Just when working from a home-based recording studio seemed to be all one could do to keep up with opportunities and auditioning online, savvy voice actors are now finding even more ways to maximize time for their businesses outside of the studio by using the Voices.com app released Monday May 7, 2012.

No longer bound to a physical desk and recording setup, voice actors can record literally from anywhere, anytime using the Voices.com app.

Many voice actors have cut custom auditions as they waited in line at restaurant drive thrus, as they got their shopping done in grocery store aisles and after dropping children off at school.

So long as they are connected to the Internet,  voice actors can audition from anywhere, even from mobile devices.

The app is revolutionary in the sense that not only can voice actors audition for work on the go, they can also record demos to share with prospective clients on the fly and immediately feature those voice samples on their Voices.com profiles.

The Voices.com iPhone app, compatible with iPad and iPod Touch, empowers voice actors to find and audition for amazing voice-over jobs from around the world. Professionals can get started by creating their voice talent profile and add languages spoken, age range, special skills and detail their recording setup.

Another great feature of the Voices.com iPhone app is that talent can manage their voice demos and share those audio files by email or on Facebook or Twitter straight from the app.

By far, the most significant benefit is the ability to respond to jobs from anywhere, anytime. Talent are presented with details including a job’s budget, deadline and creative direction. After reviewing the opportunity, talent can then reply with a voice sample, proposal and price quote.

The most exciting element of the app, aside from auditioning, is that talent can even include a custom demo recorded using the microphone on their iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. The experience had is similar to how talent use the Voices.com website where they can also keep track of their auditions, win jobs and make money with their voices.

Curious to learn more? Try these features out for yourself as well as many others.

Download the new Voices.com app for free from the App Store and audition for your next job today.

iTunes link:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/voices.com/id493554377?ls=1&mt=8

The company plans on releasing an app specially crafted for the Apple iPad and further down the road, an Android app.

View how the Voices.com iPhone App works for Voice-Over Talent here:

Some of the features Audition has that Soundbooth didn’t have are: project exchange with third-party DAWs, native 5.1 multichannel support, more native audio effects and new royalty-free sound effects, loops, and music beds.

Officially, it’s being called Audition CS5.5 – part of Adobe’s mid-cycle release of its Creative Suite series. Adobe is billing it as a “modern audio post-production toolset.” That means it’s powerful enough to be used for big budget audio and video productions. I got my hands on the final release and found it simple enough to use as a voice actor.

From the moment you launch Audition it has a familiar look and feel to it. The interface is clean and easy to understand. Once you click record you’re presented with the option to name your file, choose your sample rate, select your channels and bit depth. Click okay after choosing these settings and the recording begins.

Editing in Audition is as straightforward as it gets. Just click and select the portion of a waveform you need to edit and copy, cut and paste to your heart’s content. If you’ve ever used the free DAW Audacity, you can use Audition with no problem.

Adobe has upped the ante on audio effects this time around in Audition. Some of the native audio effects you may find useful are noise reduction, de-hummer, de-esser and speech volume leveler. The noise reduction effect can be very effective if, like me, you have less than perfect soundproofing in your studio. I was able to remove street-level traffic noise from a recording without much degradation to the recording. I had to tweak the sliders a bit, but it worked remarkably well.

Audition is included as part of Adobe’s Production Premium package. You can buy it separately for $349. But if you’re looking to upgrade, there are some generous options. For $99 you can upgrade from some previous versions of both Audition and Soundbooth. You can even cross-grade from one format to another (PC to Mac). Not a bad deal if you just have to have the latest and greatest from Adobe.

“I feel truly honoured to have been chosen by my peers to receive this esteemed award,” says Douglas.

The Don LaFontaine Legacy Award was introduced for the first time at the 2009 Promax Marketing & Promotion Awards celebration as part of the 54th annual PromaxBDA Conference. The PromaxBDA Awards competition is dedicated to celebrating excellence in marketing, design and creative content in the entertainment industry.

“In a world where one person’s voice has the power to capture the attention of people across the globe, Hal Douglas is a legend,” said Jonathan Block-Verk, president and CEO of PromaxBDA. “Iconic and identifiable, Hal Douglas’ extensive career as a voice-over actor is legendary in its own right spanning across all mediums in the entertainment industry and we are so proud to honour him with the Don La Fontaine Award for this year.”

Hal Douglas was born in Stamford, Connecticut in 1924. After serving in the Navy during World War II, he enrolled in The University of Miami to study Radio and Theatre. Hal began his career as a DJ and on-camera spokesman, eventually moving to New York where he spent ten years producing commercials at several top advertising agencies, before becoming a full-time voice actor. Hal’s storied voice over career includes national commercials, Broadway promotions, documentary narrations and world-renowned movie trailers, as well as countless on-air promos, including his signature voice work at A&E and The WB. More recently, he has enjoyed recording live sessions from his home studio with clients all over the world.

For conference updates follow PromaxBDA on Twitter at PromaxBDA and Facebook at facebook.com/PromaxBDA.

Source: Liza Rindge-Peterson

Beloved characters such as  Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Sylvester the Cat and Tweety Bird will be featured -  with the original voice of Mel Blanc! His voice will be heard singing two classic Looney Tunes songs “I Twat I Taw a Puddy Tat” and “Daffy Duck’s Rhapsody.”

