WordPress; The New Podcast Publishing Platform
January 24, 2008
Wordpress founder Matt Mullenweg has announced that WordPress.com, a free blog hosting service, has updated the amount of space it allocates to each user to 3 gigabytes, ideal for podcasting.
“Much of the work we do at Automattic is behind the scenes, infrastructure you’ll (hopefully) never notice or see, but we’re always thinking about how the improvements we make to the foundation of the site will allow us to build more interesting things on top of it.
Today, one of those developments comes to fruition — everyone’s free upload space has been increased 60x from 50mb to 3,000mb. To get the same amount of space at our nearest competitor, Typepad, you’d pay at least $300 a year. Blogger only gives you 1GB. We’re doing the same thing for free.”
Since much of the challenge of podcasting rests with finding economical online storage, LibSyn was by default, the service of choice.
Now, WordPress has changed the game.
With its simple administrative interface for creating new episodes, powerful built-in search engine optimization and plethora of plug-ins, WordPress is poised to become the defacto standard podcast publishing tool.
If you’ve been thinking about starting your own podcast, download this free guide called “The Small Business Podcasting Kit“, then sign-up at Wordpress.
Voice Talent Productions Helps Charities with Gratis Voice Overs
January 23, 2008
Voice Talent Productions, a website owned and operated by Erik Sheppard alongside colleague September Day Leach, has recently expanded to include Colin Campbell, Kat Keesling, Nikki Saco, Julie-Ann Dean, Philip Banks, Maggie’s Voice and most recently Kara Edwards.
Likened to a co-op of professional voices, the service offers native speakers of American English, British English, and speakers of North American Spanish and French varying in voicing styles consisting of the Voice of God, Soccer Mom, cartoon characters, hard sell, soft sell, sultry, old, young, and more.
While the notion of carrying a few choice voices on an individual talent’s site is far from new, Voice Talent Productions differentiates itself through a special program called “Voice Talent Cares”, a program providing free voice overs and production work for select non-profits and charities.
US Video Game Sales Skyrocket to Record 17.9 Billion Dollars
January 23, 2008
US video game industry sales rocketed to a record high 17.9 billion dollars in 2007, with Nintendo reigning as champion of the console battle with Microsoft and Sony, according to research group NPD.
US sales of video game consoles, software and accessories rose “an astounding” 43 percent, with each category reaching a new “personal best,” NPD reported.
Nintendo is the clear winner with its DS handheld game devices and Wii consoles as the top hardware sellers, ranking first and second respectively. The Japanese company’s gadgets accounted for 52 percent of the video game devices sold in the United States.
“Nintendo has certainly been the belle of the hardware ball,” NPD analyst Anita Frazier told AFP.
“The DS has driven portable gaming to a new level, and for the second year in a row, the DS has been the top-selling hardware platform.”
Nearly 8.5 million Nintendo DS devices were sold in the United States last year, while buyers snatched up approximately 6.3 million Wii game consoles.
“By the end of 2007 we were sold out of virtually all hardware, and much of our stock of software and accessories was sold out as well,” said Cammie Dunaway, the executive vice president of marketing at Nintendo of America.
“And that momentum continues here in the early weeks of 2008.”
Sony sold 3.97 million PS2 consoles and 2.56 million of its newer PS3 consoles in the United States in 2007, NPD reported.
Microsoft last year sold 4.62 million Xbox 360 consoles, which debuted in the market in November of 2005, a year before Wii and PS3 were released.
Video game hardware sales were boosted by the fact that it was the first full year that the Wii and PS3 consoles were on the market.
Daunting prices on PS3 consoles and the speed with which Wii models vanished from store shelves made Sony’s previous-generation PlayStation 2 a “fall-back” for buyers.
Sony trimmed PS3 prices last year in the face of floundering sales blamed on its high cost and a dearth of coveted games for the consoles.
“Both the PS3 and the Xbox 360 realized strong month-over-month hardware sales increases,” Frazier said.
Frazier predicts that the video game industry will continue to flourish in the United States this year, but not at the stellar rate of growth seen in 2007.
“I expect to see 2008 increase over 2007, with more growth, proportionately, coming from software sales,” Frazier said, adding that the competing consoles feature online game services that make money from subscriptions and downloads.
“While we will continue to see strong hardware sales, particularly if prices come down again, the spotlight now turns from hardware to software.”
Xbox 360 sales surged with help from the releases of highly-coveted games such as “Halo 3,” which is tailored exclusively for Microsoft’s consoles.
Analysts maintain that the availability of fun, well-crafted gaming software is a key factor influencing console purchases.
“The 360 in particular seems to have benefited from a killer slate of hardware-acquisition-driving content including Call of Duty 4, Assassin’s Creed and Halo 3,” Frazier said.
“Halo 3″ was the top video game title, with 4.8 million copies sold.
Activision’s “Guitar Hero” game in which competitors score points by playing along to rock music on guitar-like controllers raked in 820 million dollars, a new one-year record for video game franchise sales in the United States.
But Nintendo’s “Mario Brothers” holds the throne as top-selling franchise of all time.
“Mario was the second-best selling video games property for the year and remains the historically best-selling property in the video games industry,” Frazier said.
