I've had a number of inquiries from VO Artists regarding how to reduce the amount of editing time on long voiceover projects. This was interesting to me because it has a direct relationship to how much money can be made. If it takes a person 6 hours of work to deliver one hour of finished narration/voiceover, that isn't as good as spending, say 3 or four hours, to get one finished hour of narration. Now of course, everyone has their own way of working and there are a million ways to prepare and finish a project.
Here is my process that I use to minimize editing time and get the best reads from myself.
When the script comes in, lets assume its a 20 minute read ( approx 2800 to 3000 words), I lay on my office couch with a large glass of juice and cold read it out loud. I circle the spots where the cadence isn't right and/or I have handled the phrasing incorrectly. When I have finished the first read, I then go back to those trouble spots and work out the phrasing issues. Then I go for a walk on the property and read it out loud while I'm walking to make sure I have the phrasing, cadence and tone of voice the way I want it. Then and only then, I go into my booth and record. I do this with the intention of taking the time I need to try and read it perfectly the first time. I don't start recording while I'm figuring out what I want and how I want to read. In other words, I don't do my rehearsing while I'm recording. I figure out what I want first and then record. This really minimizes the amount of editing time I spend and maximizes how much I can make an hour. Have fun out there folks.
