Voice over has changed a lot during the Covid-19 Pandemic. Recording studios have had to adapt to the myriad of video conferencing platforms that have surged during this period. Voice-over artists have had to learn more about home recording and these linkup platforms. Studio practices have had to shift to adhere to government regulations. In this article, we’re going to touch on the area where voice-over has been affected by the pandemic and look at some of the outcomes on the industry.
Various Platforms for International Communication
Voice-over has always been closely married up to video conferencing technology. Source Connect was a very big player in the voice-over industry prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. Many other platforms made big leaps during this period. Zoom seems to be the standout platform that has been called on by our clients for voice over recording sessions. Others include Microsoft Team, Amazon Chime, Google Meet, Skype, and many more. Keeping up with all the different platforms has been really tough for Voice-over professionals.
Sourcing Voice Over Talent
One notable trend has been that more people are jumping in on the online sessions when they do happen. Pre-pandemic trends were that people from the creative agency would come into the studio, the voice-over talent would show up, and then maybe someone would patch in from overseas. Not so any longer. Now almost everyone is on the call. Sometimes we do sessions where we find specific voice-over talent from overseas, they patch into the call, the creative agency patches in, and the studio captures their audio on our systems and does post-production afterwards. This mode of voice over operation has proven extremely efficient and it’s hard to see things going back to the way they were previously.
Voice Over Artists taking on the Engineering Role
Voice-over artists, as a result, have had to get extremely savvy with their home recording and networking/linkup skills. YouTube videos on “how to do” have been getting heavily utilised as voice-over professionals have scrambled to keep their careers. The learning curve has been exponential and our studio has been involved in helping many voice-over people get their systems and skills up to scratch so they can keep operating during lockdown periods.
Methods for Sanitisation
Talent needs to come into the studio. We have had to adopt methods of making sure people are as safe from the virus as possible. Regular wipe downs of metal pop filters and hand sanitisation. The minimum number of operational crew are all the practices that have been introduced into the day-to-day workflow of our voice over studio. QR Check-ins are another point of operation that needed to be installed into the recording studio.
Online Skills within Our Studio
Crash Symphony Productions was well placed to weather the pandemic. Our studio had already integrated ourselves into the international market through our online skills. We continue to grow our place in the international voice-over market. There’s a growing list of diverse languages and voice over talent and strong networking skills. Excellent voice-over recording chain is perfect for commercial voice-over, film ADR, and other voice over required projects.
For more information on how Crash Symphony Productions, a Sydney Recording studio, can help with your voice over project please get in touch with our helpful audio engineering and management team on 0408 300 402 or info@crashsymphony.com.au.
