maybe you can get away with an average computer mic. He was going to do it himself, with some fx, but he might be still willing to find someone that can do it naturally.
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Post by ParanoiaDragon on Mar 5, 2005 3:45:50 GMT -5
Yeah, I forgot about that.
Hmm, I personally went to ebay & got a professional mic & amp, plus got a stand & boom adapter at Radio Shack, & a set of 3 mic cables off ebay as well. Didn't cost all the much IMO, but, then again, I can always use it for my lyrics, if I ever finish an album, & maybe other dub auditions. Just PM Justus, he'll tell you what's up. Ofcoarse, it seems to me that typically a woman is used to do a boy's voice, but that doesn't mean you're not capable.
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Post by Justus on Mar 5, 2005 5:13:19 GMT -5
Actually, it might just work out. It depends quite a bit on what he means by "video camera". If it's an actual nice pro or semi-pro recording system, then those generally come with halfway-decent boom mics. It's not gonna beat a nice set of gear like what you bought, PD, but he's probably right about it working than a typical computer stem mic. The main concern of course is that there is some CD-DA, and I definately would prefer all CD-DA to be as uniformly pristine as possible. Well, I'd say just sample something up and send it my way. I'm certainly interested in doing something about the Tim character. However, you should know that I do want it to sound like an actual 12-year old boy, not the pitchbent crap you usually hear in cartoons. That junk sounds like a constipated midget to me.
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Post by Justus on Mar 5, 2005 13:54:34 GMT -5
They don't pitchbend the voices for kids in anime. They just get the female seiyuu to do it. (Yes, they really do sound like that.) Yeah, they do. And it only really works because of how Japanese sounds. I don't think it would work as well in English. But I wasn't actually talking about animé anyways. I was talking about American cartoons...specifically older ones. Newer ones tend to use real children nowadays, but the older ones would often run adult male voices through a vocal processor, and it would sound like a constipated midget. That being said, I probably WILL use my vocal processor myself...but only if I can get it to sound like a real little boy. Crawd: We're not really needing any villains. Those were the FIRST roles to be snapped up. Let's face it, everyone wants to be bad. Hell, I'm no different (I set aside the role of Guruda for myself). But also, I still couldn't tell how good your mic is, because of all the extra processing, and also because you oversampled on it. So, if I end up wanting to use you, we'll have to talk a bit about recording technique. For the sake of sending a clean audition though, just keep in mind that in creating a digital recording, you want to record it to where the loudest sound you make peaks at just under 0db; you don't want to go over 0db or else you'll hear hard digital clipping like in the samples in your post. However, you also don't want to record with gain too low, because then the noise level in the recording will be higher in comparison with the legible sound that we wish to capture (the official term for which is signal to noise ratio).
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