The cartoons will be shown in 3-D computer animation rather than the classic hand-drawn style of the original series. The shorts are directed by Matthew O’Callaghan for Warner Bros. Animation.

“This will probably be the last time that Looney Tunes fans will have an opportunity to see an original Mel Blanc short featuring these characters,” said Sam Register, an executive vice president at Warner Bros. Animation.

Blanc died in July 1989 at the age of 81. He is fondly remembered as “The Man With A 1,000 Voices.” In addition to his Warner Bros. characters, he was also the voice of Barney Rubble on “The Flintstones,”  Woody Woodpecker’s laugh and he performed many characters for Jack Benny’s radio and TV shows.

Source: LA Times

The film follows Ralph, an 8-bit arcade game bad guy, who longs for the same adoration of the hero in his game and sets out on a video-game hopping journey to prove that bad guys can be good.  The film is directed by Rich Moore (“The Simpsons,” “Futurama”) and features the voices of John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer and Jane Lynch.

Quoted in a press release Moore said, “I love the idea of a very simple 8-bit video game character struggling with the complex question: ‘isn’t there more to life than the role I’ve been assigned?’ In his quest for the answer, we journey with our hero through three visually distinct video game worlds. It’s unlike anything anyone’s seen before, and I’m thrilled to be to creating it here at Walt Disney Animation Studios.”

Disney has yet to release a movie trailer or posters for the film.

Source: ComingSoon.net

This new contract will see that performers are paid via a new cloud gaming fee. Artists will be paid a 15 percent one-time payment before the streaming payments begin. Also included in the contract are increased contributions to the AFTRA Health and Retirement Fund from 0.5% to 15.5%. There will also be an extra 3% added on to minimum compensations over the duration of the contract, with 1% being added immediately after the contract expires.

Ultimately, what all of this means is that the new minimum fee for AFTRA Interactive Media contracts will start at $809. The new minimum will increase again in May 2013 to $825.

Source: Gamasutra

The tribute video includes footage of the ongoing Stanley Cup run of 2011 for the Canucks and highlights from the unsuccessful 1994 and 1982 Cup runs. The video editing was completed just one day after game one of the Stanley Cup finals against Boston.

The collaboration extended across British Columbia as Hass called in singer/songwriter Corey Doak for sound engineering and Jonathan Galbraith of Vancouver to assemble the video. The photos and graphic at the end of the video are courtesy of Geoff Heith, a photographer based out of Abbotsford, BC. Justin Dueck helped out with backing vocals. Dueck just happens to have the same name as Hass’s eldest son. Hass acted as main songwriter for the parody project – with a lot of help from AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” original.

Hockey and humor here. Enjoy!

Entering what he calls “the third act of his career,” he announced on Talkin Toons that, for the first time, he is offering voice over coaching which is available privately via Skype or phone and live in LA.

The chance to learn from Paulsen has been in the hearts and minds of aspiring voice actors for generations as they’ve listened to him give life to a huge array of iconic characters such as Yahkko, Pinky and Dr. Scratch ‘n’ Sniff from The Animaniacs, Pinky from Pinky and the Brain, Raphael from the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” Arthur in “The Tick,” title role in “The Mask,” title role in ‘Mighty Max,” Carl Wheezer from “Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius,” Jack Fenton in “Danny Phantom,” Bobble in the “Tinkerbell” – and that’s just to name a few. Having voiced over 2000 animated episodes, Paulsen’s IMDb reads like a novel.

Paulsen also released the news that he will be hosting voice over events across the US and according to his website the first one is slated for June 25-26 in LA.

Visit Paulen’s website Rob Paulsen Live for more details.

Source: Vox Daily

The audio production team for the critically acclaimed nature series “Wild View” won a regional Emmy award for their work on the documentary, well, everyone except for narrator Mary McKitrick.

Photographed on left, McKitrick is holding the iconic statue but was not permitted take actually take one home. Evidently narrators are not recognized by the Emmys as being a part of the audio production team.

This struck a nerve in the voice over industry which instigated a call to action to have narrators fairly recognized at the Emmys for their contributions to audio productions. A Facebook page has been developed to draw attention to the issue and will be presented to the National Association of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) if enough support for the cause is shown.

The goal of this appeal is to have the NATAS review and update their awards criteria to include either categories for or the inclusion of narrators as E Award recipients in its regional and national awards and to finally get Mary McKitrick her Emmy statue.

To show your support visit A Statue for Mary on Facebook.

Source: CourVo

The film stars Jason Segel and Amy Adams. Their characters are on vacation in Los Angeles, when they discover the nefarious plan of oilman Tex Richman (Chris Cooper) to raze the Muppet Theater and drill for the oil recently discovered beneath the Muppets’ former stomping grounds. To stage The Greatest Muppet Telethon Ever and raise the $10-million needed to save the theater, Walter, Mary and Gary help Kermit the Frog reunite the Muppets, who have all gone their separate ways: Fozzie now performs with a Reno casino tribute band called the Moopets, Miss Piggy is a plus-size fashion editor at Vogue Paris, Animal is in a Santa Barbara clinic for anger management, and Gonzo is a high-powered plumbing magnate. The Muppets reunite to stop an oil tycoon from tearing down their beloved studio.

Walt Disney presents The Muppets on November 23, 2011.

Source: Disney Offical Website / Wikipedia