An Interesting Note About Pay To Play Sites

As of recently, I checked out a video of a guy ranting about pay-2-play sites. This happens pretty consistently from the perspective of a successful "union" vo.

It's similar to an NFL player putting up a rant to all the NCAA players telling them to get drafted now. A few golden children will take the advice and do well. A large amount will fail. And the rest of us, will probably use p2p sites because even though it inserts a middle man, it takes out the marketing aspect of running a small business.

Once the video went up, there were facebook responses. The author actually responded with something to the tune of, "This is mostly aimed at union talent who are subsidizing their income using p2p sites, against the union rules"

If this is the case, THEN THIS GUY NEEDS TO SPEAK UP! A non-union VO has every right to use every avenue to forge their way. Non-union takes a large amount of flack for just existing. Every "pro" spews their hatred of how we make money. But, I have NEVER EVER seen an article or a video telling fellow UNION actors to stop taking these p2p jobs. It's always the site to blame.

Well, unfortunately, I will utilize p2p sites as long as they send me auditions.

I have decided that I will only do jobs of a certain amount, BUT I will still use it.

I've thought about started an Non-union VO facebook group.

Using Hotkeys What are they

Hotkeys

For those who don't know, Hotkeys are usually built in ways to use a particular button on a keyboard, mouse or peripheral that will perform an action in a software for you.

Hotkeys are a primary way of speeding up your workflow

Think of where you put your fingers as you type emails.

Are you usually hitting A,S,D, W  a lot?

Imagine if CUT on your editing software was on the (S) key.

Imagine if PLAY was on your (SPACE) key.

Imagine if RENDER was on your middle mouse button.

If you go one step further, you could also get a MACRO function which will record multiple keystrokes, which could be placed on one of those very usable keys.

Here's a link to a video from Everything Voice Over talking all about how to use hotkeys on the
Logitech G13.

Watch it and you'll see the possibilities of speeding up your auditions.

VoicesUS Review (A Site Directory)

Hey Everyone,

So, I recently put up a video review of VoicesUs on Everything Voice Over and it was kind of an interesting situation. The video got a direct response from the voicesus team.

Basically, my situation was that I paid for this site back in JANUARY and since then I received NOTHING. No job opportunites not even an email. So, admittedly, I thought it was a scam because it had a "LIFETIME" membership.

After a little back and forth with their representative, I found that they are SOLELY a directory site. You're $100 gets you a profile, that's it. Unfortunately, there are some misleading aspects of it talking about client reviews BUT as per the website, it does give you what it offers.

So, beware, if you want to be part of this site, you may want to be prepared for radio silence because it is solely a directory. Is it worth the $100? Not to me. (at least not yet)

Here's the review of voicesus.com

Reaper!

Hey Everybody,

There's a really great software out there for voice actors called Reaper. Well, it's not FOR voice actors but it has some AMAZING things that voice actors can use to speed up the process. Including but not limited to:

1) Rendering multiple files at once
2) Having a naming convention for those files to automate naming
3) Hotkey's to speed up workflow
4) An Action list that extends those hotkeys to just about every type of job
5) The ability to punch and roll

This software also comes with a $60 lifetime price tag. That's kind of ridiculous.

There is also a wealth of videos out there for reaper and if you google Voiceover and Reaper you'll get some great instructional videos on how to use it.

I created a video showing exactly how great  the rendering regions in voiceover option is. Feel free to check out the video.

http://everythingvoiceover.com/how-to-render-regions-in-reaper.html

Word of warning, this is a new software and there's a learning curve. So be patient with yourself. Celebrate your success. You can do it!

Take care everyone!

Getting Sick (ugh)

Whenever you get sick, you have to call all your voice over clients and request a few days off. Here is a great voice over article here that I wrote that will give you a few great strategies to help you get on the mend as quickly as possible.

That way you can get back to the crazy career of a voice actor.

Check the article out here!

Strategies when You're Sick

Audacity: Free Software for VO Artists

I know how hard it is for us creatives to learn new technical skills. But, I assure you, the learning curve is small. Once you learn how to edit with this software, or any software, it'll be a skill that will pay off in the future. Here's a video I made of some of the basics of Audacity.

Enjoy!

http://everythingvoiceover.com/how-to-the-basics-of-audacity.html

Really Utilizing your Slate

Hi Guys,

I wrote a fun article that's really quick on great ways to use your slate.

Check it out!

http://everythingvoiceover.com/voice-acting-using-your-slate.html

I'm going to have a lot more podcasts coming up. Feel to to get to everythingvoiceover.com and subscribe.

It's tough being a non-union voiceover, but there's a lot of great free info out there for everyone.

Take care,
Justin