Voice acting in video games. Casting and production process. The video game industry is constantly evolving, it covers multiple sectors and generates more revenue than the music or the film industry. It represents a fantastic opportunity and a great challenge, not only for voice talents, but for the whole production team as well.
One of the hardest parts of the video game voice industry is the production process. The technical aspect of video game acting cannot be understated. Let’s see some tips:
How to manage your voiceover casting?
Choosing the right voice actor for each character is one of the most difficult stages in a video game project. How can you make sure you don’t miscast a talent?
Each one of these characters has a distinct personality and very specific voice requirements. You might have a budget for 50 VO talents and 400 characters in your script. Voice talents will have to modulate their voices to make each character sound different.
Related article: AdventureX, the Narrative Games Convention. A VO Wonderland.
Start your casting process by segmenting your characters.
You want to choose the best possible actor for each character. You look for the very best voice talents, the ones who can really convey the characters’ personalities.
Keep in mind talent usage. if two characters talk to each other extensively throughout the game, having the same talent play them could be a problem.
Always maximize voice separation. You will frequently need that each voice actor plays multiple characters. You want these voice artists to play characters as far apart as possible to one another.
This tip not only applies to video games, but also to any narrative content like animated voice acting or lip-sync dubbing.
Classify and focus on the main characters. Those who have more interactions with other characters and a larger number of lines. And we strongly recommend that no player gives voice to more than one leading character.
Provide any document available for reference. The original audio or an audio draft. Also, showing a character’s image can help the talent visualize the performance.
Top 10 Celebrity Performances In Video Games.
Have a project manager leading the production process, including the casting.
The production team will make sure that the casting process includes reliable, professional talents. That ensures high-quality performances. It will also be very useful to set up a realistic timeline.
Working on a project of this magnitude is fascinating, but it requires a lot of effort, so choosing voice actors who are up to such a challenge is essential. We invite you to take a look at our demos and find the ideal voice dubbing.
Related article: Voice Acting in Video Games. Interwiew with Ragnar Tørnquist.
