I'm going through my finances and figuring out costs for my upcoming kickstarter campaign.

When trying to set some stretch goals, I thought "Hey, why don't I throw voice acting on there?"

I don't anticipate much dialogue, so I don't think it would be too hard. At the very least, I could grab some actors from a local college and pay them a couple hundred each for one day's worth of work.

But the more I think about it, I want to know what I'm really getting into, and what I'm really doing. Grabbing some student actors may be a good backup plan, but I should find out what it would take to do things professionally.

This brings me here. I really don't know where to start looking.

I know there are companies that specialize in voice work, and I could probably work with someone in southern California or Vancouver or something and get the same voices I've heard in various animes and video games. But I don't know who they are.

I could probably find other voice work companies that have some less-well-known-but-still-professional actors, and maybe even find one in my area. But I have no idea what to look for.

But maybe I'm making false presumptions about this; maybe that's not how I'm supposed to go about this.

So really I want to ask, where would I begin? How would I go about getting voice work to add to a game I'm making?

Second to that I wonder about costs. This I already know is difficult to get a real number for because every project is different and nobody offers much in the way of an up-front cost. But if I could get an idea for a range of costs one could expect, it would be most appreciative.

I know there are companies that specialize in voice work, and I could probably work with someone in southern California or Vancouver or something and get the same voices I've heard in various animes and video games. But I don't know who they are.

Voices you heard in anime and games are probably union actors (SAG - Screen Actors Guild), and there are set rates for paying such actors. I don't know what those rates are - haven't worked with union actors in a long long time. You can find out the names of actors, and you can find out actors' agencies, and you can find out how to contact those agencies, and you can contact those agencies and get information.

Hi

I offer free Casting Calls to my network of video game voice actors. Some are newbies, some are AAA title credited.

You just tell them what kind of actors you are looking for and the parts you want them to play.

Examples of calls can be found in our blogs section.

In a case where you have a limited budget its best to also state how much you would like to pay or even ask for volunteers.

Some newbie actors would do some work to get their first game credit- obviously if you can pay for a job well done- you should.

The actors who are interested will respond and you get to choose which ones you want to use. Its a win-win.

Please visit www.gamevoices.com

John Armstrong

john@gamevoices.co.uk

@Gamevoices

Shameless pitch, but I +1 that.

That site seems to be a great resource for what I was looking for; thanks for sharing!

If anyone else has something to share, I'd love hear about it, too!

As I said, I'm not looking to hire voice talent right now, I just want to figure out what kind of a budget I'd want to set aside for it, and where I would go to get the talent I need.

Where do you live? Depending on the location, you'd be surprised at the amount of local studios that offer services such as mastering, foley etc. for multimedia projects and film. They might also offer voice acting and dubbing.

Besides that, check the following:

- http://voice123.com/

- http://www.voices.com/help/getting-started/introduction-to-voice-over-industry

- http://www.gamedev.net/forum/19-music-and-sound/

Hi Marscaleb

I myself am a voice actress and might be able to help answer some of your questions. I think the first question you need to ask yourself, is how important the voice acting is to your game. Bad voice over can make your game less fun and take the player out of it. GOOD voice over however, can add a lot to your game and help the player feel more immersed. With that said, you can get free voice actors from sites like voiceactingalliance.com or http://voiceacting.proboards.com/ These forums are filled with amature (and a few professionals) voice actors who are looking for work. You're less likely however to book a pro unless you are offering a paid position. The other option, as stated above, is to post projects on sites like voice123.com or voices.com . I believe the minimum they ask you to offer the talent is $100. If you're REALLY wanting to pros. You can go through a talent agency. They have a big list of people with a lot of VO experience. That of course, is a lot more money. My agency tends to charge $400 for an hour of studio time and $250 for each additional hour, plus 20% for the agency. Since you said there would only be a few lines, an hour would be more than enough. The nice thing about professionals is that they can nail the line in 2 or 3 takes.

So, to summarize, depending on the quality of voice over you want, you're looking at anywhere from $0 - $400
Also, some actors (if they know what they're doing) might charge you for additional takes. So if you hand them a script, they record it and two months later, you ask them to redo a line or so, they will want extra. This is a protection for the talent so a client can't give them a few lines, but make them work 3 times as hard for the same amount of pay. However, these are the same types of talent who will most likely provide you with a contract before the project begins. This way, you both know what you're getting into.

I hope this helped! If you have any other questions, let me know! Also, if you're interested, you can check out my site for samples of my work. ^^
www.tamararyanvo.com I'm a huge supported of Indie Games, so I'm willing to work within whatever budget you decide. (within reason) ;)