Voice acting is performing voice-overs to represent a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists or voice talent. Examples include animated, off-stage, off-screen or non-visible characters in various works such as feature films, dubbed foreign-language films, animated films, anime, television shows, video games, cartoons, documentaries, commercials, audiobooks, radio dramas and comedies, amusement rides, theater productions, puppet shows and audio games. Voice actors are also heard through pre-recorded and automated announcements that are a part of everyday modern life in areas such as shops, elevators, waiting rooms and public transport. The role of a voice actor may involve singing, most often when playing a fictional character, although a separate performer is sometimes enlisted as the character's singing voice. Character voices The voices for animated characters are provided by voice actors. For live-action productions, voice acting often involves reading the parts of computer programs, radio dispatchers or other characters who never actually appear on screen. With an audio drama, there is more freedom because there is no need to match a dub to the original actor or animated character. Producers and agencies are often on the lookout for many styles of voices. Some voices sound like regular, natural, everyday people. Narration In the context of voice acting, narration is the use of spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. A narrator is a personal character or a nonpersonal voice that the creator of the story develops to deliver information about the plot. The voice actor who plays the narrator is responsible for performing the scripted lines assigned to them. In traditional literary narratives (such as novels, short stories, and memoirs) narration is a required story element. Commercial One common uses for voice acting is within commercial advertising. The voice actor is hired to voice a message associated with the advertisement. This has different sub-genres such as television, radio, film, and online advertising. Television commercials tend to be voiced with a narrow, flat inflection pattern whereas radio commercials tend to be voiced with a very wide inflection pattern in an almost over-the-top style. Voice-over used in commercial adverts is also the only area of voice acting where "de-breathing" is used. This means artificially removing breaths from the recorded voice, and is done to stop the audience being distracted in any way from the commercial message that is being put across. Translation Dub localization is the practice of voice-over translation, in which voice actors alter a foreign-language film or television series. Voice-over translation is an audiovisual translation technique, in which, unlike in Dub localization, actor voices are recorded over the original audio track. This method of translation is most often used in documentaries and news reports to translate words of foreign-language interviewees. Automated dialogue replacement Automated dialogue replacement (ADR) is the process of re-recording dialogue by the original actor after the filming process to improve audio quality or reflect dialogue changes, also known as "looping" or a "looping session". ADR is also used to change original lines recorded on set to clarify context, improve diction or timing, or to replace an accented vocal performance. In the UK, it is also called "post-synchronization" or "post-sync". Automated announcements Voice artists are also used to record the sample fragments played back by a computer in an automated announcement. At its simplest, each recording consists of a short phrase which is played back when necessary, such as the "mind the gap" announcement introduced on the London Underground in 1969. In a more complicated system, such as a speaking clock, the announcement is re-assembled from fragments such as "minutes past", "eighteen", and "p.m". Automated announcements can also include on-hold messages on phone systems and location-specific announcements in tourist attractions. AI-generated and AI-modified voices Software to modify and generate human voices has become popular in the 21st century. AI startup Dessa created a computergenerated Joe Rogan's voice using thousands of hours of his podcast audio, while Ubisoft used speech synthesis to give thousands of characters distinguished voices in the video game Watch Dogs: Legion, and Google announced in 2020 their solution to generate human-like speech from text.
