Hi, Anyone out there that can give me a ball park figure of what voice talent costs? I imagine its pretty varied but I just need a rough estimate. Thanks. -Brian

Hey,

This is kinda delicate thing in industry, because mostly people don''t like talking about the ''''salaries''''.

Anyway the salary of extremely good voice actor (Hollywood class) can cost you even millions, but as well you can get good not well known voice actor for couple hundred bucks or even for free.

I don''t if this will help...

But...

Since I was in drama in high school, I called allot of my friends and asked if they would do voice talent for my upcomming game Denique Fatum. Most of them said they''d be glad to do it.

(BTW...I only picked the good ones...)

If your game just has people saying random stuff it, you could pull one of those stunts where you just randomly grab people off the street and ask them to read whatever.

C. Allen Sanchez
CEO of Xeifer Entertainment, Inc.

Ask the advertising department of your local radio station. They will have dealings with numerous voice actors and may be willing to give you a figure, if not direct contact to the various actors.

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Hi!

I''m a multimedia developer and I''ve been hiring voice talent for more than 10 years now. Rates for voice talent vary depending not only on who they are but also where you live in the country and what type of project you need them for. Generally, the more experienced (but not famous) voice actors are the best value even though they cost more per minute (or hour depending on your deal). The reason they are the best value is that you get better quality work and they are much faster than using less experienced people. Most of the expense of doing audio work the amount of time you spend and must pay to the studio and to your post-production folk, not the talent.

The most expensive places to hire voice talent (in my experience) are L.A. and New York (both places have a strong screen actors guild). In the heartland of the U.S. (where I live) you can find good voice talent for very reasonable prices.

We pay our voice talent $25 per finished minute of audio with a ceiling of $400 plus a $10 administrative charge to the agency. This price is for one day''s session in a studio. The next day would start the meter running again. I usually arrange our audio so that we do all of it at once and keep the talent there for 2-5 hours. (I would never keep talent for longer than 5 hours because their voice deteriorates over time.) With experienced talent this translates into 1-4 hours of finished audio. Obviously, the pickier you are about how your voice talent sounds, the longer it will take. In my opinion, it''s worth it to get it right the first time. It''s always more expensive if you have to go back to the studio and redo your audio.

Hope that helps!

Carolyn

Another tip I could add on to all the other great ideas already posted here...
You may or may not want to find someone who is good at performing MULTIPLE voices. You could save money and time from not having to get extra talent in on the project if it isn''t totally necessary in the first place.

David R. Clark
www.megalithmusic.com

One more recommendation: Talk to the agents. It''s the easiest way. I have found the agencies primarily by calling the studios and asking for the names of agencies that use their studio. Once you call an agency, ask for demos of their talent. These days they will send you a CD of all of their talent doing a variety of voices. It gives you a real good idea of the vocal range for each person. They will also tell you how much they charge per hour or minute.

And, since all these talented people had to get there somehow, you might also try contacting your local university''s drama department to find out if there are any students there that would be willing to work cheap. Aspiring actors can often be had cheaply since their profession has a tradition of using them without paying much. The one problem with using people who are not yet professional, is the amount of time it will take for them to produce the quality you need. When I use amateurs I figure that it will take 3-4 hours of studio time to get one usable hour of audio. If you have your own studio, you may be able to afford the time. If you don''t have your own studio, always use professionals. They end up being cheaper.

Carolyn

Don''t some people hire actors with a lump fee for the entire project?