Voice acting

Voice acting is the inclusion of audio depicting characters' speech. Voice acting involves the performance of a script by a voice actor, which is then recorded and integrated into the visual novel.

Voice acting can add depth and personality to characters and help convey the tone and mood of a scene. However, voice acting can be expensive, time-consuming, and requires additional effort to make sure the lines are read in a way that adds to the experience rather than detracts from it.

Quantity

Full Voice Acting

In full voice acting, every line of dialogue is voiced and recorded.

When considering full voice acting, it is important to budget for the time and resources required, including:

• casting and recording of voice actors
• editing and processing of audio
• integration of the voice acting into the visual novel

Full voice acting is the most demanding type of voice acting. However, despite the time and financial investments required, many visual novel developers opt for full voice acting due to the significant impact it can have on the player's experience.

Partial Voice Acting

In partial voice acting, only certain elements of the visual novel are voiced. This approach is often used due to budget or time constraints while still capturing the benefits of voice acting.

Partial voice acting can be done by making use of exclamations, short phrases, or "barks". For example, a character expressing hesitation might have a voice clip that says "Well..." or "I'm not sure...". Other emotions can be captured with appropriate sound bites. This often comes with the disadvantage of the spoken audio not matching the written text, but it does convey the emotion of the text.

Another method is to only voice certain characters or only voice certain scenes. For example, an important character may speak when they are fist shown to establish their personality and demeanor. Particularly emotional or impactful scenes could also benefit from voice acting.

It is important to consider which elements of the visual novel would benefit the most from voice acting. Key scenes or characters that drive the story or convey important emotions may be prioritized. Scenes that are mostly exposition or contain less important dialogue may be left unvoiced.

Dialogue Blips

A dialogue blip is a sound effect that plays as text appears in a text box, generally when a character is speaking. These sounds are usually electronic “blips”, but may also be other sound effects (like a typewriter) depending on the game, character, or scene. The Ace Attorney series is one example of its use in a visual novel. Dialogue blips may be made of voiced segments (such as the use of Animalese and Bebebese in the Animal Crossing series), but isn’t the same as partial voice acting/barks.

Process

Casting Voice Actors

Casting voice actors for a visual novel is a critical process, as the right voice actors can greatly enhance the overall experience for players. When casting voice actors, several factors should be taken into account, including the voice actor's experience, range, and ability to capture the character's emotions and personality. In addition, it's important to consider the voice actor's availability as voice acting can be a time-consuming process.

Casting Calls

Casting Calls are calls for auditions which include information on the roles available. Most casting calls will detail the character's archetype, age, gender, and voice characteristics, although some casting calls may provide optional character artwork and background information. Casting calls may be open or closed; open casting calls are typically public and shared online via social media, whereas closed casting calls are invitation-only, such as for members of a voice actors' union or voice actors in a casting director's roster.

Casting calls are often given a set timeline with an end date and time for submission. They will also typically indicate the intended compensation and/or workload required for the available roles.

Information for casting calls may be shared as social media posts, webpages, or documents. Casting calls may request for auditions to be submitted via email or through online forms.

A Casting Director may be enlisted to manage the casting call and/or evaluate submitted auditions and cast for the roles. They may also be first to establish connection with the selected voice actors.

Auditions

A typical casting call will request either voice actors' demo reels for review, which demonstrate a voice actor's vocal range, or recorded audition lines. These lines may be taken from the final script, be written for the purpose of casting, or be ad libbed based on an instruction.

Voiceover Recording

Once the voice actors have been cast, the recording process can begin. This typically involves the voice actors recording their lines in a recording studio using high-quality microphones and recording equipment, though many voice actors record from home studios or recording set-ups.

Voiceover recording that takes place remotely, without the director physically present to guide the voice actor, is also referred to as self-directed recording.

Self-Directed Recording

Voice actors are commonly asked to record from provided scripts solo before submitting the resulting recordings for review by the Director or Voice Director.

Live Direction

Voice actors may be asked to attend recording sessions either in-person or over voice call, on platforms such as Discord, in order to record in the presence of a Director or Voice Director, whose role is to provide guidance to the voice actor throughout the recording session.

Re-recordings

If any recorded voiceover work requires revision, it will either be re-recorded or given a retake. Retakes refer to re-recordings done due to technical issues or performance adjustments from the original recording. Re-recording refers to new recordings made at the director's request rather than due to issues with the original take. Re-recordings typically incur an additional fee.

For self-directed recordings, 2-3 recorded retakes are typically considered within the scope of the original recording work due to lack of immediate direction.

Compensation

While some voice acting may be done pro bono, such as in the case of some unpaid game jam projects, it is generally preferred to compensate voice actors for their recordings. Depending on the volume and method of recording, this may be accounted for in a few different ways:

• Per-Line Rates This is often preferred for self-directed recordings and are commonly used for game and visual novel voiceover.
• Per-Hour Rates are typically used for live directed sessions, in which the session duration is billed at a set rate. Live direction sessions are typically 2 hours in length, unless otherwise agreed upon.

(For further information and recommended rates for compensation of voice actors in indie projects, see Voice Acting Club's Indie Rate Guide.)

Editing Voiceover Recordings

After recordings have been approved, the length of each audio file is typically trimmed and volume adjusted for use in-game. Additional editing may be undertaken by a dedicated Audio Engineer who is responsible for equalising audio levels and cleaning noise from recordings in order to improve the quality of the overall voice acting and create a cohesive listening experience. They may also be responsible for mastering a game's soundtrack and/or sound effects.

Implementing Voiceover Lines

Once the voice lines are processed, they are brought in-game to play alongside their corresponding dialogue or narration lines. This is done either through manual insertion of audio files or through automatic voicing functions, which may be employed by game engines through matching line identification codes to voice file names.