Source: AP
Charlotte Metro Credit Union Commercial Graced by Kara Edwards
January 21, 2008
Recently, head coach Sam Vincent and Jared Dudley of The Charlotte Bobcats joined actress Kara Edwards in a 30-second television commercial for Charlotte Metro Credit Union.
In addition to appearing in the commercial, you can also hear Kara performing the voice over near the end of the commercial, also known as a “tag” line.
Kara Edwards is a professional voice over talent known for her work in character voice acting in animation series. Kara’s voice has given life to characters including Goten, Gotenks, Lime, and Videl in DragonBall Z; Murugu in Yu Yu Hakusho; Upa and Pocowatha in DragonBall; Celica in Solty Rei; Razzles in the US version of Raggs and many more.
Kara Edwards is also a recipient of numerous awards including a Voicey for Best New Voice in 2007 and Best Lisa Simpson Impression in the Simpsons Sound Alike Challenge.
Click here to see the Charlotte Metro Credit Union commercial featuring Kara Edwards on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DYTsrWEQZ8
Source: Kara Edwards
The Union Question: Should You Join?
January 21, 2008
A guaranteed minimum pay scale… a paymaster who bills your clients and sends you checks… health insurance… celebrity presidents and board members who negotiate on your behalf.
Unions are indeed enticing for voice actors.
Can you join? Should you?
It’s a major business decision that will affect your income.
Yet there are also reasons not to join, and as the high-profile writers’ strike drags on, you’ve got to wonder if you’re cut out for the picket lines.
From having “learned and lived the union life” as both a union official and voice talent, voice actress Bobbin Beam details what to consider for those interested in joining a union.
To read the entire article visit the source below.
Source: VoiceOverXtra
Allan Melvin, 84, Character Actor Dies
January 21, 2008
“Great mimic of voices” and broadcast talent Allan Melvin passed away on Thursday January 17th, 2008 after a bout with cancer at his home in Brentwood leaving behind his wife of 64 years, Amalia, one daughter, a grandson and a body of cartoon voice-over work including the voices of Magilla Gorilla and Bluto on “Popeye.”
Michael Rosenbaum Cast as Voice of Hayden Tenno in Dark Sector
January 18, 2008
The prolific voice actor, Michael Rosenbaum, widely recognized as Lex Luthor from the television series Smallville, will be taking on the role of Hayden Tenno, demonstrating his gradual transformation in Dark Sector.
Aquaria Voice Actor Brings Depth to Character
January 18, 2008
Many video games are centered out for their voice acting in gamer reviews, and happily, Aquaria, created by Bit Blot partners Alec Holowka and Derek Yu, came with positive ratings from GlobeandMail journalist, Scott Colbourne.
Aquaria, a two-dimensional game role playing game for the PC designed in the style of computer games from a couple of decades ago, and is an underwater world full of beautiful, hand-drawn imagery including scenic caves, reefs and colourful creatures.
The protagonist, Naija, is a mercreature of sorts, and it is the gamer’s responsibility to guide Naija through a number of situations and attain goals.
“Throughout this story, Naija becomes a fully formed character (thanks to voice actor Jenna Sharpe, who does a great job). She expresses doubts and insecurities and soon it becomes apparent that she, like her sprawling home, has more depth than meets the eye. In fact, Aquaria, if you give it time to boil, starts to feel like the first 10 minutes of Pan’s Labyrinth — a dark fairy tale taking place underneath our feet — played out over 16 to 20 hours.” - Scott Colbourne.
When Voice Over Times caught up with Jenna Sharpe in the UK, she revealed the following about her experience:
“Games have evolved into a cultural phenomena and offer more opportunities for interactivity and control than most other media. Voice acting plays a key role not only in setting the mood and communicating the story but also in forging an emotional connection with the player.
Part of Aquaria’s appeal is that people relate to Naija as a character and to her story. In one of my first lines in the game Naija explains ‘My story will become your own, and yours will become mine’.
For me this is the mark of a good game. Naija experiences a whole range of emotions and hopefully my ability to portray them helps immerse the player further into the game and makes it an emotional journey as well as lots of fun!”
Sources : GlobeandMail.com, Voice Actress Jenna Sharpe
Hollywood Studios Strike Tentative Deal with Producers
January 17, 2008
MSNBC reports that Hollywood directors reached a tentative contract deal Thursday with studios, a development that could turn up the pressure on striking writers to settle their 2-month-old walkout that has idled production on dozens of TV shows.
“Two words describe this agreement — groundbreaking and substantial,” said Gil Cates, chairman of the Directors Guild of America’s negotiations committee. “There are no rollbacks of any kind.”
Among other things, the three-year agreement establishes key provisions involving compensation for programs offered on the Internet.
That issue has also been a key sticking point between striking writers and the studios, which broke off talks on Dec. 7.
Wall-E, Pixar’s Latest Blockbuster
January 17, 2008
In a few short months, WALL-E will be coming to a theater near you.
How does the story go?
From the director of Finding Nemo, Pixar’s next groundbreaking animated film takes place in the year 2700.
WALL-E, a robot, spends every day doing what he was made for. But soon, he will discover what he was meant for.
The Wall-E voice cast features Jeff Garlin, Ben Burtt, Fred Willard and Kim Kopf.
Get ready to experience Pixar’s latest animated film on June 27, 2008.
Source: IMDb
