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Post by Lady Stardust ★ on Dec 18, 2017 0:28:53 GMT -8
I was writing a tutorial today and when coming up with examples of the types of microphones one should NOT use for voiceover, I was reminded of these old Logitech USB mics that were all the rage in 2005-2007ish before condenser microphones became easily accessible and affordable for hobbyist voice actors. And the only options most people had were either getting some kind of USB mic, or getting one of those dynamic mics that plugged directly into the audio jack on the computer and chances are it had horrible background noise because it ran through the computer's sound card. So you'd try to get rid of the noise if you had one of those, but Audacity's noise removal option was absolutely terrible back then (it's much better now!) so you'd sound like a tin-can robot even on the lowest setting. But of course, when you were voice acting for flash animations, the audio had to be terribly compressed anyway to make the thing not take a century to load, so the voices would have that sort of static-y sound that's hard to describe unless you remember what I'm talking about. And with AIM's final demise, I was also reminded of jumping on AIM in 2007ish to hound people about turning in their lines for projects (with MSN messenger occasionally being used for that purpose, too.) And don't forget about forcing your real life friends to do voices for you so you could finally make a *gasp* REAL DVD of the project you were working on! (Side note: Wayyy back when I used to produce full-episode fandubs, I used to physically mail out DVDs to my cast members once the projects were completed. I'm pretty sure they got tossed in a closet somewhere most of the time, but recently a real-life friend unearthed one from storage that was made over a decade ago and joked that he could totally blackmail me with how terrible it was. But hey, we were proud of that stuff at the time!) And we can't forget "official unofficial voice of ______" and dream cast threads which were supposed to be a fun thing but y'know, everyone ended up getting upset because people would just cast their friends, even though it wasn't actually a real cast list for a project they were really going to make. I know some of the other people on the board here have been around for probably 8+ years---any other fun stuff you remember from back in the day that isn't really a thing anymore?
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Post by alexanderdoddy on Dec 18, 2017 3:03:37 GMT -8
I still have that Logitech Mic attached to my comp, still works after nearly 10 years, so can't complain.
Can only imagine the time/cost and effort that went into each submission when you had to make a physical copy of your demo and mail it in.
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Post by benedict on Dec 18, 2017 8:39:41 GMT -8
Now you've totally got me wanting to pick up one of those Logitech mics and hack it to have a better capsule and preamp electronics, just 'cause.
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Post by Lady Stardust ★ on Dec 18, 2017 20:02:32 GMT -8
I still have that Logitech Mic attached to my comp, still works after nearly 10 years, so can't complain. Can only imagine the time/cost and effort that went into each submission when you had to make a physical copy of your demo and mail it in. When I was doing agency submissions a couple years ago, I still remember seeing some that REQUIRED you to snail-mail a physical copy of your demo CD. It was baffling to me because almost all that stuff is digital nowadays, and it seems like it would be much easier on their end to just be able to open a file from the computer and save it to a folder of demos if necessary rather than having an actual CD which you'd probably just be importing to a computer anyway. The costs definitely added up to send out physical CDs and resume copies which had a good chance of ending up in the trash anyway I'm glad digital submissions are by far the norm now but I'm always surprised when I come across the odd snail-mail requirement from any company.
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Post by Lumisau on Dec 18, 2017 20:14:21 GMT -8
Though when it came to dream cast threads, the first time you showed up on them you know you've made it in the competitive and harsh world of fandubbing. I loved those threads. They were responsibility-free and nice.
Because general fandubbing has died with Youtube's aggressive algorithms and Funi's simuldubs (they definitely put a buncha nails in the fandub coffin; people liked being the first voice of something), I get surprised when I see a casting call on other sites for classic clipdub type fandubs. Because they've died out, kids don't think to make them and instead try full-series dubs which are still as implausible today as they were eight years ago. I wanna see more clipdubs around. They're good practice.
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Post by Zelina on Dec 30, 2017 12:40:50 GMT -8
I still have my logitech USB to lend out to people who need it for school, skype, or what-not. I remember when a surge of people started getting the Yeti around the same time (at least over at VH), and thinking it was the cat's pajamas of a microphone. I remember those "Dream Cast" threads on VAA. And I agree, if you made it on one, its like a real cool feeling of accomplishment. Looking back on VAA (and FLAVA as well), in terms of fandub VAs and (production) groups/production groups, Im sad I don't see a lot of them around, or history of their works have vanished over they years. On the subject of YT, remember when Video replies were a thing? (or before it was even a Google-related service?) Like It helped with auditions, making duets, and such. I've told a friend of mine about that and he said I was crazy to make that up. Oh, and Songdub galore (and I mean the infestation that was Mermaid Melody) Wayyy back when I used to produce full-episode fandubs, I used to physically mail out DVDs to my cast members once the projects were completed. It's been a (long) while, but I remember you doing that for a Mew Mew episode back on VAA.
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Post by Nyan on Jan 15, 2018 14:10:02 GMT -8
I think the Logitech mic thing was probably my fault, I recommended it my newbies guide on the VAA. ;$ tbh it was still better then the terrible headsets people used. I should update that thing sometime. I tried not too long ago and was still recommending the Yeti an audio engineer friend convinced me to get a mixer instead.
I also remember the fad for .ogg files as wavs were too big!
I only got a few things on CD/DVD but those were mainly for audio drama groups that made them to pass out at cons or distribute. Waaay back when I started...you didn't always have a proper video file for dubbing ref you literally had to time all the line lengths and write the time in the script. You then had to record to time! without visuals or with the odd still. On the upswing this has made me way better than I'd have otherwise had been at dubbing/speaking to time.
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Post by Lady Stardust ★ on Jan 17, 2018 19:59:50 GMT -8
I think the Logitech mic thing was probably my fault, I recommended it my newbies guide on the VAA. ;$ tbh it was still better then the terrible headsets people used. I should update that thing sometime. I tried not too long ago and was still recommending the Yeti an audio engineer friend convinced me to get a mixer instead. The thing is, that Logitech mic WAS a good option back in the day because the alternative was using like a karaoke mic that plugged into the sound card. In 2004-2006ish, affordable USB condensers weren't really an option and I remember some people would get a mixer like one of the M-Audio ones or whatever but it wasn't commonplace among hobby communities and the main thing was not having that hissy computer noise. Nowadays the standards have gone up so much and virtually everyone has some type of "home studio".
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Post by Nyan on Jan 20, 2018 5:29:54 GMT -8
Yeah it was def the best I could find back then, I remember some people also managed to use Rock Band mics. Main thing back then was to get people out of using headsets.
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Post by James on Jan 22, 2018 10:22:15 GMT -8
Oh man, the great old "Drinking Straw mics" back in the day when I lived and breathed fandubs. Ahh those were the days lol.
RIP AIM/MSN, my long used messengers, to get in contact with people that were sending in lines/auditions.
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